Measurement methodology for smartphone data service quality

Abstract

Mobile data usage is growing globally year after year and predictions suggest a continuous increase in the near future. Smartphones, devices which offer a set of popular services involving data connectivity, are one of the main motivators of that growth. In this context, Mobile Network Operators (MNO) visualize the demand of data services by smartphone users as a market opportunity and are interested to deliver optimal Quality of Service (QoS) to their customers. Measuring the performance of the network allows the MNOs to evaluate the offered QoS and compare it with their competitors.

The aim of this thesis was to study a measurement methodology that assessed rigorously the QoS of smartphone data services. A crucial part of the methodology was to develop a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPls) for the most relevant smartphone data services, namely video streaming, web browsing, VoIP and file sharing. These services were selected after an exhaustive study on smartphone usage trends. The target was to use these KPls to measure quantitatively the QoS perceived by end-users for benchmarking purposes. In addition, a guideline that contained the most important practical matters in order to plan a measurement campaign was suggested. As a consequence, a case study was developed and executed with the intention of testing the validity of the KPls proposed. In the case study, the network performance of two operators was measured using field testing and analysed.

The results of the measurements showed that the defined KPls give a comprehensive and appropriate view of service performance and quality. Thus, the proposed KPls and measurement methods depict accurately the QoS of the network, which makes possible the identification of performance differences between MNOs.