Beacon-Based Service Publishing Framework in Multiservice Wi-Fi Hotspots

In an expected future multiaccess and multiservice IEEE 802.11 environment, the problem of providing users with useful service-related information to support a correct rapid network selection is expected to become a very important issue. A feasible short-term 802.11-tailored working solution, compliant with existing equipment, is to publish service information encoded within the SSID information element within beacon frames. This makes it possible for an operator to implement service publishing in 802.11 networks while waiting for a standardized mechanism. Also, this straightforward approach has allowed us to evaluate experimentally the performance of a beacon-based service publishing solution. In fact, the main focus of the paper is indeed to present a quantitative comparison of service discovery times between the legacy scenario, where the user is forced to associate and authenticate with a network point of access to check its service offer, and the enhanced scenario where the set of service-related information is broadcasted within beacons. These discovery times are obtained by processing the results of a measurement campaign performed in a multiaccess/service 802.11 environment. This analysis confirms the effectiveness of the beacon-based approach. We also show that the cost in terms of wireless bandwidth consumption of such solution is low

Exploring mobile network data for tourism statistics: the collaboration between Istat and Vodafone Business Italia

The paper describes the collaboration between Istat and Vodafone Business Italia to innovate and enhance tourism statistics. The common goal is to evaluate the potential uses of mobile phone data in current surveys and to investigate new outputs for official statistics, such as visiting routes and means of transport. The analysis concerned inbound tourism (foreigners in Italy), domestic tourism (Italians in Italy), and outbound tourism (Italians abroad). The work presents analyses and results for the Province of Rimini and the Municipality of Roma, referred to August 2019/2020 and April 2020, and a trial of the use of the “Welcome SMS” for the estimate of the residents in Italy who travel to foreign countries. Phone data required specific treatments to meet the definitions of official statistics. Some aspects related to the location and definition of overnight stays will require further investigation

Exploring mobile network data for tourism statistics: the collaboration between Istat and Vodafone Business Italia

The paper describes the collaboration between Istat and Vodafone Business Italia to innovate and enhance tourism statistics. The common goal is to evaluate the potential uses of mobile phone data in current surveys and to investigate new outputs for official statistics, such as visiting routes and means of transport. The analysis concerned inbound tourism (foreigners in Italy), domestic tourism (Italians in Italy), and outbound tourism (Italians abroad). The work presents analyses and results for the Province of Rimini and the Municipality of Roma, referred to August 2019/2020 and April 2020, and a trial of the use of the “Welcome SMS” for the estimate of the residents in Italy who travel to foreign countries. Phone data required specific treatments to meet the definitions of official statistics. Some aspects related to the location and definition of overnight stays will require further investigation

Beacon-Based Service Publishing Framework in Multiservice Wi-Fi Hotspots

<p/> <p>In an expected future multiaccess and multiservice IEEE 802.11 environment, the problem of providing users with useful service-related information to support a correct rapid network selection is expected to become a very important issue. A feasible short-term 802.11-tailored working solution, compliant with existing equipment, is to publish service information encoded within the SSID information element within beacon frames. This makes it possible for an operator to implement service publishing in 802.11 networks while waiting for a standardized mechanism. Also, this straightforward approach has allowed us to evaluate experimentally the performance of a beacon-based service publishing solution. In fact, the main focus of the paper is indeed to present a quantitative comparison of service discovery times between the legacy scenario, where the user is forced to associate and authenticate with a network point of access to check its service offer, and the enhanced scenario where the set of service-related information is broadcasted within beacons. These discovery times are obtained by processing the results of a measurement campaign performed in a multiaccess/service 802.11 environment. This analysis confirms the effectiveness of the beacon-based approach. We also show that the cost in terms of wireless bandwidth consumption of such solution is low.</p