Open Mobile Network Toolkit (OMNT)

Operators of mobile networks, such as 5G campus networks, need to know at all times how good the current network is and whether performance varies at different locations within the desired network coverage, whether at an airport, on construction sites, or during a disaster response.

Fraunhofer FOKUS has added the Open Mobile Network Toolkit (OMNT) to its end-to-end test environment for this purpose. The open-source software collects measurement data about the mobile network, such as the exact position and signal quality. It evaluates the network's bandwidth, latency, and fluctuations in signal pulses (jitter).

The measurement data can be saved locally and/or sent to a server. You can visualize and further process the measurement results via a dashboard. OMNT can also be used to configure network-related carrier settings on the smartphone.

Fraunhofer FOKUS presented the Open Mobile Network Toolkit for the first time at the Hannover Messe. The database will consist of live measurements from the trade fair and various field trials in Brandenburg in 2023. During the summer of 2024, the CampusOS project will use OMNT during field tests on a construction site in Herne.

OMNT is one building block of NGNIs xGTestbed toolkit. Implemented as an android application, it can run right on the device you might already use in your network. OMNT provides tooling to researchers and developers of mobile communication networks like 3GPP 2/3/4/5G as well as IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi.

The main objective of OMNT is the collection of measurement data on the mobile network like:

• RSSI
• RSRQ
• RSRP
• GNSS position
• Cell ID
• PLNM and much more

On top of those passive measurements on the radio environment and network parameters, OMNT can also run an iPerf3 server / client for bandwidth, latency and jitter evaluation as well as round-trip-time evaluation via ICMP (Ping).

Measurement data can be stored locally as well as sent to an InfluxDB 2.x server. Measurement results can be visualized e. g. via provided Grafana Dashboards or be further processed e. g. with Python. Besides its measurement capabilities, OMNT provides a deep insight into the state of the phone, such as software versions, connectivity states, SIM card content, and much more.

Network related Carrier Settings can be configured. Also, OMNT provides access to different “secret“ settings on Android phones.

Furthermore, OMNT supports remote configuration and control, enabling centralized management of measurement activities across a fleet of devices. Users can remotely initiate radio environment measurements, trigger iPerf3-based bandwidth and jitter tests, or perform ICMP-based round-trip time evaluations. This remote management capability is especially valuable for large-scale experiments or continuous monitoring scenarios, ensuring coordinated data collection without requiring physical interaction with each device.