Measurement-Based Small-Cell Coverage Analysis for Urban Macro-Offload Scenarios

One of the most engaging challenges for mobile operators today is how to manage the exponential data traffic increase. Mobile data offloading stands out as a promising and low cost solution to reduce the burden on the cellular network. To make this possible, we need a new hybrid network paradigm that leverages the existence of multiple alternative communication channels. This entails significant modifications in the way data is handled, affecting also the behavior of network protocols. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of data offloading techniques in cellular networks and extract the main requirements needed to integrate data offloading capabilities into today's mobile networks. We classify existing strategies into two main categories, according to their requirements in terms of content delivery guarantees: delayed and non-delayed offloading. We overview the technical aspects and discuss the state of the art in each category. Finally, we describe in detail the novel functionalities needed to implement mobile data offloading in the access network, as well as current and future research challenges in the field, with an eye toward the design of hybrid architectures.

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“…Non-delayed Delayed AP-based AP Deployment and Modeling [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19].…”

Section: Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, IEEE 802.11 standard with its latest amendment can reach a realistic shared throughput of 40 Mbit/s [6]. 3 Therefore, as suggested in some works, it is possible to take advantage of this complementarity, combining properly the strengths of different technologies [12], [13].…”

Section: Non-delayed Offloadingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Data Offloading Techniques in Cellular Networks: A Survey

Rebecchi

Amorim

Conan

et al. 2015

IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutorials

320

152

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“…Recent empirical studies, e.g., [1], have shown that in densely populated metropolitan regions the wireless coverage areas of Wi-Fi enabled CPEs do already spatially overlap. The measurement study presented in [2] also illustrates that a dominant fixed-line broadband operator would easily be able to aggregate its CPEs to form a complete radio access network covering large portions of the urban environment. The disruptiveness of this approach for mobile radio access network operators, 1 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Wi-Fi Offload: Tragedy of the commons or land of milk and honey?

Zwickl

Fuxjaeger

Gojmerac

et al. 2013

2013 IEEE 24th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC Workshops)

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Abstract-Fueled by its recent success in provisioning on-site wireless Internet access, Wi-Fi is currently perceived as the best positioned technology for pervasive mobile macro network offloading. However, the broad transitions of multiple collocated operators towards this new paradigm may result in fierce competition for the common unlicensed spectrum at hand. In this light, our paper game-theoretically dissects market convergence scenarios by assessing the competition between providers in terms of network performance, capacity constraints, cost reductions, and revenue prospects. We will closely compare the prospects and strategic positioning of fixed line operators offering Wi-Fi services with respect to competing mobile network operators utilizing unlicensed spectrum. Our results highlight important dependencies upon inter-operator collaboration models, and more importantly, upon the ratio between backhaul and Wi-Fi access bit-rates. Furthermore, our investigation of medium-to long-term convergence scenarios indicates that a rethinking of control measures targeting the large-scale monetization of unlicensed spectrum may be required, as otherwise the used free bands may become subject to tragedy-of-commons type of problems.

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“…Standardization efforts in this direction are indeed ongoing: 3GPP has been developing Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) mechanisms to trigger handoffs across different radio access technologies [3]. Also, seminal studies have started exploring the performance of large-scale offloading, by considering a user perspective and carrying out smartphone-based measurements [4], [5]. Although such works yielded promising results, they are based on a limited set of measurements, involving 100 users at most, and only rely on received Wi-Fi signal strength information, thus neglecting upper layer operation and the actual traffic demand [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban-scale cellular offloading through Wi-Fi access points: A measurement-based case study

Raveneau

Stanica

Fiore

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE 1st International Forum on Research and Technologies for Society and Industry Leveraging a Better Tomorrow (RTSI)

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Wi-Fi offloading is one of the most effective approaches to relieve the cellular radio access from part of the burgeoning mobile demand. To date, Wi-Fi offloading has been mainly leveraged in limited contexts, such as home, office or campus environments. In this paper, we investigate the scaling properties of Wi-Fi offloading, by studying how it would perform on a much larger scope than those considered today. To that end, we consider a real-world citywide scenario, built on data about actual infrastructure deployments and mobile traffic demand, and observe which amount of traffic could be accommodated by the existing pervasive Wi-Fi access infrastructure, were it opened to mobile users. We find that more than 80% of the mobile traffic demand in a large urban area may be easily served by Wi-Fi access points, under a wide range of system settings.

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Measurement-Based Small-Cell Coverage Analysis for Urban Macro-Offload Scenarios

Cited by 9 publications

References 5 publications

Data Offloading Techniques in Cellular Networks: A Survey

Data Offloading Techniques in Cellular Networks: A Survey

Wi-Fi Offload: Tragedy of the commons or land of milk and honey?

Urban-scale cellular offloading through Wi-Fi access points: A measurement-based case study

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