METHODS, SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS FOR ESTIMATING VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PERSONS IN A DEFINED AREA OVER TIME

摘要

A passive measuring technique and system processes and analyzes imprecisely reported location estimates collected from a plurality of mobile devices. The number and socio-demographic composition of persons within defined areas of interest are estimated over time. Each mobile device is assigned to a group and identified by an anonymized identifier, and the identifiers of devices within each group are refreshed on a rolling basis to further enhance privacy. A statistical weighting approach is applied so that each device represents a fraction of the population and socio-demographic profile of one or more segmentation districts. Users requesting a defined area of interest via a communication network receive an estimate — derived by modeling respectively anonymized mobile devices within an area of interest over a selectable time period as corresponding, statistically weighted devices — of the number and socio-demographic profile of all persons within the area of interest over the selectable time period.