Patent ID: 7882217
Filing Date: 2011-02-01
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for communication analysis, comprising: monitoring communication sessions, which are conducted by entities in a communication network; extracting from the monitored sessions identifiers that identify the entities; grouping the identifiers extracted from the sessions in respective identity clusters, each identity cluster identifying a respective entity; merging a subset of the identity clusters, which comprise identifiers that identify a target entity, to form a merged identity cluster that identifies the target entity, wherein merging the subset of the identity clusters comprises identifying in the identity clusters first and second identity clusters comprising a common identifier having a first validity period in the first identity cluster and a second validity period in the second identity cluster, and merging the first and second identity clusters responsively to verifying that the first validity period overlaps the second validity period; and tracking an activity of the target entity in the communication network using the merged identity cluster, wherein the common identifier comprises a short-lived identifier having a short validity period, wherein the first identity cluster comprises a first long-lived identifier, wherein the second identity cluster comprises a second long-lived identifier different from the first long-lived identifier, and wherein verifying that the first validity period overlaps the second validity period comprises associating the first and second long-lived identifiers with the target entity based on the common short-lived identifier.