The investigation and prediction of new trends and technologies for mobile cellular networks is of utmost importance for researchers and network providers to quickly identify promising developments. With the verge of the fifth generation of mobile communications (5G), networks become more and more heterogeneous and dynamic while the amount of active users within a cell keeps ever increasing. Therefore, the search for more efficient network layouts and configurations attracts massive attention while on the other hand becomes more and more complex. In this contribution, we present the Vienna 5G system level simulator, which allows to perform numerical performance evaluation of large-scale multi-tier networks, with numerous types of network nodes. The simulator is based on MATLAB and is implemented in a modular fashion, to conveniently investigate arbitrary network and parameter constellations, which can be enhanced effortlessly. We first discuss the distinguishing aspects of our simulator platform, describe its structure, and then showcase its functionality by demonstrating the key aspects in more detail.

Massive MIMO and 3D beamforming have been identified as key technologies for future mobile cellular networks. Their investigation requires channel models that consider not only the azimuth-but also the elevation direction. Recently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has released a new 3D spatial channel model. It supports planar antenna arrays and enables to scrutinize concepts such as elevation beamforming and full dimension MIMO. A particular challenge is the practical implementation of the model. Dealing with enormous computational complexity requires to design a highly efficient approach. This paper provides a guideline for the practical implementation of the 3GPP 3D model into existing link-and system-level simulation tools. Considering the complexity of the model itself, our main focus is on computational efficiency. We present simulation examples using the proposed procedure with the Vienna LTE-A Downlink System Level Simulator. We measure simulation run times with respect to various network parameters. Our results allow to quantify the increase in complexity, when accounting for the elevation dimension. Moreover, they exhibit general trends when considering a large number of antenna elements per antenna array. We also draw a comparison with the WINNER channel model, which represents the most closely related channel model in 2D.

Antennas with a massive amount of elements at one end are among 5G mobile communication key technologies for which spectral efficiency is enhanced by serving many users in parallel over tailored minimally interfering beams. This requires channel models that characterize the propagation environment in both azimuth and elevation. Additionally, the channel model has to capture spatial correlation effects among closely located positions, knowing that the propagation characteristics change gradually over the network area. In order to simulate mobile users or advanced beamforming strategies based on user location or angular information, it is crucial that spatial consistency is included in the applied channel models. This paper introduces a novel model for spatial consistency that is applicable to all prevalent geometry-based stochastic channel models. We provide a detailed explanation of the model and analyze its statistical properties and show its behavior when applied to the 3GPP 3D channel model as an example. To validate our model, we perform extensive ray-tracing simulations and show that our model is in a very good agreement with the statistical channel properties from ray-tracing. Following hypothesis testing over obtained ray-tracing statistics, we are able to parametrize our model for various 3GPP scenarios under LOS and NLOS propagation conditions. Finally, complementary aspects such as simulation complexity are discussed and a guideline on model implementation is provided.