LTE performance assessment Prediction versus field measurements

Assessing the performance of new technologies before deploying it is key for wireless network operators. It allows making the right decision when considering the balance between the gain that can be expected from the new technologies, and the associated deployment cost. In this paper, we propose a method that consists in combining field measurements on LTE live networks, and predictions from link-level simulations. We then validate it with end-to-end measurements carried out on different areas of a live network with LTE category 3 devices. The prediction method turns out to give reliable results. Simulated and measured throughputs are in average close to one another: the prediction error distribution has a low mean (close to 0 dB) and a small standard deviation (less than 4 dBs). Predictions with this method can now be done to obtain highly reliable performance estimates for yet-to-be released or future devices: category 5 ones with MIMO 4×2 or 4×4 capabilities, and LTE-advanced devices.