GB2541395A

GB2541395A - Method and system for intercepting signals of cellular communication equipment

Info

Publication number: GB2541395A
Application number: GB1514567.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wilson John; Nicholls Grant
Original assignee: PATH INTELLIGENCE Ltd
Current assignee: PATH INTELLIGENCE Ltd
Priority date: 2015-08-16
Filing date: 2015-08-16
Publication date: 2017-02-22
Also published as: GB201514567D0

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system for passively intercepting signals from a cellular communications equipment. The system includes a plurality of interceptor devices distributed remote from the at least one server and each including, housed within a weatherproof enclosure and operatively coupled with one another, a wide band radio receiver, an embedded computer board and a power over ethernet board. Each interceptor device is able to demodulate the intercepted cellular signal to obtain an identifier of the cellular equipment (for example, IMSI, IMEI, TMSI, MAC address or RNTI). The interceptor devices may communicate with each other via Bluetooth RTM, Wi-Fi RTM or similar. An embodiment describes use within a retail outlet to track cellular device users as they move around the stores within the retail outlet.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INTERCEPTING SIGNALS OF CELLULAR COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication and, in particular, relates to intercepting signals of wireless communication equipment.

BACKGROUND

[0002] With the advent of the internet, many users shop online. Moreover, online publishers have taken advantage of this fact by collecting data related to customers who are buying products online and improving their online shopping experience by suggesting or recommending various other products related to their interests. The publishers achieve this by utilizing a number of technologies. However, many users are interested in buying products at markets, retail stores, showrooms and similar physical establishments. Thus, analysis of in-person shoppers is becoming an important contribution to deciding and planning for shopping centers and improving the experience of users visiting retail outlets, showrooms or stores.

[0003] A user may have a specific interest in a type of product that he or she wants to buy while at the market or a showroom. This interest may be heavily influenced by brand. For example, a user may prefer buying shoes from a first store and another user may prefer buying clothes from a second store. A user may frequently visit a well-known store located in a mall. Information related to offline shopping analytics of the users can be important for improving the offline shopping experience of the users. Moreover, business managers employ this data to improve the business and increase revenue by providing products preferred by users. Managers may like to know the shops or groups of shops most frequently visited by one or more users; the number of users visiting a given store, how busy is the entrances and exits of the stores and the like.

[0004] Presently, location detection is performed through various systems and methods. Detection of location is performed by generating lists of MAC address/signal strength pairs, utilizing WiFi/Bluetooth location tracking, analyzing readings from third party equipment, and utilizing GPS locations.

[0005] Existing methods and systems for inferring locations of the one or more users are inefficient. Typical devices used for collecting shopper analytics are not small and discrete enough for easy installation at business establishments. Moreover, they are not cost effective. Additionally, these devices are not capable of receiving most common frequencies used worldwide, are not weatherproof, are not resilient and do not employ self diagnostics. Further existing methods and systems do not allow deriving of various identifiers and parameters associated with the communication device of the users. Furthermore, the devices are not weather proofed, thereby leading to environmental damage. In addition, the devices are not resilient

SUMMARY

[0006] In an aspect of the present disclosure, a system for passively intercepting signals of cellular communications equipment is provided. The system comprising at least one server; and a plurality of interceptor devices distributed remote from the at least one server and each including, housed within a weatherproof enclosure and operatively coupled with one another, a wide band radio receiver, an embedded computer board and a power over ethernet board.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each power over ethernet board is configured to transmit power to the operatively coupled embedded computer board.

[0008] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, each power over ethernet board is configured to record its output voltage, output current and temperature.

[0009] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, each wide band radio receiver is a software defined radio board configured to demodulate intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment.

[0010] In an another embodiment of the present disclosure, each embedded computer board further comprises a WiFi/Bluetooth card and is further configured to manage configuration of the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and generate WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from the signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted by the WiFi/Bluetooth card.

[0011] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the WiFi/Bluetooth card is further configured to receive custom settings from a maintenance staff communication device.

[0012] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, each embedded computer board is configured to determine whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board; assemble and transmit data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and mesh to one or more other interceptors through the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with Bluetooth protocol when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each power over ethernet board is configured to transmit, to the at least one server in accordance with ethernet transmission standards, data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each embedded computer board further includes a plurality of GbE couplings and is configured to employ the GbE couplings to exchange data with the at least one server and with the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each embedded computer board includes a wireless transceiver configured to enable communication with local interceptor devices. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, each wireless transceiver further comprises a Wi-Fi dongle.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each embedded computer board is configured to determine whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board; assemble and transmit data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and mesh to one or more other interceptors through the wireless transceiver when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

[0017] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, each embedded computer board is configured to manage configuration of the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and derive identifiers from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted by the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

[0018] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, each embedded computer board is further configured to derive parameters from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted by the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

[0019] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the weatherproof enclosure further comprises a metal back plate configured to sink heat from each of the wide band radio receiver, the embedded computer board and power over ethernet board to environment.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the power over ethernet board further comprises a plurality of field effect transistors thermally coupled with the metal back plate so as to sink heat thereto.

[0021] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method to passively intercept signals from cellular communications equipment is provided. The method includes providing at least one server; arranging a wide band radio receiver, an embedded computer board and a power over ethernet board in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings to provide a plurality of interceptor devices; and distributing the plurality of interceptor devices at a plurality of locations remote from the server.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes transmitting power from one of the power over ethernet boards to the operatively coupled embedded computer board.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes recording output voltage, output current and temperature of the power over ethernet board.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes demodulating intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment with one of the wide band radio receivers.

[0025] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes providing a WiFi/Bluetooth card to each embedded computer board; managing configuration of the WiFi/Bluetooth card with the embedded computer board in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and with the embedded computer board, generating WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from cellular communications equipment signals intercepted by the WiFi/Bluetooth card.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes with the WiFi/Bluetooth card receiving custom settings from a maintenance staff communication device.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes determining whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board; assembling and transmitting data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and meshing to one or more other interceptors through the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with Bluetooth protocol when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes, with one of the power over ethernet boards, transmitting, to the at least one server in accordance with ethernet transmission standards, data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, arranging an embedded computer board includes arranging an embedded computer board with a plurality of GbE couplings, and the method further includes exchanging data with the at least one server and with the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver through the GbE couplings.

[0030] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes providing a wireless transceiver to each of the embedded computer boards.

[0031] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes communicatively coupling one of the embedded computers with one or more nearby interceptors through the provided wireless transceiver.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, providing a wireless transceiver to each of the embedded computer boards further includes providing a Wi-Fi dongle to each of the embedded computer boards.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes determining whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board; assembling and transmitting data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and meshing to another interceptor through the provided wireless transceiver when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

[0034] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes, using one of the embedded computer boards managing configuration of the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and deriving identifiers from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted from the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes, using one of the embedded computer boards to derive parameters from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted from the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, arranging in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings further includes arranging in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings having metal back plates configured to sink heat to the environment from each of the wide band radio receiver, the embedded computer board and the power over ethernet board.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, arranging the power over ethernet board further includes providing a plurality of field effect transistors thereto and thermally coupled with the metal back plate so as to sink heat thereto.

[0038] In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a passive interceptor for signals from cellular communications equipment is provide. The passive interceptor includes an embedded computer; a software defined radio board operatively coupled with the embedded computer to receive the signals; and a power over ethernet board operatively coupled with the embedded computer and the software defined radio board to provide power thereto.

[0039] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the embedded computer is configured to manage configuration of the software defined radio board in accordance with received custom settings; and demodulate signals received from the software defined radio to derive identifiers and parameters from received signals of the cellular communications equipment.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the embedded computer further includes a WiFi/Bluetooth card and is further configured to manage configuration of the WiFi / Bluetooth card in accordance with received custom settings; and generate WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from cellular communications equipment signals received by the WiFi/Bluetooth card.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the power over ethernet board is configured to transmit data derived from cellular communication equipment signals in accordance with ethernet transmission standards.

[0042] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the embedded computer board further includes a wireless transceiver configured for communicative coupling with other nearby interceptors. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the wireless transceiver further includes a Wi-Fi dongle.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the weatherproof enclosure further includes a metal back plate configured to sink heat from each of the software defined radio receiver, the embedded computer board and the power over ethernet board to environment.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the power over ethernet board further includes a plurality of field effect transistors thermally coupled with the metal back plate so as to sink heat thereto.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the embedded computer further includes a processor; a volatile memory; a solid state persistent memory; GbE I/O, a Wi-Fi / Bluetooth card; and a Wi-Fi dongle.

[0046] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the software defined radio board further includes a plurality of DC/DC converters; an auxiliary control port; two FMS6002D transceiver chips; a clock I/O and GPS sync; an external control panel port; sram; field-programmable gate array; GbE I/O; and a universal serial bus input.

[0047] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the power over ethernet printed circuit board further includes an FM25056 for continuously supplying real-time power, voltage, current and temperature data; and a SMbus for transferring data from the FM25056 to the embedded computer.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the passive interceptor further includes a fan configured to provide for convective cooling of the embedded computer, the software defined radio board and the power over ethernet printed circuit board.

[0049] The present disclosure has many advantages over the prior art. The interceptor devices which support derivation of identifiers and parameters from the intercepted signals of cellular communication equipments enables owners and/or managers of retail outlets to infer user locations, to thereby facilitate business analyses and improve offline shopping experiences. In addition, the present disclosure enables owners and/or managers of retail outlets to target the users by providing and displaying products and services based on user preference. Further, the plurality of interceptor devices is resilient and configured to run self-diagnostics in case of any damage to the components or in the case of non-responsive applications or operating systems. Thus, the network of interceptor devices can quickly recover from the problem to mitigate and reduce service interruptions. Further, the present disclosure facilitates decisions of the owners and/or managers of retail outlets regarding areas for opening more retail outlets based on a preferred location which the users most frequently visit.

[0050] Further, the present systems and methods enable store managers and/or owners to benefit from offline shopper analytics of one or more users by inference of a present user location from radio frequency signals emitted from user portable electronic devices. Location is derived from properties of the received radio signals such as received power, phase, channel and distortion.

[0051] Moreover, the interceptor devices in accordance with the present disclosure can be installed in a large quantity inside a retail outlet. In addition, the interceptor devices are cost effective. Further, the interceptor devices are capable of receiving and intercepting signals from cellular communications equipments in a wide range of frequencies (850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0052] Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: [0053] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for passively intercepting signals of cellular communication equipments, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0054] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an interceptor device, in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure; [0055] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram interceptor device along with additional other components thereof, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure; [0056] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagrams of an embedded computer board of interceptor device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0057] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a solid state device of embedded computer board , in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0058] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a power over ethernet board of interceptor device, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure; [0059] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a wide band radio receiver (software defined radio card), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0060] FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of software defined radio transceivers and field programmable gate array (FPGA), in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and [0061] FIG. 9 illustrates a method for configuring equipment in order to passively intercept signals of cellular communications equipment and/or mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0062] FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a method for passively intercepting signals of mobile devices, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0063] FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a method for passively intercepting signals of cellular communications equipment, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another. Further, the terms "a" and "an" herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.

[0065] FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for passively intercepting signals of cellular communications equipment, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. The system 100 is located, for example, inside a retail outlet 102. Retail outlet 102 is inclusive of any business establishment offering one or more products or services users. Retail outlet 102 may deal in any kind of products or services. Further, retail outlet 1Θ2 may include but is not limited to a departmental store, a supermarket, a warehouse retail store, a factory outlet, a speciality retailer, a discount retailer and a convenience retailer. Retail outlet 102 may be an apparel store, a footwear store, a jewellery store, an electronics store, an electrical store, a book store, a cosmetic store, a medical store, a food products store, household items store, a car accessories store and the like. Retail store 102 may be a combination of the above mentioned types of retail store 102. Moreover, retail store 102 may be located inside a mall, a supermarket, a residential area or any other suitable place for operating retail store 102.

[0066] System 100 includes a cellular communications equipment 106 (capable of receiving and transmitting cellular and wireless signals) associated with a user 104, a cellular communications equipment 110 associated with a user 108, a interceptor devices 112, a communication network 114, a server 116 and a database 116a. User 104 and user 108 may be any persons or individuals entering retail outlet 102 to consider purchasing one or more products or services. User 104 and user 108 may select retail outlet 102 based on their interest and an intent to buy one or more products or services. For example, a user A enters an outlet X in a mall Ml and a user B enters another outlet Y in a market M2. The user A wants to buy shoes from the outlet X and the user B is interested in buying jeans and t-shirts from the outlet Y.

[0067] Moreover, user 104 is associated with cellular communications equipment 106 and user 108 is associated with cellular communications equipment 110. Cellular communications equipment 106 and cellular communications equipment 110 correspond to any electronic communications equipment for communicating with the one or more users, gaining access to internet and various other services available with cellular communications equipment 106 and cellular communications equipment 110. In addition, each of cellular communications equipment 106 and cellular communications equipment 110 transmits signals for communicating with outside world, such as radio frequency (RF) signals. Moreover, cellular communications equipments 106-110 are connected to a communications network 114 based on a wireless technology. In addition, components 106-110 are connected to the internet through a corresponding cellular network. Further, each component 106-110 includes a WiFi facility and a Bluetooth facility.

[0068] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, user 104 owns or routinely uses cellular communications equipment 106 and user 108 owns or routinely uses cellular communications equipment 110. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, users 104-108 are carrying corresponding components 106-110. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, components 106-110 may be any wearable device worn by corresponding users 104-108. In addition, components 106-110 may include but are not limited to smart phones, tablets, laptops, smart watch, and google glasses. Further, cellular communications equipment 106 and cellular communications equipment 110 run on a specific operating system. Examples of types of the operating system include but may not be limited to Android OS, iOS, BADA, Windows, Symbian and Blackberry OS.

[0069] Continuing the above stated example, the user A is associated with a cellular communications equipment A1 (say, a smart phone) and the user B is wearing a cellular communications equipment B1 (say, a smart watch). The cellular communications equipment A1 runs on an Android operating system and the cellular communications equipment B1 runs on an iOS operating system.

[0070] Each of components 106-110 may be intermittently associated with interceptor devices 112. Furthermore, interceptor devices 112 may be installed inside retail outlet 102. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the interceptor devices 112 is installed nearby to or within a facility such as a retail outlet 102. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the place of installation depend on a desire of a manager of retail store 102 to easily intercept signals from one or more of the components 106-110. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, interceptor devices 112 may be installed at an entrance of retail outlet 102.

[0071] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first pre-determined number of the plurality of interceptor devices 112 is installed inside retail outlet 102 and a second pre-determined number of the plurality of interceptor devices 112 is installed at the entrance of retail outlet 102. In an example, each of the plurality of interceptor devices 112 is located at a pre-defined distance from the others. Interceptor devices 112 may be installed in places including but not limited to a wall of retail outlet 102, a front entrance/exit of retail outlet 102, a back entrance/exit of retail outlet 102, a checkout area of retail outlet 102 or any other suitable place for easily intercepting signals from components 106-110.

[0072] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the components 106-110 is operatively coupled to a single interceptor device 112. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, any of the components 106-110 may be operatively coupled to any of a plurality of interceptor devices 112 based on a distance therebetween. In an example, the distance between the components 106-110 and the interceptor devices 112 is pre-defined based on a standard defined for a minimum distance required for operative coupling for a communications connection In an example the communications connection may be established wirelessly. Example wireless connections include but are not limited to WiFi connections, Bluetooth connections, Z-wave connections, RuBee connections and ZigBee connections.

[0073] Going further, interceptor devices 112 are configured to passively intercept signals from the each of the components 106-110. Moreover, the passive interception of the signals is performed by one or more components of interceptor devices 112. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, one or more components of each interceptor device 112 collectively perform the passive interception of the signals (described below with reference to FIG. 2).

[0074] Further, the passive interception of the signals is performed in order to collect information associated with one or more of users 104-108. The information collected may include but is not limited to a name of a store visited, a number of times any given store is visited, a time of a day of a store visit, a name of a market visited, a store visit duration, a section or department of the store preferred by users, and a section/department visit duration.

[0075] Moreover, each interceptor device 112 is operatively coupled with server 116. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the interceptor devices 112 are operatively coupled with server 116 through communication network 114. Moreover, communication network 114 provides a medium for transfer of information associated with each of interceptor devices 112 and server 116.

[0076] Further, the communication medium among network 114, interceptor devices 112 and server 116 may include but is not limited to infrared (IR), microwave, and radio frequency (RF). Communication network 114 may include but is not limited to a local area network, a metropolitan area network, a wide area network, a virtual private network, a global area network and a home area network. Communication network 114 is a structure of various nodes or communication devices connected to each other through a network topology. Examples of the network topology include a bus topology, a star topology, a mesh topology and the like.

[0077] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of components 106-110 is associated with server 116 through communication network 114. Going further, server 116 is a central server for receiving information associated with the each of the components 106-110. The information includes one or more identifiers and one or more corresponding parameters associated with any of components 106-110 (described below with reference to FIG. 2). Moreover, server 116 receives the information through one or more of interceptor devices 112.

[0078] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, server 116 is operated continuously by a network administrator who may be associated with a firm or organization that owns or manages retail outlet 102 or may be a firm or organization tasked by the management of retail outlet 102 to determine information about shoppers. Moreover, server 116 may be located remotely from retail outlet 102 and remotely from each of interceptor devices 112. Further, server 116 is configured to output the information associated with users 104-108 to offer valuable insight regarding interests of the users 104-108. Furthermore, server 116 includes a database 116a. Database 116a is configured for storing the identifiers and parameters associated with each of components 106-110.

[0079] While users 104-108 have been disclosed as being associated with corresponding cellular communications equipments 106-110, those having ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the entities from which the present system and method collect information is not limited to users 104-108. While interceptor devices 112 have been shown to intercept signals from components 106-110, those having ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that interceptor devices 112 may intercept signals from other equipment or components. While interceptor devices 112 have been disclosed as being for installation in retail outlet 102, those having ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that interceptor devices 112 may be installed in any of a variety of retail outlets or other locations offering products and/or services.

[0080] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram 200 showing components of an interceptor device 112, in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure. In order to describe the system elements of FIG. 2, references will be made to the system elements of FIG. 1. In an example, interceptor device 112 includes a wide band radio receiver 202, an embedded computer board 204 and a power over ethernet board 206 to collectively perform the intercepting of the signals of one or more of components 106-110 for transmission to server 116.

[0081] Wide band radio receiver 202 is operatively coupled with the embedded computer board 204. In an example, wide band radio receiver 202 is electrically coupled with embedded computer board 204. Further, wide band radio receiver 202 and embedded computer board 204 are operatively coupled with power over ethernet board 206. For example, power over ethernet board 206 is electrically coupled with wide band radio receiver 202 and embedded computer board 204. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, power input to embedded computer board 204 is from a 12V output of power over ethernet board 204. Wide band radio receiver 202 may be mounted close to a metal back plate 208 of the weather proof enclosure and a thermal interface material is used to heat sink warm components via an underside of wide band radio receiver 202.

[0082] The wide band radio receiver 202 is configured for intercepting the signals received from the each of components 106-110 associated with the corresponding users 104-108. For example, wide band radio receiver 202 intercepts one or more radio frequency signals originating from one or more of components 106-110 when the one or more components 106-110 are located in a vicinity of interceptor device 112.

[0083] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, signals are intercepted based on a pre-defined distance between components 106-110 and interceptor device 112. In addition, wide band radio receiver 202 may be a software defined radio configured to demodulate the intercepted signals of the each of components 106-110. Further, the signals are demodulated for extracting information contained in the signals and associated with components 106-110. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, demodulation is performed in real-time as signals are intercepted. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, demodulation is performed by more than one wide band receiver 202 simultaneously based on a number of interceptor devices 112 receiving the same signals from components 106-110.

[0084] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, wide band radio receiver 202 includes a high precision reference oscillator utilized for generating one or more radio frequencies required by mixers for tuning to accurate frequencies. In an example, the reference oscillator may be trimmed using a reference voltage generated with a digital-to-analog converter set by writing to internal EEPROM of wide band radio receiver 202. In an example, the reference voltage is set by detecting a frequency offset between frequency correction burst of visible GSM base stations and local oscillator’s frequency. It utilizes an iterative process to calculate the optimal digital-to-analog converter value to set the reference voltage. In order to achieve the reference voltage a high precision of this frequency is required to demodulate the CDMA-based (UMTS) communications standards.

[0085] Embedded computer board 204 is configured for receiving and demodulating signals of components 106-110 from wide band radio receiver 202. Furthermore, through demodulation identifiers and parameters associated with the signals of components 106-110 may be derived. Identifiers and parameters correspond to a data for recognizing each of components 106-110 and may include but are not limited to an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI), a media access control (MAC) address and Radio Network Temporary Identities (RNTI).

[0086] Moreover, embedded computer board 204 is configured to determine whether a direct data connection with server 116 is available through the power over ethernet board 206. If such a connection is determined available, embedded computer board 204 is configured to assemble and transmit data derived from the intercepted signals through power over ethernet board 206 to server 116. Assembled and transmitted data may correspond, for example, to identifiers and parameters associated with one or more of components 106 and 110.

[0087] Power over ethernet board 206 is configured for transmission of power to an operatively coupled embedded computer board 204 and wide band radio receiver 202 for continuous functioning thereof. Further, power over ethernet board 206 enables transfer of data associated with components 106 and 110 to server 116 in accordance with ethernet transmission. Moreover, power over ethernet board 206 is configured to record an output voltage, output current and temperature of power over ethernet board 206.

[0088] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, power over ethernet board 206 provides a means for transferring power over twisted pair cable, for example, cat 5 cables typically used for deploying computer networks and is capable of transferring up to 60 W of power using the twisted pair cable which includes four pairs of the cat 5 cable. A network cable may be employed for transferring DC voltage (typically around 50 V) to interceptor device 112. Power over ethernet board 206 may be provided as a printed circuit board (PCB) with an increased number of layers, for example four layers rather than 4, in order to obtain small form-factor and with a high power transfer. Furthermore, board 206 may be provided as a PCB with a thermal design suitable for integration in a sealed enclosure. For example heat dissipating components such as MOSFETs and rectifier diodes may be arranged at an underside of board 206 such that they are easily thermally coupled to metal back plate 208 (or 308, per FIG. 3) of an enclosure to encourage heat sinking. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, power over ethernet board 206 is a PCB having a low power unit.

[0089] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a high current drawn at power-up may draw more current than power over ethernet board 206 is capable of supplying thereby causing issues. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay timer between wide band radio receiver 202 and power over ethernet board 206 is provided for delaying wide band radio receiver 202 power up by one second. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, any current spikes caused by embedded computer board 204 powering up are offset in time from similar spikes for wide band radio receiver 202 to smooth the drawn current.

[0090] Moreover, interceptor device 112 may be housed within a weather proof enclosure including a metal back plate 208 configured to sink heat from each of wide band radio receiver 202, embedded computer board 204 and power over ethernet board 206 to the environment. For example, a metal back plate 208 is fixed at a back of interceptor device 112. As shown, metal back plate 208 acts as a heat sink for dissipating heat from interceptor device 112 to prevent overheating damage to internal components. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, metal back plate 208 is a flat rectangle of metal with required fixtures mounting the one or more components inside and weather proof enclosure to the metal bracket.

[0091] Referring now to FIG. 3, illustrated is a block diagram interceptor device 122 along with additional components thereof, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure. Components of interceptor device 112 as illustrated in FIG. 3 which are analogous to components disclosed as part of the embodiment of FIG. 2, may be provided as their counterparts above or may take on their own form independent from components of FIG. 2. As shown, the weather proof enclosure may include a plastic housing 314 configured for securing to metal back plate 308 with one or more screws. In an example, plastic housing 314 and metal back plate 308 are held together using six screws, such as screws 316. This configuration hides internal components from view. Metal back plate 308 is installed or fixed at the side of interceptor device 122. Moreover, wide band radio receiver 302, embedded computer board 204 and power over ethernet board 306 are joined to metal back plate 308 to for allow for easy passage of heat through metal back plate 308 to surroundings. Furthermore, plastic housing 314 allows an unimpeded passage of radio signals from components 106 and 110 to the plurality of internal antennas of interceptor device 122.

[0092] Moreover, weather proof enclosure 314 also includes a metal bracket for allowing attachment of interceptor device 122 in retail outlet 102. In addition, weather proof enclosure 314 also includes a fan 318 for circulating air inside interceptor device 122 for effectively reducing temperature of internal components thereof. For example, fan 318 is configured to provide for convective cooling of wide band radio receiver 302, embedded computer board 304 and power over ethernet board 306 which may be of similar and functionally equivalent design and composition to 202, 204 and 206. In addition, the metal bracket is configured to hold interceptor device 122 securely. In an example, interceptor device 122 may be held approximately 1 cm away from the area so as to allow the heat from metal back plate 308 to escape. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the 1 cm space accommodates one or more cables, if required. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal bracket is utilized for mounting interceptor device 122 in either a portrait or a landscape orientation. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, two non-load bearings are utilized for locking interceptor device 122 to the metal bracket.

[0093] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, interceptor device 122 includes four receiving antennas, two cellular (penta-band) antennas 310 and two ISM band antennas 312 of the Bluetooth and WiFi coverage. The cellular antennas 310 connect to wide band radio receiver 302 and the ISM band antennas 312 connect to embedded computer board 304, more specifically to WiFi/Bluetooth card (shown in FIG 4). Further, the cellular band antennas cover 850, 900, 1800, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands and the ISM band antennas cover 2.4 and 5 GHz band. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a third ISM band antenna may be included for improving quality of the WiFi meshing interface.

[0094] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the antennas are implemented as PCB patch antennas which are small and convenient to mount inside the plastic housing of the weather proof enclosure. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the antennas are amounted away from the metal back plate 308 for preventing the antenna from being detuned. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the antennas are mounted as standoffs or directly inside the plastic housing.

[0095] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, WiFi meshing is established for any of interceptor devices 112 or 122 which has lost data connection such that communication with server 116 may be reestablished with piggybacking off another interceptor device. This allows access until the original connection is restored. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the Bluetooth meshing is done when both physical network (the communication network 112) and the WiFi meshing has failed. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the Bluetooth meshing is performed by connecting a TTY to a Bluetooth device and allowing one or more devices to connect to the Bluetooth device.

[0096] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the configuration of interceptor devices 112 or 122 is changed based on a current location. In an example, the configuration is changed automatically by open source configuration management software based on a serial numbers of interceptor devices 112 or 122 tied to locations with changes to configuration of the location, set of locations or full site applied centrally by changing the configuration database and automatically deploying to interceptor devices 112 or 122.

[0097] Referring now to FIG. 4, illustrated is a block diagram of an embedded computer board 400 of an interceptor device, such as interceptor device 112 or 122, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Embedded computer board 400 is being described as an example composition for either embedded computer board 204 or 304. In order to describe components of FIG. 4, references can be made to the FIGS. 1-3. The components of embedded computer board 400 may include but are not limited to a random access memory 402, a solid state drive 404, a WiFi/Bluetooth card 406, a wireless transceiver 408 including a WiFi Dongle 410, a GbE coupling 412, 414. The components collectively intercept signals from components 106 and 110, deriving data from the intercepted signals and transmitting the data to server 116.

[0098] In an embodiment, embedded computer board 400 may be for example a MSI MS-98F6 board which is a small form factor board and is based on a processor, for example, a low power Intel Bay Trail-M chip set. Further, in an example, random access memory 402, solid state drive 404,

WiFi/Bluetooth card 406, WiFi Dongle 410 includes lx 8 GB SODIMM DDR1333 RAM, a lx 60 GB Intel SSD (mSata), lx Combined Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card (mini embedded PCIe) and lx Wi-Fi dongle, respectively. Further, WiFi Dongle 410 enables Wi-Fi meshing of the interceptor devices 112.

[0099] Moreover, embedded computer board 400 manages configuration of the Wifi/Bluetooth card in accordance with custom settings received from server 116 through the communication network 112. In an embodiment, embedded computer board 400 intercepts the signals from the one or more of components 106 and 110. Further, embedded computer board 400 intercepts signals with WiFi/Bluetooth card 406.

[0100] Embedded computer board 400 is configured to generate WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from signals intercepted by WiFi/Bluetooth card 406. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the WiFi/Bluetooth card is configured to receive the custom settings from a maintenance staff communication device located in a vicinity of one or more of interceptor devices 112, when the custom settings cannot be received from server 116. However, delivery of custom settings from the maintenance staff communication device is not limited to circumstances in which the maintenance staff communication device is located in a vicinity of one or more interceptor devices 112. It may be located remotely.

[0101] Moreover, WiFi/Bluetooth card 406 is configured for generating WiFi/Bluetooth data points from signals of components 106 and 110 and WiFi dongle 410 may perform as a wireless transceiver to provide meshing with the one or more other interceptors when a direct connection with server 116 is not available. In addition, GbE coupling 412, 414 are configured to enable exchange of data between embedded computer board 400 and wide band radio receiver 202, and between embedded computer board 400 and server 116.

[0102] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, power over ethernet board 206 is connected to embedded computer board 204 through the gigabit ethernet port. In an example, a first gigabit ethernet port 412 is utilized for connecting to power over ethernet board 206 and transmitting the data to server 116 through power over ethernet board 206 while a second gigabit ethernet port 414 is utilized for connecting to wide band radio receiver 202 for receiving signals associated with components 106 and 110. In an embodiment, when a direct data connection to server 116 is not available, embedded computer board 400 is configured to mesh to one or more of interceptor devices 112 through the WiFi/Bluetooth card 406 in accordance with a Bluetooth protocol.

[0103] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, wireless transceiver 408 configured to enable communication with local devices among interceptor devices 112, Further, wireless transceiver 408 allows a continuous operation of embedded computer board 204 in case of non -availability of a data connection with server 116, [0104] Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrated is a block diagram of solid state device 404 of embedded computer board 400 of FIG. 4, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 5 illustrates various components of solid state device 404. As shown, solid state device 404 includes a random access memory 502, operating system 504 having a software 506.

[0105] Further, random access memory 502 may be configured for running an operating system 504 of embedded computer board 400 and buffer storage of the received signals associated with components 106 and 110 from wide band radio receiver 202. In addition, solid state drive 404 may be configured for storing the operating system of embedded computer board 400 and buffer storage of the received data prior to periodically send to server 116. In an embodiment, the buffer storage is of sufficient size for allowing data received over a long duration to be stored securely in the event of network outages between interceptor devices 112 and server 116.

[0106] In an embodiment, operating system 504 is Ubuntu 14.04 Linux as that helps in operating the functionality of the embedded computer board 400. Moreover, software 506 running on operating system 504 of the embedded computer board 400 performs one or more tasks including but not limited to connecting to the internet and establishing a communications link with server 116, receiving site and receiver specific configurations from server 116 and applying the configurations, controlling wide band radio receiver 202, controlling the WiFi, Bluetooth, and SDR hardware, and generating WiFi, Bluetooth and cellular signal data points using novel processes.

[0107] During generation of WiFi and Bluetooth data points, physical data streams are converted into identifiers such as MAC IDs and TMSI IDs associated to timestamps and RSS. Interceptor devices 112 and/or 122 programmed with software 506 are configured to monitor mode of WiFi signals and actively request response signals from discoverable Bluetooth devices. Once interceptor devices 112 and/or 122 have obtained mobile device identifiers, these identifiers are read back from the interceptor devices 112/122, for example to the server 116, for storage to database 116a. In an example, identifiers are read back using a packet analyzer such as tcpdump for WiFi signals or BlueZ for Bluetooth signals.

[0108] During generation of cellular standard data points, complex baseband samples taken from the wide band radio receiver 202 are demodulated and decoded by a read of uplink data without access to downlink data. Sequence hopping and code spreading are employed either blindly or with data previously read from base stations. In an example brute force technique for GSM, all valid combinations of timeslots are examined across different absolute radio frequency channel numbers (ARFCN) to find hopping sequence. In another example, an optimized correlator finds spreading in use spreading codes for wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) standard.

[0109] Software 506 is also configured for auto diagnosing and repairing faults with in interceptor devices 112. In an example, the software is fully reconfigurable and upgradeable.

[0110] Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrated is a block diagram of power over ethernet board 600 for use with an interceptor device such as interceptor device 112 or 122, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Power of ethernet board 600 is being described as an example composition for either power over ethernet board 206 or 306. Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates various components of power over ethernet board 600. It may be noted that to explain the system elements of FIG. 6, references will be made to the system elements of the FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The components of power over ethernet board 600 include a monitoring chip 602, a SMBus 604 and a plurality of field effect transistors 606. The components of power over ethernet board 600 collectively transfer power to an embedded computer board such as 204 or 304 via SMBus and forms a means for interceptor devices to diagnose problems difficult to detect (for example, if interceptor devices 112 or 122 start sinking excessive current).

[0111] Further, monitoring chip 602 may be a chip configured for continuously supplying real-time power, voltage, current and temperature data through the SMBus 604, which is configured to transfer data from monitoring chip 602 to embedded computer board 204. In an example, monitoring chip 602 may be an LM25056 chip. Moreover, plurality of field effect transistors 606 are thermally coupled with a metal back plate such as 208 or 308 and configured to allow sinking of heat thereto.

[0112] Referring now to FIG. 7, illustrated is a block diagram of a wide band radio receiver (or software defined radio card, SDR) 700, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure Wide band radio receiver 700 (such as wide band radio receiver 202) includes of a plurality of components but not limited to AC/DC converters 702; an auxiliary control port 704; two RF transceiver chips 706, 708 (for example LMS6002D transceiver chips); a clock I/O and GPS sync 710; an external control panel port 712; a field-programmable gate array and sram 714; Gigabit ethernet port 716; and a universal serial bus debug 718. Furthermore, the wide band radio receiver 700 is a two channel receiver for connecting to an embedded computer board (such as embedded computer board 204). In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the connection is made through gigabit ethernet to push 2 13 MS/s complex-valued channels of baseband samples up for processing on embedded computer board.

[0113] FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram showing various components of software defined radio transceivers 706, 708 and field programmable gate array (FPGA) 714, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, software defined radio transceivers 706, 708 includes the two Lime Microsystems LMS6002D transceiver chips which provide up to 2x13 MHz of received bandwidth. Software defined radio transceivers 706, 708 can be split onto two logical channels by two ADC’s implemented on the field programmable array 714. The (FPGA) 714 comprises a RX frontend Switch and four RX DSP cores, such as a RX DSP core 0, a RX DSP core 1, a RX DSP core 2 and a RX DSP core 3. Further, each of the DSP cores is connected to either ADCs through the RX frontend Switch. Specifically, each of the DSP cores can only be connected to a single ADC at once. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the wide band radio receiver 700 (shown in FIG. 7) differs from the Fairwaves UmTRX based on removal of transmitter hardware from the Fairwaves UmTRX for obtaining the wide band radio receiver 700 (shown in FIG. 7).

[0114] FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method 900 for configuring equipment in order to passively Intercept signals of cellular communications equipment and/or mobile devices, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 900 initiates at step 902. At step 904, a server (such as server 116) is provided. At step 906, one or more of interceptor devices (such as interceptor devices 112) are assembled by arranging a wide band radio receiver (SDR, wide band radio receiver 202), an embedded computer board (ECB, such as embedded computer board 204) and a power over ethernet board (POE, such power over ethernet board 206) are arranged in each of a plurality of weather proof housings with metal back plate heat sinks in order to provide the plurality of interceptor devices with which the server is associated and configured to receive data from. At step 908, a WiFi/Bluetooth card may be provided to one or more of the embedded computer boards. Configuration of the WiFi/Bluetooth card may later be managed with the embedded computer board in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server. At step 910, one or more of the embedded computer boards may be arranged with one or more GbE couplings for future communication with the wide band radio receiver and/or the server. At step 912, a wireless transceiver is provided to one or more of the embedded computer boards. The wireless transceiver may include but is not limited to a WiFi dongle. At step 914, providing a number of field effect transistors to the power over ethernet board so as to be in thermal communication with the heat sink. At step 916, the interceptor devices are distributed at a plurality of locations remote from server.

[OTIS] The steps 902 to 916 are only illustrative and other alternatives can also be provided where one or more steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein.

[Θ116] FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a flowchart of a method 1000 for passively intercepting signals of mobile devices, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. After equipment configuration in accordance with, for example, method 900, method 1000 initiates at a step 1017. Power is transmitted from one of the power over ethernet boards to the operatively coupled embedded computer board at a step 1018. At a step 1020, at least one of current output, voltage output and temperature output of the power over ethernet board is recorded. At a step 1022, configuration of the WiFi/Bluetooth card is managed with the embedded computer board in accordance with custom settings received from a server or from maintenance staff communications through the WiFi/Bluetooth card. At a step 1024, data is exchanged between the embedded computer board and the WiFi/Bluetooth card. At a step 1026, intercepted signals of cellular· communications equipment are demodulated with one or more of the wide band radio receivers. At a step 1028, identifiers are derived from radio signals of mobile devices intercepted from the WiFi/Bluetooth card. At a step 1030, parameters are derived from the intercepted radio signals. At a step 1032 (FIG. 10B), datapoints are generated from intercepted WiFi and Bluetooth signals. At a step 1034, it is determined whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board. At a step 1036, data derived from intercepted signals is assembled and transmitted through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available. At a step 1038, the embedded computer board meshes to one or more other interceptors through the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with Bluetooth protocol when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available. The method 1000 terminates at step 1040.

[0117] FIGS. 11A and 1 IB illustrate a flowchart of a method 1100 for passively intercepting signals of cellular communications equipment, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. The actions of method 1100 may take place simultaneously with and/or alternately with those of method 1000 described above. After equipment configuration in accordance with, for example, method 900, method 100 initiates at a step 1117. Power is transmitted from one of the power over ethernet boards to the operatively coupled embedded computer board at a step 1118. At a step 1120, at least one of current output, voltage output and temperature output of the power over ethernet board is recorded. At a step 1122, configuration of the wide band radio receiver is managed with the embedded computer board in accordance with baseband sample streams received from a server or from maintenance staff communications. At a step 1124, data is exchanged between the embedded computer board and the at least one server and the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver through the GbE couplings. At a step 1126, intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment are demodulated with one or more of the wide band radio receivers. At a step 1128, messages are decoded from the demodulated bitstreams. At a step 1130 (FIG. 11B), identifiers are derived from the decoded messages. At a step 1132, parameters are derived from the decoded messages. At a step 1134, GSM and WCDMA datapoints are generated from the decoded messages. At a step 1136, it is determined whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board. At a step 1138, data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment is assembled and transmitted through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available. At a step 1140, the embedded computer board meshes to one or more other interceptors through the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with Bluetooth protocol when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available. The method 1100 terminates at step 1142.

[0118] The steps 1017 to 1040 and 1117 to 1142 are only illustrative and other alternatives can also be provided where one or more steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. For example, power over ethernet boards transmits power to the embedded computer board. Also, output voltage, output current and temperature of the power over ethernet board are recorded. Further, wide band radio receivers demodulate the intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment. Moreover, a WiFi/Bluetooth card is provided to embedded computer board. Also, embedded computer board manages configuration of the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with custom settings received from server thereby generating WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from cellular communications equipment signals to be intercepted by WiFi/Bluetooth card.

[0119] Further, WiFi/Bluetooth card receives custom settings from a maintenance staff communication device. Moreover, embedded computer board determines whether a direct data connection with server is available through power over ethernet board. Also, embedded computer board assembles and transmits data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through power over ethernet board to at least one server when a direct data connection is available. Further, embedded computer board meshes interceptors through WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with Bluetooth protocol when a direct data connection to the server is not available. Moreover, the power over ethernet boards transmits data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment to at least one server in accordance with ethernet transmission standards. Also, the embedded computer board is arranged with a plurality of GbE couplings and exchanges data with at least one server and wide band radio receiver through the GbE couplings.

[Θ120] Further, a wireless transceiver is provided to embedded computer board. Moreover, interceptors are communicatively coupled with embedded computers through wireless transceiver. Furthermore, each of embedded computer boards further includes a Wi-Fi dongle. Also, embedded computer board determines whether a direct data connection with at least one server is available through power over ethernet board. Further, embedded computer board assembles and transmits data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the power over ethernet board to the server when a direct data connection is available. Furthermore, embedded computer board meshes interceptor devices through wireless transceiver when a direct data connection to the server is not available. Moreover, embedded computer boards manages configuration of wide band radio receiver in accordance with custom settings received from server. Also, embedded computer derives identifiers from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted from wide band radio receiver. Further, embedded computer boards derive parameters from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted by wide band radio receiver.

[0121] Moreover, arranging in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings further comprises arranging in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings having metal back plates configured to sink heat to the environment from each of the wide band radio receiver, embedded computer board and power over ethernet board. Also, arranging the power over ethernet board further comprises providing a plurality of field effect transistors thereto and thermally coupled with the metal back plate so as to sink heat thereto.

[0122] Modifications to embodiments of the present disclosure described in the foregoing are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the accompanying claims. Expressions such as “including”, “comprising”, “incorporating”, “consisting of’, “have”, “is” used to describe and claim the present disclosure are intended to be construed in a non-exclusive manner, namely allowing for items, components or elements not explicitly described also to be present. Reference to the singular is also to be construed to relate to the plural.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A system for passively Intercepting signals of cellular communications equipment, the system comprising: at least one server; and a plurality of interceptor devices distributed remote from the at least one server and each Including, housed within a weatherproof enclosure and operatively coupled with one another, a wide band radio recei ver, an embedded computer board and a power over ethernet board.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each power over ethernet board is configured to transmit power to the operatively coupled embedded computer board.

3. The system as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein each power over ethernet board is configured to record its output voltage, output current and temperature.

4. The system of any one of claims 1-3, wherein each wide band radio receiver is a software defined radio board configured to demodulate intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment.

5. The system of any one of claims 1-4, wherein each embedded computer board further comprises a WiFi/Bluetooth card and is further configured to: manage configuration of the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and generate WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from the signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted by the WiFi/Bluetooth card.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the WiFi/Bluetooth card is further configured to: receive custom settings from a maintenance staff communication device.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein each embedded computer board is configured to: determine whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board; assemble and transmit data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and mesh to one or more other interceptors through the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with Bluetooth protocol when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

8. The system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein each power over ethernet board is configured to transmit, to the at least one server in accordance with ethernet transmission standards, data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment.

9. The system of any one of claims 1-8, wherein each embedded computer board further comprises a plurality of GbE couplings and is configured to employ the GbE couplings to exchange data with the at least one server and with the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

10. The system of any one of claims 1-9, wherein each embedded computer board includes a wireless transceiver configured to enable communication with local interceptor devices.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein each wireless transceiver further comprises a Wi-Fi dongle.

12. The system of claim 10 or 11 wherein each embedded computer board is configured to: determine whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethernet board; assemble and transmit data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and mesh to one or more other interceptors through the wireless transceiver when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

13. The system of any one of claims 1-12, wherein each embedded computer board is configured to: manage configuration of the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and derive one or more identifiers from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted by the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

14. The system of any one of claims 1-13, wherein each embedded computer board is further configured to derive parameters from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted by the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

15. The system of any one of claims 1-14, wherein the weatherproof enclosure further comprises a metal back plate configured to sink heat from each of the wide band radio receiver, embedded computer board and power over ethernet board to the environment.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the power over ethernet board further comprises a plurality of field effect transistors thermally coupled with the metal back plate so as to sink heat thereto.

17. A method to passively intercept signals from cellular communications equipment, comprising: providing at least one server; arranging a wide band radio receiver, an embedded computer board and a power over ethernet board in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings to provide a plurality of interceptor devices; and distributing the plurality of interceptor devices at a plurality of locations remote from the server.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting power from one of the power over ethernet boards to the operatively coupled embedded computer board.

19. The method of claim 17 or 18, further comprising recording output voltage, output current and temperature of the power over ethernet board.

20. The method of any one of claims 17-19, further comprising demodulating intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment with one of the wide band radio receivers.

21. The method of any of claims 17-20, further comprising: providing a WiFi/Bluetooth card to each embedded computer board; managing configuration of the WiFi/Bluetooth card with the embedded computer board in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and with the embedded computer board, generating WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from cellular communications equipment signals intercepted by the WiFi/Bluetooth card.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: with the WiFi/Bluetooth card receiving custom settings from a maintenance staff communication device.

23. The method of claim 21 further comprising: determining whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethemet board; assembling and transmitting data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the operatively coupled power over ethernet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and meshing to one or more other interceptors through the WiFi/Bluetooth card in accordance with Bluetooth protocol when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

24. The method of any of claims 17-23, further comprising, with one of the power over ethernet boards, transmitting, to the at least one server in accordance with ethernet transmission standards, data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment.

25. The method of any of claims 17-24, wherein arranging an embedded computer board comprises arranging an embedded computer board with a plurality of GbE couplings, and the method further comprises exchanging data with the at least one server and with the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver through the GbE couplings.

26. The method of any of claims 17-25, further comprising providing a wireless transceiver to each of the embedded computer boards.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising communicatively coupling one of the embedded computers with one or more nearby interceptors through the provided wireless transceiver.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein providing a wireless transceiver to each of the embedded computer boards further comprises providing a Wi-Fi dongle to each of the embedded computer boards.

29. The method of any of claims 26-28 further comprising: determining whether a direct data connection with the at least one server is available through the power over ethemet board; assembling and transmitting data derived from intercepted signals of cellular communications equipment through the power over ethemet board to the at least one server when a direct data connection is available; and meshing to another interceptor through the provided wireless transceiver when a direct data connection to the at least one server is not available.

30. The method of any of claims 17-29, further comprising, using one of the embedded computer boards: managing configuration of the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver in accordance with custom settings received from the at least one server; and deriving identifiers from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted from the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

31. The method of any of claims 17-30, further comprising, using one of the embedded computer boards to derive parameters from signals of cellular communications equipment intercepted from the operatively coupled wide band radio receiver.

32. The method of any of claims 17-31, wherein arranging in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings further comprises arranging in each of a plurality of weatherproof housings having metal back plates configured to sink heat to the environment from each of the wide band radio receiver, embedded computer board and power over ethernet board.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein arranging the power over ethernet board further comprises providing a plurality of field effect transistors thereto and thermally coupled with the metal back plate so as to sink heat thereto.

34. A passive interceptor for signals from cellular communications equipment, comprising: an embedded computer; a software defined radio board operatively coupled with the embedded computer to receive the signals; and a power over ethernet board operatively coupled with the embedded computer and software defined radio board to provide power thereto.

35. The passive interceptor of claim 34, wherein the embedded computer is configured to: manage configuration of the software defined radio board in accordance with received custom settings; and demodulate signals received from the software defined radio to derive identifiers and parameters from received signals of the cellular communications equipment.

36. The passive interceptor of claim 34 or 35, wherein the embedded computer further comprises a WiFi/Bluetooth card and is further configured to: manage configuration of the WiFi / Bluetooth card in accordance with received custom settings; and generate WiFi and Bluetooth datapoints from cellular communications equipment signals received by the WiFi/Bluetooth card.

37. The passive interceptor of any of claims 34-36, wherein the power over ethernet board is configured to transmit data derived from cellular communication equipment signals in accordance with ethernet transmission standards.

38. The passive interceptor of any of claims 34-37, wherein the embedded computer board further comprises a wireless transceiver configured for communicative coupling with other nearby interceptors.

39. Hie passive interceptor of claim 38, wherein the wireless transceiver further comprises a Wi-Fi dongle.

40. The passive interceptor of any of claims 34-39, wherein the weatherproof enclosure further comprises a metal back plate configured to sink heat from each of the software defined radio receiver, embedded computer board and power over ethernet board to the environment.

41. The passive interceptor of claim 40, wherein the pow'er over ethernet board further comprises a plurality of field effect transistors thermally coupled with the metal back plate so as to sink heat thereto.

42. The passive interceptor of any of claims 34-41, wherein the embedded computer further comprises: a processor; a volatile memory; a solid state persistent memory; GbE I/O, a Wi-Fi / Bluetooth card; and a Wi-Fi dongle.

43. The passive interceptor of any of claims 34-42, wherein the software defined radio board further comprises: a plurality of DC/DC converters; auxiliary control port; two LMS6002D transceiver chips; a clock I/O and GPS sync; an external control panel port; field-programmable gate array; GbE I/O; and a universal serial bus input.

44. The passive interceptor of any of claims 34-43, wherein the power over ethernet printed circuit board further comprises: an LM25056 for continuously supplying real-time power, voltage, current and temperature data; and a SMbus for transferring data from the LM25056 to the embedded computer.

45. The passive interceptor of any of claims 34-44, further comprising a fan configured to provide for convective cooling of the embedded computer, the software defined radio board and the power over ethernet printed circuit board.