Performance Assessment of Machine-Type Communication Data Traffic in a Small Cell Field Environment

Abstract

Machine-Type Communication (MTC) has been identified as an important use case for 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology. 3GPP has previously introduced MTC for low-power, wide-area networks supporting the Internet of Things (IoT). This paper presents laboratory experimentation to evaluate Machine-Type Communication (MTC) performance in a Small Cell Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) field environment with presence of legacy 4G User Equipment (UEs). The performance of the MTC UEs and legacy UEs in terms of RRC attempts and success, E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (ERAB) establishment attempts and success, and ERAB drop Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are evaluated. The performance in terms of Downlink and Uplink data throughput for Small Cell E-UTRAN system with MTC and legacy UEs are also captured. These performance results have been evaluated through experimental studies and compared with the defined benchmarks of the 3GPP standards to ensure overall call processing stability of the Small Cell E-UTRAN system. This experimentation endorses that the KPIs and throughputs of MTC as well as legacy 4G UEs meets the defined 3GPP target values there by leveraging the benefits of MTC UEs in the Small Cell E-UTRAN environment. This study assists the mobile operators to deploy MTC UEs confidently in the Small Cell system with the existing legacy 4G UEs.