A Framework for RAN Performance Evaluations based on Software Defined Radio

In this paper we provide an overview of a comprehensive performance evaluation framework for RANs (radio access networks) based on SDR (software defined radio) equipment and corresponding open-source protocol stack implementations. The system setup is combined with radio channel emulations by means of dynamic pathloss adaptation that is controlled by channel quality measurements obtained from a live mobile radio network. The paper addresses LTE performance evaluations. The general framework concept is however not restricted to a specific RAT (radio access technology) due to the inherent flexibility provided by SDR concepts. The paper provides a detailed description of the framework and presents results of an exemplary performance study. We furthermore discuss different use cases for the developed evaluation framework.