Comparison of Spectral and Energy Efficiency Metrics Using Measurements in a LTE-A Network

Energy and spectral efficiencies are key metrics to assess the performance of networks and compare different configurations or techniques. There are many ways to define those metrics, and the performance indicators used in their calculation can also be measured in different ways. Using an LTE-A network, we measure different performance indicators and the metrics' outputs are compared. Modifying the transmitted output power, the bandwidth, and the number of base stations, different network configurations are also compared. As expected, the measurements show that increasing the bandwidth increases the throughput more than it increases the energy consumption. Results clearly show that using inappropriate indicators can be misleading. The power indicator should include all energy consumed and the throughput should be dependent on the traffic, taking into account the idle time of the network, if any. There is a need to include more performance indicators into the metrics, especially those related to quality of service.