Adaptive data collection
View Patent ↗One embodiment of the present invention separates the region of measurement space into a plurality of sub-regions and calculates a confidence, for reconstruction of an underlying signal within said space, corresponding to each of the sub-regions. This embodiment can then accept measurements from mobile measuring devices within said measurement space and store those measurements if they originate from devices in sub-regions having a confidence below an acceptable value.
1. A method of managing measurements, said method comprising:
providing at least one mobile measuring device within a measurement space, wherein said space has a measurable phenomenon; and
determining a usefulness of a measurement of said phenomenon taken from said device by using a calculation of a confidence of a reconstruction of said phenomenon.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said confidence calculation computes a probability that an error of said measurement will fall within a range.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said space is further divided into a plurality of sub-regions, and further comprising:
calculating a confidence for the reconstruction of said phenomenon within each of said sub-regions.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the measurement originates from a first sub-region, wherein said confidence calculation for said first sub-region denotes an unacceptable reconstruction of said signal, and further comprising:
storing the measurement.
5. The method of claim 3 wherein the measurement originates from a second sub-region, wherein said confidence calculation for said second sub-region denotes an acceptable reconstruction of said signal, and further comprising:
disregarding the measurement.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
storing successive measurements until said confidence denotes an acceptable reconstruction of said signal.
7. A system for managing measurements of a phenomenon within measurement space, said system comprising:
at least one mobile device capable of measuring a phenomenon;
a processor operable to calculate a confidence of a reconstruction of said phenomenon; and
computer code that calculates said confidence.
8. The system of claim 7 further comprising:
computer code that calculates an upper and a lower bound for a value of said phenomenon, wherein said confidence is related to a probability that the value of said phenomenon lies between said upper and said lower bound.
9. The system of claim 7 wherein said measurement space is divided into a plurality of sub-regions, and wherein said phenomenon is measured in each said sub-region.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein said reconstruction is independently performed in each sub-region, and wherein said confidence is independently calculated for each said reconstruction.
11. The system of claim 10 further comprising:
a computer readable memory; and
computer code that stores measurements taken in sub-regions with an un-acceptable confidence in the computer readable memory and discards measurements taken in sub-regions with an acceptable confidence.
12. A method for efficiently managing a reconstruction of broadcast signal, said method comprising:
providing a plurality of mobile measurement platforms capable of measuring said signal within a service area;
segmenting said service area into a plurality of sub-regions;
calculating an upper and a lower bound for the value of said signal within each said sub-regions; and
for each said sub-region, calculating a confidence that a measured value of said signal lies between said upper and said lower bound.
13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
storing a measured value originating from sub-regions with an unacceptable confidence.
14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:
recalculating said upper and said lower bounds for a sub-region after said measurement is stored.
15. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
accepting other measurements from said platforms until the confidence of each said sub-region is acceptable.
16. The method of claim 12 wherein said platforms are consumer owned devices.
17. The method of claim 12 wherein said broadcast signal is a cellular telephone signal and said platforms are cellular telephones.
18. A system for reconstructing a broadcast signal, said system comprising:
a plurality of mobile platforms capable of measuring said signal;
a service area of said signal that is segmented into a plurality of sub-regions;
a processor operable to process computer executable code including code for calculating, in each said sub-region, an upper and a lower bound for a value of said signal, and, code for calculating, in each sub-region, a confidence that a value of a subsequent measurement in said sub-region will be within a range between said upper and said lower bound.
19. The system of claim 18 further comprising:
a computer readable memory; and
code evaluating measurements in each sub-region, wherein said code stores, in said memory, measurements originating in sub-regions with unacceptable confidences.
20. The system of claim 19 wherein measurements originating in sub-regions with acceptable confidences are not stored.
21. The system of claim 18 wherein measurements are taken in one said sub-region until said confidence of said sub-region is above a predetermined value.
22. The system of claim 18 wherein said signal is a cellular telephone signal.
23. The system of claim 18 wherein said platforms are customer owned cellular telephones.