Connected cars in cellular network: a measurement study

Connected cars are a rapidly growing segment of Internet of Things (IoT). While they already use cellular networks to support emergency response, in-car WiFi hotspots and infotainment, there is also a push towards updating their firmware over-the-air (FOTA). With millions of connected cars expected to be deployed over the next several years, and more importantly persist in the network for a long time, it is important to understand their behavior, usage patterns, and impact --- both in terms of their experience, as well as other users. Using one million connected cars on a production cellular network, we conduct network-scale measurements of over one billion radio connections to understand various aspects including their spatial and temporal connectivity patterns, the network conditions they face, use and handovers across various radio frequencies and mobility patterns. Our measurement study reveals that connected cars have distinct sets of characteristics, including those similar to regular smartphones (e.g. overall diurnal pattern), those similar to IoT devices (e.g. mostly short network sessions), but also some that belong to neither type (e.g. high mobility). These insights are invaluable in understanding and modeling connected cars in a cellular network and in designing strategies to manage their data demand.