  As cellular networks evolve towards the 6th generation, machine learning is
seen as a key enabling technology to improve the capabilities of the network.
Machine learning provides a methodology for predictive systems, which can make
networks become proactive. This proactive behavior of the network can be
leveraged to sustain, for example, a specific quality of service requirement.
With predictive quality of service, a wide variety of new use cases, both
safety- and entertainment-related, are emerging, especially in the automotive
sector. Therefore, in this work, we consider maximum throughput prediction
enhancing, for example, streaming or high-definition mapping applications. We
discuss the entire machine learning workflow highlighting less regarded aspects
such as the detailed sampling procedures, the in-depth analysis of the dataset
characteristics, the effects of splits in the provided results, and the data
availability. Reliable machine learning models need to face a lot of challenges
during their lifecycle. We highlight how confidence can be built on machine
learning technologies by better understanding the underlying characteristics of
the collected data. We discuss feature engineering and the effects of different
splits for the training processes, showcasing that random splits might
overestimate performance by more than twofold. Moreover, we investigate diverse
sets of input features, where network information proved to be most effective,
cutting the error by half. Part of our contribution is the validation of
multiple machine learning models within diverse scenarios. We also use
explainable AI to show that machine learning can learn underlying principles of
wireless networks without being explicitly programmed. Our data is collected
from a deployed network that was under full control of the measurement team and
covered different vehicular scenarios and radio environments.
