Alternates to drive testing

[bratakon]

What are some of the alternate that are available instead of using drive tests for network optimization?
What about geolocation technology solutions from vendors such as Actix and Arieso?

[Piojo]

What are some of the alternate that are available instead of using drive tests for network optimization?
What about geolocation technology solutions from vendors such as Actix and Arieso?

Hi bratakon,

You say some like this? http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/...0&lc=eng&cc=CL

Or you mean an alternative to post processing using non-vendor software?

[babak1349]

Hi,
It is not suggested to ignore the drive test Because drive tests show the user perception which is very important Stats can not replace the drive test simply because the stats are valid when you have enough samples besides it will be counted when the network can decode the user initial request (RACH) Furthermore the drive test can show the messages on air interface and more details of failures. Stats can not show coverage/quality and so on while drive test can do

There might be some alternative based on Vendor's provided measurement/traces like as GPEH in E******* 3G Some companys like as Arieso process GPEH and can display a lot of information on google map

So it depends on which vendor you are working and what kind of measurements vendor's system can provide.
In the end drive test is the only way you can simulate user perception


Cheers

What are some of the alternate that are available instead of using drive tests for network optimization?
What about geolocation technology solutions from vendors such as Actix and Arieso?

[dekili]

Hi,
virtual drive test tools like those from Nice or Arieso are good ones due to the fact that they gather statistics from users (mobile units). Since users are making more than 70% of all calls and sessions from indoor, where drive testing is not fully applicable, and from the floors which are much above the ground level, classical drive testing is good for street level optimisation. I know that O2 and Vodafone are using Arieso.
Drive testing should not be neglected in any way since it is complementary source of information for all areas where you cant get enough information from users (small number of users, poor statistics, mobile phone usage is not allowed in the area etc...).
Cheers,

[alcatraz]

What are some of the alternate that are available instead of using drive tests for network optimization?
What about geolocation technology solutions from vendors such as Actix and Arieso?

Hi Bratakon,

you can you use User Experience aplication las Swissmobility Solutions.

Check it out.

http://www.swissmobilitysolutions.com/products/mobile

This is an aplication made for each OS (Android, Mac OS, RIM, Windows). Basically you install a little program on the user Devices and you start collecting information from tha client view.

You can get Coverage maps and events from your users.

Hope it helps.

Best Regards.

[Alebros]

I think the day might come when subscribers' phones would be equipped with automated soft wares for auto transfer of useful measurements of important KPIs to the network provider. Drive tests would be practically superfluous by then

[Darko]

Well... how about GPEH or RPMO measurements for E******* ?

I think the day might come when subscribers' phones would be equipped with automated soft wares for auto transfer of useful measurements of important KPIs to the network provider. Drive tests would be practically superfluous by then

[ranilkum]

How does virtual drive test work? IS it based on measurements from existing drive tests - getting hold of channel model and then for a hypotheical route provide kpis?

[Julian]

Sort of. While most companies say that Drive Testing is the final judge, take for example E******* and GPEH. You can do 95% of what a drive test does now by collecting what the phone is reporting to the RNC, sometimes including whether you have coverage gaps or not (excessive uplink sync failures)

At the very least network stats have removed a LOT of the need for drive testing.

But you are right - if you really want to see what a user is seeing, then become a user. We've been tripped up a few times relying on stats for everything.

[steelenet]

I've considered experimenting with these devices:

http://ardrone2.parrot.com/

Things I need to do to make it a workable solution:
- Increase battery life / power
- Move from Wi-Fi interface to cellular interface
- Add base station information collection equipment (or possibly just a cell phone running some software)