System and method for location of wireless communication terminals using application-level location data

• US 9,380,412 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2012
• Issued: 06/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cognyte Technologies Israel Ltd. (Cognyte Software Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Verint Systems Limited (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kaushansky, Amir
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, DINH
• Application Number:
  US13/550,859
• Publication Number:
  US 20130184011A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,442 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 455/404.2, 455/440, 455/456.1, 455/456.3, 455/456.5, 455/457, 455/461
• 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

Abstract

Methods and systems for tracking the locations of wireless communication terminals such as mobile phones. A location system monitors communication conducted between a wireless communication terminal and a wireless communication network. The monitoring system may monitor the communication by intercepting one or more of the interfaces or links between network elements. The location system decodes the monitored communication, and identifies an interaction between the terminal and a server that provides the terminal with a location-based service. The identification may be performed, for example, by detecting a data pattern that is indicative of the Application Programming Interface (API) of the location-based service. The monitoring system then finds location data in the decoded communication between the terminal and the server. The monitoring system extracts this location data and uses it to track the location of the terminal.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

monitoring, by a location system, communication exchanged between a wireless communication terminal and a wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network comprises a server which provides a location-based service to the terminal through application-level data that is embedded in application-level communication exchanged between the terminal and the server;

wherein the monitoring comprises intercepting, by the location system, one or more interfaces or links between network elements;

decoding, by the location system, IP traffic of the monitored communication to reproduce the application-level communication;

searching for data patterns in the decoded IP traffic, by the location system, that are characteristic of known Application Program Interfaces (APIs) used by known location-based services;

checking, by the location system, whether a data pattern characteristic of at least one of the known APIs is found in the decoded IP traffic by the searching;

upon the checking finding a matching data pattern, extracting location data from the decoded IP traffic, by the location system, using the matching data pattern, wherein the location data is indicative of a geographical location of the terminal;

tracking, by the location system, a location of the wireless communication terminal based on the extracted location data; and

upon the terminal updating the server with second location data having a higher accuracy than the location data;

identifying, by the location system, the updates in the monitored communication,

extracting, by the location system, the updated location data transferred to the server, and

refining, by the location system, a location tracking accuracy of the location system.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein decoding the IP traffic comprises extracting an IP address associated with the terminal, and wherein tracking the location comprises finding a correlation between the extracted IP address and an identifier that identifies the terminal in the wireless communication network, and tracking the location using the identifier.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the IP traffic is encrypted in accordance with a secure communication protocol, and wherein monitoring the communication comprises decrypting the encrypted IP traffic.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is predefined as a target terminal whose location is to be tracked.

5. The method according to claim 1, and comprising indiscriminately monitoring the communication of multiple wireless communication terminals, identifying interactions between at least a subset of the terminals with one or more servers that provide location-based services, and extracting the location data of the terminals in the subset so as to track the locations of the terminals in the subset.

6. Apparatus, comprising:

an interface for communicating with a wireless communication network; and

a processor, which is configured to;

monitor via the interface, communication exchanged between a wireless communication terminal and the wireless communication network, wherein the wireless communication network comprises a server which provides a location-based service to the terminal through application-level data that is embedded in application-level communication exchanged between the terminal and the server, wherein the monitoring comprises intercepting, by the location system, one or more interfaces or links between network elements,

decode, by the location system, IP traffic of the monitored communication to reproduce the application-level communication;

search for data patterns in the decoded IP traffic, by the location system, that are characteristic of known Application Program Interfaces (APIs) used by known location-based service;

check, by the location system, whether a data pattern characteristic of at least one of the known APIs is found in the decoded IP traffic by the searching;

upon the checking finding a matching data pattern, extract location data from the decoded IP track using the matching data pattern, wherein the location data is indicative of a geographical location of the terminal,

track a location of the wireless communication terminal based on the extracted location data, and

upon the terminal updating the server with second location data having a higher accuracy than the location data;

identify the updates in the monitored communication,

extract, the updated location data transferred to the server, and

refine a location tracking accuracy of the location system.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to extract an IP address associated with the terminal, to find a correlation between the extracted IP address and an identifier that identifies the terminal in the wireless communication network, and to track the location using the identifier.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the IP traffic is encrypted in accordance with a secure communication protocol, and wherein the processor is configured to decode the IP traffic by decrypting the encrypted IP traffic.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the terminal is predefined as a target terminal whose location is to be tracked.

10. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to indiscriminately monitor the communication of multiple wireless communication terminals, to identify interactions between at least a subset of the terminals with one or more servers that provide location-based services, and to extract the location data of the terminals in the subset so as to track the locations of the terminals in the subset.