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Globally, mobile broadband (MBB) penetration has increased due to the widespread use of smart devices, better mobile network coverage, and the ongoing quest for faster wireless and mobile communication technology. This has led to a tremendous rise in the number of internet subscribers, which is positively impacting the social and economic well-being of society at large. Terrestrial mobile network operators (MNOs) are responsible for providing MBB services to end users, but some of them do not offer the advertised speeds or theoretical speeds specified by 3GPP specifications. Therefore, periodic impartial and unbiased performance measurement studies of the quality of service (QoS) provided by the MNOs as perceived by the end users are required to help MNOs enhance the capabilities of their MBB networks and provide services at an acceptable quality.
S/N | Refs. | Methodology Adopted | QoS Metrics | Access Networks | Study Summary |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | [1][2] | Crowdsourced | Download and upload throughput, latency and DNS lookup | 2G and 3G | Developed a mobile phone application (MBPerf) and adopted a host and crowdsourced based approach to carry out a comparative analysis of the performance of four MNOs that offer MBB services in a developing country. |
2 | [3][30] | Testbed | Download and upload throughput and latency | 3G and 4G | Used Raspberry Pi to develop a simplified testbed and conducted a comparative analysis of the MBB performance offered by four MNOs. |
3 | [9] | Crowdsourced | Download and upload speed, latency, packet loss and web loading time | 4G | Conducted MBB performance assessment during defined peak periods for Internet service providers using a panel-based crowdsourced method. |
4 | [4][5] | Crowdsourced | Download and upload throughput, latency, packet loss, jitter and DNS resolution time | 4G | Provides a comparative investigation of MBB performance using a panel-based crowdsourced method. |
5 | [6] | Crowdsourced | Upload and download throughput and latency | 4G | Presented a comprehensive comparative study of user-centric MBB performance using a panel-based crowdsourced method. |
6 | [10] | Testbed | Latency, packet loss and connectivity | 3G and 4G | Studied the performance of MBB networks under mobility using a dedicated testbed for measurement |
7 | [40] | Drive test | Signal quality, downlink and uplink throughput, ping and handover | 3G and 4G | Developed and used a drive test method to evaluate and understand MBB performance in different locations |
8 | [41] | Testbed | Download speed | 3G and 4G | Presented a “speedtest like” measurement to estimate the download speed offered by MBB networks to users. |
9 | [42] | Drive test | Speed, coverage, satisfaction and latency | 3G and 4G | Conducted performance analysis of MBB networks to enable planning for 5G network upgrade in a rural area |
10 | [43] | Testbed | Web QoE, throughput, latency, and signal coverage | 4G | Examined the performance and response of nine mobile networks across Europe at different times during the COVID-19 pandemic |
11 | [44] | Drive test | Speed, coverage, satisfaction and latency | 3G and 4G | Conducted performance analysis of MBB networks to enable planning of 5G network upgrade urban area |
12 | [13] | Walk test | Received signal strength | 3G and 4G | Measured and characterized MBB performance through an indoor walk test |
13 | [45] | Drive test | Signal quality, Downlink and uplink throughput and Ping | 3G and 4G | Evaluated the MBB performance and coverage of existing MBB networks of different MNOs. |
14 | [46] | Drive test | Throughput and latency | 3G and 4G | Measured real characteristics and coverage of MBB networks using a custom in-house made software tool. |
15 | [47] | Testbed | Latency and signal quality | 4G | Adapted data from extensive MBB measurement campaigns to develop a model suitable for realistic performance evaluation of applications and services. |
16 | [48] | Drive test | Signal strength | 2G, 3G and 4G | Determined and compared the signal strength of MBB networks of two MNOs. |
17 | [49] | Drive test | Throughput | 2G, 3G and 4G | Measured the performance of MBB networks using a custom mobile phone application. |
18 | [11] | Drive test | Throughput and latency | 3G and 4G | Presented a comparative analysis of real MBB networks under mobility with expected theoretical expectations in order to identify the gaps between both. |
19 | [50] | Crowdsourced | Throughput rates | 4G | Examined user perceived data rate fluctuations in 4G networks during different periods as well as compared the performance of MNOs |
20 | [14] | Drive test and walk test | Throughput and RTT | 3G and 4G | Performed coverage and capacity measurement of MBB networks in pedestrian zones during both busy hour and non-busy hour |
21 | [51] | Drive test | Signal quality and downlink and uplink throughput | 4G | Conducted performance analysis of 4G MBB networks and observed the propagation measurement of key performance indicators using drive test |
22 | [7] | Crowdsourced and testbed | Throughput | 4G | Proposed a supervise machine learning solution for a more accurate throughput estimation. |
23 | [8] | Crowdsourced | Download and upload data rate, latency, signal strength | 4G | Developed a Machine Learning (ML) based framework used to define and determine different behavior of MNOs from crowdsourced datasets. |
24 | [52] | Crowdsourced | Throughput, latency and DNS lookup | 4G | Conducted a longitudinal and multidimensional analysis of the extensive MBB measurement data collected to diagnose the cause behind observed performance variations. |
25 | [53] | Testbed | Latency | 3G | Examined delay characteristics in 3G networks from long-term MBB measurement data. |
26 | [54] | Crowdsourced | Latency | 2G to 4G | Analyzed latency of MBB networks from measurement data obtained using the crowdsourced method. |
27 | [55] | Crowdsourced | Throughput and latency | 3G and 4G | Used crowdsourced measurement data to study the characteristics of MBB network of three MNOs. |
28 | [56] | Testbed | Video streaming | 4G | Investigated the influence of different factors on YouTube streaming performance with different network configurations in four countries. |
29 | [57] | Testbed | Video streaming | 4G | Presented the design and implementation of a large-scale measurement tool for QoE when live streaming with MBB networks. |
30 | [58] | Crowdsourced | Throughput and latency of mobile apps | 4G | Extensively addressed the problem of QoE provisioning in smartphones from a double perspective, combining the results obtained from subjective laboratory tests with end-device passive MBB measurements and QoE crowd-sourced feedback obtained. |
31 | [16] | Drive test | Upload and download throughput, latency and packet loss | 5G | Conducted a pilot MBB measurement on the 5G network to investigate the QoS parameters of two MNOs. |
32 | [15] | Crowdsourced | Upload and download throughput, latency, jitter and packet loss | 4G | Performed a comparative assessment of the QoS parameters obtained from 4G MBB network and used it to establish a baseline for 5G MBB evaluation. |
33 | [17] | Drive test | Upload and download speed | 5G | Performed both stationary and mobility field tests to study the efficiency and performance of 5G networks. |
34 | [18] | Drive test | Upload and download speeds and latency | 5G | Conducted stationary field test to assess the MBB QoS performance of the 5G network using three popular mobile phone speedtest applications. |
35 | [59] | Crowdsourced | Download speed | 4G | Conducted a comparative study of download speeds on the 4G networks. |
36 | [60] | Testbed | Latency, jitter, packet loss, and throughput | 3G | Conducted a study to obtain the end-to-end parameters of the QoS for internet usage from a user perspective. |
37 | [12] | Testbed | Latency, upload throughput, handover | 4G | Measured the key MBB performance metrics of 4G networks under mobility, highlighting inefficiencies that need to be considered when designing the mobility features in 5G networks. |
38 | [61] | Testbed | Throughput, latency, jitter | 4G and 5G | Presents initial MBB measurement results of the key performance indicators on the 5G network. |
39 | [62] | Walk Test | Throughput, latency | 4G and 5G | Used private LTE and 5G networks to measure MBB performance metrics. |
40 | [19] | Crowdsourced | Handover, Mobile app performance | 5G | Performed extensive field tests of 5G network performance in different urban areas. |
41 | [63] | Crowdsourced | Throughput, latency, handover | 5G | Used a custom measurement tool to conduct a comprehensive measurement of numerous key aspects of commercial end-to-end 5G network performance. |
42 | [64] | Testbed | Throughput, latency, coverage | 5G | Conducted a full-fledged, end-to-end measurement study of the first commercial 5G networks. |
43 | [65] | Testbed and Drive test | Throughput, RTT, loss rate, signal quality | 4G and 5G | Performed a comparative study of the key performance metrics of 5G in extreme mobility. |
44 | [66] | Drive test | Throughput, latency, video streaming | 5G | Conducted an in-depth measurement study of 5G network performance in transit. |
45 | [67] | Crowdsourced | Throughput, latency | 4G and 5G | Performed a comparative study of 4G and 5G network deployment in two cities using a panel-based approach. |
46 | [33] | Testbed | Throughput, latency | 5G | Developed a modular and flexible experimentation methodology for validating 5G network KPIs. |
Features | Drive Test | Walk Test | Crowdsourced | Testbed |
---|---|---|---|---|
Complexity | Moderate | Simple | Moderate | Complex |
Accuracy | Accurate | Accurate (for the given purpose) | Accurate (relying on users) | Accurate |
Scalability | Moderate | Low | High | Very High |
Reliability and sensitivity | Moderate | Low | Moderate | High |
Per measurement cost | High | High | Moderate | Moderate |
Set up cost | Moderate | Low | High (relative to the coverage) | Very High |