13,541 research outputs found
Mobility: a double-edged sword for HSPA networks
This paper presents an empirical study on the performance of mobile High Speed Packet Access (HSPA, a 3.5G cellular standard) networks in Hong Kong via extensive field tests. Our study, from the viewpoint of end users, covers virtually all possible mobile scenarios in urban areas, including subways, trains, off-shore ferries and city buses. We have confirmed that mobility has largely negative impacts on the performance of HSPA networks, as fast-changing wireless environment causes serious service deterioration or even interruption. Meanwhile our field experiment results have shown unexpected new findings and thereby exposed new features of the mobile HSPA networks, which contradict commonly held views. We surprisingly find out that mobility can improve fairness of bandwidth sharing among users and traffic flows. Also the triggering and final results of handoffs in mobile HSPA networks are unpredictable and often inappropriate, thus calling for fast reacting fallover mechanisms. We have conducted in-depth research to furnish detailed analysis and explanations to what we have observed. We conclude that mobility is a double-edged sword for HSPA networks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first public report on a large scale empirical study on the performance of commercial mobile HSPA networks
MONROE-Nettest: A Configurable Tool for Dissecting Speed Measurements in Mobile Broadband Networks
As the demand for mobile connectivity continues to grow, there is a strong
need to evaluate the performance of Mobile Broadband (MBB) networks. In the
last years, mobile "speed", quantified most commonly by data rate, gained
popularity as the widely accepted metric to describe their performance.
However, there is a lack of consensus on how mobile speed should be measured.
In this paper, we design and implement MONROE-Nettest to dissect mobile speed
measurements, and investigate the effect of different factors on speed
measurements in the complex mobile ecosystem. MONROE-Nettest is built as an
Experiment as a Service (EaaS) on top of the MONROE platform, an open dedicated
platform for experimentation in operational MBB networks. Using MONROE-Nettest,
we conduct a large scale measurement campaign and quantify the effects of
measurement duration, number of TCP flows, and server location on measured
downlink data rate in 6 operational MBB networks in Europe. Our results
indicate that differences in parameter configuration can significantly affect
the measurement results. We provide the complete MONROE-Nettest toolset as open
source and our measurements as open data.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to INFOCOM CNERT Workshop 201
Improving Mobile Video Streaming with Mobility Prediction and Prefetching in Integrated Cellular-WiFi Networks
We present and evaluate a procedure that utilizes mobility and throughput
prediction to prefetch video streaming data in integrated cellular and WiFi
networks. The effective integration of such heterogeneous wireless technologies
will be significant for supporting high performance and energy efficient video
streaming in ubiquitous networking environments. Our evaluation is based on
trace-driven simulation considering empirical measurements and shows how
various system parameters influence the performance, in terms of the number of
paused video frames and the energy consumption; these parameters include the
number of video streams, the mobile, WiFi, and ADSL backhaul throughput, and
the number of WiFi hotspots. Also, we assess the procedure's robustness to time
and throughput variability. Finally, we present our initial prototype that
implements the proposed approach.Comment: 7 pages, 15 figure
Valuation of spectrum for mobile broadband services: Engineering value versus willingness to pay
Radio spectrum is a vital asset and resource for mobile network operators. With spectrum in the 800 and 900 MHz bands coverage can be provided with fewer base station sites compared to higher frequency bands like 2.1 and 2.6 GHz. With more spectrum, i.e. wider bandwidth, operators can offer higher capacity and data rates. Larger bandwidths means that capacity can be provided with fewer base station sites, i.e. with lower cost. Operators that acquire more spectrum in existing or new bands can re-use existing sites for capacity build out. Engineering value is one way to estimate the marginal value of spectrum. The calculation of engineering value is based on comparison of different network deployment options using different amounts of spectrum. This paper compare estimates of engineering value of spectrum with prices paid at a number of spectrum auctions, with a focus on Sweden. A main finding is that estimated engineering value of spectrum is much higher than prices operators have paid at spectrum auctions during the last couple of years. The analysis also includes a discussion of drivers that determine the willingness to pay for spectrum.Radio spectrum,mobile communications,spectrum valuation,spectrum allocation,mobile broadband,marginal value of spectrum,engineering value
License prices for financially constrained firms
It is often alleged that high auction prices inhibit service deployment. We investigate this claim under the extreme case of financially constrained bidders. If demand is just slightly elastic, auctions maximize consumer surplus if consumer surplus is a convex function of quantity (a common assumption), or if consumer surplus is concave and the proportion of expenditure spent on deployment is greater than one over the elasticity of demand. The latter condition appears to be true for most of the large telecom auctions in the US and Europe. Thus, even if high auction prices inhibit service deployment, auctions appear to be optimal from the consumers’ point of view
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Business model requirements and challenges in the mobile telecommunication sector
The telecommunications business is undergoing a critical revolution, driven by innovative technologies, globalization, and deregulation. Cellular networks and telecommunications bring radical changes to the way telecom businesses are conducted. Globalization, on the other hand, is tearing down legacy barriers and forcing monopolistic national carriers to compete internationally. Moreover, the noticeable progress of many countries towards deregulation coupled with liberalization is significantly increasing telecom market power and allowing severe competition. The implications of this transition have changed the business rules of the telecom industry. In addition, entrants into the cellular industry have had severe difficulties due to inexistent or weak Business Models (BMs). Designing a BM for a mobile network operator is complex and requires multiple actors to balance different and often conflicting design requirements. Hence, there is a need to enhance operators’ ability in determining what constitutes the most viable business model to meet their strategic objectives within this turbulent environment. In this paper, the authors identify the main mobile BM dimensions along with their interdependencies and further analysis provides mobile network operators with insights to improve their business models in this new ‘boundary-less’ landscape
Innovation in the Wireless Ecosystem: A Customer-Centric Framework
The Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Inquiry in GN 09-157 Fostering Innovation and Investment in the Wireless Communications Market is a significant event at an opportune moment. Wireless communications has already radically changed the way not only Americans but people the world over communicate with each other and access and share information, and there appears no end in sight to this fundamental shift in communication markets. Although the wireless communications phenomenon is global, the US has played and will continue to play a major role in the shaping of this market. At the start of a new US Administration and important changes in the FCC, it is most appropriate that this proceeding be launched.
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