Big telematics data network communication fault identification method

• US 10,299,205 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2016
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• 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:
  US15/530,111
• Publication Number:
  US 20170150442A1
• Time in Patent Office: 897 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Apparatus, device, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for the 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 method for monitoring faults in one or more network zones, the method comprising:

determining, by at least one processor of a remote device, an expected communication rate for a network zone, wherein determining the expected communication rate comprises;

for each mobile device disposed in the network zone;

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 a 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 that is lower than the first rate; and

determining the expected communication rate for the network zone based on the device expected communication rate determined for each mobile device disposed in the network zone; and

determining, by the at least one processor of the remote device, whether the network zone is experiencing a fault, where the determining comprises;

comparing for a first time frame an 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 fault in the network zone when said actual communication rate is not equal to said expected communication rate within said first time frame.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said first rate is at least one communication in each of at least one period of 100 seconds.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said inactive state includes a sleep state associated with a second rate of the at least one lower rate, and the second rate is at least one communication in each of at least one period of 1800 seconds.

4. The method claim 3, 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 at least one communication in each of at least one period of 86,400 seconds.

5. The method 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.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the vehicle status comprises receiving, from the mobile device, an indication of the vehicle status.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said vehicle status is an ignition status indication for the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the method further comprises, for each mobile device, 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;

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 determining that the mobile device is in the first power saving mode; and

the method further comprises, for each mobile device, 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.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the mobile device, when in the first power saving mode, consumes more power than when in the second power saving mode.

10. The method of claim 8, 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.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

one or more mobile devices are disposed in the network zone;

determining the expected communication rate for the network zone based on the device expected communication rate determined for each mobile device disposed in the network zone comprises determining, for each time frame of a plurality of time frames and based upon the device expected communication rate for each mobile device, a total number of communications expected to be received in the time frame from the one or more mobile devices, the plurality of time frames including the first time frame;

the method further comprises determining the actual communication rate for the network zone for the first time frame, wherein determining the actual communication rate comprises determining a total number of communications received in the first time frame from the one or more mobile devices; and

comparing for the first time frame the actual communication rate for the network zone to said expected communication rate comprises comparing the actual communication rate for the first time frame to the expected communication rate determined for the first time frame.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the expected communication rate relates to a total number of network connections expected to be established by 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.