Measuring and Assessing Performance of Mobile Broadband Networks and Future 5G Trends

Mobile broadband (MBB) is one of the critical goals in fifth-generation (5G) networks due to rising data demand. MBB provides very high-speed internet access with seamless connections. Existing MBB, including third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) networks, also requires monitoring to ensure good network performance. Thus, performing analysis of existing MBB assists mobile network operators (MNOs) in further improving their MBB networks’ capabilities to meet user satisfaction. In this paper, we analyzed and evaluated the multidimensional performance of existing MBB in Oman. Drive test measurements were carried out in four urban and suburban cities: Muscat, Ibra, Sur and Bahla. This study aimed to analyze and understand the MBB performance, but it did not benchmark the performance of MNOs. The data measurements were collected through drive tests from two MNOs supporting 3G and 4G technologies: Omantel and Ooredoo. Several performance metrics were measured during the drive tests, such as signal quality, throughput (downlink and unlink), ping and handover. The measurement results demonstrate that 4G technologies were the dominant networks in most of the tested cities during the drive test. The average downlink and uplink data rates were 18 Mbps and 13 Mbps, respectively, whereas the average ping and pong loss were 53 ms and 0.9, respectively, for all MNOs.

Mobile Money for the Unbanked in Emerging Markets

Mobile money, together with mobile broadband, is likely to be the primary growth engine for emerging market mobile network carriers. The service is gaining popularity and is beginning to contribute considerably to telecom income. There are still 2 billion individuals worldwide who do not have a bank account. This group is primarily located in less developed areas (Africa, part of Asia, and Latin America). A typical use case of a distant worker sending money to the family for living expenses is highly expensive for persons who do not have financial inclusion. Mobile penetration is substantially higher, allowing for these remittances to be sent in a cost-effective and simple manner. Because the system is based on feature phones and 2G technology, end users do not need to have the most recent smartphone or mobile broadband (SMS or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data-USSD channel). The most common application is domestic remittance. Bill payments and merchant payments are two others. International remittances are now feasible across various operators as well (cross-MNO agreements). Globally, there were already more than 100 million active mobile money accounts in 2014, with services available in around 90 countries.

Recent Advances in Antenna Design for 5G Heterogeneous Networks

Fifth-generation will support significantly faster mobile broadband speeds, low latency, and reliable communications, as well as enabling the full potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) [...]

Performance Analysis of Mobile Broadband Technologies and 5G Trends and Beyond Networks in Malaysia

<p>This paper analysis and investigate the performance of Mobile Broadband (MBB) cellular networks based on the drive tests for suburban areas (at four states) in Malaysia. The data were collected from three main national Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) by using unbranded Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone handsets, while the period of data collection was between January and February. Two MBB services were considered which are the video streaming and web browsing. For each MNO, the performance data of one MBB service was collected through one a dedicated smartphone. One smartphone was used to browse three different webpages, and One smartphone was employed to stream two YouTube videos with two different resolutions. The study considered four MBB Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), namely: latency, coverage, speed and satisfaction. As per the results, the performance of Fourth Generation (4G) is found superior than that of Third Generation (3G) networks. For instance, a vMOS score of above 3.3 was achieved by 4G networks for MBB video-streaming service, while, score of below 2.6 was attained by 3G networks across all the four studied areas. In addition, it was observed that an enhancement factor of up to 2.86 and 2.83 in download speed was presented by 4G technology in case of video streaming and web page browsing respectively as compared to 3G technology. Examining the performance of current MBB networks is supportive before the deployment of the 5G network. The efficient development of 5G networks in Malaysia can be realized through these study findings, where the existing 4G infrastructures will contribute to supporting the 5G and 6G networks.</p>

Performance Analysis of Mobile Broadband Technologies and 5G Trends and Beyond Networks in Malaysia

<p>This paper analysis and investigate the performance of Mobile Broadband (MBB) cellular networks based on the drive tests for suburban areas (at four states) in Malaysia. The data were collected from three main national Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) by using unbranded Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone handsets, while the period of data collection was between January and February. Two MBB services were considered which are the video streaming and web browsing. For each MNO, the performance data of one MBB service was collected through one a dedicated smartphone. One smartphone was used to browse three different webpages, and One smartphone was employed to stream two YouTube videos with two different resolutions. The study considered four MBB Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), namely: latency, coverage, speed and satisfaction. As per the results, the performance of Fourth Generation (4G) is found superior than that of Third Generation (3G) networks. For instance, a vMOS score of above 3.3 was achieved by 4G networks for MBB video-streaming service, while, score of below 2.6 was attained by 3G networks across all the four studied areas. In addition, it was observed that an enhancement factor of up to 2.86 and 2.83 in download speed was presented by 4G technology in case of video streaming and web page browsing respectively as compared to 3G technology. Examining the performance of current MBB networks is supportive before the deployment of the 5G network. The efficient development of 5G networks in Malaysia can be realized through these study findings, where the existing 4G infrastructures will contribute to supporting the 5G and 6G networks.</p>

Proportional fair buffer scheduling algorithm for 5G enhanced mobile broadband

The impending next generation of mobile communications denoted 5G intends to interconnect user equipment, things, vehicles, and cities. It will provide an order of magnitude improvement in performance and network efficiency, and different combinations of use cases enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra reliable low latency communications (URLLC), massive internet of things (mIoT) with new capabilities and diverse requirements. Adoption of advanced radio resource management procedures such as packet scheduling algorithms is necessary to distribute radio resources among different users efficiently. The proportional fair (PF) scheduling algorithm and its modified versions have proved to be the commonly used scheduling algorithms for their ability to provide a tradeoff between throughput and fairness. In this article, the buffer status is combined with the PF metric to suggest a new scheduling algorithm for efficient support for eMBB. The effectiveness of the proposed scheduling strategy is proved through à comprehensive experimental analysis based on the evaluation of different quality of service key performance indicators (QoS KPIs) such as throughput, fairness, and buffer status.

Analysis of Consumer Trends in the Telecommunications Markets of Russia and Vietnam

By way of descriptive and comparative analysis, the subscriber bases and revenues of television, fixed and mobile telephony, and fixed and mobile broadband segments of the Russian and Vietnamese telecommunications markets for the period of 2015-2019 were analysed. The results of the study revealed similar global trends in the telecommunications markets of Russia and Vietnam. Fixed and mobile telephony revenues are declining, since customers prefer new communication technologies to the old ones. The television subscriber base is growing in both countries; TV revenues are increasing in the Russian market and somewhat declining in the Vietnamese telecommunications market. With further penetration of broadband, more customers are upgrading their television from Free TV to Pay TV (IPTV and OTT services). The results of the study confirmed the global consumer trends in telecommunications markets and the applicability of approaches used herein for other countries.