No 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.

Public safety agencies have been working on the modernization of their communication networks and the enhancement of their mission-critical capabilities with novel technologies and applications. As part of these efforts, migrating from traditional land mobile radio (LMR) systems toward cellular-enabled, next-generation, mission-critical networks is at the top of these agencies’ agendas. In this paper, we provide an overview of cellular technologies ratified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to enable next-generation public safety networks. On top of using wireless communication technologies, emergency first responders need to be equipped with advanced devices to develop situational awareness. Therefore, we introduce the concept of the Internet of Life-Saving Things (IoLST) and focus on the role of wearable devices—more precisely, cellular-enabled wearables, in creating new solutions for enhanced public safety operations. Finally, we conduct a performance evaluation of wearable-based, mission-critical applications. So far, most of the mission-critical service evaluations target latency performance without taking into account reliability requirements. In our evaluation, we examine the impact of device- and application-related parameters on the latency and the reliability performance. We also identify major future considerations for better support of the studied requirements in next-generation public safety networks.

No abstract

This article presents a simulation testbed for analyzing a mobile transport network using open-source networking tools and protocols. The topology was designed according to the 5G transport network architecture, with Segment Routing for IPv6 (SRv6) technology and The Fast Data Project Vector Packet Processor (FD.io VPP) utilized for packet processing. The Trex traffic generator was used to simulate data transmission, and the Docker platform enabled centralized access and management of the topology. Real data patterns collected from one cell site was inserted into the created topology to create output for future research. The created testbed provides a valuable tool for analyzing the mobile transport network's performance and future optimizing based on needs of network slices.