Mobile device monitoring and testing

• US 9,161,238 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2013
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mobile Intelligence Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mobile Intelligence Solutions Incorporated
• Inventors: Reed, David K., Uusitalo, Jay R., Knasiak, Mark, Brown, Philip E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mathew, Max
• Application Number:
  US13/785,957
• Publication Number:
  US 20130273853A1
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• Field of Search: 455/67.11, 455/67.12, 455/67.7, 455/423, 455/425
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

A multi-channel communications interface is provided and communicatively coupled to a controller which captures, via the communications interface, video data of a display of a mobile device at a resolution and frame rate equal to or greater than that of the mobile device display, and may additionally capture various other outputs of the mobile device. During the capture of the video data and other outputs, one or more input actions may be provided to the mobile device by the controller via the communications interface. The input actions may be provided in an interactive or automated manner, and may correspond to interactions of users with the controller that are performed using one or more provided graphical or programmatic interfaces.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a communications interface having a plurality of output channels and a plurality of additional channels, the plurality of additional channels including a plurality of I/O channels that correspond to a SIM interface of the mobile device;

a controller communicatively coupled to the communications interface via at least a first of the plurality of output channels and one or more of the plurality of additional channels and which;

captures, via the first output channel, video data of a display of a mobile device at a capture frame rate that is equal to or greater than a frame rate of the display and at a capture resolution that is equal to or greater than a resolution of the display,

selectively provides, to the mobile device, access to at least one of a plurality of SIM interface cards via one or more of the plurality of I/O channels of the communications interface; and

provides to the mobile device, via the plurality of additional channels and during the capture of the video data via the first output channel, an indication of each of a plurality of input actions, the indicated plurality of input actions corresponding to one or more of a plurality of input capabilities of the mobile device; and

one or more storage devices communicatively coupled to the controller and which store at least a portion of the captured video data.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of output channels of the communications interface include at least one audio output channel, wherein the controller is further communicatively coupled to the communications interface via the at least one audio output channel and captures audio data of the mobile device via the at least one audio output channel, and wherein the one or more storage devices store at least a portion of the captured audio data.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of additional channels of the communications interface include at least one of:

one or more audio input channels corresponding to one or more audio input capabilities of the mobile device;

one or more control input channels corresponding to one or more hardware controls of the mobile device; and

one or more touchscreen input channels corresponding to a touchscreen of the mobile device.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the mobile device includes a data port to communicatively interface with one or more computing systems, wherein the plurality of additional channels of the communications interface includes one or more I/O channels corresponding to the data port of the mobile device, wherein the providing of the indicated plurality of input actions includes providing input data to the mobile device via the one or more I/O channels corresponding to the data port of the mobile device, and wherein the controller captures at least a portion of output data from the mobile device via the one or more I/O channels corresponding to the data port of the mobile device.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to a plurality of SIM interface cards, and wherein selectively providing the mobile device with access to the at least one SIM interface card via the one or more of the plurality of I/O channels of the communications interface includes selectively multiplexing the plurality of the SIM interface cards.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further comprises one or more components for providing a graphical user interface for use by one or more users, and wherein at least one of the indicated input actions is based at least in part on a received indication of one or more interactions of a first user with one or more graphical controls of the graphical user interface.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the graphical user interface includes one or more graphical controls representing a touchscreen of the mobile device, and wherein the at least one indicated input action corresponds to one or more user interactions with the mobile device touchscreen.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the one or more user interactions with the mobile device touchscreen include a finger swipe between two or more distinct areas of the mobile device touchscreen.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein the one or more user interactions with the mobile device touchscreen include and interaction of two or more fingers with the mobile device touchscreen.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the indicated plurality of input actions is provided based at least in part on a communication received from a user.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further comprises one or more components for providing a programmatic interface for use by one or more users, and wherein the indicated plurality of input actions includes a predetermined sequence of input actions that is based at least in part on input received from a first user via the provided programmatic interface.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further comprises one or more components for providing a graphical user interface for use by one or more users, and wherein the indicated plurality of input actions includes a predetermined sequence of input actions that is based at least in part on a first sequence of interactions by a first user with one or more controls of the provided graphical user interface.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the provided graphical user interface enables a user to store sequences of user interactions with the one or more controls of the graphical user interface, wherein the first user stores the first sequence of interactions at a first time, and wherein the predetermined sequence of input actions is based at least in part on receiving, at a second time that is later than the first time, an indication of the stored first sequence of interactions.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the communications interface is located at a first geographical location and wherein the controller is located at a distinct second geographical location.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the indicated plurality of input actions is provided based at least in part on one or more communications received from a user that is located at a third geographical location distinct from the first and second geographical locations.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the communications interface is located at a first geographical location, and wherein the indicated plurality of input actions is provided based at least in part on one or more communications received from a first remote user via one or more intermediate networks, the first remote user being located at a distinct second geographical location.

17. The system of claim 16 further comprising one or more components that provide at least a portion of the captured video data of the mobile device display to one or more additional remote users via the one or more intermediate networks, each of the one or more additional remote users being located at one or more additional geographical locations that are distinct from the first geographical location and the second geographical location.

18. The system of claim 1 further comprising a second communications interface communicatively coupled to the controller, and wherein the controller:

captures, via a first output channel of the second communications interface, second video data of a display of a second mobile device, the second video data having a second capture frame rate that is equal to or greater than a frame rate of the second mobile device display and having a second capture resolution that is equal to or greater than a resolution of the second mobile device display, and

provides to the second mobile device, via one or more additional channels of the second communications interface and during the capture of the second video data, an indication of each of one or more second input actions.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein the video data of the mobile device display has a first format that is specific to the mobile device, and wherein the system further transcodes the captured video data to a distinct second format.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein the providing of the indicated plurality of input actions includes initiating one or more changes to an operating system of the mobile device.

21. A method for interacting with a mobile device, comprising:

capturing, by one or more processors via a display channel of a communications interface, video data of a first display of a mobile device, wherein the first display has a first frame rate and a first resolution, and wherein the captured video data has a second frame rate that is at least the first frame rate and a second resolution that is at least the first resolution;

selectively providing to the mobile device, by the one or more processors and via one or more of a plurality of distinct input channels of the communications interface, access to at least one of a plurality of SIM interface cards; and

providing to the mobile device, by the one or more processors and via the plurality of distinct input channels, indications of a plurality of input actions, the indications of at least some of the input actions being provided during the capturing of the video data.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

providing a graphical user interface for use by one or more users, wherein at least one of the plurality of input actions is based at least in part on one or more interactions of a first user with one or more graphical controls of the graphical user interface.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein providing a graphical user interface includes providing a first control representing a touchscreen of the mobile device, and wherein the at least one input action corresponds to one or more user interactions with the mobile device touchscreen.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein providing the indicated plurality of input actions includes providing a predetermined sequence of input actions that is based at least in part on a first sequence of interactions by the first user with the one or more controls of the graphical user interface.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein providing the graphical user interface enables the one or more users to store sequences of user interactions with the one or more controls of the graphical user interface, wherein the first user stores the first sequence of interactions at a first time, and wherein the indications of the predetermined sequence of input actions are based at least in part on receiving an indication of the stored first sequence of interactions at a second time that is later than the first time.

29. The method of claim 21 wherein the communications interface and the mobile device are located at a first geographical location, and wherein the providing of the indicated plurality of input actions is based at least in part on one or more communications received from a first remote user, the first remote user being located at a distinct second geographical location.

30. The method of claim 21 wherein the communications interface and the mobile device are located at a first geographical location, and wherein the method further comprises providing at least a portion of the captured video data to one or more remote users via one or more intermediate networks, each of the one or more remote users being located at one or more second geographical locations distinct from the first geographical location.

26. The method of 21 further comprising:

providing a programmatic interface for use by one or more users.

27. The method of 26 wherein providing the indicated plurality of input actions includes providing a predetermined sequence of input actions that is based at least in part on input received from a first user via the provided programmatic interface.

28. The method of 26 wherein providing the indicated plurality of input actions includes providing at least one input action that is based at least in part on input interactively provided by a first user via the provided programmatic interface.

31. A system, comprising:

a communications interface having a first channel and having a plurality of distinct second channels, the plurality of second channels including a plurality of I/O channels corresponding to a SIM interface of a mobile device;

a controller communicatively coupled to the communications interface and which;

captures, via the first channel of the communications interface, video data of a first display of the mobile device at a capture frame rate that is equal to or greater than a frame rate of the first display and at a capture resolution that is equal to or greater than a resolution of the first display; and

selectively provides, via one or more of the plurality of I/O channels corresponding to the SIM interface, the mobile device with access to at least one of a plurality of SIM interface cards;

wherein the controller is responsive to one or more communications received from a client device to;

operate in a first mode that includes providing to the mobile device, via the plurality of distinct second channels of the communications interface and during the capture of the video data, indications of a plurality of predefined input actions to the mobile device, or

operate in a second mode that includes providing to the mobile device, via the plurality of second channels and during the capture of the video data, indications of a plurality of interactive input actions from a user.

32. The system of claim 31 further comprising a storage device communicatively coupled to the controller and which stores at least some of the captured video data.

33. The system of claim 31 wherein the one or more received communications include one of a request to initiate operating in the first mode and a request to initiate operating in the second mode.

34. The system of claim 31 wherein the first mode further includes:

determining whether the one or more received communications includes an indication of an interactive input action from a user of the client device; and

if it is determined that the one or more received communications includes an indication of an interactive input action, causing the controller to operate in the second mode.

35. The system of claim 31 wherein the plurality of second channels of the communications interface include at least one audio output channel, and wherein the controller captures audio data of the mobile device via the at least one audio output channel.

36. The system of claim 31 wherein the plurality of second channels of the communications interface includes at least one of:

one or more audio input channels corresponding to one or more audio input capabilities of the mobile device;

one or more control input channels corresponding to one or more hardware controls of the mobile device; and

one or more touchscreen input channels corresponding to a touchscreen of the mobile device.

37. The system of claim 31 wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to the plurality of SIM interface cards, and wherein selectively providing the mobile device with access to at least one SIM interface card via the one or more of the plurality of I/O channels corresponding to the SIM interface includes selectively multiplexing the multiple SIM interface cards.

38. The system of claim 31 wherein the system further comprises one or more components that provide a graphical user interface for use by one or more users of one or more client devices, and wherein the indications of the interactive input actions are based at least in part on a plurality of interactions of a first user with one or more graphical controls of the provided graphical user interface.

39. The system of claim 31 wherein the system further comprises one or more components that provide a graphical user interface for use by one or more users of one or more client devices, and wherein the indications of the predefined input actions are based at least in part on at least one sequence of multiple interactions of a first user with one or more graphical controls of the provided graphical user interface.

40. The system of claim 31 wherein the system further comprises one or more components that provide a programmatic interface for use by one or more users of one or more client devices, and wherein the indications of the interactive input actions are based at least in part on one or more communications received from a first user of a first client device via the provided programmatic interface.

41. The system of claim 31 wherein the system further comprises one or more components that provide a programmatic interface for use by one or more users of one or more client devices, and wherein the indications of the predefined input actions are based at least in part on at least one sequence of multiple input actions specified via the provided programmatic interface.

42. A method, comprising:

capturing, by at least one processor via a first channel of a communications interface, video data of a display of a mobile device at a capture frame rate that is equal to or greater than a frame rate of the display and at a capture resolution that is equal to or greater than a resolution of the display;

selectively providing to the mobile device, by the at least one processor and via one or more of a plurality of distinct second channels of the communications interface, access to at least one of a plurality of SIM interface cards to enable the mobile device to communicatively interact with one or more mobile data services;

initiating, by the at least one processor, a first operating mode for a controller communicatively coupled to the communications interface, the first operating mode including providing to the mobile device indications of a plurality of predetermined input actions via the plurality of distinct second channels of the communications interface, wherein the providing of at least some of the indicated predetermined input actions is performed during the capturing of the video data;

receiving, by the at least one processor, one or more client communications; and

responsive to the receiving of the one or more client communications, initiating, by the at least one processor, a second operating mode for the controller, the second operating mode including providing to the mobile device indications of a plurality of interactive user input actions via the plurality of second channels, wherein the providing of at least some of the indicated interactive user input actions is performed during the capturing of the video data.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein receiving the one or more client communications includes receiving a request to initiate the second operating mode.

44. The method of claim 42 wherein receiving the one or more client communications includes receiving an indication of at least one of the plurality of interactive user input actions.

45. The method of claim 42 further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one processor and after the initiating of the second operating mode, one or more additional client communications; and

responsive to the receiving of the one or more additional client communications, initiating the first operating mode.