Empirical analysis of end-to-end QoS performance in urban cellular vehicular scenarios

Abstract In the context of the growing demand for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) in Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) applications and edge computing offloading, there is a growing imperative to understand the end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) performance in real-world cellular networks. This study presents an empirical evaluation of the performance of the 4G LTE and 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) network performance, based on extensive drive tests conducted in Bratislava, Slovakia. The analysis of the empirical cumulative distribution function (ECDF) of key Quality of Service (QoS) metrics, specifically latency and throughput, has highlighted the variability of end-to-end performance in different mobility and coverage scenarios. The results obtained have provided insights into the suitability of current cellular infrastructures to support latency-sensitive applications, particularly in vehicular environments where seamless connectivity and real-time data processing are essential. The need for field measurements to complement theoretical and simulation-based studies is emphasized in the findings, which offer valuable input for network optimization and future 5G Standalone (SA) deployments. This work contributes to ongoing efforts to improve the reliability of cellular networks for mission-critical applications, ensuring robust connectivity for next generation intelligent transportation systems.