Measured Performance of Data Transmission Over Cellular Telephone Networks

Timo Alanko, Markku Kojo, Heimo Laamanen, Mika Liljeberg, Marko Moilanen, and Kimmo E. E. Raatikainen: Measured Performance of Data Transmission Over Cellular Telephone Networks. Report C-1994-53, Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, November 1994. 20 pages. <http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/TR/C-1994/53>

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Abstract

Recent developments in mobile communication and personal computer technology have laid a new foundation for mobile computing. Performance of the data communication system as seen by an application program is a fundamental factor when communication infrastructure at the application layer is designed. This paper provides results of performance measurements of data transmission over two different cellular telephone networks, a digital GSM-network and an analogue NMT-network. Since our emphasis is on performance as seen by application programs, we use the standard TCP/IP protocols in the measurements. The performance is measured using three basic operations: establishment of a wireless dial-up connection, exchange of request-reply messages, and bulk data transfer. The external conditions under which the measurements were carried out present a normal office environment when the field strength of the cellular link is good or fairly good.

Index Terms

Categories and Subject Descriptors:
C.4

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Additional Key Words and Phrases: performance measurements, wireless dial-up connections, cellular telephones, GSM, NMT