Crowdsourcing-based measurement methodology of user-oriented quality of service and network quality in 5G mobile networks (5GQMON)
| Partner | Nokia Solutions and Networks (Munich, Germany) |
| Funder | R&D program "Information and Communication Technology" of the State of Bavaria, Germany |
| Funded period | May 2021 - April 2024 |
| Researcher | Prof. Dr. Tobias Hoßfeld |
Project Description
The massive number of physical and virtual devices, industrial use cases, and digital smart city development concepts requires new methods for differentiated measurement of the network quality of 5G mobile networks. This project is about investigating, evaluating, and defining crowdsourcing-based measurement methods to evaluate mobile networks on a large scale according to end users' quality of experience (QoE) in the context of current developments and use cases in the field of new 5G networks. Due to the heterogeneous usage and architecture of the networks, measurements from the end-user or end-device perspective are necessary, which requires crowdsourcing-based measurement methods at the service and application level.
The project partners Nokia Solutions and Networks, Infosim GmbH & Co. KG and the University of Würzburg are technically suitable for the tasks planned in the project. Nokia is a worldwide commercial manufacturer of hardware and software in the field of mobile communications. Infosim offers network monitoring and management solutions for quality of service (QoS) monitoring using, for example, distributed agents. The Chair of Communication Networks (JMU Würzburg) is active in the field of performance evaluation, modeling, and measurement of communication networks. In the course of the project, existing network data as well as crowd data will be analyzed, allowing the determination of 4G and 5G network quality for the geographical area of Bavaria. The crowd data will be provided by associated partner Tutela, which is commercially successful in the emerging field of crowdsourcing-based measurements. The goal is to determine and explore 4G and 5G network quality for the geographical area of Bavaria in terms of end users satisfaction, and to develop a measurement methodology for QoS and QoE for selected use cases. This also has a sustainable impact on private campus networks in the industrial environment. Further information is available here.
Project Objectives
Performance monitoring for mobile networks
- Consideration of new heterogeneous use cases
- Diverse, different requirements in the network in 5G
- Passive or active agents or measurement tools at user's site
Quality of Experience and user-centered understanding of network quality
- Collection and analysis of meaningful data in mobile networks is key to assessing network performance
- Providers collect QoS on network layer, but crowdsourced network measurements allow insight on user side
Crowdsourcing
- Allows to get insights beyond network layer, i.e. application layer and user level data towards Quality of Experience
- Large scale measurements and comprehensive
- Much better holistic understanding of quality experienced by end users
Internet of Things
- Adds the dimension of machine-driven requirements
- Massive number of devices with possibly high coverage
- Lack of methodology for performance evaluation
Publications
- Hoßfeld, T., & Pérez, P. (2024). A Theoretical Framework for Provider's QoE Assessment using Individual and Objective QoE Monitoring. 16th International Conference on Quality of Multimedia Experience (QoMEX 2024)
- Hoßfeld, T., Varela, M., Skorin-Kapov, L., & Heegaard, P. E. (2023). A greener experience: Trade-offs between qoe and co2 emissions in today's and 6g networks. IEEE communications magazine.
- Hoßfeld, T., Seufert, A., Loh, F., Wunderer, S., & Davies, J. (2022). Industrial User Experience Index vs. Quality of Experience Models. IEEE Communications Magazine, 61(1), 98-104.
- Hoßfeld, T., Heegaard, P. E., Varela, M., & Jarschel, M. (2022). User-Centric Markov Reward Model on the Example of Cloud Gaming. In 34th International Teletraffic Congress (ITC 34), Shenzhen, China (pp. 1-9).
- Wamser, F., Seufert, A., Hall, A., Wunderer, S., & Hoßfeld, T. (2021). Valid statements by the crowd: statistical measures for precision in crowdsourced mobile measurements. Network, 1(2), 215-232.
