Performance analysis of MAC layer for LTE networks

Abstract

Nowadays, LTE (Long Term Evolution) is widely used. The MAC layer plays an important role in the quality of LTE transmission. Spectrum efficiency, frame loss rate, throughput and delay are selected as the primary evaluation criterion of the performance of LTE system. This paper deals with the performance of MAC layer in the LTE networks. The system-level performance analysis of MAC layer is conducted through the Network Simulator 3. An orthogonal experimental design is adopted to evaluate the effect of various key factors on the MAC performance of LTE network. These factors mainly include the bandwidth, MAC layer scheduling algorithm, customer density, partial OFDM algorithm and other factors. We also look for a reasonable LTE communication scheme for different conditions to make sure that the system has good performance such as a higher throughput, a smaller end-to-end delay, a smaller delay jitter and a lower frame loss rate.