Fine-grained LTE radio link estimation for mobile phones

Recently, spectrum optimization solutions require mobile phones to obtain precise, accurate and fine-grained estimates of the radio link data rate. In particular, the effectiveness of anticipatory schemes depends on the granularity of these measurements. In this paper we use a reliable LTE control channel sniffer (OWL) to extensively compare mobile phone measurements against exact LTE radio link data rates. We also provide a detailed study of latencies measured on mobile phones, the sniffer, and a server to which the phone is connected. In this study, we show that mobile phones can accurately (if slightly biased) estimate the physical radio link data rate. We highlight the differences among measurements obtained using different mobile phones, communication technologies and protocols. We also provide detailed instructions on how to replicate our measurements and describe alternative measurement setups and their tradeoffs.