Carrier IQ

Carrier IQ was a privately owned mobile software company founded in 2005 in Sunnyvale, California. It provided diagnostic analysis of smartphones to the wireless industry via the installation of software on the user's phone, typically in a manner that cannot be removed without rooting the phone. The company says that its software is deployed in over 150 million devices worldwide.

IQ Agent is software, typically pre-installed on mobile devices by handset manufacturers or network operators, designed to gather, store and forward diagnostic measurements on their behalf. Data available can include metrics on the device itself (e.g., firmware, battery levels, application performance, web performance) and performance data on voice and data connectivity between the device and radio towers. The mobile device manufacturers or network operators determine which of these metrics are actually collected, according to a set of criteria known as a "profile." The IQ Agent software runs in the background, and the user is not usually aware of its presence unless the implementation includes an on-off switch.

IQ Agent periodically uploads data to a Carrier IQ Mobile Service Intelligence Platform (MSIP) system, which then feeds into the network operator's network performance monitoring and diagnostic tools. Whenever a mobile device uploads data, the IQ Agent can also download a new profile to change the selection of metrics gathered.

IQ Agent was first shipped in 2006 on embedded feature phones and has since been implemented on numerous devices and operating systems, including smartphones (Android, RIM,iPhone), USB modems and tablets.

MSIP (Mobile Service Intelligence Platform) refers to the backend Carrier IQ software that receives mobile device diagnostic data directly from mobile devices containing the IQ Agent software. The platform aggregates data from many devices and produces KPIs (key performance indicators) that network operators and mobile device manufacturers can use to assess the quality of services they provide and to troubleshoot mobile device and network problems.

Analytics Domains are MSIP components that enable the system to calculate specific KPIs. Carrier IQ's first analytics domains were on CDMA signaling, later implementing UMTS (third-generation mobile cellular technology for GSM networks), LTE (a standard marketed as 4G LTE) and device-specific domains for device stability, battery and application performance.