Using Mobile Metrics to Drive Network Analysis on Android Devices

Bo Yan

Department of Computer ScienceUniversity of Massachusetts Lowell

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Network Analysis

An important research topic as many communicate via mobile devices Troubleshoot network connectivity Diagnose network performance

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

What Kind Of Metrics Do We Have

Network metrics Signal strength Connection states Latency and bandwidth

Context information Location

Geo-coordinates Cell tower

User Behavior Indoor/outdoor Still/moving

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Signal Strength

Signal Strength dBm (or dBmW) is an abbreviation for the power ratio in decibels (dB) of

the measured power referenced to one milliwatt (mW) X = 10 * log10P + 30 expresses an arbitrary power P as x dBm

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Cellular Signal Strength - GSM

GSM signal ASU (Active Set Update) An integer value proportional to the received signal strength In range from 0 to 30, and 99, defined in 3GPP TS 27.007 8.5 Signal[dBm] = -113 + 2 * Signal[asu]

GSM Bit Error Rate In range from 0 to 7, and 99, defined in 3GPP TS 27.007 8.5 RXQUAL_0, BER < 0.2% RXQUAL_1, 0.2% < BER < 0.4% RXQUAL_2, 0.4% < BER < 0.8% RXQUAL_3, 0.8% < BER < 1.6% RXQUAL_4, 1.6% < BER < 3.2% RXQUAL_5, 3.2% < BER < 6.4% RXQUAL_6, 6.4% < BER < 12.8% RXQUAL_7, 12.8% < BER

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Cellular Signal Strength - CDMA

CDMA RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) Value in dBm

CDMA EC/IO Value in dB * 10 The ratio of received pilot energy, Ec, to total received energy, Io. Ec/Io[dB] = RSSI[dBm] – RSCP[dBm]

EVDO RSSI Value in dBm

EVDO Ec/Io Value in dB * 10

EVDO SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) Value in range from 0 to 8 SNR[dB] = RSSI[dBm] – NOISE[dBm]

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Cellular Network States

Call states IDLE, RINGING, OFFHOOK Incoming phone number

Data activity IN, OUT, INOUT, DORMANT

Data connection states DISCONNECTED, CONNECTING, CONNECTED, SUSPEND

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Wi-Fi Network States

Wi-Fi supplicant states ASSOCIATED, ASSOCIATING, AUTHENTICATING, COMPLETED,

DISCONNECTED, DORMANT, FOUR_WAY_HANDSHAKE, GROUP_HANDSHAKE, INACTIVE, INTERFACE_DISABLED, INVALID, SCANNING, UNINITIALIZED

Access Point SSID and BSSID link speed

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Network Performance

Network Latency Ping command result Socket connection latency

Network Goodput Ping command result Upload/download test to/from a target server

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Location

Geo-coordinates Latitude and longitude Help identify dead zone

Cell tower Report weak signal coverage

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

User Behavior

Accelerometer Sensor Infer movement from 3D accelerations

Light Sensor Day time or mid night

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Example – Troubleshoot Network Connectivity

PHONE TYPE

SIM CARD READY

AIRPLANE MODE

DATA ENABLED

REPLACED BY WI-FI

CELLULAR SIGNAL

SUPPLICANT STATE

WI-FI SIGNAL

GSMCDMA

YESYES

NO

YES

NO CONNECTED

Bo Yan Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Example – Network Latency

LATENCY TO WEBSITE

LATENCY TO INTERNET

LATENCY TO CARRIER

ABNORMAL

ABNORMAL

PACKET DROP

CELLULAR SIGNAL

NORMALHEAVY