# US 2023/0054460 A1 · Spammer location detection

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- Number: US 2023/0054460 A1
- Document ID: US20230054460A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/409,456
- Filed: 2021-08-23
- Published: 2023-02-23
- Earliest claimed: 2021-08-23
- Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
- Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
- Inventors: Jie Chen; Ye Ge; Wenjie Zhao
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20230054460A1

## CPC

- H04M 3/2218: {Call detail recording}
- H04M 3/436: Arrangements for screening incoming calls {, i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it (based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54)}
- H04M 1/66: with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling (verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32)
- H04M 3/42348: {Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target}
- H04W 12/128: Anti-malware arrangements, e.g. protection against SMS fraud or mobile malware
- H04W 12/63: Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
- H04L 2463/146: Tracing the source of attacks
- H04M 1/72457: according to geographic location
- H04M 2242/30: Determination of the location of a subscriber
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

The described technology is generally directed towards spammer location detection, and in particular, to locating a spammer that makes multiple calls from a given location via a cellular communications network. In some examples, network equipment can obtain call trace records associated with the multiple calls, identify a group of call trace records based on a shared call trace feature, aggregate data from call trace records within the group, and determine an estimated location based on the aggregated data.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method, comprising:
obtaining, by network equipment comprising a processor, call trace records associated with multiple calls;
identifying, by the network equipment, a group of call trace records from among the call trace records, wherein the group of call trace records is identified based on a shared call trace feature;
aggregating, by the network equipment, data from different call trace records within the group of call trace records, resulting in aggregated data; and
determining, by the network equipment, an estimated location based on the aggregated data.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by the network equipment, the multiple calls for which the call trace records are obtained, wherein the multiple calls are identified based on shared call information.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the shared call information comprises at least one of a call detailed record property, a caller identifier, a call recipient identifier, call duration information, a caller device type, or a caller device identifier.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the shared call trace feature comprises at least one of cell group information, cell azimuth group information, timing advance group information, reference signal received power group information, or reference signal received quality group information.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated data comprises identifications of serving cells, and wherein determining the estimated location comprises determining an overlap region based on the serving cells.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein the aggregated data comprises timing advance information associated with the serving cells, and wherein determining the estimated location comprises determining the overlap region based on the timing advance information and the serving cells.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein calls of the multiple calls occurred at different times during a defined call history interval.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated location comprises a search region.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising refining, by the network equipment, the estimated location based on external information comprising at least one of business information within the estimated location, geographic information within the estimated location, or event information within the estimated location.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling deployment, by the network equipment, of a mobile base station within the estimated location.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling deployment, by the network equipment, of a physical investigation of the estimated location.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple calls originate from respective user equipment.

### Claim 13

Network equipment, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
aggregating data from different call trace records within a group of call trace records, resulting in aggregated data, wherein the aggregated data comprises identifications of serving cells; and
determining an estimated location based on the aggregated data, wherein determining the estimated location comprises determining an overlap region based on the serving cells.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The network equipment of claim 13, wherein the group of call trace records comprises a shared call trace feature comprising at least one of cell group information, cell azimuth group information, timing advance group information, reference signal received power group information, and reference signal received quality group information.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The network equipment of claim 13, wherein the group of call trace records are associated with calls which occurred at different times during a call history interval, and wherein the calls originated from different user equipment.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The network equipment of claim 13, wherein the aggregated data comprises timing advance information associated with the serving cells, and wherein determining the estimated location comprises determining the overlap region based on the timing advance information and the serving cells.

### Claim 17

A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
determining an estimated location based on first aggregated data, wherein the first aggregated data is based on different call trace records comprising a shared call trace feature;
enabling deployment of a mobile base station towards the estimated location in order to obtain additional call trace records comprising the shared call trace feature;
including the additional call trace records in the first aggregated data, resulting in second aggregated data; and
refining the estimated location based on the second aggregated data.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the different call trace records are associated with calls which occurred at different times during a call history interval, and wherein the calls originated from different user equipment.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the shared call trace feature comprises at least one of cell group information, cell azimuth group information, timing advance group information, reference signal received power group information, and reference signal received quality group information.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the second aggregated data comprises identifications of serving cells, the serving cells including a cell enabled by the mobile base station, and wherein refining the estimated location based on the second aggregated data comprises determining an overlap region based on the serving cells.