Analytic and tracking systems and methods using over-the-air identifiers of mobile devices

• US 8,892,132 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2012
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
• Inventors: Monks, Deborah J., Bekiares, Tyrone D., Collins, Timothy J., Miller, Trent J.
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, DANH C
• Application Number:
  US13/603,920
• Publication Number:
  US 20140066089A1
• Time in Patent Office: 804 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.5, 455/456.1, 455/456.6, 340/870.01
• US Class Current: 455/456.5
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/878 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0272 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect exact location of child or item using triangulation other than GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Analytic and tracking systems and methods are described that use over-the-air identifiers (OTAIs) of mobile devices for tracking, dispatch, identification, etc. In particular, the analytic and tracking systems and methods can include various OTAI sensors that are communicatively coupled to a server and with one another. The OTAI sensors are configured to identify proximate mobile devices concurrent with at least one additional piece of information. The analytic and tracking systems and methods can process identified mobile devices and the additional pieces of information for a plurality of applications.

Claims

1. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest;

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

associating an over-the-air identifier of the captured over-the-air identifiers to an individual;

associating the over-the-air identifier to an image of a person associated with a device having the over-the-air identifier; and

utilizing facial recognition from a database to identify the person.

2. The tracking method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to detecting an over-the-air identifier on the watch list, dispatching or notifying personnel.

3. The tracking method of claim 1, wherein the trigger comprises one of:

detecting the over-the-air identifier of a device at two or more places of interest over a period of time;

detecting the over-the-air identifier at a single location for an abnormal presence pattern;

detecting the over-the-air identifier at a prohibited location for the device;

detecting the over-the-air identifier in combination with additional analytics indicative of the situation of interest;

detecting the over-the-air identifier coincident with a location of a public safety incident or crime scene; and

detecting the over-the-air identifier coincident with another identifier of interest.

4. The tracking method of claim 1, wherein the capturing comprises:

receiving a probe request from a wireless device, wherein the probe request comprises the over-the-air identifier; and

determining additional information for storage with the over-the-air identifier, wherein the additional information comprises any of location, time, and other identifying information.

5. The tracking method of claim 4, wherein the probe request comprises a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) probe request compliant to IEEE 802.11.

6. The tracking method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of sensors comprises:

at least one radio capturing the over-the-air identifier;

an interface capturing at least one additional piece of information;

memory storing captured over-the-air identifiers and associated additional pieces of information;

a network interface communicating stored data to other sensors and to a server; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one radio, the interface, the memory, and the network interface.

7. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest; and

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

associating an over-the-air identifier of the captured over-the-air identifiers to an individual;

associating the over-the-air identifier to information gathered via another source; and

storing the information with the over-the-air identifier;

wherein the another source comprises one of a police annotation, a vehicle license plate, and information registered with the over-the-air identifier comprising one of an address and driver license information.

8. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest; and

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

communicating between the plurality of sensors and a server;

at the server, storing the over-the-air identifiers and associated information received from any of the plurality of sensors;

associating an over-the-air identifier of the captured over-the-air identifiers to an individual;

performing analytics on data received from any of the plurality of sensors; and

tracking any captured over-the-air identifiers of interests based on the analytics.

9. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest; and

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

wherein the plurality of sensors are each one of stationary and mobile;

wherein the mobile sensors are deployed on government vehicles and on government personnel, and wherein the fixed sensors are deployed in government buildings and on machine-to-machine devices.