Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A method for providing lawful interception information for an Internet of Things network (IoT Network), the method being performed by a topology of probes and comprising:
receiving, through an interface, a request for information about a lawful interception target, the request including a specification for the information to be tracked and reported, the specification including information to be reported and reporting requirements;
generating a hierarchy of information elements based on the specification, each of the information elements including information related to at least one of: data dependency among the hierarchy of information elements, and the reporting requirement;
determining a set of data sources for providing the requested information according to the hierarchy of information elements;
determining a hierarchy of probes based on the set of the data sources;
configuring the topology of probes based on a set of configurations;
activating LI operation in the topology of probes;
performing LI operation by the topology of probes;
verifying effectiveness of reporting conforming to reporting requirements and taking corrective action; and
updating learning data in the historical database at the end of LI operation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a set of data sources for providing the hierarchy of information elements comprises:
determining a set of candidate data sources based on at least one of: frequency of reporting, frequency of sampling, nature and type of available probes, and capability and past performance of the available probes;
determining, from the set of candidate data sources, the set of data sources for providing the requested information based on at least one of: the reporting requirements and network mobility and security; and
determining, for an information element in the hierarchy of information elements, and for an associated data source in the set of data sources, an alternate data source according to the reporting requirements.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a hierarchy of probes comprises:
determining, for at least one information element of the a hierarchy of information elements and one or more associated data sources from the set of data sources, interconnections between the associated data sources, the determination being based on the dependency of information elements in the hierarchy of information elements; and
assigning a primary probe and an alternate probe for the at least one information element.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the topology of probes include:
determining the set of configurations including probe configurations at a super-probe within the topology of probes;
determining conditions for activating LI operation at the super-probe;
selectively cascading the set of configurations including the probe configurations and conditions for activating LI operation through the topology of probes;
receiving set of configurations by a probe from an associated upstream probe in the topology of probes; and
performing probe configuration including determination of probe level LI activation condition based on the received set of configurations.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein selectively cascading the set of configuration comprises:
extracting a portion of the received set of configurations, wherein the extracted portion is related to one or more LI operations at the downstream probes; and
cascading the extracted configurations to downstream probes.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein activating LI operation includes:
receiving, by the super-probe from one or more downstream probes of the super-probe in the topology of probes, a notification of fulfillment of the conditions for activating LI operation;
transmitting, by the super-probe to the one or more downstream probes of the super-probe in the topology of probes, activation signals to activate LI operation in the topology of probes, upon receiving the notification of fulfillment of the conditions for activating LI operation; and
responsive to receiving, at a first probe of the one or more downstream probes of the super-probe, the activation signals to activate LI operation:
initiating LI operation at the first probe, and
cascading the activation signals to a second probe that is a downstream probe of the first probe in the topology of probes to initiate LI operation at the second probe.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of configurations includes at least one of: data to collect, frequency of data sampling, LI activation condition, frequency of transmission, processing logic, criticality, priority and policy of storing and overwriting the collected data at a probe in the topology of probes.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein performing LI operation include:
performing probe operations by at least one probe in the topology of probes;
collecting data at the super-probe from the topology of probes as per set of configurations;
preparing data to be reported at the super-probe as per rules of reporting;
transporting through at least one interface selectively, at least a part of the prepared data by the super-probe to a lawful interception gateway according to the reporting requirements; and
receiving reporting status confirmation of transported data from the lawful interception gateway at the super-probe.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein performing the probe operation include:
collecting data at one or more probes in the topology of probes based on the set of configurations;
preparing data at one or more probes in the topology of probes based on the set of configurations; and
controlling a transmission of at least a part of the prepared data within the topology of probes according to a hierarchy of the probes within the topology based on the set of configurations.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the preparation of data at the super-probe include:
determining inadequacy of available data by analyzing the prepared data at the super-probe as per rules of reporting; and
compensating for data inadequacy by adding at least one marker to influence the transporting through an interface, at least a part of the prepared data to a law enforcement agency via a lawful interception gateway according to the reporting requirements.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the data collected include lawful interception data, supporting lawful interception data and diagnostics data.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the data prepared include lawful interception data, probe operation diagnostics data and probe-performance data.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein transporting through at least one interface further comprising:
determining at least one of: a schedule, a primary channel, and a secondary channel for transmission of the prepared data to be reported;
transmitting at least part of prepared data to be reported through the determined primary channel as per determined schedule;
determining at least one of: a schedule, a primary channel, and a secondary channel for transmission of the prepared data to be reported report;
determining a status of the transmission of the report through the hardware interface using the primary channel, the status being determined based on at least one of: a priority and a criticality associated with the transmission of the collected data; and
responsive to determining that the status indicates that the transmission is not successful, performing at least one of: triggering a transmission of the report using the secondary channel, updating the schedule for transmission of the report in the second set of configurations, and skipping transmission of the report.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein verifying reporting conforming to reporting requirements and taking corrective action includes:
verifying effectiveness by analyzing the cumulative inadequacy of available data and cumulative reporting status confirmation from the law enforcement agency at the super-probe;
determining need for configuring the topology of probes based on cumulative inadequacy of available data and cumulative reporting status confirmation from the law enforcement agency via the lawful interception gateway; and
altering the topology of probes and configuring the altered topology of probes based on the determined need for configuring the topology of probes as corrective action.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the learning data comprises:
determining LI performance parameters and LI effectiveness parameters from the cumulative verified effectiveness, cumulative probe operation diagnostics data and cumulative probe-performance data and historical data;
determining a historical trend of the probe performance parameters and probe effectiveness parameters;
identifying portion of set of configurations requiring alteration based on LI performance parameters, LI effectiveness parameters and historical data;
altering identified portion of set of configurations requiring adjustments based on LI performance parameters, LI effectiveness parameters, determined historical trend of the probe performance parameters and probe effectiveness parameters, and historical data; and
updating learning in historical data based on at least one of the LI performance parameters and LI effectiveness parameters, altered portions of set of configurations, altered portions of the probe topology, and determined historical trend of the probe performance parameters and probe effectiveness parameters.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting requirements include frequency of reporting, priority of reporting, criticality of reporting of each information to be reported to the law enforcement agency via the lawful interception gateway.

17. A topology of probes system for providing lawful interception information for an Internet of Things network (IoT Network), comprising:
a super-probe connected to the lawful interception gateway by a set of LI-interfaces; and
a hierarchy of probes connected to the super-probe;
wherein the super-probe and the hierarchy of probes are configured to perform LI operation and provide lawful interception information.

18. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the hierarchy of probes further comprises one or more probes connected to at least one upstream probe including super-probe by one or more probe interfaces, and to one or more downstream probes by one or more probe interfaces;
wherein the one or more downstream probes comprise one or more lowest level probes that are not connected with other downstream probes.

19. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 18, wherein each probe in the hierarchy of probes comprises:
one or more hardware processors configured to execute a set of instructions for providing:
a host plug-in module for collecting LI data from the host,
a probe configuration module for performing probe configuration for LI operation including determination of LI activation condition,
a probe data collection module for collecting LI data from the host including monitoring LI activation condition,
a probe data processing module for preparing data to be reported to at least one upstream probe, and
a probe communication module for communication with upstream and downstream probes; and
at least one memory that stores a set of instructions and Probe LI Context data.

20. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 17 wherein the super-probe is communicatively coupled with a lawful interception gateway via a first interface, a second interface and a third interface, and comprising:
one or more hardware processors configured to execute a set of instructions for providing:
an LI specification handler module for processing the LI specification received from the LIG,
an LI planning and configuration module for forming LI Probe topology and configuration thereof,
an LI activation and control module for activating LI operation in the topology of probes,
an LI data collection module for collecting LI information and diagnostics information from at least one probe in the hierarchy of probes,
an LI information preparation module for processing the collected LI information for reporting to LEA, and
a super-probe communication module for communicating with the LEA and at least one probe in the hierarchy of probes; and
at least one memory element that stores a set of instructions, super-probe configuration data store (IoTSPCS) and super-probe LI context.

21. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the host comprises at least one of:
an Internet-of-Thing (IoT) device, an Internet-of-Thing (IoT) gateway, an interconnect gateway, and an IoT management application.

22. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the host-plugin-module comprises of a plug-in interface for connecting to the host; wherein the plug-in interface further comprises at least one of: an Application Programming Interface (API), a hardware communication interface and an inter-process communication interface.

23. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the set of LI-interfaces further comprise:
a first interface for receiving specification for the information to be tracked and reported;
a second interface for transmitting by the at least a part of the prepared data to be reported;
a third interface for transmitting bulk lawful interception data.

24. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the set of LI-interfaces is implemented as one of a circuit-switched wired interface such as E1 or T1, a packet-switched wired interface such as ethernet, or a wireless interface such as Wi-Fi or 4G.

25. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 19, wherein one or more hardware processors in each probe in the hierarchy of probes is configured to execute the set of instructions to:
acquire the lawful interception information from the host at a frequency and priority specified in the configuration information; .
store the reporting data in a data reporting queue based on the priority and criticality of information represented in the reporting data; and
retrieve the reporting data from the data reporting queue for transmission to at least one of the one or more upstream probes and super-probes.

26. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the transmission of the reporting information via the second interface is in-real time.

27. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the super-probe further interfaces with the lawful interception gateway via a third interface; wherein the hardware processor is configured to execute the set of instructions to transmit, via the third interface, bulk lawful interception data collected by the topology of probes.

28. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 27, wherein the bulk lawful interception data comprises at least one of: communication content of a suspect, and sensor data related to at least one of a location, a temperature, and a speed of a suspect.

29. The topology of probes system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the third interface is typically slower than the second interface.

Dated this 30th day of March, 2017

R Ramya Rao
Of K&S Partners
Agent for the Applicant
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to network technologies, and more particularly, to methods and systems for performing lawful interception (LI) for Internet of Things (IoT).