LTE system level performance in the presence of CQI feedback uplink delay and mobility

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a promising technology for the wireless and mobile communication systems and is being commercially launched in various countries of the world. The Third Generation of Partnership Project (3GPP), through de- sign and optimisation of new radio access techniques, is further developing the future LTE-Advanced technology to remain on the forefront of wireless technologies. However, it is still challenging in LTE to provide the desired quality of service to the users particularly in the presence of high mobility and uplink feedback delay. In this paper, the impact of Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) uplink feedback delay on the overall network performance under different scheduling algorithms and mobility patterns is discussed. We study average user equipment (UE) throughput, average cell-edge UE throughput and average cell throughput under mobility and conclude that for an efficient LTE-Advanced scheduling algorithm, UE speed and CQI feedback delay must be taken into account

Scheduling Policies in Time and Frequency Domains for LTE Downlink Channel: A Performance Comparison

A key feature of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system is that the packet scheduler can make use of the channel quality information (CQI), which is periodically reported by user equipment either in an aggregate form for the whole downlink channel or distinguished for each available subchannel. This mechanism allows for wide discretion in resource allocation, thus promoting the flourishing of several scheduling algorithms, with different purposes. It is therefore of great interest to compare the performance of such algorithms under different scenarios. Here, we carry out a thorough performance analysis of different scheduling algorithms for saturated User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) traffic sources, as well as consider both the time- and frequency-domain versions of the schedulers and for both flat and frequency-selective channels. The analysis makes it possible to appreciate the difference among the scheduling algorithms and to assess the performance gain, in terms of cell capacity, users' fairness, and packet service time, obtained by exploiting the richer, but heavier, information carried by subchannel CQI. An important part of this analysis is a throughput guarantee scheduler, which we propose in this paper. The analysis reveals that the proposed scheduler provides a good tradeoff between cell capacity and fairness both for TCP and UDP traffic sources

Studies on 6-sector-site deployment in downlink LTE

Mobile data traffic is expected to increase massively in the following years. Consequently, service operators are induced to increase the capacity of their networks continually to attract more subscribers and maximize their revenues. At the same time, they want to minimize operational costs and capital expenditures. Among the alternatives that aim to increase the network capacity, higher order sectorization, and in particular a six sectorized configuration, is nowadays attracting a lot of attention for LTE macro-cell deployments since a higher number of sectors per site results in improved site capacity and coverage. A six sectorized configuration is attractive for both roll-out phase and growth phase of the network. In the roll-out phase, the radio access network is planned with 6-sector sites instead of 3-sector sites with the advantage that less sites are needed for the same capacity and coverage requirements. In the growth phase, the six sectorized configuration can be used to upgrade existing 3-sector sites where the traffic grows beyond the current sites' capabilities. Therefore, no additional expensive and time consuming contracts need to be signed for the locations of the new sites, while the existing sites are used more efficiently. However, although potentially a 6-sector site can offer a double capacity than a 3-sector site, several factors prevent the capacity from growing proportionately to the number of sectors. Consequently, there is an uncertainty on whether the capacity gain is high enough to justify the extra costs of the additional equipment and, more specifically, whether the 6-sector-site deployment is more economically attractive than a 3-sector-site deployment. The aim of this report is to solve this uncertainty. First, we present the main factors that affect the capacity gain. Next, we quantify the impact of these factors on the capacity gain in downlink LTE with the use of a system level simulator. Finally, we use the results of the simulation study as inputs for an economic study to access the reasons for a possible deployment of 6-sector sites instead of 3-sector sites for LTE

End-to-End Simulation of 5G mmWave Networks

Due to its potential for multi-gigabit and low latency wireless links, millimeter wave (mmWave) technology is expected to play a central role in 5th generation cellular systems. While there has been considerable progress in understanding the mmWave physical layer, innovations will be required at all layers of the protocol stack, in both the access and the core network. Discrete-event network simulation is essential for end-to-end, cross-layer research and development. This paper provides a tutorial on a recently developed full-stack mmWave module integrated into the widely used open-source ns--3 simulator. The module includes a number of detailed statistical channel models as well as the ability to incorporate real measurements or ray-tracing data. The Physical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers are modular and highly customizable, making it easy to integrate algorithms or compare Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) numerologies, for example. The module is interfaced with the core network of the ns--3 Long Term Evolution (LTE) module for full-stack simulations of end-to-end connectivity, and advanced architectural features, such as dual-connectivity, are also available. To facilitate the understanding of the module, and verify its correct functioning, we provide several examples that show the performance of the custom mmWave stack as well as custom congestion control algorithms designed specifically for efficient utilization of the mmWave channel.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figures, submitted to IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials (revised Jan. 2018

Performance Comparison of Dual Connectivity and Hard Handover for LTE-5G Tight Integration in mmWave Cellular Networks

MmWave communications are expected to play a major role in the Fifth generation of mobile networks. They offer a potential multi-gigabit throughput and an ultra-low radio latency, but at the same time suffer from high isotropic pathloss, and a coverage area much smaller than the one of LTE macrocells. In order to address these issues, highly directional beamforming and a very high-density deployment of mmWave base stations were proposed. This Thesis aims to improve the reliability and performance of the 5G network by studying its tight and seamless integration with the current LTE cellular network. In particular, the LTE base stations can provide a coverage layer for 5G mobile terminals, because they operate on microWave frequencies, which are less sensitive to blockage and have a lower pathloss. This document is a copy of the Master's Thesis carried out by Mr. Michele Polese under the supervision of Dr. Marco Mezzavilla and Prof. Michele Zorzi. It will propose an LTE-5G tight integration architecture, based on mobile terminals' dual connectivity to LTE and 5G radio access networks, and will evaluate which are the new network procedures that will be needed to support it. Moreover, this new architecture will be implemented in the ns-3 simulator, and a thorough simulation campaign will be conducted in order to evaluate its performance, with respect to the baseline of handover between LTE and 5G.Comment: Master's Thesis carried out by Mr. Michele Polese under the supervision of Dr. Marco Mezzavilla and Prof. Michele Zorz

A Practical Cooperative Multicell MIMO-OFDMA Network Based on Rank Coordination

An important challenge of wireless networks is to boost the cell edge performance and enable multi-stream transmissions to cell edge users. Interference mitigation techniques relying on multiple antennas and coordination among cells are nowadays heavily studied in the literature. Typical strategies in OFDMA networks include coordinated scheduling, beamforming and power control. In this paper, we propose a novel and practical type of coordination for OFDMA downlink networks relying on multiple antennas at the transmitter and the receiver. The transmission ranks, i.e.\ the number of transmitted streams, and the user scheduling in all cells are jointly optimized in order to maximize a network utility function accounting for fairness among users. A distributed coordinated scheduler motivated by an interference pricing mechanism and relying on a master-slave architecture is introduced. The proposed scheme is operated based on the user report of a recommended rank for the interfering cells accounting for the receiver interference suppression capability. It incurs a very low feedback and backhaul overhead and enables efficient link adaptation. It is moreover robust to channel measurement errors and applicable to both open-loop and closed-loop MIMO operations. A 20% cell edge performance gain over uncoordinated LTE-A system is shown through system level simulations.Comment: IEEE Transactions or Wireless Communications, Accepted for Publicatio

Models of Control Channels in the LTE System

Dizertační práce se zabývá zpracováním signálu fyzických řídicích kanálů systému LTE a vyšetřováním bitové chybovosti při přenosu řídicí informace z vysílače do přijímače v závislosti na podmínkách příjmu. Práce je rozdělena do dvou hlavních částí. První část práce je zaměřena na simulaci přenosu řídicí informace LTE v základním pásmu. Jsou zde prezentovány vytvořené simulátory řídicích kanálů ve směru uplink i downlink. Simulace jsou provedeny pro všechny druhy nastavení systému a základní modely přenosového prostředí. Jsou zde popsány výsledky vlivu použití MIMO technologií na kvalitu příjmu řídicí informace především v únikových kanálech. Druhá část práce je zaměřena na možnost nasazení systému LTE ve sdíleném pásmu ISM (2.4 GHz). Jsou zde představeny základní koncepce použití, na jejichž základě je vytvořen scénář simulací. Kapitola dále popisuje tvorbu simulátoru koexistence LTE a systému Wi-Fi v přeneseném pásmu ISM 2.4GHz. Jsou zde uvedeny výsledky simulací koexistence LTE a rušivého systému Wi-Fi provedených dle vytvořeného scénáře. Výsledky simulací koexistence LTE a Wi-Fi jsou ověřeny měřením v laboratorních podmínkách. Toto porovnání je důležité z hlediska optimalizace simulátoru koexistence. Dle výsledků obou typů simulací a měření jsou stanovena provozní doporučení, která mají přispět k bezpečnému a spolehlivému vysílání a příjmu řídicích informací LTE i při nepříznivých podmínkách příjmu.The doctoral thesis is focused on a signal processing in the LTE physical control channels and performance analysis of control information transmission according to receiving conditions. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part deals with simulation of the transmission of control information in baseband. The created simulators for uplink and downlink are presented. The simulations are performed for all possible system settings and various channel models. The MIMO influence on a quality of control information reception under fading channels is also presented. The second part of the thesis is focused on LTE utilization in shared channel ISM (2.4 GHz). The basic LTE application concept for ISM band is presented. This concept is fundamental to created simulation scenario. The chapter also presents the LTE and Wi-Fi coexistence simulator in 2.4 GHz ISM passband. The coexistence simulation are presented according to simulation scenario and the results are shown. The simulated coexistence analysis results are verified in laboratory environment. The comparison of the simulated and the measured coexistence analysis results is crucial for further optimization of the coexistence simulator. Recommendations for optimal and reliable operation of LTE are specified according to the simulated and the measured results. Recommendations should be useful to the reliable transmission of LTE control information in bad receiving conditions.