Methods and apparatus for extrapolating person and device counts
First Claim
1. A method of processing active wireless device statistics, the method comprising:
- receiving statistics on the number of active wireless devices in at least one communications cell;
correlating the received statistics to a target geographic region of interest to determine an estimated number of active wireless devices in the target geographic region of interest; and
estimating the number of people in the target geographic region of interest from the estimated number of active wireless devices in the target geographic region of interest.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for providing statistics on the number, distribution and/or flow of people or devices in a geographic region based on active wireless device counts are described. Wireless devices may be of different types e.g., cell phones, PDAs, etc. Wireless communications centers report the number and type of active devices in the geographic region serviced by the wireless communications center and/or indicate the number of devices entering/leaving the serviced region. The active wireless device information is correlated to one or more targeted geographical areas. Population counts are extrapolated from the device information for the targeted geographic areas. Traffic and/or flow information is generated from changes in the device counts or population estimates over time and/or from information on the number of active devices entering/leaving a region. Reports may include predictions of crowd population characteristics based on information about the types and/or number of different wireless devices being used.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of processing active wireless device statistics, the method comprising:
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receiving statistics on the number of active wireless devices in at least one communications cell; correlating the received statistics to a target geographic region of interest to determine an estimated number of active wireless devices in the target geographic region of interest; and estimating the number of people in the target geographic region of interest from the estimated number of active wireless devices in the target geographic region of interest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of generating a traffic flow report, the method comprising the steps of:
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collecting active wireless device statistics from a communications cell over a period of time; correlating the received statistics to at least one target geographic region; detecting changes in the collected active wireless device statistics correlated to said at least one geographic region; and generating a report including traffic flow information for said at least one geographic region based on detected changes in the collected active wireless device statistics. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for estimating the number of people in a geographic region, the apparatus comprising:
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an interface for receiving an active wireless device count from at least one communications cell; means for correlating the received count to a target geographic region to determine an estimated number of active wireless devices in the target geographic region; and means for estimating based on the estimated number of active wireless devices the number of people in the geographic region including at least a portion of said communication cell. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification