LabVIEW based platform for prototyping dense LTE networks in CROWD project

Next generation wireless networks (5G) have to cope with significant traffic increase due to high quality video transmission and cloud-based applications. Such requirements create the need for a revolutionary change in architecture rather than a series of local and incremental technology updates. A dense heterogeneous deployment of small cells such as pico/femto cells in addition to high power macro cells is foreseen as one of the potential solutions to achieve these requirements. While there is significant amount of research in this area that relies on simulations at PHY, MAC and higher layers, it is still necessary to validate the algorithms for next generation systems in a real-time testbed. However, the ever increasing complexity in all layers of current and future generations of cellular wireless systems has made an end-to-end demonstration of the network limited to industrial research labs or large academic institutions. In this paper, we show a LabVIEW¹ based PXI platform in which LTE-like SISO OFDM PHY Layer is integrated with an open source protocol stack to prototype PHY/MAC cross layer algorithms within CROWD² Software Defined Networking (SDN) framework as a solution to tame dense deployment of wireless networks.