ANONYMIZATION OF LOCATION DATASETS FOR TRAVEL STUDIES

• US 20160306813A1
• Filed: 04/14/2015
• Published: 10/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Meredith, Sheldon Kent, Austin, Mark, Fix, Jeremy
• Granted Patent: US 10,200,808 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 devices for determining a number of mobile devices travelling from a first location to a second location are disclosed. A method includes determining a first subset of mobile location records associated with the first location, determining mobile device identifiers associated with the first subset, and modifying mobile location records in the first subset by replacing a mobile device identifier contained in each mobile location record with a new identifier of the first subset. The method may then determine a second subset of mobile location records associated with the second location, modify mobile location records in the second subset by replacing a mobile device identifier contained in each mobile location record with a new identifier of the first subset, and determine a number of mobile devices that travelled from the first location to the second location based upon the new identifier of the first subset.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by a processor, a first subset of mobile location records associated with a first location;

determining, by the processor, a plurality of mobile device identifiers associated with the first subset, wherein each of the plurality of mobile device identifiers is contained in a mobile location record in the first subset;

modifying, by the processor, a first plurality of mobile location records in the first subset of mobile location records, wherein for each of the first plurality of mobile location records the modifying comprises replacing the mobile device identifier contained in each mobile location record with a new identifier of the first subset;

determining, by the processor, a second subset of mobile location records associated with a second location;

modifying, by the processor, a second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, wherein each of the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset contains a mobile device identifier of the plurality of mobile device identifiers associated with the first subset, wherein for each of the second plurality of mobile location records the modifying comprises replacing the mobile device identifier contained in each mobile location record with the new identifier of the first subset;

determining, by the processor, a number of mobile devices that have travelled from the first location to the second location based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset; and

reporting, by the processor, the number of mobile devices that have travelled from the first location to the second location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset comprises, for each mobile location record in the second plurality of mobile location records, replacing the mobile device identifier contained in the mobile location record with the identifier of the first subset and an additional identifier that uniquely identifies a mobile device associated with the mobile device identifier as compared to other mobile devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining the number of mobile devices that have travelled from the first location to the second location based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset comprises determining a number of additional identifiers that appear within the second subset.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein after the modifying the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, each of the additional identifiers is not associated with any one of the mobile device identifiers that was previously contained in a mobile location record of the second plurality of mobile location records.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining, by the processor, a set of mobile location records associated with an area comprising a plurality of locations; and

receiving, by the processor, a selection of the first location and the second location, wherein the plurality of locations includes the first location and the second location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the selection of the first location and the second location is received from a requesting device, wherein at least one of the first location and the second location comprises a location associated with the requesting device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a first time parameter associated with the first location; and

receiving, by the processor, a second time parameter associated with the second location.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the number of mobile devices that have travelled from the first location to the second location based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset comprises:

determining an average number of mobile location records in the first subset associated with each mobile device identifier of the plurality of mobile device identifiers for a given time period;

determining a total number of mobile location records in the second plurality of mobile location records for a time period of a same duration as the given time period; and

dividing the total number of mobile location records in the second plurality of mobile location records for the time period of the same duration as the given time period by the average number of mobile location records in the first subset associated with each mobile device identifier of the plurality of mobile device identifiers for the given time period.

9. A method, comprising:

determining, by a processor, a first subset of mobile location records associated with a first area;

determining, by the processor, a plurality of mobile device identifiers associated with the first subset, wherein each of the plurality of mobile device identifiers is contained in a mobile location record in the first subset;

modifying, by the processor, a first plurality of mobile location records in the first subset of mobile location records, wherein for each of the first plurality of mobile location records the modifying comprises replacing the mobile device identifier contained in each mobile location record with a new identifier of the first subset;

determining, by the processor, a second subset of mobile location records associated with a second area;

modifying, by the processor, a second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, wherein each of the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset contains a mobile device identifier of the plurality of mobile device identifiers associated with the first subset, wherein for each of the second plurality of mobile location records the modifying comprises replacing the mobile device identifier contained in the mobile location record with the new identifier of the first subset;

determining, by the processor, based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, a location within the second area to which a greatest number of mobile devices associated with the plurality of mobile device identifiers have travelled; and

reporting, by the processor, the location within the second area to which the greatest number of mobile devices associated with the plurality of mobile device identifiers have travelled.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

reporting, by the processor, a number of mobile devices associated with the plurality of mobile device identifiers that have travelled to the location.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining, by the processor, based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, a second location within the second area to which a second greatest number of mobile devices associated with the plurality of mobile device identifiers have travelled.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

reporting, by the processor, a number of mobile devices associated with the plurality of mobile device identifiers that have travelled to the second location.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the modifying the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset further comprises, for each mobile location record in the second plurality of mobile location records, replacing the mobile device identifier contained in the mobile location record with the identifier of the first subset and an additional identifier that uniquely identifies a mobile device associated with the mobile device identifier as compared to other mobile devices.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the determining, based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, the location within the second area to which the greatest number of mobile devices associated with the plurality of mobile device identifiers have travelled comprises:

determining a number of additional identifiers that appear within mobile location records in the second subset that are associated with the location.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein after the modifying the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, each of the additional identifiers is not associated with any one of the mobile device identifiers that was previously contained in a mobile location record of the second plurality of mobile location records.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a selection of the first area and the second area.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a first time parameter associated with the first area; and

receiving, by the processor, a second time parameter associated with the second area.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining, based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, the location within the second area to which the greatest number of mobile devices associated with the plurality of mobile device identifiers have travelled comprises:

determining an average number of mobile location records in the first subset associated with each mobile device identifier of the first plurality of mobile device identifiers in a given time period;

determining a total number of mobile location records of the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset for a time period of a same duration as the given time period; and

dividing the total number of mobile location records in the second plurality of mobile location records for the time period of the same duration as the given time period by the average number of mobile location records in the first subset associated with each mobile device identifier in the first plurality of mobile device identifiers for the given time period.

19. A device, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

determining a first subset of mobile location records associated with a first location;

determining a plurality of mobile device identifiers associated with the first subset, wherein each of the plurality of mobile device identifiers is contained in a mobile location record in the first subset;

modifying a first plurality of mobile location records in the first subset of mobile location records, wherein for each of the first plurality of mobile location records the modifying comprises replacing the mobile device identifier contained in each mobile location record with a new identifier of the first subset;

determining a second subset of mobile location records associated with a second location;

modifying a second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset, wherein each of the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset contains a mobile device identifier of the plurality of mobile device identifiers associated with the first subset, wherein for each of the second plurality of mobile location records the modifying comprises replacing the mobile device identifier contained in the mobile location record with the new identifier of the first subset;

determining a number of mobile devices that have travelled from the first location to the second location based upon the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset; and

reporting the number of mobile devices that have travelled from the first location to the second location.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the modifying the second plurality of mobile location records in the second subset further comprises, for each mobile location record in the second plurality of mobile location records, replacing the mobile device identifier contained in the mobile location record with the identifier of the first subset and an additional identifier that uniquely identifies a mobile device associated with the mobile device identifier as compared to other mobile devices.