System and method for measuring the quantity, type and transmission quality of mobile communication devices within a defined geographical area

• US 9,185,542 B1
• Filed: 06/06/2014
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NRT Technology Corp.
• Original Assignee: Joingo, LLC (NRT Technology Corp.)
• Inventors: Boyle, Stephen S., Greer, Russell S., Bigall, Evan, Dao, Thang
• Primary Examiner(s): Haile, Awet
• Application Number:
  US14/297,633
• Time in Patent Office: 522 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/277, 370/278, 370/313, 370/338, 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/461, 709/203, 709217-218, 709223-229, 709/25
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

A system and method for measuring the quantity, type, transmission quality and visit history of mobile communication devices within a defined geographical area is disclosed herein. A data server is configured to receive new transmission data for mobile devices from each of a plurality of sensor devices and associate the new transmission data with a corresponding sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices. Sensor devices positioned within the venue are utilized to determine a geographical location of a mobile communication device based on a statistical analysis of received signal strength at each of the sensor devices.

Claims

1. A system for measuring the quantity, type, transmission quality and visit data of a plurality of mobile communication devices within a venue, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensor devices, each of the plurality of sensor devices comprising a processor, a persistent storage, and one or more radiofrequency radio receivers operating in the 2-6Ghz range;

a data server comprising a processor, a database, at least one network connection, an application programming interface (API) and at least one computer program configured to receive data uploads and store the data uploads in the database; and

a console application comprising a user interface and a charting function designed to create filtered charting data;

wherein each of the plurality of sensor devices is configured to use one or more of the radiofrequency radio receivers to capture a plurality of WiFi protocol management transmissions from a plurality of mobile devices within range of a defined geographic area of the venue, wherein each of the plurality of sensor devices is configured to record to the persistent storage transmission data comprising each of the plurality of WiFi protocol management transmissions, and record for each of the WiFi protocol management transmissions a radio identifier for the mobile device, a transmission signal strength, and a transmission time;

wherein each of the plurality of sensor devices periodically connects to the data server over a network and uploads the recorded WiFi protocol management transmissions to the data server;

wherein the data server is configured to receive the recorded transmission data from each of the plurality of sensor devices and associate the recorded transmission data with a corresponding sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices;

wherein the API of the data server is configured to grant access to one or more analysis and visualization tools running in the console application;

wherein the console application is configured to display the venue visit data and quality information for a WiFi connection to an end-user operator;

wherein the plurality of sensor devices positioned within the venue are utilized to determine a geographical location of a mobile communication device based on a statistical analysis of received signal strength at each of plurality of sensor devices using a statistical model of previously received signal strengths of overlapping coverage at the plurality of sensor devices composed of histograms recording the signal strengths of packets from a mobile device at a target location received by the plurality of sensor devices, and wherein the histograms are converted into probability distributions, wherein the probability distributions are converted into distribution vectors.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of sensor devices periodically connects to the data server over a WiFi network or a cellular network.

3. The system according to claim 1 wherein the venue visit data comprises a visit history for each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the venue visit data comprises a path through the venue for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the venue visit data comprises the areas of the venue visited by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein the venue visit data comprises venue point data for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein the venue visit data comprises a venue point data for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, the areas of the venue visited by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, a path through the venue for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, and a visit history of time spent at each area of the venue for each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

8. A method for measuring the quantity, type and transmission quality of a plurality of mobile communication devices within a defined geographical area, the method comprising:

receiving at a plurality of sensor devices a plurality of WiFi protocol management transmissions from a plurality of mobile devices within range of the defined geographic area;

recording to a persistent storage of sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices a radio identifier for the mobile device, a transmission signal strength, and a transmission time for each of the WiFi protocol management transmissions;

connecting to a data server over a network and uploading the recorded WiFi protocol management transmissions to the data server;

receiving the recorded transmission data from each of the plurality of sensor devices at the data server and associating the recorded transmission data with a corresponding sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices;

determining at the data server the number of devices, the vendor of each device, a transmission quality, and venue visit data of the plurality of mobile communication devices based on the recorded transmission data received from the plurality of sensor devices;

granting access through an application programming interface (API) of the data server to one or more analysis and visualization tools running in a console application; and

displaying on the console application the venue visit data and quality information for a WiFi connection to an end-user operator;

wherein the plurality of sensor devices positioned within the venue are utilized to determine a geographical location of a mobile communication device based on a statistical analysis of received signal strength at each of plurality of sensor devices using a statistical model of previously received signal strengths of overlapping coverage at the plurality of sensor devices composed of histograms recording the signal strengths of packets from a mobile device at a target location received by the plurality of sensor devices, and wherein the histograms are converted into probability distributions, wherein the probability distributions are converted into distribution vectors.

9. The method according to claim 8 wherein the venue visit data comprises a visit history for each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

10. The method according to claim 8 wherein the venue visit data comprises a path through the venue for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

11. The method according to claim 8 wherein the venue visit data comprises the areas of the venue visited by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

12. The method according to claim 8 wherein the venue visit data comprises venue point data for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

13. The method according to claim 8 further comprising organizing the transmission data at the console application into display information based upon at least one of date, mobile device type, and sensor device.

14. The method according to claim 8 wherein each of the plurality of sensor devices periodically connects to the data server over a WiFi network or a cellular network.

15. The method according to claim 8 wherein the venue visit data comprises a venue point data for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, the areas of the venue visited by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, a path through the venue for each visit by each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, and a visit history of time spent at each area of the venue for each of the plurality of mobile communication devices.