System and method for measuring wireless device and network usage and performance metrics

• US 20020069037A1
• Filed: 08/31/2001
• Published: 06/06/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Telephia Incorporated (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Hendrickson, Keith, Stamos, Nick, Maguy, William, Prehn, Paul, Su, Annie
• Granted Patent: US 6,754,470 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/186
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5087 wherein the managed service relates to voice services management of VoIP services H04M7/0081
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5093 wherein the managed service relates to messaging or chat services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/022 by sampling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42136 Administration or customisation of services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements

Abstract

Systems and methods for measuring wireless device and wireless network usage and performance metrics are set forth. The system includes at least one wireless device, and data gathering software installed on the wireless device for collecting device parametric data, network parametric data, event data. A control center may receive, store and process said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data.

Claims

1. A system for measuring wireless device and wireless network usage and performance metrics comprising:

a wireless device with a processor and memory;

data gathering software installed on said wireless device for collecting

device parametric data;

network parametric data; and

event data.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said device parametric, network parametric, and event data are collected from said processor and memory of said wireless device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said event data comprises data applications data.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said data applications data comprises internet browsing activity data.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said data applications data comprises web clipping applications data.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein said data applications data comprises mobile commerce transactions data.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein said data applications data comprises mobile advertising activity data.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein said data applications data comprises e-mail activity data.

9. The system of claim 3, wherein said data applications data comprises Bluetooth application usage.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said event data comprises device applications data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said device applications data comprises games data.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein said device applications data comprises address book data.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein said device applications data comprises media player data.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein said device applications data comprises personal information management software data.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein said event data comprises event statistics data.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said event statistics data comprises voice and data call activity.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein said event statistics data comprises text messaging activity.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said network parametric data comprises overhead messaging data.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said device parametric data comprises battery statistics data.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein said device parametric data comprises energy/interference parametrics.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein said device parametric data comprises receive and transmit power.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein said device parametric data comprises frame error rate data.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein said device parametric data comprises call set-up statistics.

24. The system of claim 1 wherein said collected data is stored in said wireless device memory.

25. The system of claim 1 wherein said data gathering software installed on said wireless device further collects wireless device location data.

26. The system of claim 1 wherein said data gathering software installed on said wireless device further collects time stamp data.

27. The system of claim 1 further comprising a control center for receiving said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data.

28. The system of claim 27 further comprising an intermediary server which collects certain device parametric, network parametric, and event data prior to routing to said control center.

29. The system of claim 27 wherein said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data are transmitted real time to said control center.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein said control center also stores and processes said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data.

31. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software is installed on said processor of said wireless device.

32. The system of claim 1, further comprising a microbrowser installed on said wireless device, on which said data gathering software is installed.

33. The system of claim 1, further comprising a microbrowser installed on said wireless device, with which said data gathering software interfaces.

34. The system of claim 1, further comprising an operating system installed on said wireless device, on which said data gathering software is installed.

35. The system of claim 1, further comprising a panel of a plurality of selected users, wherein each selected user of said plurality of selected users receives a wireless device with said data gathering software installed.

36. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software is installed on said wireless devices via a flash load process.

37. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software is installed on said wireless devices via Over-the-Air provisioning.

38. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software is installed on said wireless devices via a synchronization process.

39. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software is installed on said wireless devices at the time of manufacture.

40. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software records internal and external communications from said wireless device, where internal communications relate to messaging from operating system or applications within said device and external communications relate to messaging sent or received from said device to or from a communication port, or wireless communication network based on user activity on said wireless device.

41. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software captures data as it relates to wireless voice communications activity.

42. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software captures data as it relates to wireless data or internet communications activity.

43. The system of claim 1, wherein said data gathering software captures real-time wireless communications activity that is both user driven and control center driven.

44. The system of claim 1 wherein a filtering mechanism may be implemented to remove extraneous data or irrelevant messaging before transmission to the control center.

45. The system of claim 1 wherein certain portions of data collected from said wireless device are encrypted.

46. The system of claim 1 wherein a data compression algorithm within said wireless devices may reduce the size of data files collected to conserve memory resources.

47. The system of claim 1, wherein said event data relates to usage and activity of wireless voice and data/internet services.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein said data gathering software correlates location and time of user activity with said event data relating to usage and activity of wireless voice and data/internet services.

49. The system of claim 1 wherein said data gathering software captures real-time network parametric data based on actual user activity.

50. The system of claim 49 wherein said data gathering software captures network parametric data that are event and environment driven.

51. The system of claim 1 wherein said data gathering software captures real-time device parametric data based on actual user activity.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein said data gathering software captures real-time device parametric data that is event and environment driven.

53. The system of claim 1 wherein said data gathering software simultaneously captures said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data based on real-time user activity of said wireless device.

54. The system of claim 53 wherein said captured device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data is event and environment driven.

55. A system for measuring wireless device and wireless network usage and performance metrics comprising:

a means for collecting device parametric data from a wireless device;

a means for collecting network parametric data from said wireless device;

a means for collecting event data from said wireless device; and

a means for transmitting said device parametric data, network parametric, and event data via a wireless communication network to a control center for processing.

57. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein said software module for collecting network parametric data from said wireless device collects said network parametric data from a processor on said wireless device.

58. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein said software module for collecting event data from said wireless device collects said event data from a microbrowser on the wireless device.

60. The method of claim 59, further comprising the step of storing said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data in a memory of said wireless device.

61. The method of claim 59, further comprising the step of processing said device parametric data, network parametric data and event data to produce products relating to usage and activity, network performance and device performance.

62. The method of claim 59 wherein said step of providing said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data via a wireless communication network to a control center for processing occurs real time as data is collected.

63. The method of claim 59 wherein said step of collecting event data comprises collecting data pertaining to user-based activities real-time.

64. The method of claim 61, wherein said products integrate usage and activity, network performance and device performance products with location and time stamp data.

65. The method of claim 59 further comprising deploying a plurality of said wireless devices to a panel of users using a statistical sampling methodology to represent a larger universe of wireless communications services users spread across different geographic locations, including users representing at home, at work, domestic and international households.

66. The method of claim 59 wherein said wireless device has a local processor and memory locations to log and store said collected data related to user-based activities whereby data collected via said data gathering software passes through said local processor within said wireless device and is stored in memory on said wireless device.

67. The method of claim 59 further comprising filtering extraneous messaging collected as a result of internal and/or external communications activity from said wireless device to conserve memory resources and to reduce processing time whereby discarded items include messaging unrelated to said device parametric data, network parametric data and event data to be tracked and repetitive or redundant messaging associated with the same operation event within a pre-determined time period.

68. The method of claim 59, further comprising processing said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein said step of processing said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data:

sorting through collected data to ascertain demographic profiles of wireless device users and related location/market information;

analyzing usage behavior of said wireless device users;

analyzing peak/off-peak usage patterns of said wireless device users and average usage days per given period of time;

analyzing wireless voice metrics;

analyzing wireless data/internet metrics;

analyzing functionality of various wireless voice and data/internet services provided to said users;

analyzing performance metrics related to the wireless device; and

analyzing performance metrics related to operators'"'"' networks.

70. The method of claim 59 further comprising the step of installing said data gathering software on a processor of said wireless device.

71. The method of claim 59 further comprising the step of installing said data gathering software on a microbrowser on said wireless device.

72. The method of claim 59 further comprising the step of installing said data gathering software on an operating system of said wireless device.

73. The method of claim 59 further comprising the step of installing said data gathering software on said wireless device at the time of wireless device manufacture.

74. The method of claim 59 whereby said data gathering software interfaces with a microbrowser on said wireless device.

75. The method of claim 59 whereby said data gathering software may be differentiated according to N standards, where N is an integer greater than one and equal to the number of wireless communication network protocols from which data is being gathered.

76. The method of claim 59 whereby said data gathering software captures data as it relates to wireless voice communications activity.

77. The method of claim 59 whereby said data gathering software captures data as it relates to wireless data/internet communications activity.

78. The method of claim 77, whereby said data gathering software captures said wireless data/internet communications activity that is both user driven and control center driven.

79. The method of claim 59, whereby said step of providing said device parametric data, network parametric date, and event data via a wireless communication network to a control center for processing further comprises transmitting said device parametric data, network parametric date, and event data to an intermediary server prior to routing to said control center for processing.

80. The method of claim 59 whereby said data gathering software may capture time and location-specific information related to user activity, which may be based on GPS, cell site location or overhead messaging information.

56. An apparatus for measuring wireless device and wireless network usage and performance metrics comprising:

a software module for collecting device parametric data from a wireless device;

a software module for collecting network parametric data from said wireless device;

a software module for collecting event data from said wireless device; and

a software module for transmitting said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data via a wireless communication network to a control center for processing.

59. A method for use with a wireless device and at least one receiving center that can receive data collected from data gathering software installed on said wireless device, the method comprising:

collecting device parametric data of a wireless device;

collecting network parametric data from said wireless device;

collecting event data from said wireless device; and

providing said device parametric data, network parametric data, and event data via a wireless communication network to a control center for processing.

81. A mobile wireless device comprising:

electronic memory encoded with,

data gathering software which gathers information pertaining to device usage, the gathered information including event data and association of respective events with respective location information indicative of device location during the occurrences of such respective events; and

data transfer software which provides the gathered information for transmission.

82. The mobile wireless device of claim 81 wherein the gathered information further includes mobile device parametric data.

83. The mobile wireless device of claim 81 wherein the gathered information further includes network parametric data.

84. The mobile wireless device of claim 81 wherein the gathered information further includes mobile device parametric data and network parametric data.

85. The mobile wireless device of claim 81 wherein the gathered information further includes association of respective events with respective temporal information indicative of time of the occurrence of such respective events.

86. The mobile wireless device of claim 81 wherein data transfer software provides the gathered information for wireless transmission.

87. The mobile wireless device of claim 81 wherein data transfer software provides the gathered information for internet transmission.

88. The mobile wireless device of claim 81 wherein data transfer software provides the gathered information for hotsync transmission.

90. The mobile wireless device of claim 89 wherein the gathered information further includes association of respective network parametric data with respective temporal information indicative of time of the gathering of such respective network parametric data.

89. A mobile wireless device comprising:

electronic memory encoded with,

data gathering software which gathers information pertaining to network performance, the gathered information including network parametric data and association of respective network parametric data with respective location information indicative of network parameters at such respective locations; and

data transfer software which provides the gathered information for transmission.

91. A method of gathering information concerning wireless mobile device usage comprising:

prescribing a panel of respective users of respective mobile wireless devices;

wherein each respective mobile device includes electronic memory encoded with,

data gathering software which gathers information pertaining to device usage, the gathered information including event data and association of respective events with respective location information indicative of device location during the occurrences of such respective events; and

data transfer software which provides the gathered information for transmission; and

collecting the gathered information provided by respective mobile devices of said panel of users.

92. The mobile wireless device of claim 91 wherein the gathered information further includes mobile device parametric data.

93. The mobile wireless device of claim 91 wherein the gathered information further includes network parametric data.

94. The mobile wireless device of claim 91 wherein the gathered information further includes association of respective events with respective temporal information indicative of time of the occurrence of such respective events.

95. A method of gathering information concerning wireless mobile device usage comprising:

prescribing a panel of respective users of respective mobile wireless devices;

wherein each respective mobile device includes electronic memory encoded with,

data gathering software which gathers information pertaining to network performance, the gathered information including network parametric data and association of respective network parametric data with respective location information indicative of network parameters at such respective locations; and

data transfer software which provides the gathered information for transmission; and

collecting the gathered information provided by respective mobile devices of said panel of users.

96. The mobile wireless device of claim 95 wherein the gathered information further includes association of respective network parametric data with respective temporal information indicative of time of the gathering of such respective network parametric data.

97. A system for collecting information by at least one control center concerning wireless mobile device usage comprising:

respective electronic memories of respective mobile devices of panelists of a panel comprised of respective mobile device users, the respective electronic memories respectively encoded with respective computer software;

wherein the respective computer software comprise,

data gathering software which gathers information pertaining to device usage, the gathered information including event data and association of respective events with respective location information indicative of device location during the occurrences of such respective events; and

data transfer software which provides the gathered information for transmission; and

an electronic storage medium encoded with computer software to control collection by the at least one control center of respective gathered information respectively provided by respective mobile devices of said panel of users.

98. The system of claim 97 wherein the gathered information further includes association of respective event data with respective temporal information indicative of time of the gathering of such respective event data.

99. A system for collecting information by at least one control center concerning wireless mobile device usage comprising:

respective electronic memories of respective mobile devices of panelists of a panel comprised of respective mobile device users, the respective electronic memories respectively encoded with respective computer software

wherein the respective computer software comprise,

data gathering software which gathers information pertaining to network performance, the gathered information including network parametric data and association of respective network parametric data with respective location information indicative of network parameters at such respective locations; and

data transfer software which provides the gathered information for transmission; and

an electronic storage medium encoded with computer software to control collection by the at least one control center of respective gathered information respectively provided by respective mobile devices of said panel of users.

100. The system of claim 99 wherein the gathered information further includes association of respective network parametric data with respective temporal information indicative of time of the gathering of such respective network parametric data.