Bucharest announces blockage of the UMTS network. From Amsterdam reports are coming in about the breakdown of the GPRS network. Then the phone of Ben Jochinke is ringing again: The measurement team in London is stuck in a police check. It’s just 9 o’clock in the morning and the heads of the project managers are already spinning. “Suddenly you are the turntable for every type of problem from every corner of Europe”, tells P3 consultant Jochinke, “and we rise to this challenge in a professional and creative way!”

Jochinke and his team perform large-scale drive tests on behalf of European network service providers and operators. Stated aim is the optimization of radio networks, often within the scope of large benchmark campaigns. The data throughput from the drive tests clearly shows the weak points of a network. The tests are versatile and range from verification of call establishment, voice quality and video telephony-connections to FTP up- and downloads. This way P3 communications also translates customer complaints (“I don’t like that network”, “I don’t have a signal”) into measurement facts. “Based on this foundation we suggest concrete improvements – ranging from multipart encoding to software updates of network elements.”

But before the analysis chain is set in motion there need to be sophisticated logistics. After technical details are agreed upon with the client, the number, routes and equipment of the cars is determined. “At this time a measurement fleet of 12 cars is traveling all over Europe. Planning has to make sense.”

The P3 laboratory is maintaining the cars and equips them with antennas, measurement devices and an independent power supply. After that it is the turn of the setup team, installing measurement software, configuring and tuning the systems. “Those guys also have a tight schedule in Aachen, when the measurement cars are on the road.” Finally the data ends up at the analysis team, which summarizes and illustrates the results for the customer.

The complex drive test projects often require fast decisions. “We of course rely on methods and tools. But rarely are there ready-made solutions for our daily challenges”, says Ben Jochinke. Since they range – as said before – from the complete network breakdown to a police check.