Dimensioning of the LTE access network

This paper proposes efficient analytical models to dimension the necessary transport bandwidths for the Long Term Evolution (LTE) access network satisfying the QoS targets required by different services. In this paper, we consider two major traffic types: elastic traffic and real time traffic. For each type of traffic, individual dimensioning models are proposed for both the S1 interface and the X2 interface. For elastic traffic the dimensioning models are based on the Processor Sharing models; while for real time traffic the dimensioning models are based on the fundamental queuing models. For validating these analytical dimensioning models, a developed LTE system simulation model is used. Extensive simulations are performed for various traffic and network scenarios. The analytical results derived from the proposed dimensioning models are compared with the simulation results. The presented results demonstrate that the proposed analytical models can appropriately estimate the required performances for different service classes and priorities. Hence they are suitable to be used for dimensioning of the LTE access network with different traffic and network conditions.