Wireless Packet Capture on COTS Mobile Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) communication devices are not suited for wireless packet capture due to issues with data storage and battery life, and users lack the necessary functionality, necessitating custom interfaces and external sensor devices.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that enables wireless packet capture on COTS mobile devices using a user-friendly application, allowing selection of capture modes and choosing between on-board or remote sensor devices, with data processing and sharing capabilities without requiring custom interfaces or external sensors, leveraging COTS chipsets and off-board processing to optimize battery life and data handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If wireless packet capture is implemented on COTS mobile devices, then the ability to collect packet data is improved, but battery usage and data storage complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the packet capture functionality into a separate user-space application layer, distinct from the core operating system. This allows the capture function to be selectively activated only when needed, rather than continuously running as a system service, thereby reducing overall battery consumption while maintaining capture capability when required.
Solution Approach 2:
A custom user-space driver acts as an intermediary between the wireless chipset and the application layer. This driver handles the complex packet capture operations and data buffering, preventing direct high-power consumption paths from the application to the hardware, and enabling efficient data collection without requiring full system-level modifications.
2Adaptability or versatility
If custom interfaces are developed to enable packet capture on COTS devices, then packet capture functionality is improved, but device complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The custom user-space driver is designed to work across multiple COTS device platforms with different wireless chipsets. By creating a universal interface layer that abstracts hardware-specific details, the solution enables packet capture functionality across diverse devices without requiring custom integration for each hardware platform, thereby managing complexity while maintaining versatility.
3Reliability
If packet capture is performed continuously, then data collection completeness is improved, but battery consumption worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic or event-triggered packet capture rather than continuous capture. The user-space application can be configured to capture packets based on specific conditions, time intervals, or events, ensuring data collection completeness for relevant traffic while allowing the capture mechanism to remain dormant during periods when capture is not needed, thus reducing battery consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for wireless packet capture using mobile communication devices such as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile communication devices is disclosed. Embodiments provide mobile communication device users the ability to collect wireless packet data for digital communications on COTS hardware and share the data amongst multiple devices for collection, processing, and geo-location without custom interfaces and external sensor devices.