On Fairness Evaluation

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In this paper, we propose a statistical framework to systematically evaluate the fairness offered by different LTE (Long Term Evaluation) technologies when they coexist with Wi-Fi in unlicensed band. In particular, we study the coexistence performance of both 3GPP LAA (Licensed Assisted Access) and LTE-U (LTE in unlicensed spectrum), as specified by LTE-U forum. We map the generally accepted 3GPP definition of fairness onto the stochastic dominance concept. We use the two-sample one-sided Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (KS-test) to test the specific hypothesis of fairness defined through throughput and latency performance, as proposed by 3GPP. We evaluate throughput and latency by means of the ns-3 simulator for LTE and Wi-Fi coexistence. According to both the simulation results and the statistical analysis, there is a need for proprietary solutions to operate on top of what has been standardized, which will able to improve the fairness in the coexistence scenario. On the other hand, through the comparative analysis of LAA and LTE-U coexistence performance, we confirm what could be expected, i.e., that LAA better performs in terms of fairness in both throughput and latency and LTE-U introduces more collisions.