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Through the Telco Lens: A Countrywide Empirical Study of Cellular Handovers

Michail Kalntis, José Suárez-Varela, Jesús Omaña Iglesias, Anup Kiran Bhattacharjee, George Iosifidis, Fernando A. Kuipers, Andra Lutu

TL;DR

This work delivers the first countrywide, operator-provided analysis of handovers (HOs) in a European country, leveraging four weeks of millisecond-granularity data from ~40M UEs. It fuses network-side HO signaling with device characteristics and census-based geodemographics to dissect HO performance across RATs, UE types, and districts, uncovering the prevalence of intra 4G/5G-NSA HOs and the substantial impact of inter-RAT transitions, especially to 3G/2G. The study reveals strong urban–rural disparities, high HO signaling durations for vertical HOs, and the main role of HO type in HOFs, enabling targeted policy and deployment strategies to improve mobility management in multi-generation networks. These insights inform HO policy design, RAT upgrade planning, and device-level considerations essential for robust 5G and future network performance.

Abstract

Cellular networks rely on handovers (HOs) as a fundamental element to enable seamless connectivity for mobile users. A comprehensive analysis of HOs can be achieved through data from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs); however, the vast majority of studies employ data from measurement campaigns within confined areas and with limited end-user devices, thereby providing only a partial view of HOs. This paper presents the first countrywide analysis of HO performance, from the perspective of a top-tier MNO in a European country. We collect traffic from approximately 40M users for 4 weeks and study the impact of the radio access technologies (RATs), device types, and manufacturers on HOs across the country. We characterize the geo-temporal dynamics of horizontal (intra-RAT) and vertical (inter-RATs) HOs, at the district level and at millisecond granularity, and leverage open datasets from the country's official census office to associate our findings with the population. We further delve into the frequency, duration, and causes of HO failures, and model them using statistical tools. Our study offers unique insights into mobility management, highlighting the heterogeneity of the network and devices, and their effect on HOs.

Through the Telco Lens: A Countrywide Empirical Study of Cellular Handovers

TL;DR

This work delivers the first countrywide, operator-provided analysis of handovers (HOs) in a European country, leveraging four weeks of millisecond-granularity data from ~40M UEs. It fuses network-side HO signaling with device characteristics and census-based geodemographics to dissect HO performance across RATs, UE types, and districts, uncovering the prevalence of intra 4G/5G-NSA HOs and the substantial impact of inter-RAT transitions, especially to 3G/2G. The study reveals strong urban–rural disparities, high HO signaling durations for vertical HOs, and the main role of HO type in HOFs, enabling targeted policy and deployment strategies to improve mobility management in multi-generation networks. These insights inform HO policy design, RAT upgrade planning, and device-level considerations essential for robust 5G and future network performance.

Abstract

Cellular networks rely on handovers (HOs) as a fundamental element to enable seamless connectivity for mobile users. A comprehensive analysis of HOs can be achieved through data from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs); however, the vast majority of studies employ data from measurement campaigns within confined areas and with limited end-user devices, thereby providing only a partial view of HOs. This paper presents the first countrywide analysis of HO performance, from the perspective of a top-tier MNO in a European country. We collect traffic from approximately 40M users for 4 weeks and study the impact of the radio access technologies (RATs), device types, and manufacturers on HOs across the country. We characterize the geo-temporal dynamics of horizontal (intra-RAT) and vertical (inter-RATs) HOs, at the district level and at millisecond granularity, and leverage open datasets from the country's official census office to associate our findings with the population. We further delve into the frequency, duration, and causes of HO failures, and model them using statistical tools. Our study offers unique insights into mobility management, highlighting the heterogeneity of the network and devices, and their effect on HOs.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 24 sections, 1 equation, 18 figures, 10 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Datasets & Methodology
  4. Network Data Collection
  5. Census Dataset
  6. Performance & Mobility Metrics
  7. Exploring Data Heterogeneity
  8. RAT Deployment & Usage
  9. User Equipment
  10. Geodemographic segmentation
  11. Characteristics of Handovers
  12. Geo-temporal Analysis
  13. Horizontal vs Vertical HOs
  14. Mobility across Device Types
  15. Handover Failure Analysis
  16. ...and 9 more sections

Figures (18)

  • Figure 1: High-level description of HO procedure 3gpp_23_401.
  • Figure 2: Network architecture & measurement points.
  • Figure 3: (a) Evolution of network deployment in a commercial MNO. The left y-axis corresponds to all bars and lines, except the pink line (right y-axis). (b) Average daily RAT use. Error bars show the min/max daily values over 4 weeks.
  • Figure 4: Percentages of (a) manufacturers and device types, and (b) the RATs they support (excluding <0.5%).
  • Figure 5: Comparison between the inferred population from the MNO data and the actual population from the census data (district-level).
  • ...and 13 more figures