Granted Patent B2

US 12,323,876 · App. 17/740,119 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Inventor: Muhammad Tawhidur Rahman (Bellevue, WA)

Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc.

H04W4/023H04W4/021H04W56/0045H04W56/0055H04W64/00

Abstract

Claims (117)

1. At least one computer-readable storage medium, excluding transitory signals and carrying instructions to categorize a location of a mobile device in relation to a cell tower associated with a wireless telecommunication network, which, when executed by at least one data processor of a system, cause the system to:

define multiple regions associated with the cell tower,

wherein the cell tower is providing wireless communication coverage to the mobile device,

wherein the multiple regions describe the location of the mobile device in relation to the cell tower,

wherein the multiple regions include a near region, a middle region, and a far region,

wherein the near region is nearest to the cell tower, the far region is farthest from the cell tower, and the middle region is between the near region and the far region;

periodically send a request to the mobile device to provide an indication of a propagation delay associated with the mobile device,

wherein the propagation delay indicates a distance between the mobile device and the cell tower;

based on the propagation delay, categorize the location of the mobile device in relation to the cell tower into one of the multiple regions associated with the cell tower;

receive an indication of a problem in a communication between the mobile device and the wireless telecommunication network; and,

based on the one of the multiple regions into which the location of the mobile device is categorized, determine a likely source of the problem,

wherein the likely source of the problem is the mobile device, a radio network, or a core network.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein instructions to define multiple regions associated with the cell tower comprise instructions to:

determine a frequency of the communication between the cell tower and the mobile device;

based on the frequency of the communication, determine a size of a region around the cell tower,

wherein the cell tower provides a coverage to the mobile device at the frequency of the communication; and

divide the region around the cell tower into multiple regions.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the mobile device and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the data session, receive at an access and mobility management function associated with the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the propagation delay associated with the mobile device; and

upon categorizing the location of the mobile device, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the mobile device and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the voice call, receive at a telephony application server associated with an IP multimedia subsystem of the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the propagation delay associated with the mobile device; and

upon categorizing the location of the mobile device, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the mobile device and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the messaging, receive at a messaging server associated with the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the propagation delay associated with the mobile device,

wherein the messaging server includes a rich communication services application server, a short message service center, or an IP multimedia subsystem messaging server; and

upon categorizing the location of the mobile device, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to send the request to the mobile device to provide the indication of the propagation delay comprise instructions to:

send the request to the mobile device to provide a timing advance defined by 3GPP, wherein the timing advance is proportional to two times the propagation delay.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

store multiple indications of multiple problems and the one of the multiple regions,

wherein an indication among the multiple indications is associated with the one of the multiple regions;

based on the multiple indications of multiple problems, determine a region among the multiple regions in which a majority of the multiple problems occur;

based on the region, determine a frequent source of the problem; and

tag the frequent source of the problem for repair.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

determine whether the mobile device having the problem in communication is in the near region; and

upon determining that the mobile device having the problem in communication is in the near region, determine that radio communication between the mobile device and the cell tower is an unlikely source of the problem and that the likely source of the problem is the mobile device or the core network.

9. A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the system to:

define multiple regions associated with a cell tower of a wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the cell tower is providing coverage to a UE,

wherein the multiple regions describe a location of the UE in relation to the cell tower,

wherein the multiple regions include a near region and a far region,

wherein the near region is nearest to the cell tower, and the far region is farthest from the cell tower;

send a request to the UE to provide an indication of a distance between the UE and the cell tower;

based on the distance between the UE and the cell tower, categorize the location of the UE in relation to the cell tower into one of the multiple regions associated with the cell tower;

receive an indication of a problem in a communication between the UE and the wireless telecommunication network; and

based on the one of the multiple regions into which the location of the UE is categorized, determine a likely source of the problem,

wherein the source of the problem includes the UE, a radio network, or a core network.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein instructions to define multiple regions associated with the cell tower comprise instructions to:

determine a frequency of the communication between the cell tower and the UE;

based on the frequency of the communication, determine a size of a region around the cell tower,

wherein the cell tower provides a coverage to the UE at the frequency of the communication; and

divide the region around the cell tower into the multiple regions.

11. The system of claim 9 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the UE and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the data session, receive at an access and mobility management function associated with the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the distance between the UE and the cell tower; and

upon categorizing the location of the UE, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

12. The system of claim 9 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the UE and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the voice call, receive at a telephony application server associated with an IP multimedia subsystem of the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the distance between the UE and the cell tower; and

upon categorizing the location of the UE, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

13. The system of claim 9 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the UE and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the messaging, receive at a messaging server associated with the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the distance between the UE and the cell tower,

wherein the messaging server includes a rich communication services application server, a short message service center, or an IP multimedia subsystem messaging server; and

upon categorizing the location of the UE, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the instructions to send the request to the UE to provide the indication of the distance between the UE and the cell tower comprise instructions to:

send the request to the UE to provide a timing advance defined by 3GPP; and

determine the distance between the UE and the cell tower based on the timing advance.

15. The system of claim 9 , comprising instructions to:

store multiple indications of multiple problems and the one of the multiple regions,

wherein an indication among the multiple indications is associated with the one of the multiple regions;

based on the multiple indications of multiple problems, determine a region among the multiple regions in which a majority of the multiple problems occur;

based on the region, determine a frequent source of the problem; and

tag the frequent source of the problem for repair.

16. The system of claim 9 , comprising instructions to:

determine whether the UE having the problem in the communication is in the near region;

upon determining that the UE having the problem in the communication is in the near region, determine that the radio network between the UE and the cell tower is an unlikely source of the problem and that the likely source of the problem is the UE or the core network.

17. A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the system to:

determine a frequency of the communication between a mobile device and a cell tower associated with a wireless telecommunication network, wherein the cell tower is providing coverage to the mobile device;

based on the frequency of the communication, determine a size of a region around the cell tower,

wherein the cell tower provides a coverage to the mobile device at the frequency of the communication; and

divide the region around the cell tower into multiple regions associated with the cell tower,

wherein the multiple regions describe a location of the mobile device in relation to the cell tower,

wherein the multiple regions include a near region, a middle region, and a far region,

wherein the near region is nearest to the cell tower, the far region is farthest from the cell tower, and the middle region is between the near region and the far region;

send a request to the mobile device to provide an indication of a distance between the mobile device and the cell tower;

based on the distance between the mobile device and the cell tower, categorize the location of the mobile device in relation to the cell tower into one of the multiple regions associated with the cell tower; and

upon categorizing the location of the mobile device, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

18. The system of claim 17 , comprising instructions to:

receive an indication of a problem in a communication between the mobile device and the wireless telecommunication network;

based on the one of the multiple regions into which the location of the mobile device is categorized, determine a likely source of the problem,

wherein the source of the problem includes the mobile device, a radio network, or a core network.

19. The system of claim 17 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the mobile device and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the data session, receive at an access and mobility management function associated with the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the distance between the mobile device and the cell tower; and

upon categorizing the location of the mobile device, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

20. The system of claim 17 , comprising instructions to:

determine a type of the communication between the mobile device and the wireless telecommunication network,

wherein the type of the communication includes a data session, a voice call, or a messaging;

upon determining that the type of the communication is the voice call, receive at a telephony application server associated with an IP multimedia subsystem of the wireless telecommunication network the indication of the distance between the mobile device and the cell tower; and

upon categorizing the location of the mobile device, store the one of the multiple regions in a call detail record.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (68)