Performance Evaluation of Carrier Aggregation in LTE-A Pro Mobile Systems

Abstract

Carrier Aggregation (CA) was introduced by the 3GPP, in its Release 10 i.e., Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), to address the peak data rate requirement set by the IMT-Advanced standard. As it enables for quick adoption of the fragmented radio spectrum, it was recognized by the telecommunication operators as a game-changing technology for achieving significantly increased data rates. In this paper, we detail how the implementation of CA with up to five Components Carriers (CCs) impacts the achievable throughput of connected end-users. In the simulation tool Network Simulator 3 (NS-3), the intra-band contiguous CA was implemented for both downlink and uplink channels. In addition, a uniform 2D grid of values that represent the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SINR) in the downlink with respect to the eNodeB (eNB) i.e., Radio Environment Map (REM) was implemented. As the previously published results for the CA contain mostly the data for the downlink channel, the implemented scenario provides new insights related to the uplink channel communication. Also, in the performance evaluation, we illustrate the expected data rates for the 5G New Radio (NR) systems and compare them with the achieved results in the case of 4G CA setup.

Enhancing Uplink Performance of NR RedCap in Industrial 5G/B5G Systems

“…By aggregating these CCs, a wider transmission bandwidth can be formed and higher data rates can therefore be achieved [12]. 3GPP has ratified and subsequently enhanced several CA configurations, namely, interband, intra-band contiguous, and intra-band non-contiguous CA [13]. CCs can reside in different bands (i.e., inter-band), be adjacent in the same frequency band (i.e., intra-band contiguous), or non-adjacent in the same frequency band (i.e., intra-band non-contiguous) [13].…”

Proactive Dual Connectivity for Automated Guided Vehicles in Outdoor Industrial Environment

“…In [10], [11], the benefits of using inter-site CA in heterogeneous networks are investigated. A performance evaluation of UL and downlink (DL) CA in LTE-A Pro systems is presented in [12]. Authors in [5] demonstrate the advantages of combining LTE with 5G NR, and using them simultaneously to enhance the user experience through DC.…”