Hi everyone,

I was hoping to get your advice on the following matter :

Following a production order to a mobile service provider, my organization will be receiving a location data regarding an individual we are trying to track down.

I suspect that those data logs will consist of tower locations, signal strengths and device's azimuth.Not sure though how that information will look like exactly.

Does anyone dealt with that type of information before and could advise me what to expect? Also, is there any commercial software I can buy or download which will allow me to transform the data into GPS coordinates?

Thank you!  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4B7f4hE9Ac

Cellular Analysis Mapping Program, get a free trial by contacting contact @ cellularmapping.com (include agency details)  

Hi DataR, you get along?  

The header of your inquiry can be a little misleading at it's not exactly "triangulation" but rather historical log files from the Mobile Telephone Switching Office database. Triangulation only occurs real time during exigent circumstances when the provider gives more specific device locations based on surround towers offering the best coverage.

All providers generally provide the same deliverable - a group of excel spreadsheets that show MTSO log entries for calls sent/received, messages sent/received, or data transfer (internet usage). Along with each line item comes the call/text/internet metadata, including: parties involved (MDN or mobile phone number of other party), IMEI of the target device you received records for (if you notice the IMEI change in your record it likely means your target is using another device), the duration (if it's a phone call), usually - the lat / long coordinates of the base transceiver station, aka cell tower, providing coverage during the transmission, and it's sector (side of the tower, usually Alpha, Beta, Gamma or 1, 2, 3 - sometimes 2, 3, 4), the beamwidth of the sector in degrees, and the azimuth or direct center of the sector. With the sector and azimuth information you can orient the tower on a map to get a better idea of the target devices location.

There are a bunch of tools out there that can take a CDR file, import it, and show it off visually - however, I would lean towards manually importing the file into something like Microsoft Streets and Trips to confirm your findings.  

Careful with Streets and Trips. While I love the layout and ability to put pins + import files, there are not many updates for it.

You have some agencies and private examiners running ST 2011 where streets have changed and areas being rebuilt.

- davidpsmalley

The header of your inquiry can be a little misleading at it's not exactly "triangulation" but rather historical log files from the Mobile Telephone Switching Office database. Triangulation only occurs real time during exigent circumstances when the provider gives more specific device locations based on surround towers offering the best coverage.

All providers generally provide the same deliverable - a group of excel spreadsheets that show MTSO log entries for calls sent/received, messages sent/received, or data transfer (internet usage). Along with each line item comes the call/text/internet metadata, including: parties involved (MDN or mobile phone number of other party), IMEI of the target device you received records for (if you notice the IMEI change in your record it likely means your target is using another device), the duration (if it's a phone call), usually - the lat / long coordinates of the base transceiver station, aka cell tower, providing coverage during the transmission, and it's sector (side of the tower, usually Alpha, Beta, Gamma or 1, 2, 3 - sometimes 2, 3, 4), the beamwidth of the sector in degrees, and the azimuth or direct center of the sector. With the sector and azimuth information you can orient the tower on a map to get a better idea of the target devices location.

There are a bunch of tools out there that can take a CDR file, import it, and show it off visually - however, I would lean towards manually importing the file into something like Microsoft Streets and Trips to confirm your findings.

_________________
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Alan B. "A man can live a good life, be honorable, give to charity, but in the end, the number of people who come to his funeral is generally dependent on the weather. " 

Absolutely agree, Streets and Trips is just one of many tools that can ingest a dataset and create a visual.