Portable real time cellular telephone and pager network system monitor

A system for monitoring a radio communication system at remote sites within a service area in real time, comprising:

• a scanning radio receiver for receiving radio signals within a frequency range of said radio communication system, said radio signals including frequency shift keying (FSK) signals containing message data, and an automatic gain control (AGC) signal;
• a computer having a serial port and a display, said computer for controlling said scanning radio receiver and for monitoring and recording predetermined parameters related to the monitored radio communication system;
• and
• an interface connected between said radio receiver and the serial port of said computer, said interface comprising:
• an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter for sampling said automatic gain control (AGC) signal and generating a digitized automatic gain control (AGC) signal;
• a demodulator means for demodulating said frequency shift keying (FSK) signals and generating a bit stream of message dam;
• and
• a microprocessor communicating with a memory, said memory storing a microprogram, said microprocessor receiving said digitized automatic gain control (AGC) signal and said bit stream of message data, said microprocessor executing said microprogram to convert said digitized automatic gain control (AGC) signal to a quantitative received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value and decoding said bit stream of message data according to a decoding standard for said radio communication system to generate a message,
• said interface communicating with said computer through said serial port, said computer simultaneously displaying said quantitative received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value and said message.

A system for monitoring a radio communication system at remote sites within a service area in real time, comprising:

• a scanning radio receiver for receiving radio signals within a frequency range of said radio communication system, said radio signals including frequency shift keying (FSK) signals containing message data, and an automatic gain control (AGC) signal;
• a computer having a serial port and a display, said computer for controlling said scanning radio receiver;
• and
• an interface connected between said radio receiver and the serial port of said computer, said interface comprising:
• an analog-m-digital (A/D) converter for sampling said automatic gain control (AGC) signal and generating a digitized automatic gain control (AGC) signal;
• a demodulator means for demodulating said frequency shift keying (FSK) signals and generating a bit stream of message data;
• and
• a microprocessor communicating with a memory, said memory storing a microprogram, said microprocessor receiving said digitized automatic gain control (AGC) signal and said bit stream of message data, said microprocessor executing said microprogram to convert said digitized automatic gain control (AGC) signal to a quantitative received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value and decoding said bit stream of message data according to a decoding standard for said radio communication system to generate a message wherein said decoding includes at least one of:
• tracking cellular telephone traffic based upon predetermined indicia, and
• automatically decoding digital paging data transmitted in any of the protocol formats in a group of protocol formats consisting of:
• GOLAY;
• NEC, and
• POCSAG,
• said interface communicating with said computer through said serial port, said computer simultaneously displaying said quantitative received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value and said message.

A method for monitoring radio message data and relative signal strength indicator (RSSI) data for a radio communication system at remote sites throughout a service region, comprising the steps:

• controlling a scanning receiver to receive a radio signal of a particular frequency and producing an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) signal;
• monitoring and recording predetermined parameters related to the monitored radio communication system;
• digitizing said Automatic Gain Control (AGC) signal and converting the digitized signal to a quantitative RSSI level for said radio signal;
• demodulating said radio signal to produce a message bit stream;
• decoding said message bit stream according to a decoding standard to produce a message;
• transmitting said quantitative RSSI level and said message to a computer;
• and
• displaying said quantitative RSSI level and said message on a display screen.

A method for monitoring radio message data and relative signal strength indicator (RSSI) data for a radio communication system at remote sites throughout a service region, comprising the steps:

• controlling a scanning receiver to receive a radio signal of a particular frequency and producing an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) signal;
• digitizing said Automatic Gain Control (AGC) signal and converting the digitized signal to a quantitative RSSI level for said radio signal;
• demodulating said radio signal to produce a message bit stream;
• decoding said message bit stream according to a decoding standard to produce a message wherein said decoding step includes at least one of:
• (a) tracking cellular telephone traffic based upon predetermined indicia;
• and
• (b) automatically decoding digital paging data transmitted in any of the protocol formats in the group consisting of:
• GOLAY;
• NEC;
• and
• POCSAG;
• transmitting said quantitative RSSI level and said message to a computer;
• and
• displaying said quantitative RSSI level and said message on a display screen.