Analytic and tracking systems and methods using over-the-air identifiers of mobile devices

1. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest;

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

associating an over-the-air identifier of the captured over-the-air identifiers to an individual;

associating the over-the-air identifier to an image of a person associated with a device having the over-the-air identifier; and

utilizing facial recognition from a database to identify the person.

2. The tracking method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting an over-the-air identifier on the watch list, dispatching or notifying personnel.

3. The tracking method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger comprises one of:

detecting the over-the-air identifier of a device at two or more places of interest over a period of time;

detecting the over-the-air identifier at a single location for an abnormal presence pattern;

detecting the over-the-air identifier at a prohibited location for the device;

detecting the over-the-air identifier in combination with additional analytics indicative of the situation of interest;

detecting the over-the-air identifier coincident with a location of a public safety incident or crime scene; and

detecting the over-the-air identifier coincident with another identifier of interest.

4. The tracking method of claim 1 , wherein the capturing comprises:

receiving a probe request from a wireless device, wherein the probe request comprises the over-the-air identifier; and

determining additional information for storage with the over-the-air identifier, wherein the additional information comprises any of location, time, and other identifying information.

5. The tracking method of claim 4 , wherein the probe request comprises a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) probe request compliant to IEEE 802.11.

6. The tracking method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of sensors comprises:

at least one radio capturing the over-the-air identifier;

an interface capturing at least one additional piece of information;

memory storing captured over-the-air identifiers and associated additional pieces of information;

a network interface communicating stored data to other sensors and to a server; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one radio, the interface, the memory, and the network interface.

7. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest; and

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

associating an over-the-air identifier of the captured over-the-air identifiers to an individual;

associating the over-the-air identifier to information gathered via another source; and

storing the information with the over-the-air identifier;

wherein the another source comprises one of a police annotation, a vehicle license plate, and information registered with the over-the-air identifier comprising one of an address and driver license information.

8. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest; and

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

communicating between the plurality of sensors and a server;

at the server, storing the over-the-air identifiers and associated information received from any of the plurality of sensors;

associating an over-the-air identifier of the captured over-the-air identifiers to an individual;

performing analytics on data received from any of the plurality of sensors; and

tracking any captured over-the-air identifiers of interests based on the analytics.

9. A tracking method, comprising:

operating a plurality of sensors across a geographic region;

capturing, by one or more sensors of the plurality of sensors, over-the-air identifiers of proximate mobile devices to the one or more sensors;

correlating the captured over-the-air identifiers to detect a trigger indicative of a situation of interest; and

in response to the detecting the trigger, maintaining a watch list of the captured over-the-air identifiers based on the trigger;

wherein the plurality of sensors are each one of stationary and mobile;

wherein the mobile sensors are deployed on government vehicles and on government personnel, and wherein the fixed sensors are deployed in government buildings and on machine-to-machine devices.