Deploying UMTS LTE successfully

The ultimate aim of UMTS Long Term Evolution (LTE) is to support the Next Generation Network (NGN) convergence model through IMS. From a Operator and Consumer perspective the key LTE target conformance objectives are:

  • Peak download rates of 100 Mbit/s for every 20 MHz of spectrum
  • Peak upload rates of 50.0 Mbit/s for every 20 MHz of spectrum
  • At least 200 active users in every 5 MHz cell. (i.e., 200 active data clients)
  • Less than 5ms latency in unload condition (single user/stream) for small IP packets
  • Enhanced support for end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS)
  • Co-existence with legacy standards (users can transparently start a call or transfer of data in an area using an LTE standard, and, should coverage be lost, seamlessly continue the transaction using GSM/GPRS or W-CDMA-based UMTS
The users’ perception of the quality of LTE services is what will really matter. These service level(s) must also remain consistent, regardless of the users’ quantities, applications or locations. These service levels must be fully tested in a lab environment – under worst case conditions – prior to deploying LTE in a production network. The likelihood of successfully deploying LTE is directly related to the level of testing that they accomplish in the lab.

How can organizations measure, manage and deploy LTE successfully?
Epitiro's LTELab™ test environment is a ‘must have’ for lab, pre-assessment and post-deployment testing and readiness. Given the ever-increasing demand for successful Wireless implementations, pre-assessment products have become ‘must haves’. LTELab™ provides IP pre-assessment tools, multiple traffic generation classes, post-deployment monitoring and troubleshooting tools to ensure a successful LTE deployment - first time and everytime.

LTE/SAE Capacity Management
In an LTE-based environment the capacity requirements of the data link can vary enormously. To ensure this is managed properly and the quality of experience (QoE) for active users is acceptable, flow control, IP Routing and Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms must be adaptable to the unpredictable variability in service data flows (SDFs) that will occur. As such the IP layer and applications must be rigorously tested in all such situations to ensure their ability to manage flow control, negate the effects of data variations (jitter) and packet loss and re-transmissions.

Ensuring conformance from the Lab to Live deployment
To ensure consumer expectations are met before deployment an effective and scalable LTE conformance test and measurement system must be able to accurately create, test and measure every type of service data flow (SDF). Initially such testing should be focused on accurately establishing performance levels, under increasing load, of each network component based on the measuring the underlying key performance indicators including throughput, latency, loss & jitter.

Once this is complete the same testing needs to be applied in the 'live' network using real servide data flows (Voice, Video & Data). This live testing will identify any conformance or integration issues including load, integration and resource issues and ensure the final soltuion meets or exceeds customer expectations.

Summary
Thorough conformance testing of LTE service delivery combines the need to understand end-to-end IP networking, high-speed data throughput, network latency, packet loss and scheduling issues. In the absence of automated, repeatable methods, with representative network traffic patterns, your conformance testing will lack the ability to test all possible load, traffic, interference and configuration scenarios — with the potential to leave vulnerabilities unchecked.

Read more about Epitiro's LTELab Testing Tools...