System and method for determining mobile communication system carrier frequency propagation characteristics

A method for determining mobile communications system carrier propagation characteristics, the method comprising:

• a step for receiving at a location a carrier signal from a transmitter of the mobile communications system, the mobile communications system operating in a standard operational mode, the carrier signal corresponding to a call handled by a cell without the cell keying up a test carrier frequency;
• a step for determining a strength indicator of the received carrier signal;
• a step for identifying the source of the received carrier signal;
• a step for determining a location identifier of the location;
• a step for indicating a time of receiving the carrier signal;
• and
• a step for storing a carrier signal identifier corresponding to the received carrier signal, the signal strength indicator, a source identifier corresponding to the identified source of the received carrier signal, and the location identifier wherein the mobile communications system does not decrease system capacity during the operation of said method for determining mobile communications system carrier propagation characteristics;
• wherein the step for identifying the source of the received carrier includes decoding a Short Messaging Service (SMS) message of the received carrier, the SMS message providing a unique identifying code identifying a cell generating the received carrier signal with the unique identifying code.

A computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions adapted to be executed by a processor for determining mobile communications system carrier propagation characteristics, the plurality of instructions comprising instructions to:

• receive at a location a carrier signal from a transmitter of the mobile communications system, the mobile communications system operating in a standard operational mode, the carrier signal corresponding to a call handled by a cell without the cell keying up a test carrier frequency;
• determine a strength indicator of the received carrier signal;
• identify the source of the received carrier signal;
• determine a location identifier of the location;
• determining a time of receiving the received carrier signal;
• and
• store a carrier signal identifier corresponding to the received carrier signal, the signal strength indicator, a source identifier corresponding to the identified source of the received carrier signal, and the location identifier wherein the mobile communications system does not decrease system capacity during the operation of said system for determining mobile communications system carrier propagation characteristics;
• wherein identifying the source of the received carrier includes decoding a Short Messaging Service (SMS) message of the received carrier, the SMS message providing a unique identifying code identifying a cell generating the received carrier signal with the unique identifying code.

A system for determining mobile communications system carrier propagation characteristics, the system comprising:

• means for receiving at a location a carrier signal from a transmitter of the mobile communications system, the mobile communications system operating in a standard operational mode, the carrier signal corresponding to a call handled by a cell without the cell keying up a test carrier frequency;
• means for determining a strength indicator of the received carrier signal;
• means for identifying the source of the received carrier signal;
• means for determining a location identifier of the location;
• means for determining a time of receiving the received carrier signal;
• and
• means for storing a carrier signal identifier corresponding to the received carrier signal, the signal strength indicator, a source identifier corresponding to the identified source of the received carrier signal, and the location identifier wherein the mobile communications system does not decrease system capacity during the operation of said system for determining mobile communications system carrier propagation characteristics;
• wherein the means for identifying the source of the received carrier includes means for decoding a Short Messaging Service (SMS) message of the received carrier, the SMS message providing a unique identifying code identifying a cell generating the received carrier signal with the unique identifying code.