Smartphone User Study

Apply now to get a smartphone (e.g., Atrix 4G) with AT&T data plan for FREE!

What is the purpose of this user study?

The Robustnet research group led by Professor Z. Morley Mao at EECS department seeks to reveal and improve inefficiencies of application performance, radio resource utilization and energy consumption of smartphone systems using 3G cellular and WiFi networks.

How is this user study carried out?

We will launch a user study where each of 20 participating students will be provided with an AT&T 3G smartphone with a wireless data plan at NO COST. Specifically, The wireless plan will provide 900 day-time minutes per month for domestic (US only) calls, unlimited night and weekend minutes for domestic calls, unlimited 3G data usage (within US), and unlimited texting (from within US). No international calls are permitted on the phones. You are asked to use this smartphone as you normally would for the duration of your participation in the study (about 6 months).

What information do we collect?

We will be collecting data on your wireless media usage on 3G and WiFi, including the following information:

1. Any detail concerning data consumption while using 3G and WiFi networks in uploading/downloading, as well as information about the applications you used, the IP addresses you accessed, and the amount of bandwidth and data you consumed or forwarded.
2. Data related to the performance of the 3G and WiFi networks while consuming web browsing, movies, music and audio/visual content, including packet loss and throughput.
3. Cellular events such as changing of signal strength, switching radio resource channel and soft handover events.
4. Information about the location of your device (derived from GPS / cell tower network data / WiFi network access point).
5. System status recorded by a monitor running on the smartphone device.
6. User input activity such as touching/scrolling the screen and pressing the buttons.

How do we protect your privacy?

This user study has been approved by the University Institutional Review Board (IRB #HUM00044666). Your privacy will be respected. All of the collected data will be held confidential and will be used for research purposes only. They will be only identifiable by the smart device ID which is randomly assigned to participants.

Who can participate in this user study?

A qualified applicant must:

1. Be at least 18 years old.
2. Be a UM CoE undergraduate or graduate student in both Winter 2011 and Fall 2011 semesters.
3. Be on campus during Spring/Summer 2011 semesters.
4. Be an active smartphone user. Have experiences of using at least one smartphone system (e.g., iPhone and Android) for at least 6 months.
5. Be able to meet with us bi-weekly for software update and other maintenance purposes. The meeting will be held biweekly at 2:00pm on the first and the third Friday every month at CSE Building.

How do I apply for the user study?

If you are interested in this user study, please fill out the online applciation form by May 3, 2011 (applications after this date will still be considered, but with lower probability of being selected). All information obtained through this application will be kept strictly confidential.