LTE Networks Research Articles

Performance evaluation for RF propagation models based on data measurement for LTE networks

Performance evaluation for RF propagation models based on data measurement for LTE networks

Multi-Access Intelligent A+: Ensuring Service Continuity and Consistency in Private 5G Heterogeneous Networks

The 5G private network is expected to provide low latency, high data rate, and improved security to meet various key requirements of enterprise vertical applications. However, existing 4G LTE or 5G private network multi-access edge computing solutions mainly focus on homogeneous systems and ignore the interoperability of various coexisting access technologies in the enterprise area. Therefore, their access domains are independent, and to communicate directly with each other is difficult without additional network components. In this article, we propose a novel mobile edge platform called multi-access intelligent A+ (MIA+), which has built-in support for service continuity and consistency of wireless connections in private 5G heterogeneous networks (HetNets). We particularly demonstrate how to ensure that MIA+ provides customers with promised services in different access domains, including Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, 5G public bands, and 5G private bands. The services promised to MIA+ users include consistent service provisioning, seamless handover, interworking among various access domains, and seamless integration between 5G private band and public band systems. To demonstrate the flexibility and usability of the MIA+ system, a proof of concept has been tested in the Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) 5G experimental network in Taiwan. The results show that MIA+ is indeed an excellent solution for realizing private 5G HetNets.

A Hybrid Network User Satisfaction-Based Downlink Scheduling in LTE-A Network

To provide high-quality wireless network multimedia services, the 4G/5G network media access control (MAC) layer has adopted the concept of the quality of service (QoS) with different traffic classification service requirements. To efficiently allocate the limited radio resources for achieving a good balance in QoS, throughput and fairness are necessary for the wireless network MAC scheduling issues. While many conventional scheduling schemes only considered one factor: rate or delay, network users might actually have different rate and delay requirements in concert. Herein, a hybrid network user satisfaction-based downlink scheduling approach, namely, max rate delay urgency first (MRDUF), is developed. The MRDUF approach simultaneously considers rate and delay requirements and adopts a hybrid strategy comprising time- and frequency-domain schedulers using two schemes, namely, the first come first serve (FCFS) and max throughput (MT), for the LTE-A downlink environment. Simulation study results have shown that our proposed approach outperforms the conventional scheduling schemes, including MT, proportional fair (PF), blind equal throughput (BET), and earliest deadline first (EDF). The benefit of MRDUF in terms of fairness of satisfaction of rate and delay is demonstrated by the simulation study.

Web based 4G Drive Tests Post Processing Software for Educational and Enterprise Purpose

In the world of digital communications, we usually use terms as processing and network optimization. Because mobile operators continuously want to provide the best network experience and quality of service to their subscribers, they continuously seek to improve their network performance both in Coverage, Quality and performance. When mobile technology such as LTE is offered to the public, operators need to be certain that it satisfies their customers. The technology then needs to be tested and optimized if it does not meet the purpose. In this context, one will propose a tool for the processing of drive test data. The proposed tool can be used for enterprises and academic purposes. In fact, online educational courses have brought great dynamics in the field of education and research. It has revolutionized the way learning is being done and perceived in our society compare to traditional learning method. During this period of Covid-19 e-learning is developing faster than before and new solutions to improve it are proposed. For many sub-Saharan African countries, it is very scarce to find telecommunication lecturers with a PhD grade and this has an impact on quality of the training provided to students in telecommunications engineering fields. Another problem is the lack of means to buy and install telecommunication equipments for laboratory experimentations where students can learn and improve their skills during their training program in a university or college. To overcome these problems, a possible solution could be the design of efficient web based tool like the one proposed in this paper and implement labs and e-labs in other to enable students to have a better understanding of mobile network,  drive test data post processing, network quality of service analysis and network optimization. The tool proposed will provide detail analytical results using drive test data. Also optimization techniques and solutions after processing Drive Test data obtained from a live LTE network shall be proposed. For this study, DT data from a mobile operator will be analyzed in details using the poposed tool, and how this analysis results can be used to identify poor performance and quality of service areas in the network. Then following optimization techniques proposed, how defined solutions and strategies can be applied to improve performance of these areas based on current network configurations.

WITHDRAWN: On the Application of Generalized Linear Mixed Models for Predicting Path Loss in LTE Networks

The article has been withdrawn at the request of the author of the journal International Journal of Sensors, Wireless Communications and Control. Bentham Science apologizes to the readers of the journal for any inconvenience this may have caused. The Bentham Editorial Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://benthamscience.com/editorial-policies-main.php Bentham Science Disclaimer: It is a condition of publication that manuscripts submitted to this journal have not been published and will not be simultaneously submitted or published elsewhere. Furthermore, any data, illustration, structure or table that has been published elsewhere must be reported, and copyright permission for reproduction must be obtained. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden, and by submitting the article for publication the authors agree that the publishers have the legal right to take appropriate action against the authors, if plagiarism or fabricated information is discovered. By submitting a manuscript, the authors agree that the copyright of their article is transferred to the publishers if and when the article is accepted for publication.

Hybrid Meta-Heuristic Algorithms Based Optimal Antenna Selection for Large Scale MIMO in LTE Network

MIMO is a type of antenna technology which utilizes multiple antennas to separate signals traveling in various paths as a result of reflections, etc., to be separated and their ability utilized to enhance the throughput of data and the signal to noise ratio which in return enhances the performance of the system. For providing enhanced signal performance and enhanced data rates, MIMO is utilized within LTE. When the quantities of antennas are increased, there is increase in the probability that deep fading is experienced by at least some antennas, which affects the overall efficiency of the MIMO system. To handle these issues, a reliable technique has been presented that involves selection of antenna subset. The proposed technique incorporates combination of SBO and PSO for antenna selection. Antenna selection’s main concept is to utilize a bounded quantity of analog chains that are adaptively switched to subset of the available antennas capable of preserving the selection diversity gains and also can minimize the quantity of radio frequency chains needed. The maximum channel capacity of the channel has been considered as the objective function for selecting optimal antennas. The comparison of the proposed approach’s performance and the existing approaches’ performance is done. From the simulation result, it has been shown that the presented approach’s performance has been better than the performance of the existing approaches in terms of BER, energy efficiency, spectral efficiency and optimal transmit power.

Power Control Based BPM with CDS Scheduling for Downlink Transmission in LTE-A Networks

Power Control Based BPM with CDS Scheduling for Downlink Transmission in LTE-A Networks

A Novel Group Paging Control Method for Massive MTC Accesses in LTE Networks

The fifth-generation (5G) systems have to deal with massive deployment of machine-type-communication (MTC) devices. System overload may occur during a random access procedure under a limited number of preamble resources and physical uplink shared channel resources especially when there exist massive MTC devices in a cell. In order to resolve the system overload (caused by the massive MTC deployment), the 3GPP proposed the adopted a group paging (GP)-based uplink access technique. But its performances dramatically decrease as the number of MTC devices increases. In this paper we propose a novel method, named ACB-based group paging overload control method (AGO). To reduce the number of simultaneous access MTC devices, AGO first scatters the MTC devices over a GP interval, and then automatically adjusts ACB parameters according to the load conditions. By doing so, AGO achieves high-channel access probability for MTC devices. Simulation results show that this method is superior to the GP and Pre-backoff mechanisms in terms of success and collision probability, average access latency and resource utilization rate.

Distance Based Power Control for D2D Communication in LTE-Advanced Networks

Device to device communication systems places a very important role in handling both voice and data services efficiently in LTE-A networks. Power control techniques that we adopt for efficient D2D communication becomes a challenging issue. D2D and cellular signals under the same network may result in In-band Emission Interference (IEI). This degrades discovery range which result in loss of energy efficiency, throughput and hence increases the power requirement in both uplink and downlink transmissions. In this paper, a power control algorithm is introduced which greatly helps in saving power in LTE-Advanced networks for D2D communication. Power calculation mechanisms for D2D users and cellular users are shown separately. Based on mode selection, transmit and receive power requirements are evaluated to obtain the preset Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. The simulation results presented in the proposed method demonstrates the effectiveness of power consumption in LTE-Advanced networks for device to device communication.

A CASE STUDY OF VARIOUS WIRELESS NETWORK SIMULATION TOOLS

4G is the fastest developing system in the history of mobile communication networks. Network connectivity is paramount for all kinds of big enterprises. 4G not only provides super-fast connectivity to millions of users, but can also act as an enterprise network connectivity enabler and it has inherent advantages such as higher bandwidth, low latency, higher spectrum efficiency along with backward compatibility and future proofing. The design of the 4G based Long Term Evolution physical network provides the required flexibility for optimization during the development phase. In this paper LTE Network related supporting simulation tools is presented to demonstrate the need of Hardware co-simulation of the LTE system. After the feasibility analysis, the importance of the model is to be ported Field Programmable Gate Array platform is examined in survey in detail with the supporting inferences along with the comparison of different wireless network simulators suitable for LTE.

Designing and Calculating Bandwidth of the LTE Network for Rural Areas

The standard of broadband mobile communication LTE can be used to build a mobile communication network in remote populations and provide the population with modern mobile communication services, such as video calls, data transmission, high-speed mobile Internet, Internet TV, etc. In this work, a LTE network has been designed, and the network capacity has been calculated for a certain area. Muynak of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, located in the northwest of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was taken as the territory. The paper presents the characteristics of the selected equipment required for the construction of the mobile network, calculations of network bandwidth, number of potential and active network subscribers, the number of base stations, the average bandwidth of the projected network, the average traffic per subscriber in the busy hour, the radio frequency plan, the geographical location of the base stations, and the LTE network design scheme has been developed. In addition, the characteristics of the number of potential subscribers are described in tabular form, as well as graphs of the number of base stations, the average bandwidth of the designed network, the total traffic of the designed network depending on the number of potential subscribers. The LTE network frequency plan has been developed for the city of Muynak. The designed network will increase the number of subscribers to 12,000 without reducing bandwidth.

QoS Aware Uplink Scheduling for M2M Communication in LTE/LTE-A Network: A Game Theoretic Approach

M2M communication in the LTE network is gaining attention with a growing number of connected devices and adaptation of new emerging technologies. Usually, the traffic generated by M2M devices is heterogeneous in terms of packet size, intensity, strict delay, and throughput requirements. The M2M traffic generally flows in the uplink direction. It imposes several challenges in designing scheduling for uplink in the LTE network. The research community proposed various solutions regarding the QoS handling in M2M communications. Allocating the resources based on the QoS of machine type communications (MTCs) has a challenge in deciding on devices’ priority. This work applies game theory to control devices’ strategic behavior claiming a false priority. In this paper, a Quality-of-Service aware uplink packet scheduling scheme is proposed using a combinatorial game. The packet scheduling problem is modeled as an Auction game that handles the scheduling in both Time-Domain and Frequency-Domain. The packet scheduler uses the QoS requirement as an allocation metric, and a power control mechanism is applied to control the devices’ strategic behavior. Simulation is performed in MATLAB R2019b. The performance of the proposed schemes is evaluated in terms of the total system utility in QoS satisfaction against standard schedulers like Round Robin and Proportional Fair schedulers and some other schedulers proposed in the literature.

CLUTTER HEIGHT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY WITH ARCGIS FOR THE PURPOSES OF LTE AND 5G RADIO NETWORK PROPAGATION AND OPTIMIZATION

The geospatial data accuracy and specification requirements for LTE and 5G radio propagation and optimization are much higher than those used in planning 2G and 3G networks. The recommended geospatial data resolution of 1–2 meters allows the display of the smallest parts of geospatial objects. In the article, we describe the technology and its practical implementation to produce an accurate clutter height (raster canopy height model) for the purposes of LTE and 5G radio network propagation and optimization. This technology, which is based on aerial images, may be adapted to use LiDAR data. The technology includes the data integration between the different software. The processing of digital terrain models, obstacles (buildings and vegetation) and DSM cloud points is performed in geographic information systems, such as ArcGIS. The technology was proven by the practical implementation and calculation in multi-technology wireless network design and optimization platform Atoll.

Data driven based fuzzy logic inference algorithm for quality of experience modeling for video streaming in LTE network: Case of Addis Ababa City LTE network

Data driven based fuzzy logic inference algorithm for quality of experience modeling for video streaming in LTE network: Case of Addis Ababa City LTE network

Prediction of user throughput from Network Parameters of LTE Network using machine learning

Prediction of user throughput from Network Parameters of LTE Network using machine learning

Integrated LTE and Wi-Fi Network Architecture with Authentication of User Equipment for Dropping off the Surplus Load of LTE

Integrated LTE and Wi-Fi Network Architecture with Authentication of User Equipment for Dropping off the Surplus Load of LTE

Employing a Wireless Sensing Network for AIoT Based on a 5G Approach

In this paper, wireless sensing networks are considered in the context of the 5G communication architecture in order to ensure the transmission efficiency of the sensed data transmitted by the system. The various types of environmental sensors are very diverse. Wireless sensing networks may include many different types of sensing devices or data related to images or pattern transmission, among others, and are often limited by the problem of insufficient network bandwidth. By using 5G communications for data transmission, the problem of limited network bandwidth can be solved. In addition to the use of 5G transmission, when the NB-IoT method is used within the 5G network environment, it is much more efficient than that under the original LTE network conditions. Therefore, using 5G to transmit data provides the advantages of high transmission efficiency and data integrity. In this paper, in addition to analyzing the development of 5G technology, the proposed approach uses MATLAB software to simulate the generation of 5G signals under various parameter settings representing a range of conditions. Finally, our approach discusses the use of a 5G communication module, including driver installation and data transmission testing. At present, the 5G network architecture is still under construction worldwide. According to the transmission speed test data obtained in this study, the transmission efficiency of 5G is better than that of precursor generations.

REPS-AKA3: A secure authentication and re- authentication protocol for LTE networks

Key agreement and authentication are the most significant phases in LTE systems since many malicious attacks may occur in these systems. For this reason, the LTE system employs standard EPS-AKA protocol to provide security of the communication system. However, the LTE system still suffers from different security threats such as Impersonation, DoS, MitM, and Replay attacks. In this paper, a Robust Authentication and Key Agreement protocol (REPS-AKA3) has been suggested to resolve the security issues in LTE systems. The proposed REPS-AKA3 combines the Public Key Infrastructure, symmetric key Infrastructure, and full mutual authentication between all network nodes. First, we propose an efficient AKA protocol to enable mutual authentication between the users (i.e., UE) and the LTE network (i.e., MME and HSS nodes). Then, we present a secure procedure to enable key agreement in NAS and AS layers properly. Finally, we suggest a secure and fast re-Authentication procedure to reduce the AKA latency in the next attach. Thus, the REPS-AKA3 method provides the security goals (i.e., strong mutual authentication, and adequate confidentiality) in AS and NAS layers appropriately. Formal verification of the proposed REPS-AKA3 protocol is checked and validated using the AVISPA tool. The evaluation results illustrate that the REPS-AKA3 can achieve all the security goals, and it is secure against different malicious attacks. In addition, the performance analysis of the REPS-AKA3 scheme is compared with other AKA schemes, including the standards EPS-AKA protocol. The performance results indicate that the REPS-AKA3 method improves the network performance in terms of bandwidth consumption, computational cost, and storage overhead parameters. Consequently, the suggested protocol can be a trustable and efficient candidate for AKA protocols in LTE networks.

Quality of Monitoring for Cellular Networks

5G networks and beyond introduce a larger number of Network Elements (NEs) and functions than former cellular generations. The increase in NEs will, thus, result in significantly increasing the Management-Plane (M-Plane) data collected from the NEs. Therefore, the conventional centralized Network Management Systems (NMSs) will face fundamental challenges in processing the M-Plane data. In this paper, we present the concept of Quality of Monitoring (QoM) as a solution, which is able to reduce the M-Plane data already at the NEs. First, QoM aggregates the raw M-Plane data into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). To these KPIs, the QoM applies a data-driven algorithm to define information loss limits for QoM classes specific for each KPI time series. Then, the QoM applies the classes for compressing the KPI data utilizing a lossy-compression method, which is a derivative of the Piece-Wise Constant Approximation (PWCA) algorithm. To evaluate the performance of the QoM solution, we use M-Plane raw data from a live LTE network and calculate four KPIs, while each KPI has different statistical characteristics. We also define three QoM classes named <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Exact</i> , <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Optimized</i> , and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Sharp</i> . For all KPIs, the class <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Optimized</i> has a higher compression rate than the class <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Exact</i> , while the class <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Sharp</i> has the highest compression rate. Assuming that, for example, NEs of a network produce 280 MB of raw data containing information that needs to be transferred to the network operations center; we use KPIs to represent the information contents of the data, and QoM solution to transfer the data over the network. As a result, the QoM solution achieves an estimated 95% compression gain from the raw data in transfer.

Experimental Assessment of New Generation Radio Networks Based on Layered Division Multiplexing

Despite the recent advances in broadband penetration and accessibility, broadcasting networks continue to be the most efficient way for delivering media content to large areas independently of the user density. Nevertheless, a convergence of broadcasting services into the broadband networks is foreseen. In this context, Layered Division Multiplexing (LDM) allows the joint provision of unicast, multicast, and broadcast services in mobile cells infrastructure. Despite the success of LDM in broadcasting infrastructure, its practical application in Long Term Evolution networks providing Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (LTE eMBMS) and 5G-MBMS is more difficult. In this paper, we experimentally quantify the cell-interference and its impact on the network performance and Quality of Service. Our experiments reveal that the inter-cell interference margin for LTE eMBMS is about 3 dB higher compared to traditional LTE networks. If a layered architecture is incorporated this higher inter-cell interference would cause a reduction of approximately 19% of the Enhanced Layer (Lower Layer) coverage.