Surveyor Details

Yes. Surveyor's great feature set and price make it an excellent value, but why does it cost so little? There are four ingredients to Surveyor's pricing strategy:

• great engineering
• selling directly to our customers without any middlemen
• word of mouth and minimal sales staff
• lower prices generate more customers

Great engineering, hardware and software, reduces our production costs.

We sell directly to our customers. Some competing devices (e.g. Lima Cell Monitor) involve multiple companies before reaching the end customer. Middlemen don't work for free. Every Surveyor is sold directly from Cellular Labs to a police department, DA's office, or other investigative agency or investigator.

We rely primarily on word-of-mouth for new sales. That only works when customers are satisfied, so we work hard to satisfy every customer. Our low cost of sales contributes to our low prices.

Why do so few investigative agencies use surveying equipment? We think it's because prices have been so high that the equipment has been unaffordable. We think high prices prevailed due to a lack of competition. Lack of competition doesn't force prices to be higher, but it does create the opportunity for higher prices.

Now, we are the competition, so we created Surveyor to be best-in-class and affordably priced. Selling for less helps us to sell more. Have you heard of a game called, Fleece the Police? That's a game we do not play!

This is a fundamental question so, first, let's make sure we understand the difference between scanners and SIM-based devices.

In the early days of investigative RF surveying there was no equipment specifically designed for that purpose. There was, however, very expensive equipment being used by RF field engineers for monitoring cell signals while installing, configuring and testing cellular equipment for cellular network operators. Those devices are called scanners.

Scanners were designed to measure each cell's signal strength and quality, and also to listen carefully to the information broadcast by the cell and analyze the contents to assist in installing, configuring and testing a cell's equipment. Listening is sufficient for that purpose. There was no need to register, connect, or actually use any cell of any network, so scanners don't include transmitters, don't need SIM cards, and simply cannot communicate with any cell on any cellular network.

Some of the companies manufacturing scanners realized their equipment could be helpful for estimating cell coverage in the course of forensic investigations. Make no mistake, scanners are helpful for estimating cell coverage, but that's not what they were originally designed to do. Since they cannot communicate with any cells they cannot actually verify that any cell can be used. They can make educated guesses which become less reliable with weaker signals. If you want to know, for sure, that a cell can provide service at a particular location and at a particular time, you cannot use a scanner, you must use a SIM-based surveying device.

A SIM-based device contains a set of cellular modems. Each cellular modem can transmit and receive, and contains a SIM card, so it can access cellular networks, just as a phone does. Some SIM-based devices actually contain a set of phones, and every phone contains a cellular modem. So, one way or another, every SIM-based surveying device contains a set of cellular modems and SIM cards. If the SIM-based device is able to register on a cell and move data, then you know, for sure, that cell is serving at that location and time.

Of course, not all SIM-based, surveying devices are equal. Some let the cellular modems select cells as they wish. They record each cell that was selected (the "serving" cell) and also record the presence of other cells that were not selected ("neighbor" cells). This technique has no official or standard name so we, at Cellular Labs, coined the phrase "server/neighbor" to describe it.

The reality is that cellular networks are complex and dynamic systems. Dynamic systems are ones that adapt their behavior to ever-changing conditions. For example, if one cell is already being utilized to its full capacity then it may not be available to serve a particular phone and that phone may be directed to use a different cell. Server/neighbor reports the serving cell at a certain moment. At another moment that cell might be busy and one of its neighbors might step in to be the serving cell.

Here, at Cellular Labs, we pioneered a different (we think better) approach that we call Discover and Verify. In this approach, one or more of Surveyor's cellular modems actively search for cells. Each time a new cell is "discovered" it gets added to a list of discovered cells. Other of Surveyor's cellular modems pull cells from the discovered list and try to explicitly register on the cell to determine whether or not it is possible for that cell to provide cellular access (to serve).

When a survey concludes, under server/neighbor, a list is produced of the cells that the modems connected to and another list of the many neighbors of those cells that it did not connect to. Using discover and verify also produces two list at the conclusion of a survey. A list of all the cells that it was possible to connect to (ones that could, under some circumstance, serve) and a list of all the cells Surveyor discovered but could not actually use (e.g. signal was too weak).

We think discover and verify is far more useful than server/neighbor, and our customers are pleased to have discover and verify at their disposal. Any customers that prefer server/neighbor, can easily put Surveyor into "legacy" mode and Surveyor will perform server/neighbor just as older equipment does.

Increasingly, 4G and 5G networks use a technique called beamforming to enhance cellular service. If a cell is using multiple transmitting antennas, it can strengthen the signal in a particular direction by adjusting the phase relationship between the antennas. Beamforming can only be done after a phone is communicating with a cell. Thus, a phone (or SIM-based surveying device) might see a stronger signal from a cell if it is beamforming than a scanner will see. Scanners can't benefit from beamforming, because scanners do not interact with cellular networks and are always invisible to them. A cell signal identified as too weak to serve by a scanner might be quite capable of serving under beamforming.

Timing Advance (TA) is an important feature of cellular networks in the context of RF surveying. Though TA is intended for time-synchronization between cell phones and cells, it can also be used—with some caution—to infer approximate distances between cell phones and the cell towers they use.

TA is calculated by a cell and sent to a phone each time the phone transmits data. Since scanners don't transmit, they cannot receive or record TA information. Some SIM-based surveying equipment can capture and record TA information. Not only does Surveyor capture and record TA information sent by the cell, but it also simultaneously calculates and records the actual distance between itself and the cell it's verifying.

TA values will overestimate inferred distances when, for example, the signal from a cell doesn't travel directly from the cell's transmitter to a phone (or SIM-based surveyor), as when a signal gets reflected and must travel a greater distance. Surveyor's unique ability to compare TA inferred distances to actual, calculated distances helps investigators anticipate when and where TA values reported in CDRs will be misleading. No scanner can do this, because no scanner can capture TA information. No other SIM-based surveying device has this advanced feature; it is another technique pioneered at Cellular Labs.

Here is a partial list of features only available in Surveyor:

Drone Ready

Only Surveyor has a built-in barometric altimeter and supports full, remote control. This makes Surveyor the only device well-suited for drone-based surveying.

Remote Monitoring

With Surveyor's unique Remote Monitoring, an experienced investigator can create a survey plan and then a less experience investigator can go out into the field. The more experienced investigator can monitor the survey in real-time from the office and provide suggestions, as needed, as the survey plan is executed. This reduces the time-demands of the experienced investigator and provides guided experience to the less experiened investigator.

Cell Mapping & Timing Advance

You don’t need to wait until you return to your office to see survey results, because Surveyor displays a map and adds cells in real-time—as you watch—during the survey.

All Surveyor customers receive a user account and unlimited access to the custom-servers we've developed at Cellular Labs. Using our servers, you can easily upload your NDCAC (National Domestic Communication Assistance Center) data to your account and then have it automatically downloaded to your Surveyor which easily handles all 9 million cells in the NDCAC registry for the US (Alaska, American Samoa, Continental, Guam, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, etc.).

The NDCAC registry data allows Surveyor to show you every single cell in any region of any size. It also allows Surveyor to calculate the straight-line distance to any cell for comparison against Timing Advance (TA) step values it automatically collects. Thus Surveyor—and only Surveyor—is able to detect when TA-inferred distances are overestimating or understating actual distance (usually due to reflected signals). Only Surveyor has such a deep understanding of Timing Advance and how expert, American investigators use it.

Remember, $200,000 scanners can't capture Timing Advance at all, and all other SIM-based devices either don't capture TA or require manual intervention to capture an occasional TA value. Only Surveyor was specifically designed to automatically capture and evaluate TA data.

Discover and Verify

Even the most expensive, $200,000 scanners cannot verify any cells, because they are just fancy receivers, without transmitters or SIM cards, so they cannot interact with any cell under any circumstance.

Other SIM-based devices use an antiquated surveying technique called "Server/Neighbor." Surveyor can operate in legacy mode and perform Server/Neighbor if desired, but most investigators prefer the modern Discover and Verify technique that we invented at Cellular Labs and that is only available in Surveyor.

Server/Neighbor only does half the job. It discovers cells but doesn’t actually register with them and verify that data can be transferred. Discover and Verify does the whole job. As cells are discovered, multiple attempts are made to register with the cell and transfer data to determine whether it is actually possible (or not) to use that cell.

The Server/Neighbor technique suggests that the cell selected (and serving) the device would necessarily be the serving cell for all devices and that other discovered cells (neighbors) would not be selected. That's just not so, and not borne out by actual field testing.

Discover and Verify determines exactly which cells can possibly be serving cells and which are simply not accessible at the location of the survey. If you want to Discover and Verify, Surveyor is your only choice.

Indoor GPS

Every other surveying device relies entirely on its own GPS receiver for location information. Of course, Surveyor includes multiple GPS receivers, but it can also use the GPS system in the phone that’s controlling Surveyor. How does that help? While outdoors, with an unobstructed view of the sky the GPS receiver in the device doesn’t need any help. But what about when conducting an indoor survey? Ordinary GPS receivers typically cannot work indoors. Phones, however, perform a variety of tricks to get GPS readings even while indoors (e.g. using Wi-Fi).

Only Surveyor can display, simultaneously, the GPS status of its internal GPS receiver and also the status of the phone’s GPS receiver, and it will automatically use whichever one is best at that moment, switching back and forth as needed. That’s another Surveyor-only feature.

Band/Cell Locking

Some SIM-based devices attempt to check a cell of interest's availability by locking to the band the cell of interest is using. At Cellular Labs, we think that's a mistake. Locking to a band may hide the cell of interest behind a different, stronger signal on the same band from another cell. Locking directly to the cell of interest, rather than locking to the band the cell of interest is using, prevents the cell from being hidden behind a cell on the same band with a stronger signal.

Surveyor can do band-locking if you wish, but users generally prefer to lock on cells.

Safety

We design for safety. There are two important safety concerns when conducting RF surveys:

• remaining inconspicuous
• Radio frequency radiation

Some other surveying devices are controlled by tablets. Surveyor uses an ordinary cell phone. It’s hard to go unnoticed standing around with a large, ruggedized tablet in hand. Holding a phone draws far less attention.

SIM-based surveying devices include transmitters, one for each modem in the device. It's common to carry the device in a backpack as it is convenient and draws less attention. The FCC filing for the cellular modems typically used in SIM-based devices requires a certain, safe separation between the device and a human body.

At Cellular Labs we designed a backpack that ensures Surveyor is kept at a safe distance from the person wearing the backpack.

At least one vendor of a SIM-based surveying device provides a backpack that does not appear to include structures or compartments designed to maintain the separation distance specified in the FCC filing for its cellular modems.

Service

When you need service for Surveyor, have an idea for a new feature, or just have a few questions, you can pick up the phone and talk directly with the engineers and software developers who know every last thing about Surveyor and are eager to listen and help.

If you purchase surveying equipment produced by a company in another country, getting help may present a challenge. Keep in mind, too, that RF surveying equipment produced in a different country may focus on the investigative practices and needs in that country. Surveyor is designed to meet the needs of US investigators.

Most Secure

Only Surveyor can automatically fetch software updates and send collected survey data, automatically, to a server or e-mail address using secure communication and encrypted files.

Interoperability

We are happy to work with all vendors of software for analyzing and presenting investigative data. We will do whatever it takes to integrate Surveyor with any such software system. The only way we will ever fail to successfully integrate Surveyor with any software systems is if the software company simply won’t provide necessary technical information.