Big telematics data network communication fault identification system

• US 10,127,096 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2016
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GeoTab Incorporated
• Original Assignee: GeoTab Incorporated
• Inventors: Cawse, Neil Charles, Dodgson, Daniel Michael, Zhao, Yi
• Primary Examiner(s): Merlino, David P.
• Application Number:
  US15/530,113
• Publication Number:
  US 20170147420A1
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/02 Electric testing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0218 characterised by the fault detection method dealing with either existing or incipient faults
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0739 in a data processing system embedded in automotive or aircraft systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0847 Transmission error
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Apparatus, device, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for identifying in real time unpredictable network communication faults based upon pre-processed raw telematics big data logs that may include GPS data and an indication of vehicle status data, and supplemental data that may further include location data and network data.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a mobile device; and

a remote device,

said mobile device configured to;

determine a device expected communication rate for the mobile device, wherein determining the device expected communication rate comprises;

determining whether the mobile device is in an active state or an inactive state,

in response to determining that the mobile device is in an active state, setting the device expected communication rate for the mobile device to a first rate, and

in response to determining that the mobile device is in an inactive state, setting the device expected communication rate for the mobile device to one of at least one lower rate lower than the first rate, and

communicate the device expected communication rate for the mobile device to the remote device,

said remote device configured to;

determine an expected communication rate for a network zone based on at least the device expected communication rate for the mobile device, and

determine whether the network zone is experiencing a communication fault based on the expected communication rate for the network zone and an actual communication rate for the network zone.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said inactive state includes a sleep state associated with a second rate of the at least one lower rate.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said inactive state includes a deep sleep state associated with a third rate of the at least one lower rate, wherein the third rate is lower than the second rate.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said second rate is at least one communication with said remote device in each of at least one period of 1800 seconds.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said third rate is at least one communication with said remote device in each of at least one period of 86,400 seconds.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said first rate is at least one communication with said remote device in each of at least one period of 100 seconds.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein:

said mobile device further includes a positional device, said positional device configured to provide a position indication of said mobile device, and

said remote device is configured to determine a location of the communication fault based at least in part on a last known position indication of said mobile device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein determining whether the mobile device is in the active state or the inactive state comprises determining a vehicle status of a vehicle associated with the mobile device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said vehicle status is an ignition status indication for the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the mobile device is further configured to, in response to determining that the mobile device is in the inactive state, determining whether the mobile device is in a first power saving mode or a second power saving mode; and

setting the device expected communication rate to the one of at least one lower rate comprises;

setting the device expected communication rate to a second rate, of the at least one lower rate, in response to a determination that the mobile device is in the first power saving mode; and

setting the device expected communication rate to a third rate, of the at least one lower rate, that is lower than the second rate, in response to determining that the mobile device is in the second power saving mode.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein determining whether the mobile device is in the first power saving mode or the second power saving mode comprises:

determining that the mobile device is in the first power saving mode in response to determining that the mobile device is in the inactive state; and

determining that the mobile device is in the second power saving mode in response to determining that more than a threshold period of time has elapsed since the mobile device was determined to be in the inactive state.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more of the mobile device of claim 1, disposed in the network zone,

wherein the remote device is configured to determine the expected communication rate for the network zone based on the device expected communication rate determined for each mobile device of the one or more mobile devices disposed in the network zone.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the remote device is configured to determine whether the network zone is experiencing the communication fault at least in part by:

comparing for at least one time frame the actual communication rate for the network zone, reflecting communications from each mobile device disposed in the network zone, to said expected communication rate; and

indicating the communication fault in the network zone when said actual communication rate is not equal to said expected communication rate within said at least one time frame.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the expected communication rate relates to a total number of network connections expected to be established by the one or more mobile devices disposed within the network zone within a period of time;

the device expected communication rate relates to a total number of network connections expected to be established by the mobile device disposed within the network zone within the period of time; and

the actual communication rate relates to a total number of network connections established by the one or more mobile devices within the period of time.