Apparatus and method for non-disruptive collection and analysis of wireless signal propagation

Apparatus for collecting and processing received signal level data over a wireless system, comprising:

• wireless receiving equipment for gathering an incomplete set of data of signal strength levels from closely spaced locations at which a mobile unit is likely to communicate with one or more base stations without disruption or modification of the normal operation of the wireless system;
• geographic location equipment connected to said wireless receiving equipment for associating the elements of said gathered data with geographic locations corresponding to the location at which each data element was gathered;
• signal strength measuring equipment for determining the signal strength of each element of said gathered data;
• digital decoding equipment for identifying a digital identification code within said gathered data;
• a processor for normalizing said data to a set of bins defined by a grid applied to said wireless system;
• and for determining a variance relationship of said gathered data based upon the correspondence of signal strength variation to spacial separation of said data elements;
• and for recognizing the location of data elements missing from said complete set of locations within said wireless system;
• and for interpolating the probable signal strength values of said missing data elements from said gathered data, said corresponding geographical locations and said variance relationship.