Mohamed A. El-Saidny

Looking at LTE in Practice: A Performance Analysis of the LTE System Based on Field Test Results

This article introduces a practical performance analysis of the long-term evolution (LTE) cellular system based on field test results from a commercially deployed Third-Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP?s) Release 8 LTE network in Band-3 (i.e., 1,800 MHz, sometimes termed LTE1,800 MHz) with 20-MHz channel bandwidth. The presented analysis demonstrates the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) throughputs in mobility conditions in addition to other aspects of the LTE system such as link budget, cell coverage, spectral efficiency, and handover performance. LTEs key features such as multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) and higher-order modulation [i.e., 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)] are assessed in different radio frequency (RF) conditions. A comparison is presented between LTE and 3GPP Release 8 evolution of high-speed packet access (HSPA+) with a dual-cell high-speed DL packet access (DC-HSDPA) feature based on the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) 2,100-MHz commercial network with 10-MHz bandwidth (i.e., 2x5-MHz adjacent carriers). The presented LTE network performance analysis and the comparison with the HSPA+ network can be used to benchmark the LTE system performance and evaluate the gains and merits of deploying the LTE network. It has been demonstrated that the LTE system outperforms the HSPA+ system in terms of spectrum efficiency, 64-QAM utilization, cell coverage, and handover delay. The LTE system offers a 34% improvement in spectrum efficiency, 40% 64-QAM utilization versus 7.4% for the HSPA+ system, and a 60% reduction in data interruption time during handover.

Extending the Battery Life of Smartphones and Tablets: A Practical Approach to Optimizing the LTE Network

This article provides a practical approach to optimize the long-term evolution (LTE) network to extend the battery life of LTE devices such as smartphones and tablets. The majority of the commercially deployed LTE networks are optimized for data dongles where the battery consumption is not a major concern. With the introduction of LTE smartphones and tablets and other handheld LTE devices, battery consumption has become a major bottleneck to the end user. In this article, we analyze, evaluate, and validate the key relevant features and parameters that can potentially reduce the battery consumption and, hence, extend the device usage time. The objective of this article is to obtain the optimum parameters setting for relevant LTE features to efficiently deliver non-real-time applications with bursty traffic over the LTE network by providing power savings without perceptibly degrading the user experience. The connected and idle-mode discontinuous reception (DRX) mechanism along with the user inactivity timer (UIT) are assessed and evaluated by means of field testing in a live LTE network to identify the optimal deployment scenario for the most common data applications in a commercially deployed LTE network.

Uplink quality measurement reporting mechanism for HSUPA

This article proposes a new measurement reporting method applied for HSUPA systems. The presented mechanism offers an efficient uplink quality of service, especially in soft handover mobility conditions. 3GPP specifications restrict mobility procedures (such as serving cell change) to downlink quality measurement reporting. However, with the high data rate introduced on the uplink in HSUPA systems, downlink-only measurements can introduce reporting delays or mobility decision inaccuracies, and thus throughput degradation. The proposed algorithm provides event-based uplink measurements for the block error rate quality on each radio link in the HSUPA active set. Networks can then use the proposed mechanism along with the downlink event-based measurements to trigger a mobility procedure. The results show enhancements to the uplink throughput and overall system performance.

A Method for Soft-Decision UMTS Cell Reselection Based on a Database Solution

A novel idea of cell reselection in a UMTS system is presented in this article. The proposed method offers performance enhancements when compared to the algorithm that complies with the 3GPP specifications. This reselection algorithm specifics new criteria that are iteratively computed in every measurement cycle. And to continuously perform the iterative nature of the algorithm, a database solution also is proposed. The database must follow certain rules to maintain the required efficiency.