Embedded wireless benchmarking systems and methods

• US 20070037570A1
• Filed: 08/15/2005
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Incode Telecom Group, Inc.
• Inventors: Crick, Todd, Donovan, John, Link, Rene
• Granted Patent: US 7,738,864 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/423
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

Systems and methods for measuring the performance of a provider of communications service are described. A plurality of mobile communications devices measure average power received, signal to noise ratio, voice quality, blocked and dropped calls, or any combinations of such measurements. The device may also receive a set of data identifying the location of the device. The device may transmit one or more communications signals to a server computer system with such measurements and location data. The measurements and location data may be stored in a database, and new data may be created and transmitted illustrating a subset of the measurements and location data.

Claims

1. A telecommunications system measuring performance of a provider of communications services, the system comprising:

a plurality of mobile communications devices, each configured to;

receive a range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves, the range associated with the provider of communications services;

measure the average power received from the range;

demodulate a subset of the range to reproduce a voice signal;

measure the voice quality of the reproduced voice signal;

receive a set of data identifying the location of the device; and

transmit at least one communications signal which includes information comprising;

the average power received from the range;

the voice quality measurement; and

the set of data; and

a server computer system in communication with each device of the plurality, the system configured to;

receive the at least one communications signal from each of the plurality of devices; and

store a subset of the information included in the communications signal in a database associated with the server computer system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the provider of communications services is a wireless carrier operating a cellular system.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves received comprises a wireless signal from the provider of communications services.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves received comprises a modulated voice signal.

5. A method of measuring performance of a provider of communications services, the method comprising:

receiving a set of data identifying the location and a signal quality metric of each of a plurality of mobile communications devices;

transmitting image data comprising a map representing each location and associated signal quality metric received within a specified geographic region.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the signal quality metric is selected from the group consisting of:

an average power received, a signal to noise ratio, a voice quality measurement, and any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein different ranges of the signal quality metric are represented as different colors on the map.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein different signal quality metrics are received representing different providers of communications services.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the provider of communications services is a wireless carrier operating a cellular system.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the signal quality metric is measured during the regular and customary use of the device by a user who regularly and customarily uses the device primarily for purposes of voice communication.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the set of data comprises Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) coordinates.

12. A method of measuring performance of a provider of communications services, the method comprising:

receiving at least one communications signal from each of a plurality of mobile communications devices, the at least one communications signal including information comprising;

an average power received by the device from a range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves, the range associated with the provider of communications services;

a measurement of a signal to noise ratio for the range received; and

a set of data identifying the location of the device;

determining the location of each device of the plurality based on the set of data;

associating the average power received and the measurement for each device of the plurality with the location of each device; and

transmitting a subset of information comprising the location of each device and the average power and the measurement associated with each location.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the subset of information comprises image data illustrating a map containing the location of each device and the average power associated with each location.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein,

the at least one communications signal further comprises a measurement of voice quality of a voice signal, the voice signal reproduced via demodulation by each device of a subset of the range received by the device;

and

the subset of information comprises image data illustrating a map containing a graphical representation of the location of each device and the measurement of voice quality associated with each location.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the subset of information comprises at least one table, illustrating the location of each device and the average power and the measurement associated with each location.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

determining a plurality of geographic regions;

wherein the location of each device is included in at least one of the plurality of geographic regions, and the average power and the measurement information in the table are further linked with the at least one of a plurality of geographic regions within which the associated location is included.

17. A method for measuring performance of a provider of communications services utilizing a database, the method comprising:

receiving at least one communications signal from each of a plurality of mobile communications devices, the at least one communications signal including information comprising;

an average power received by the device from a range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves, the range associated with the provider of communications services;

a measurement of voice quality of a voice signal, the voice signal reproduced via demodulation by the device of a subset of the range received by the device; and

a set of data identifying the location of the device;

storing the information included in the signal comprising the average power, the measurement, and the set of data in a database; and

maintaining the database with the stored information.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the provider of communications services is a wireless carrier operating a cellular system.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves comprises a wireless signal from the provider of communications services.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein,

a time of reception on the device is associated with the average power received;

the time of reception is included in the information; and

the time of reception is stored in the database.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein,

a time is associated with the measurement;

the time is included in the information; and

the time is stored in the database.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves received by each device comprises a modulated voice signal from the provider of communications services.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the set of data comprises Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) coordinates.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the voice quality measurement comprises a Mean Opinion Score (“

MOS”

).

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the communications signal further comprises a measurement of a signal to noise ratio for the range received, and the storing step further comprises storing the signal to noise ratio measurement.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein the communications signal further comprises information about blocked or dropped calls, and the storing step further comprises storing the information about blocked or dropped calls.

27. The method of claim 17, which further comprises:

transmitting a subset of information comprising the location of each device and the average power and the measurement associated with each location.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein,

a time is associated with the average power received and a time is associated with the measurement;

each time is stored in the database; and

the subset of information comprises information received by each device of the plurality during a period of time.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the subset of information comprises image data illustrating a map.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the map contains a graphical representation of the location of each device and the average power associated with each location.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the subset of information comprises at least one table illustrating the location of each device and the average power and the measurement associated with each location.

32. A computer program embodied on at least one computer readable medium, the computer program comprising instructions executable by a computer to:

receive a communications signal from a plurality of mobile communications devices, information included in each signal comprising;

an average power received by the device from a range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves;

a measurement of voice quality of a voice signal on the device; and

a set of data identifying the location of the device,

store the information included in the signal related to the average power, the measurement, and the set of data in a database.

33. The computer program recited in claim 32, which further comprises instructions executable to receive a signal to noise ratio measurement from the device for the range received, and store the signal to noise ratio measurement.

34. The computer program recited in claim 32, which further comprises instructions executable to receive a time associated with the average power received and a time associated with the measurement, and to store each time in the database.

35. The computer program recited in claim 34, which further comprises instructions executable to transmit subset of the information comprising the location of each device and to the average power and the measurement associated with each location, the subset attributable to a period of time.

36. The computer program recited in claim 32, which further comprises instructions executable to transmit a subset of the information comprising the location of each device and to the average power and the measurement associated with each location.

37. The computer program recited in claim 36, which further comprises instructions executable to create image data illustrating a map including graphical representation of the location of each device and the average power received, the image data comprising the subset of information.

38. A method of providing a user interface which illustrates performance of a provider of communications services, the method comprising:

providing an interface which allows a user to select a geographic region;

providing an interface which allows a user to select a signal quality metric;

creating image data which comprises a map illustrating the geographic region, the signal quality metric measured by each of a plurality of mobile communications devices, and the location of each measurement; and

transmitting the image data.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

providing an interface which allows a user to select a range of times; and

creating image data representing measurements during the range of times.

40. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

providing an interface which allows a user to select one of a plurality of providers of communications services; and

creating image data representing measurements of the selected provider.

41. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the computer-implementable method of claim 38 for providing a user interface.

42. A mobile communications device, wherein the device is configured to:

receive a range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves, the range associated with a provider of communications services;

measure the average power received from the range;

demodulate a subset of the range to reproduce a voice signal;

measure the voice quality of the reproduced voice signal;

receive a set of data identifying the location of the device; and

transmit at least one communications signal which includes information comprising;

the average power received from the range;

the voice quality measurement; and

the set of data; and

wherein there is a variable interval between each measure of the average power, each interval corresponding to the earlier of;

a time interval metric; and

a distance movement metric.

43. The device of claim 42, wherein the time interval metric comprises 10 minutes, and the distance movement metric comprises 20 meters.

44. The device of claim 42, wherein the range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves received comprises a wireless signal from the provider of communications services.

45. The device of claim 42, wherein the wireless signal from the provider of communications services comprises a plurality of wireless signals.

46. The device of claim 42, wherein a time is associated with the average power received and a time is associated with the measurement, and each time is included in the information.

47. The device of claim 42, wherein the provider of communications services is a wireless carrier operating a cellular system.

48. The device of claim 42, wherein the range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves received comprises a modulated voice signal.

49. The device of claim 42, wherein the set of data comprises Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) coordinates.

50. The device of claim 42, wherein the voice quality measurement comprises a Mean Opinion Score (“

MOS”

).

51. The device of claim 42, wherein the device is further configured to measure a signal to noise ratio for the range received, and transmit the signal to noise ratio measurement in the at least one communications signal.

52. The system of claim 42, wherein each device is further configured to receive information about blocked or dropped calls, and transmit the information about blocked or dropped calls in the at least one communications signal.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the information about blocked or dropped calls is received from user input after an attempted or completed call.