TY - JOUR
T1 - Measurement analysis and performance evaluation of mobile broadband cellular networks in a populated city
AU - El-Saleh, Ayman A.
AU - Alhammadi, Abdulraqeb
AU - Shayea, Ibraheem
AU - Hassan, Wan Haslina
AU - Honnurvali, Mohamed Shaik
AU - Daradkeh, Yousef Ibrahim
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 THE AUTHORS
PY - 2023/3/1
Y1 - 2023/3/1
N2 - Enhanced mobile broadband is an essential target in fifth-generation (5G) networks with higher demands among service consumers. It offers very high-speed Internet connections for several geographical areas: urban, suburban, and rural. Many mobile network operators (MNOs) continuously monitor the quality of service in terms of multiple services to guarantee high network performance. To the best of our knowledge, no extensive studies and analyses are conducted on mobile broadband (MBB) services that cover various implementation scenarios and several performance metrics. This study comprehensively analyzes the existing MBB performance in an urban area: Cyberjaya City, Malaysia. The measurement data were collected through drive tests from various MNOs supporting 3G and 4G technologies: Maxis, Celcom, Digi, U Mobile, and Unifi. Several performance metrics, such as signal quality, throughput (downlink and uplink), ping, and handover, were measured during the drive tests. The data measurements were conducted in two scenarios: outdoor and indoor environments. Measurement results of the outdoor drive test demonstrate that the maximum average throughput with downlink and uplink data rates is 14.3 and 7.1 Mbps, respectively, whereas the minimum average ping and loss are 36.5 ms and 0.14, respectively, for all MNOs. However, the in-building measurements achieve an acceptable overall average data rate of 2 Mbps. This paper provides several suggestions and recommendations for MBB providers to improve their performance networks and quality of experience to meet customers’ satisfaction. Several limitations not considered in this study and can point to possible future work are presented.
AB - Enhanced mobile broadband is an essential target in fifth-generation (5G) networks with higher demands among service consumers. It offers very high-speed Internet connections for several geographical areas: urban, suburban, and rural. Many mobile network operators (MNOs) continuously monitor the quality of service in terms of multiple services to guarantee high network performance. To the best of our knowledge, no extensive studies and analyses are conducted on mobile broadband (MBB) services that cover various implementation scenarios and several performance metrics. This study comprehensively analyzes the existing MBB performance in an urban area: Cyberjaya City, Malaysia. The measurement data were collected through drive tests from various MNOs supporting 3G and 4G technologies: Maxis, Celcom, Digi, U Mobile, and Unifi. Several performance metrics, such as signal quality, throughput (downlink and uplink), ping, and handover, were measured during the drive tests. The data measurements were conducted in two scenarios: outdoor and indoor environments. Measurement results of the outdoor drive test demonstrate that the maximum average throughput with downlink and uplink data rates is 14.3 and 7.1 Mbps, respectively, whereas the minimum average ping and loss are 36.5 ms and 0.14, respectively, for all MNOs. However, the in-building measurements achieve an acceptable overall average data rate of 2 Mbps. This paper provides several suggestions and recommendations for MBB providers to improve their performance networks and quality of experience to meet customers’ satisfaction. Several limitations not considered in this study and can point to possible future work are presented.
KW - 5G
KW - Data rate
KW - Drive test
KW - Mobile broadband
KW - Mobile network operator
KW - Quality of experience
KW - Quality of service
KW - Spectrum efficiency
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141311765&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.aej.2022.10.052
DO - 10.1016/j.aej.2022.10.052
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85141311765
SN - 1110-0168
VL - 66
SP - 927
EP - 946
JO - Alexandria Engineering Journal
JF - Alexandria Engineering Journal
ER -
