System and method for collecting, reporting, and analyzing data on application-level activity and other user information on a mobile data network

Abstract

System and method for collecting and analyzing information on application-level activity and other user information on a mobile data network. A platform non-intrusively and transparently monitors data activity on a mobile data network in real-time so that user-level information can be reported to an operator. The platform comprises a plurality of collectors, a data manager, and a report manager. The collectors communicate with network routers to almost all network data. The collectors inspect the data for IP addresses and correlate them to user mobile phone numbers. The data manager receives the data and augments it with information obtained by querying carrier information. The data manager stores the data and monitors it to see if it satisfies a set of defined real-time reports. The report manager then works with the data manager to develop and test new reports based on operator instructions for a specific report.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A platform for a real-time, non-intrusive, transparent monitoring of application-level data activity on a mobile data network so that the activity may be correlated to specific users or aggregated and then reported to an operator, the monitoring platform comprising:
 a plurality of collectors distributed throughout the mobile data network, each collector corresponding to and being in communication with a corresponding router in said mobile data network to receive substantially all of the data communications from said router, said collector inspecting said communications to detect source IP addresses and correlating said communications with phone numbers associated with user mobile devices;   a data manager receiving data from a plurality of said collectors, said data manager augmenting said received data by querying carrier information to determine at least some of locations of the users, demographics of the users, content of the site accessed by the users, types of applications users are accessing, device types of users, said data manager monitoring said received data and augmented information to monitor aggregate usage of said network to satisfy a set of defined real-time reports, and said data manager maintaining a database storing said received data and augmented information;   a report manager, cooperating with said data manager, to develop and test new reports, said report manager receiving operator instructions specifying information to be included in said new report and causing said data manager to monitor received data and augmented information to satisfy said new report and to include said new report in said set of defined real-time reports.