Compared RF performance of 1.4 MHz-LTE and EVDO rev. A

in rural environments at 450 MHz

Renny E. Badra Universidad Simn Bolvar

Caracas, Venezuela

at 2013 IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference -Fall

This talk Motivation Methodology Baseline Performance Data Antenna Considerations Monte Carlo Simulations Results Conclusions

Motivation Focus: wireless data access in rural environments Availability of wireless spectrum in the 450 MHz

o Excelent propagation conditions reduces the number of cells

Increased demand for and adoption of broadband cellular services (3G and 4G) o Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is widely acknowledged to be the fastest and most

efficient cellular technology that is commercially available today

o BUT: relatively narrow spectrum in the 450 MHz band (5 MHz or less) will force operators to implement the 3-MHz and/or 1.4-MHz versions of LTE

A key question pops up: how do these less efficient versions of LTE compare to already deployed and well-known 3G CDMA technologies such as EVDO (CDMA Evolution Data-Optimized) revision A?

Methodology Work aimed at evaluating the RF performance of 1.4-

MHz LTE and EVDO rev A via numerical simulations o Two performance measures are considered: aggregated cell throughput

(spectral efficiency) and cell coverage

o Both links considered for stationary users

Same conditions applied to both technologies in order to make comparison fair.

Two cell planning scenarios are considered: isolated cells and fully embedded cells.

Simulation methodology based on: o collecting previously validated baseline performance data (bit rates vs.

SNR) for each technology, as reported in the literature

o using it in Monte Carlo simulations along with suitable propagation models

Baseline Performance DataEV-DO rev. A Downlink

- 3GPP2, Recommended Minimum Performance Standards for cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Access Terminal, C.S0033-D, v 1.0, April 2012.

Baseline Performance Data1.4-MHz LTE Downlink Overhead

(not including signaling)

- H. Holma and A. Toskala, editors. LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA Based Radio Access. Wiley and Sons Ltd. UK. 2009.

Baseline Performance Data1.4-MHz LTE Downlink

- Wei, Na et. al., LTE Capacity Compared to the Shannon Bound, in Vehicular Technology Conference, 2007. VTC2007-Spring. IEEE 65th. April 2007. pp. 1234 1238.- Dahman, E. et. al., The 3G Long-Term Evolution - Radio Interface Concepts and Performance Evaluation, in Vehicular Technology Conference, 2006. VTC 2006-Spring. IEEE 63rd. May 2006. pp. 137-141.- H. Holma and A. Toskala, editors. LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA Based Radio Access. Wiley and Sons Ltd. UK. 2009. - Zhang, L. Network Capacity, Coverage Estimation and Frequency Planning of 3GPP Long Term Evolution. Master thesis in Automatic Control at Linkpings Institute of Technology. Sweeden. 2006.

Baseline Performance DataEV-DO rev. A Uplink

- 3GPP2, Recommended Minimum Performance Standards for cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Access Network, C.S0032-D, v 1.0, April 2012.

Baseline Performance Data1.4-MHz LTE Uplink Overhead

(not including signaling)

H. Holma and A. Toskala, editors. LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA Based Radio Access. Wiley and Sons Ltd. UK. 2009.

Baseline Performance Data1.4-MHz LTE Uplink

- Wei, Na et. al., LTE Capacity Compared to the Shannon Bound, in Vehicular Technology Conference, 2007. VTC2007-Spring. IEEE 65th. April 2007. pp. 1234 1238.- Dahman, E. et. al., The 3G Long-Term Evolution - Radio Interface Concepts and Performance Evaluation, in Vehicular Technology Conference, 2006. VTC 2006-Spring. IEEE 63rd. May 2006. pp. 137-141.- H. Holma and A. Toskala, editors. LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA Based Radio Access. Wiley and Sons Ltd. UK. 2009. - Zhang, L. Network Capacity, Coverage Estimation and Frequency Planning of 3GPP Long Term Evolution. Master thesis in Automatic Control at Linkpings Institute of Technology. Sweeden. 2006.

Antenna Considerations For the sake of simplicity, omnidirectional cells

considered throughout this work Downlink antenna configuration is 1x1 (SISO) for

both technologies o Many EVDO rev. A terminals support a 1x2 configuration o LTE specs support full 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO configurations (optional)

Uplink antenna configuration is 1x2 for both technologies o EVDO rev. A. specs do not support multiple transmit antennas o LTE specs supports full 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO configurations (optional)

Monte Carlo SimulationsDownlink

Monte Carlo SimulationsUplink

Results: downlinkMulti-cell scenario

Isolated cell scenario

Results: uplinkMulti-cell scenario

Isolated cell scenario

Conclusions Fair comparison between technologies turned out

to be simpler to achieve for the downlink than for the uplink o Downlink MA schemes are orthogonal within a cell for both LTE and EVDO o Uplink EVDO MA scheme is non-orthogonal within a cell

Picture that emerges from this comparison is that of two essentially comparable technologies. each showing specific strengths and weaknesses

Conclusions However, if we place emphasis on the two most

significant performance measures (downlink throughput and uplink coverage), 1.4-MHz LTE has a visible advantage over EVDO-revA, specially in the isolated cell scenarios: o LTE advantage in downlink throughput is over 50% for isolated cells, since

fractional reuse is no longer needed. o LTE advantage in uplink coverage is 5-22% in cell area confidence for

isolated cells, since transmission can benefit from reduced OFDM spectrum occupancy.

The LTE advantage over EVDO is not overwhelming, but could become so if: o MIMO techniques are applied to LTE links (not available for EVDO) o 3-MHz LTE is deployed instead of 1.4-MHz (still could fit in some 450 MHz

bands)

Compared RF performance of 1.4 MHz-LTE and EVDO rev. A

in rural environments at 450 MHz

Renny E. Badra Universidad Simn Bolvar

Caracas, Venezuela

at 2013 IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference -Fall