Abstract:
A method for generating a plot of cell towers and associated sectors on a map includes the steps of determining a position of at least one cell tower on a map responsive to data indicating a position of the cell tower and determining boundaries associated with a plurality of sectors associated with the at least one cell tower responsive to an azimuth associated with each of the plurality of sectors. A location of call events are also determined responsive to call data. A plot of the map is generated including the at least one cell tower, the boundaries associated with the plurality of sectors associated with the at least one cell tower and the location of the call events marked on the map.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the plotting of cell towers, associated cell sectors and call data records upon a map, and more particularly, to a system for automatically plotting cell towers, associated cell tower sectors and call data records upon a map to provide a graphical representation of the towers and associated sectors. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Many times in a litigation, corporate due diligence or other legal-related matters, there is a need to display information on a map with respect to cell tower sites, the various sectors associated with these cell tower sites and information with respect to calls occurring in the area of the cell tower. Present techniques require an individual to obtain a copy of a map with respect to a particular area and hand plot the position of a cell tower or towers upon the map and any relevant call information. The various sectors and sector boundaries that are associated with the cell tower are hand-drawn onto the map to provide a visual representation of the cell tower and associated sectors. Information from call data records must also be hand-plotted onto the map. This process is very time-consuming in order to exactly place the cell tower sites, generate the various sectors that are associated with the cell towers and place the call record information. Thus, some manner for enabling an individual to quickly and efficiently plot location information with respect to cell towers, cell tower sectors and call records would be of great benefit in the situations where litigation or other legal matter required the use of such information within the proceeding. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    The present invention, as disclosed and described herein, in one aspect thereof comprises a method for generating a plot of cell towers and associated sectors on a map. The method determines a position of at least one cell tower on a map responsive to data indicating a position of the cell tower and determines boundaries associated with a plurality of sectors associated with the at least one cell tower responsive to an azimuth associated with each of the plurality of sectors. A location of call events are also determined responsive to call data. A plot of the map is generated including the at least one cell tower, the boundaries associated with the plurality of sectors associated with the at least one cell tower and the location of the call events marked on the map. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]    For a more complete understanding, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings in which: 
           [0005]      FIG. 1  illustrates the manner in which a plotting tool may be used to generate cell tower and sector boundary plots based on various input information; 
           [0006]      FIG. 2   a  is a functional block diagram of the cell tower and sector plotting tool; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2   b  illustrates a cell tower list; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2   c  illustrates a call data record; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2   d  illustrates an alternative embodiment of the cell tower and sector plotting tool; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates the use of a cell tower and sector plotting tool within personal computer software; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates the use of a cell tower and sector plotting application as a mobile device application; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates the use of a cell tower plotting application that is remotely accessed via a network such as the internet; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram describing the operation of the cell tower and sector plotting system; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates a first example of a plot of a cell tower and associated sectors; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  illustrates a further example showing a map including several cell towers of different types with the associated sectors plotted on the map in association with the cell towers; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  illustrates a map plot including information from call detail records. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers are used herein to designate like elements throughout, the various views and embodiments of an automated cell tower sector plotting tool are illustrated and described, and other possible embodiments are described. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, and in some instances the drawings have been exaggerated and/or simplified in places for illustrative purposes only. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the many possible applications and variations based on the following examples of possible embodiments. 
         [0018]    Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to  FIG. 1 , there is illustrated a manner in which a plotting tool  102  may be utilized to provide a cell tower/sector/call data record plot  104 . The cell tower/sector plot  104  comprises a map that has included thereon one or more cell tower sites. Each of these cell tower sites has one or more sectors associated therewith and the cell tower/sector/call data record plot  104  displays the boundaries of these sectors such that the cell tower/sector plot  104  may be used as a visual aid within a legal or corporate proceeding. The plotting tool  102  generates the cell tower/sector plot  104  using a variety of information that is input into the plotting tool  102 . The first thing that is needed is some type of map data  106 . The map data  106  can be information provided from, for example, Google or some other type of mapping application that provides street-level detail of a particular area of interest. 
         [0019]    The cell tower longitude/latitude data  108  comprises longitude and latitude coordinates for each cell tower that a user desires to include upon the associated mapping data  106 . Additionally, cell sector azimuth data  110  is provided for each of the cell towers that are to be mapped that indicate the azimuth direction of each sector associated with a particular cell tower. The sector azimuth information may comprise the azimuth for one or more sectors for each cell tower depending upon the type of cell tower that is involved. The plotting tool  102  processes the cell tower longitude/latitude data  108  and the sector azimuth data  110  to generate a map that includes each cell tower plotted thereon and further has the sectors associated with each of the cell towers illustrated on the map with respect to the approximate boundaries of these sectors. The cell towers are placed using the longitude and latitude of each tower. The azimuth for each sector is used for calculating the boundaries for each of the sectors of the cell tower. All of this information is provided on the cell tower/sector plot  104 . 
         [0020]    Various call data records  112  may then be imported onto the plot  104  to represent and plot locations from which calls have been made. The call data records  112  may include information such as per call measurement data (PCMD) or call detail records (CDR). The call data records  112  are used to plot the call related information onto the map with the plotted cell towers. The plotting tool  102  additionally has the ability to receive various user inputs  114  that allows the user to place particular icons or information upon the cell tower sector plot  104  that delineates or highlights particular information which an individual desires to illustrate or bring out upon the cell tower sector plot map  104  that has been created. 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 2   a , there is illustrated a functional block diagram of the plotting tool  102 . The plotting tool  102  includes a network interface  202  that enables the downloading of information into a database  204  through a connected network such as the internet. The database  204  is used for storing information that is used to plot out the cell tower sector plots  104  such as the cell tower longitude/latitude information, the map data, the sector azimuth data and call data information such as PCMD and CDR. All the information within the database  204  can be previously stored within the database  204  or may be downloaded to the database  204  through the network interface  202  as needed. 
         [0022]    Various plotting modules utilize the data stored within the database  204  to create the cell tower/sector plot  104 . A tower plotting module  206  combines the cell tower longitude/latitude information within the database  204  with the map data contained within the database  204  to plot the positions of the cell tower upon the geographic area illustrated by the map data. The cell tower information may be provided via a spread sheet that can be automatically uploaded into the database  204  by having correlated data fields. A single or group of towers may be manually uploaded into the database by providing tower switch and number of the targeted tower; the latitude and longitude of the tower; and the azimuth of each sector on the tower. One example of a tower list is illustrated below in  FIG. 2   b.    
         [0023]    The sector plotting module  208  uses the sector azimuth data within the database  204 , the cell tower longitude/latitude information within the database  204  and the map data within the database  204  to plot the boundaries of each of the sectors associated with the various cell towers that have been plotted by the tower plotting module  206 . The sector plotting module  206  plots out the various sectors and defines their boundaries with respect to each cell tower. The sector plotting module  206  uses the azimuth of each sector and the following to plot the sectors. 
         [0024]    Not all sectors are adjoined by a sequential sector number but all azimuths are shown by their compass heading. Adjoining sectors will be the azimuth of the lowest increased number on the compass as you move from sector to sector around the tower in a clockwise direction. Each sector will have two boundary lines showing the approximate range of coverage of the sector. To determine the first boundary line of a sector you take the sectors azimuth and subtract that number from the next adjoining sector azimuth. This will be the next lowest increased azimuth number on the compass. This result is divided by 2 then added to that sectors azimuth to reveal the first boundary line of the sector. This process is repeated until all sector boundary lines have been calculated for the cell tower. This process will also show the sector sequential order on the tower. 
         [0025]    The call data record module  209  is used for importing and plotting information relating to call data records into the map. The call data records may be in the format of per call measurement data (PCMD) or call detail records (CDR). This allows information with respect to a particular call to be displayed on the map. The call data module  209  plots information relating to when and where calls were made with respect to a particular cell tower on a map plot that is being created. An example of a CDR is illustrated in  FIG. 2   c.    
         [0026]    A user interface  210  enables a user to manually enter information to be included within the plot generated by the plotting tool  102 . The user interface  210  may comprise a user keyboard/mouse combination or some other type of data entry device enabling the user to access the icon plotting module  212 . The icon plotting module  212  enables a user through the user interface  210  to place particular icons or items of interest that are to be highlighted within the cell tower sector plots being generated. This information is placed within the sector plot by the icon plotting module  212 . 
         [0027]    The information generated by the tower plotting module  206 , the sector plotting module  208 , the call data record module  209  and the icon plotting module  212  are utilized by a graphics module  214  in order to generate the cell tower sector/CDR plot  104  including all of the information with respect to the cell towers that are located within a particular mapped area, the sectors that are associated with these cell towers and the calls that occurred within the area of the cell towers. The graphics module  214  enables the generation of the map represented by the mapping data and illustrates each of the cell towers within the mapped area, shows the sectors and approximate sector boundaries that are associated with these various cell towers and illustrates various calls that occurred within these areas as will be more fully described herein below. 
         [0028]    Referring now to  FIG. 2   d , there is illustrated a functional block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the plotting tool  102 . The major difference between this embodiment and that of  FIG. 2   a  is a GPS/GPRS module  220  that replaces the Call data record module of  FIG. 2   a . It should also be realized that both a Call Data Record module  209  and a GPS/GPRS module  220  could each be included in the same plotting tool  102 . The plotting tool  102  includes a network interface  202  that enables the downloading of information into a database  204  through a connected network such as the internet. The database  204  is used for storing information that is used to plot out the cell tower sector plots  104  such as the cell tower longitude/latitude information, the map data, the sector azimuth data and call data information such as GPS (global positioning system) data or GPRS (general packet radio service) data. All the information within the database  204  can be previously stored within the database  204  or may be downloaded to the database  204  through the network interface  202  as needed. 
         [0029]    Various plotting modules utilize the data stored within the database  204  to create the cell tower/sector plot  104 . A tower plotting module  206  combines the cell tower longitude/latitude information within the database  204  with the map data contained within the database  204  to plot the positions of the cell tower upon the geographic area illustrated by the map data. The cell tower information may be provided via a spread sheet that can be automatically uploaded into the database  204  by having correlated data fields. A single or group of towers may be manually uploaded into the database by providing tower switch and number of the targeted tower; the latitude and longitude of the tower; and the azimuth of each sector on the tower. 
         [0030]    The sector plotting module  208  uses the sector azimuth data within the database  204 , the cell tower longitude/latitude information within the database  204  and the map data within the database  204  to plot the boundaries of each of the sectors associated with the various cell towers that have been plotted by the tower plotting module  206 . The sector plotting module  206  plots out the various sectors and defines their boundaries with respect to each cell tower. The sector plotting module  206  uses the azimuth of each sector and the following to plot the sectors. 
         [0031]    Not all sectors are adjoined by a sequential sector number but all azimuths are shown by their compass heading. Adjoining sectors will be the azimuth of the lowest increased number on the compass as you move from sector to sector around the tower in a clockwise direction. Each sector will have two boundary lines showing the approximate range of coverage of the sector. To determine the first boundary line of a sector you take the sectors azimuth and subtract that number from the next adjoining sector azimuth. This will be the next lowest increased azimuth number on the compass. This result is divided by 2 then added to that sectors azimuth to reveal the first boundary line of the sector. This process is repeated until all sector boundary lines have been calculated for the cell tower. This process will also show the sector sequential order on the tower. 
         [0032]    The GPS/GPRS module  220  is used for importing and plotting information relating to GPS and/or GPRS data into the map. This allows information with respect to a particular call to be displayed on the map. The GPS/GPRS module  209  plots information relating to when and where calls were made with respect to a particular cell tower on a map plot that is being created. 
         [0033]    A user interface  210  enables a user to manually enter information to be included within the plot generated by the plotting tool  102 . The user interface  210  may comprise a user keyboard/mouse combination or some other type of data entry device enabling the user to access the icon plotting module  212 . The icon plotting module  212  enables a user through the user interface  210  to place particular icons or items of interest that are to be highlighted within the cell tower sector plots being generated. This information is placed within the sector plot by the icon plotting module  212 . 
         [0034]    The information generated by the tower plotting module  206 , the sector plotting module  208 , the GPS/GPRS module  220  and the icon plotting module  212  are utilized by a graphics module  214  in order to generate the plot  104  including all of the information with respect to the cell towers that are located within a particular mapped area, the sectors that are associated with these cell towers and the calls that occurred within the area of the cell towers. The graphics module  214  enables the generation of the map represented by the mapping data and illustrates each of the cell towers within the mapped area, shows the sectors and approximate sector boundaries that are associated with these various cell towers and illustrates various calls that occurred within these areas as will be more fully described herein below. 
         [0035]    Referring now to  FIGS. 3-5 , there are illustrated various manners for implementing the plotting system described with respect to  FIG. 2  in various operating environments. Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is illustrated the plotting software  302  implemented as software on a personal computer or other type of computing device. The plotting software  302  would be installed upon the personal computer  304  as software is normally done and access to the plotting software would be achieved through a user interface  306  and network interface  308 . The user interface  306  would be used for launching the software and designating the particular maps, cell towers and information that is to be generated with a particular cell tower sector plot. The network interface  308  can be used for downloading the information such as the map data, cell tower longitude and latitude location data and the sector azimuth data associated with a plot. 
         [0036]    Alternatively, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the plotting tool could be implemented as a plotting application  402  upon some type of mobile device such as a Smartphone, mobile phone, tablet or other type of mobile computing device  404 . In this case, the mobile device would obtain the various plotting information through an associated network  406  such as the internet that communicates with a plotting application server  408 . The plotting application  402  would establish a connection with the plotting application server  408  over the network  406  and provide the plotting application server  408  with various parameters indicating the information that the user of the mobile device  404  wanted to include within a particular cell tower sector plot. The plotting application server  408  gathers the appropriate information such as the map data, cell tower data, and sector azimuth data, generates the necessary plots and provides this back to the plotting application  402  through the network  406 . Alternatively, the user could have some of the map data, cell tower longitude and altitude location data and sector azimuth data within the mobile device  404  and provides this to the plotting application server  408  over the network  406  rather than having the plotting application server  408  obtains this information. 
         [0037]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , there is illustrated a further embodiment wherein a remote device such as a computer, mobile device, tablet PC, etc., accesses a plotting server  504  through the internet  506  utilizing a browser  508  within the remote device  502 . In this case, the browser  508  merely accesses a website provided by the plotting server  504  over the internet  506  and enters the relevant map cell tower longitude and latitude data and sector azimuth data into the plotting server  504  or instructs the plotting server  504  to obtain the necessary information. The plotting server  504  generates the appropriate cell tower sector plots and this information is downloaded to the remote device  502  and stored thereon over the internet  506 . Thus as can be seen from the descriptions with respect to  FIGS. 3-5 , the cell tower sector plotting tool for automatically generating the sector boundary plots can be implemented in a number of fashions, whether as standalone software, mobile device apps or using the browser of a remote device to access a remote web location. Other types of implementation would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. 
         [0038]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , there is illustrated a flow diagram describing the operation of the cell tower sector plotting tool that has been described hereinabove. Initially, data associated with a map of a particular area of interest is obtained at step  602 . As discussed previously, this can be information provided by the user or downloaded from such internet mapping functions as Google Earth, MapQuest, Google Maps, etc. Next, the longitude and latitude locations of each cell tower located on the map are provided to the plotting tool. This information is utilized by the plotting tool to plot the locations of the cell towers at the geographic location on the map at step  606 . Next, the azimuths of each sector associated with each cell tower that was plotted at step  606  are provided to the plotting tool at step  608 . Each cell tower may have three to six sectors in most cell tower configurations, however a cell tower including any number of sectors might be utilized with the azimuth of each sector no matter how many there are being provided to the plotting tool. Using the provided azimuth information for each sector, the location and boundaries of each sector associated with each cell tower located on the map are determined and plotted by the plotting tool at step  610 . Next, at step  609  all of the call data records relating to the cell tower may be obtained. The call data records are used at step  611  to determine where in when calls occurred in a particular area and this information is then plotted on the map. Once all of the cell towers and associated sectors and sector boundaries and call record data have been determined and plotted on the map, the user may also input additional graphical data with respect to activity or points of interest that are located on the map at step  612 . This may include information such as the locations from which calls were made or other areas of interest relating to the reason that the plot is being generated. The graphical icons or information with respect to the activity of interest are plotted onto the map at step  614 , and the completed plot may be provided for download or printing at step  616 . 
         [0039]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , there is illustrated an example of a plot that could be automatically generated according to the system of the present disclosure. The example illustrates a map  702  of an area of Anaheim, Calif. Within the map  402 , the location of a cell tower  404  is illustrated. The longitude and latitude of the cell tower  404  places it near the corner of Alondra Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. The cell tower  404  includes six separate sectors  406 . Each sector  406  comprises roughly a pie-shaped area having an outer boundary  410  comprising an arc that runs between two side boundaries  412  separating each sector from its adjacent sectors. In this particular example, an additional graphical icon  414  has been added to indicate a crime scene location that occurred within the coverage area of sector five of the cell tower  404 . 
         [0040]    Referring now to  FIG. 8 , there is illustrated a further example of a plot generated by the automatic cell tower sector plotting tool. In this case, the map  802  comprises an area of Los Angeles, Calif. In this plot, a variety of cell tower locations are noted. In the example of  FIG. 8 , cell towers  804  and  806  are illustrated. Each of the cell towers  804  and  806  comprise six sector towers and the six sectors associated with each of the towers  804  and  806  are illustrated in the figure. Cell towers  808  and  810  comprise three sector cell towers. These plots have a similar configuration to those of the six sector plots with the exception that only three sectors comprising larger pie-shaped sectors are illustrated with respect thereto. Finally, there illustrated a set of three distributed antenna systems (DAS)  812 ,  814 , and  816 . The distributed antenna systems include only a single sector, are Omni-directional and do not have the multi-sector configurations of the other devices. Distributed Antenna Systems have substantially smaller coverage areas. Should DAS become sectored the plotting tool can recognize and account for the boundary lines in the same fashion it would for a standard tower configuration. 
         [0041]    Referring now to  FIG. 9 , there is illustrated an example of a plot including a cell tower  902  having six different sectors. The plot illustrates a first call location  904  and a second call location  906 . The first and second call locations  904  and  906  are determined from call data record information that may be downloaded and used to generate the plots. 
         [0042]    Thus, using the above described system and method, the plotting tool application can place a cell tower on a map within a cellular network using the latitude and longitude of the tower. By marking the sectors of the azimuth of each sector, the application may draw the correct boundary lines for each sector and illustrate this on the map. This allows the plotting of towers and sectors for any type of cell tower including distributed antenna systems. The plots generated by the system additionally may contain icons useful for legal or corporate presentations that a user may place within the sectors of the generated plot. This will enable the plot to be used as a visual aid for illustrating call activity relevant to important timeframes that involve calls/text/internet activity related to a particular matter. This program replicates what is presently manually done using one-off calculations and drawings upon maps for court displays. 
         [0043]    It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that this automated cell tower sector plotting tool provides an improved manner for generating a graphical plot of cell tower locations and the associated sectors of the cell towers. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description herein are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive manner, and are not intended to be limiting to the particular forms and examples disclosed. On the contrary, included are any further modifications, changes, rearrangements, substitutions, alternatives, design choices, and embodiments apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope hereof, as defined by the following claims. Thus, it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such further modifications, changes, rearrangements, substitutions, alternatives, design choices, and embodiments.