Modeling and Performance Analysis of Spatially Distributed LTE-U and Wi-Fi Networks

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytical model to evaluate the throughput performance of spatially distributed LTE-U and Wi-Fi networks in high-density environments, providing insights into their coexistence dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analytical model for throughput estimation of LTE-U and Wi-Fi in high-density, spatially distributed scenarios, validated with high accuracy.

Findings

Model achieves less than 1% normalized error in throughput estimation.

The model reliably predicts throughput in 40-node scenarios with equal Wi-Fi and LTE-U nodes.

Coexistence analysis reveals performance impacts based on deployment density.

Abstract

To access an unlicensed channel Wi-Fi follows Listen Before Talk (LBT) mechanism whereas LTE-U adopts ON-OFF duty cycled mechanism to fairly share the channel with Wi-Fi. These contrasting mechanisms result in quite different performance for Wi-Fi and LTE-U based on their relative deployment and density in the environment. In this work, we present an analytical model for characterization of achievable throughputs of Wi-Fi and LTE-U networks in spatially distributed high-density scenarios. The proposed model is used to study how LTE-U and Wi-Fi coexist with each other in different deployment scenarios. Our extensive simulation results prove it to be a reliable model for estimating throughput of both Wi-Fi and LTE-U. We record a very good accuracy in throughput estimation and the mean normalized error is less than 1% for 40-node scenario in which 50% of nodes belong to each of Wi-Fi and LTE-U. Finally, we use the analytical model to conduct coexistence studies of LTE-U and Wi-Fi.