Performance Analysis of Coexistence Schemes for LTE in Unlicensed Bands

Abstract

LTE in the unlicensed spectrum, is becoming a popular area of research. Since LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) provides subscribers with higher-quality mobile voice, and video experience in high-traffic or low-signal locations, a fair coexistence mechanism with other networks, like Wi-Fi is essential. In this thesis, we propose two coexistence mechanisms that could be employed to ensure a fair channel access. First, we consider coexistence mechanism fundamentals, and then downlink system performance of two coexistence mechanisms are analyzed for multi-operator LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) deployments with different simulation scenarios, using NS-3. First we introduce the most trustworthy coexistence mechanism, and then a high-performance coexistence scenario is provided. We conclude that Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) can coexist with Wi-Fi without impacting Wi-Fi more than an equivalent Wi-Fi network. In the second part, uplink performance evaluation of LTE in licensed spectrum is also demonstrated.