Occupancy measurement methods in the radio frequency spectrum and their use

The use of a computer-controlled custom-designed receiver for determining two types of occupancy data for the land-mobile radio service is described. Detailed occupancy monitoring retains the measured signal level and distinguishes between base and mobile station communication. Threshold monitoring determines whether the signal amplitude measured is above or below a user-determined threshold in order to calculate occupancy. The receiver is used to achieve these two different monitoring strategies through software control. The system allows the monitoring of up to 10000 frequencies and can operate unattended. Threshold monitoring can be used to measure such characteristics of a trunked radio system as overall trunked-system utilization, the longest busy period, and a distribution of the busy periods