In-network performance of handheld mobile terminals

• Published in: IEEE transactions on vehicular technology Vol. 55; no. 3; pp. 903 - 916
• Main Authors: Nielsen, J.O., Pedersen, G.F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-05-2006; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Communication systems; Computation; Computer simulation; Downlink; Equipments and installations; Equivalence; Exact sciences and technology; GSM; GSM handset performance; Imaging phantoms; Indoor environments; Mathematical models; mean effective gain; Mobile computing; Mobile handsets; Mobile radiocommunication systems; Network interfaces; Networks; phantom user; Power measurement; Power system modeling; radiation patterns; Radiocommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Telephone sets; Terminals; Testing; total isotropic sensitivity; total radiated power; Mobile radiocommunication; GSM system; Sensitivity analysis; Wireless telecommunication; mean effective gain; phantom user; total radiated power; Portable equipment; Radiation pattern; Performance analysis; Radiated power; GSM handset performance; Gain; radiation patterns; total isotropic sensitivity
• ISSN: 0018-9545; 1939-9359
• DOI: 10.1109/TVT.2006.874551

This paper considers a realistic evaluation of the power mobile handsets are able to transmit and receive. It has been suggested to use the so-called total radiated power (TRP) and the total isotropic sensitivity (TIS) for the uplink and downlink, respectively, which may be seen as special cases of the general mean-effective-gain (MEG) measure. These measures are computed from the spherical radiation pattern of the handset and the different measures are obtained by using different models of the mobile propagation environment. In this paper, the results obtained via the spherical radiation patterns are compared with the equivalent performance obtained in a live Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network using data from the Abis network interface. This method does not require altering of the handsets and the testing uses normal calls in the network. The investigation is based on measurements with four different commercially available handsets carried out in two different indoor environments and involving 22 test users. In addition, a series of measurements were also made with a phantom simulating the handset user, allowing a test of how well the phantom represents the average user