The simulation of LTE and LTE-A at link level is a research topic for several COST IC1004 institutions. It was agreed in previous meetings that it would be useful to define a common set of scenarios for LTE and LTE-A link level simulations with the goal to allow researchers to configure the different simulation tools in a way that the obtained results can be properly compared and simulators become calibrated to a common reference. Researchers working at system level would also benefit from this initiative by having access to well established link level results and look-up tables. This paper addresses the task by identifying a set of topics, features and parameters to consider when programming the link level simulators. The proposed aspects derive from the experience gained while building our own link level simulator at UPC, but since the LTE radio interface is extremely flexible and supports many features, it is difficult to be exhaustive. The aim is to focus on the relevant topics for link level simulator calibration and to discuss the trade-off between simulation complexity and compliance with the standards. The detailed definition of the link level scenarios is left for future joint work, in collaboration with the interested IC1004 institutions

Peer Reviewed