Cell Site Analysis < Granite Discovery

WHAT IS CELL SITE ANALYSIS?

Cell Site Analysis, also known as “Cell Mapping” is the ability to determine a geographical area of a mobile phone when voice calls, SMS messages or data is sent or received using cell towers for at a certain point in time. How is this done?

Every time a cellular device communicates over the cellular network the service provider captures a subset of data about the call to include:

The type of call – Voice, SMS, Data
Calling number
Call direction – incoming vs outgoing
Duration
First cell tower and azimuth
Last cell tower and azmuth

Granite Discovery’s forensic experts are trained and certified in analyzing this data and mapping the Call Data Records (CDR) and Network Event Location System (NELOS) reports. Our experts can perform this for one or multiple cellular numbers. Granite Discovery Cell Site Analysis allows clients the ability to visualize not only the location of the cellular tower a particular device might have connected with but also the direction the antennae is facing in conjunction with the general broadcast area that particular antenna services. Cell Site Analysis allows our clients to look at data and visualize if there are any anomalies in a person’s cellular usage and can assist in understanding if a person was or wasn’t in a given area.

In addition to analyzing cellular data and plotting the CDR data, Granite Discovery experts can also perform social graphing. Social Graphing can often identify overlooked phone numbers of people of interest and can be critical to understanding all the potential suspects.

Due to the usage of mobile phones throughout the world, Cell Site Analysis is becoming more and more critical within both civil and criminal investigations. With many individuals carrying more than one mobile phone, being able to determine the movement and location of a mobile device can be invaluable and often the key piece of evidence used in court today.