Analysis and Measurement of Signaling in 3G Environment for Social Networking Services

Because of the increased prevalence of wireless communication and surge in the success of social network services (SNSs), numerous users can access SNSs through various types of smart devices. To save power, smart devices are usually designed to enter an idle mode when there are no data to be sent or received and transition to a connected mode periodically or when data are received. However, frequent switching between the connected and idle modes can cause substantial radio resource control (RRC) related signaling overhead on the control plane. This study involved using a protocol analyzer to evaluate the RRC related signaling overhead and data traffic generated by various smart devices when such devices run Facebook and Skype services in a 3G operating environment. The measurement results indicated that a high number of RRC related signaling messages are produced when a smart device runs a SNS, and the generated signaling messages introduce a heavy computational burden on the control plane, potentially affecting the capability to establish connections. By contrast, the data traffic of the SNSs did not exert a burden on the data plane. In addition, this study showed that different SNSs have different connection management behaviors; furthermore, each smart device may have different connection behaviors. The connection behavior affects the frequency and volume of the generated signaling messages. A possible enhancement approach is proposed in this paper. The analysis results can serve as valuable references for planning and deploying current and next generation mobile networks.