Understanding Access Stability and Mobility Patterns of Mobile Internet Users

Understanding user behavior of mobile Internet is vital for network infrastructure planning and radio resource allocation. In this paper, we investigate the spatial-temporal characteristics of users' access behavior and mobility patterns based on a data set collected from a cellular network in a city of China. We first propose a method called Maximum Distance Criterion (MDC) to distinguish users' access stability in different areas and periods. The analysis shows that urban users' access behavior is less stable than that of rural users. Furthermore, urban users' access behavior is more stable in holidays than in workdays, but contrary for that of rural users. We then introduce the concept of centroid to explore users' mobility patterns at the collective level. We find that users in different areas all move toward a highway during holidays while come back when workdays approaching. These results give us a better understanding of user behavior in the mobile Internet from both spatial and temporal perspective, which is essential for network planning.