Analyzing throughput and stability in cellular networks

Abstract

The throughput of a cellular network depends on a number of factors such as radio technology, limitations of device hardware (e.g., chipsets, antennae), physical layer effects (interference, fading, etc.), node density and demand, user mobility, and the infrastructure of Mobile Network Operators (MNO). Therefore, understanding and identifying the key factors of cellular network performance that affect end-users experience is a challenging task. We use a dataset collected using netradar, a platform that measures cellular network performance crowd- sourced from mobile user devices. Using this dataset we develop a methodology (a classifier using a machine learning approach) for understanding cellular network performance. We examine key characteristics of cellular networks related to throughput from the perspective of mobile user activity, MNO, smartphone models, link stability, location and time of day. We perform a network-wide correlation and statistical analysis to obtain a basic understanding of the influence of individual factors. We use a machine learning approach to identify the important features and to understand the relationship between different ones. These features are then used to build a model to classify the stability of cellular network based on the data reception characteristics of the user. We show that it is possible to classify reasons for network instability using minimal cellular network metrics with up to 90% of accuracy.