1

Vienna LTE Simulators

LTE-A Link Level Simulator Documentation, v1.3
Institute of Telecommunications
Vienna University of Technology, Austria
Gusshausstrasse 25/389, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
Email: {sschwarz, jcolom, msimko}@nt.tuwien.ac.at
Web: http://www.nt.tuwien.ac.at/ltesimulator

Abstract
This document contains documentation on how to use the Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) Link Level simulator [1]
from the Vienna LTE simulator suite, as well as some insight on its structure and the assumptions that were made while developing
it. This simulator is an extension of the previously published Vienna LTE Link Level Simulator. This document gives an introduction
on how to use the simulator. The concept and the structure of the simulator is described in more detail in [2].

I. F OREWORD
The LTE-A link level simulator is published under a non-commercial academic use license. Please make sure that you
understand the terms and conditions of the license before you use any of the available software packages. Would you require a
license different to a non-commercial academic one please contact Stefan Schwarz, Michal Simko or Josep Colom Ikuno.
The detailed license agreement for the LTE-A Link Level simulator can be found in Section XVIII. Please read the license
agreement carefully, as parts of the code are under the GNU Lesser General Public License [3], and the MIT License [4].
 2

C ONTENTS

I Foreword 1

II Running the simulator for the first time 3

II-A LTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II-B LTE-A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

III MEX files 5

IV Running your own simulations 5

V Simulation parameters 6
V-A General parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
V-B Channel matrix source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
V-C User Equipment (UE), eNodeB and UE feedback specific parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
V-D Channel model parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
V-E Scheduler parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
V-F Variable uplink delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

VI Reference simulation results included 10

VII Reproducing the results/plots presented on a paper 12

VIII Extensions of the Vienna LTE-A Link Level Simulator compared to the Vienna LTE Link Level Simulator 12

IX SNR definition 13

X Note on parallel simulations and random number generation 13

XI Changelog 14

XII Referencing 16

XIII Known issues 16

XIV Using the Winner Phase II channel model reference implementation 17

XV Questions 17

XVI Mailing List 17

XVII The People (so far) behind the development of the simulator 17

XVIII License agreement 17

XVIII-A Academic Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
XVIII-B Grant of copyright license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
XVIII-C Grant of source code license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
XVIII-D Exclusions from license grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
XVIII-E Warranty of provenance and disclaimer of warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
XVIII-F Limitation of liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
XVIII-G Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
XVIII-H Open source and code under other license terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
XVIII-I Appendix I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

XIX Acknowledgment 19

References 19

List of Figures 20

List of Tables 20
 3

II. RUNNING THE SIMULATOR FOR THE FIRST TIME

The LTE-A Link Level simulator is provided with several test simulation scenarios that can be used to verify that the
simulator runs in the expected way.

A. LTE
In the ./examples directory you can execute the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test M ATLAB script. This script provides
a means to test the performance of a single user Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmission on an uncorrelated VehA channel for
several transmission modes [5] and antenna configurations (number of transmit antennas Nt times number of receive antennas
Nr ). All simulated transmission modes (Single-Input Single-Output (SISO), Transmit Diversity (TxD), Open Loop Spatial
Multiplexing (OLSM) and Closed Loop Spatial Multiplexing (CLSM)) utilize UE feedback to adapt important transmission
parameters (code rate, modulation alphabet, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) preprocessing) to the channel quality
(see [6] for details). The script produces plots of the cell throughput obtained with the different transmission modes. To verify
their correctness, these plots can be compared to the figures provided in the subdirectory ./LTE quick test results
of the directory ./examples or to the curves shown in Figure 2. The result of the simulation is a group of result files that is
stored in the ./results folder. Details to the simulation setup can be found in [7].

10 10
SISO SISO
9 TxD 2x2 9 OLSM 4x2
OLSM 2x2 CLSM 4x2
8 CLSM 2x2 8

7 7
throughput [Mb/s]

throughput [Mb/s]
6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
−10 0 10 20 30 40 −10 0 10 20 30 40
SNR [dB] SNR [dB]

(a) 2×2 antenna configuration. (b) 4×2 antenna configuration.

Fig. 1: Plots resulting from running the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test.m, M ATLAB script. 1.4 MHz, PedA channel,
zero-delay feedback, single user. 2 × 2 (left) and 4 × 2 (right) antenna configuration.

20 20
SISO SISO
18 OLSM 4x4 18 TxD 2x2
CLSM 4x4 OLSM 2x2
16 16 CLSM 2x2
OLSM 4x2
14 14 CLSM 4x2
OLSM 4x4
throughput [Mb/s]

throughput [Mb/s]

12 12 CLSM 4x4

10 10

8 8

6 6

4 4

2 2

0 0
−10 0 10 20 30 40 −10 0 10 20 30 40
SNR [dB] SNR [dB]

(a) 4×4 antenna configuration. (b) Complete set of antenna configurations.

Fig. 2: Plots resulting from running the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test.m M ATLAB script. 1.4 MHz, PedA channel, zero-
delay feedback, single user. 4 × 4 (left) antenna configuration and aggregate plot containing all of the simulated antenna
configurations (right).

The most important settings used in the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test M ATLAB script can be found in Table I.
 4

Parameter Value
Number of UEs 1
Bandwidth 1.4 MHz
HARQ Retransmissions 0
Uplink delay none
Channel type Ped-A uncorrelated
Filtering Block Fading
Receiver type Zero Forcing
Simulation length 1000 subframes
Transmit modes SISO, TxD 2×2, OLSM 2×2, 4×2, 4×4, and CLSM 2×2, 4×2, 4×4

TABLE I: Basic settings used for the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test.m M ATLAB script

SUMIMO settings MUMIMO settings

Parameter Value Value
Number of UEs 1 5
Bandwidth 1.4 MHz 1.4 MHz
HARQ Retransmissions 0 0
Uplink delay none none
Channel type TU uncorrelated flat Rayleigh uncorrelated
Filtering Block Fading Block Fading
Receiver type Zero Forcing Zero Forcing
Simulation length 1000 subframes 1000 subframes
Transmit modes CLSM 8 × 1, 8 × 4 and 8 × 8 Non-standard defined precoding (ZF beamforming) 4 × 1
Precoder feedback Standard defined codebook Perfect channel knowledge and RCVQ

TABLE II: Basic settings used for the LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_SUMIMO.m and

LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_MUMIMO.m M ATLAB scripts

B. LTE-A
To test the LTE-A capabilities of the simulator, the two M ATLAB scripts LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_SUMIMO and
LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_MUMIMO are provided. The SUMIMO test script compares the single user throughput
performance of different LTE-A antenna configurations (eight transmit antennas), when utilizing the standard defined precoder
codebook [8]. Again the transmission parameters are adapted in accordance with the channel quality experienced and fed back
by the UE (assuming instantaneous feedback), see [9] for details. In Figure 3, the SUMIMO throughput for three different
antenna configurations is shown. Running the script file LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_SUMIMO should produce similar
results. The simulation settings utilized in these simulations are given in the second column of table Table II.

35
8x1
8x4
30 8x8

25
Throughput [Mbit/s]

20

15

10

0
−10 −5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
SNR [dB]

Fig. 3: Plots resulting from running the LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_SUMIMO.m M ATLAB script

In addition to standard defined precoding, LTE-A also supports non-standard defined precoding. As an example, Zero
Forcing (ZF) beamforming for single receive antenna UEs is implemented in the LTE-A simulator. This precoding method
spatially orthogonalizes the transmission to different UEs, by appropriately forming antenna beams. The precoders are either
computed from perfect channel knowledge, or utilizing Channel Vector Quantization (CVQ), from quantized (imperfect)
channel knowledge. For details on the utilized feedback and precoding methods, see [10]. Figure 4 shows the obtained
cell throughput versus SNR for the two considered feedback methods, assuming a frequency flat Rayleigh fading channel
model. Note that no precoder interpolation is currently implemented. Therefore the precoding method will not perform well
 5

in frequency selective channels, because only one channel value per Resource Block (RB) is fed back. Running the script
LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_MUMIMO in the ./examples directory allows to reproduce these results. The most
important simulator settings for these simulations are summarized in the last column of table Table II.

20
Perfect channel knowledge
18 RCVQ based on LTE−A codebook

16

14

Throughput [Mbit/s]
12

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
SNR [dB]

Fig. 4: Plots resulting from running the LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_MUMIMO.m M ATLAB script

III. MEX FILES

Computation-intensive parts of the LTE-A link level simulator are implemented in C and used in the simulator by means of
MEX files. The source code for the given files can be found in the ./C-source folder under the simulator root folder. Please
note that some of the functions there are licensed under other license terms. Please check Section XVIII for more details.
The MEX files distributed with the simulator release are the Windows 64-bit version. Should you require them for any
other platform you recompile them by using the LTE_aux_mex_files script. You can find more information on how to
use/write/compile MEX files here.

IV. RUNNING YOUR OWN SIMULATIONS

While the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test, LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_SUMIMO and
LTE_sim_batch_quick_test_MUMIMO M ATLAB scripts are adequate to get familiar with the basic structure of the
simulator, you may need more flexibility than the one offered with the quick test scripts.
For this purpose, you can check the LTE_sim_batch.m script. It provides the means to set basic simulation parameters
(SNR range, number of subframes simulated, choice of simulation configuration) and calls all necessary scripts in the appropriate
order.
Below you can find a list of exemplary parameters that you may want to configure in the batch file:
• cqi_i: set of Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCSs) that are used for the simulation. In [11], 15 different Channel
Quality Indicators (CQIs) are specified. If you want to simulate with all possible CQIs, just set the cqi_i loop to run
over [1:15]. Note: depending on the settings you choose in LTE_load_parameters, the appropriate CQI value for
the current channel conditions may be automatically determined and set during simulation.
• N_subframes: the length of the simulation, or how many subframes (Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs)) are simulated
for each value of cqi_i and SNR_vec.
• SNR_vec: a vector containing the average Signal to Noise Ratios (SNRs) that will be used for each simulation run. All
users will experience the same average SNR. See Section IX for a more detailed definition of the SNR. Alternatively, for
simulations with multiple UEs, you can set SNR_vec as a matrix, where each row then corresponds to the SNR values of
a single user. Note: the SNR matrix is then simulated column-wise, meaning that in each simulation run, a column defines
the current average SNRs of the different users.
• LTE_load_parameters: load the parameter file that configures the simulator. A more detailed description of the
available configuration parameters can be found in Section V. Six basic preconfigured options are given that can be directly
used by appropriately setting the value of the variable Simulation_type, thus skipping the configuration of the rest of
the parameters.
1) SUSISO: Single-user SISO simulation
2) MUSISO: SISO simulation with multiple users (preconfigured to two users)
3) SUMIMO: Single-user MIMO simulation utilizing CLSM
 6

4) MUMIMO: Multi-user (four users) MIMO simulation. In this simulation, the columns of the standard defined precoding
matrices are shared by different users in a round robin fashion (no sophisticated scheduler is currently implemented).
The number of transmit and receive antennas equals 4.
5) LTE-A MUMIMO: Non-standard defined precoding (ZF beamforming) based MUMIMO with 5 single antenna users
and four transmit antennas.
6) LTE-A SUMIMO: SUMIMO based on the LTE-A specified single user codebook (enables up to eight layers for a
single user).
7) IA: Interference Alignment simulation based on the closed-form IA expression for a 2 × 2 3 user system. Note that
some parameters are confined for IA, e.g. a feedback delay is not allowed and only frequency flat simulations are
possible (due to speed problems). Details about this setup can be found in ”Interference Alignment in UMTS Long
Term Evolution,” J. Reitterer et.al.
8) DAS: This setting allows to simulate a distributed antenna system. Note that it overrules several parameters, because
it uses a pathloss and shadow fading model. Details about this setup can be found in ”Multiuser MIMO in Distributed
Antenna Systems with Limited Feedback,” S. Schwarz et.al.
• LTE_sim_main: main routine of the simulator.
• Generate the output filename and save the results in a .mat file.

V. S IMULATION PARAMETERS
Below you can find a list of the parameters that can be configured in LTE_load_parameters and
LTE_load_advanced_parameters (or in files called therein)

A. General parameters
• LTE_params.nUE: number of UEs to simulate.
• LTE_params.nBS: number of eNodeBs (cells) that will be simulated.
• LTE_params.uplink_delay: the delay the uplink experiences. It applies to ACKnowledgments (ACKs), CQI,
Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) and Rank Indicator (RI) reports. An integer number ≥ 0. Useful if you want to
experiment with scheduling algorithms or feedback strategies. It is also possible to define independent uplink delays for
different feedback values. See Section V-F for a more detailed description of this feature.
• LTE_params.show_plots: whether plots are shown during the simulation or not.
• LTE_params.trace_subcarrier_SNR: if set to true, a trace of the subcarrier SNRs is generated and stored in
the simulation_results object.
• LTE_params.N_seed_reset: resets the random number generator seeds to a new value after
LTE_params.N_seed_reset subframes. This is used for the case where a time-correlated channel is generated
(modified Rosa Zheng model [12], [13]). When low speed channels are evaluated, a too-long simulation would be needed
in order to obtain statistically meaningful results. Thus, to avoid such situations, the channel can be ”reset” to a new seed
every N subframes.
• LTE_params.carrier_freq: carrier center frequency [Hz]
• LTE_params.Bandwidth: system bandwidth. Allowed values are 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, and
20 MHz. This bandwidths are equivalent to 6, 15, 25, 50, 75, and 100 RBs respectively. Carrier aggregation (to enable
bandwidths > 20 MHz) is currently not supported by the LTE-A simulator.
• LTE_params.HARQ_processes: number of parallel Hybrid-ARQ (HARQ) processes. The maximum value, according
to [14] is 8.
• LTE_params.max_HARQ_retransmissions: maximum number of HARQ retransmissions, not including the original
transmission. Valid values are 0, 1, 2 or 3. Higher numbers will give you an error, as the rate matching is not defined for
retransmission numbers (rv_idx) higher than 3.
• LTE_params.SubcarrierSpacing: in Hz, 15 kHz, a 7.5 kHz subcarrier spacing is also possible (just for MBSFN-
based multicast/broadcast transmissions). Tests were so far performed using a 15 kHz spacing, so the 7.5 kHz spacing is
not thoroughly tested.
• LTE_params.CyclicPrefix: cyclic prefix length [15]. Either normal or extended for MBSFN-based multi-
cast/broadcast transmissions.
• LTE_params.simulation_type: the simulator is capable of using the M ATLAB Parallel Toolbox in order to speed
up simulations by using parfor loops. If you happen to have the Distributed Computing Toolbox, you will also be
able to make use of it by using this option. Set this variable to parallel or normal to parallelize the SNR loop in
LTE_sim_main or just perform a single-core simulation. Keep in mind that some modifications you do to the code may
not work in the parallel version or may directly cause it not to run.
• LTE_params.simulate_with_all_zero_sequences: true if you want that the transmitted data is an all-zero
sequence (useful for interleaver testing and debugging).
 7

• LTE_params.introduce_frequency_offset: whether you want a frequency offset to be introduced. Additional

carrier offset options are also present in the UE parameters configuration Section V-C.
• LTE_params.random_noise_seeding: whether the seed for the random number generator that generates the noise
is set (allows for repeatability of the noise realizations).
• LTE_params.noise_seed: Only used if the upper variable is set to true. Integer number that sets the random
number seed of the noise random number generator.
• LTE_params.usePBCH: whether space for the physical broadcast channel is reserved inside the resource grid (no data
is transmitted on these resource elements).
• LTE_params.usePDCCH: whether space for the physical downlink control channel is reserved inside the resource grid.
• LTE_params.trafficmodel.usetraffic_model: whether users generate traffic according to prespecified traffic
models (RAN R1-070674) or a full buffer situation is assumed. Currently only a round robin scheduler (RoundRobin Traffic)
is supported in combination with the traffic models.

B. Channel matrix source

• LTE_params.channel_matrix_source: Controls the generation of the channel matrix trace. generated to
generate it every time. trace to load it from a trace.
• LTE_params.store_channel_trace: Set to true or false. If mode is generated, the channel trace will be
saved at the end of the simulation.
• LTE_params.channel_matrix_tracefile: filename of the trace file where the generated channel matrix trace is
stored. Only applicable if trace mode is used (if the mode is set to trace, the channel matrix is already read from a
trace, so it is meaningless to save it again in another trace).

C. UE, eNodeB and UE feedback specific parameters

• LTE_params.UE_config.LLR_clipping: specifies the LLR clipping level.
• LTE_params.UE_config.turbo_iterations: Number of iterations of the turbo decoder. Set by default to 8.
• LTE_params.UE_config.N_soft: Defines the total number of soft channel bits available for HARQ processing (TS
36.306 4.2.1.3 [16]).
• LTE_params.UE_config.channel_estimation_method: Currently the following channel estimators are avail-
able: PERFECT, LS, or MMSE for LTE. LTE-A (transmission modes 8 and 9) only supports perfect channel knowledge at
the moment.
• LTE_params.UE_config.channel_interpolation_method: linear, cubic, spline, sinc_freq,
sinc_time, or T-F. For fast fading, linear, cubic, and v4 are available.
• LTE_params.UE_config.autocorrelation_matrix_type: type of autocorrelation matrix. Either ideal or
estimated.
• LTE_params.UE_config.user_speed: channel speed (m/s).
• LTE_params.UE_config.realization_num: number of channel realizations. Used for averaging to obtain the
channel autocorrelation matrix.
• LTE_params.UE_config.realization_num_total: first xy number of channel realizations are used just for the
estimation of the autocorrelation matrix.
• LTE_params.UE_config.CDD: Cyclic Delay diversity
– 0: zero delay CDD (3GPP TS 36.211-820 Section 6.3.4.2.1 [15], page 37)
– 1: small delay CDD (3GPP TS 36.211-820 Section 6.3.4.2.1 [15], page 37). Although in the newest standard version
this is not defined anymore
– 2: large delay CDD (3GPP TS 36.211-820 Section 6.3.4.2.2 [15], page 38)
• LTE_params.UE_config.mode: the transmission modes are defined in TS 36.213-a01 Section 7.1 [17]. Following
transmission modes are implemented (for details see Section VIII):
– 1: single antenna.
– 2: TxD .
– 3: OLSM.
– 4: CLSM.
– 5: Multiuser MIMO (only a pseudo implementation is available, no meaningful scheduling).
– 8: LTE-A non-standard defined precoding (ZF beamforming implemented as an example)
– 9: LTE-A SUMIMO (up to eight layer transmission).
• LTE_params.UE_config.nRX: number of receive antennas at the UE.
• LTE_params.UE_config.carrier_freq_offset: carrier frequency offset normalized to subcarrier spacing (not
yet implemented).
 8

• LTE_params.UE_config.perfect_freq_sync: whether the UE is perfectly synchronized in frequency.

• LTE_params.UE_config.rfo_correct_method: receiver frequency offset correction method. Either none,
subframe, or FIR. Not yet implemented.
• LTE_params.UE_config.receiver: either SSD for a Soft Sphere Decoder, ZF for a ZF receiver and MMSE for a
Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) receiver.
• LTE_params.UE_config.PMI_fb_granularity: granularity of PMI feedback in multiples of resource blocks
• LTE_params.UE_config.CQI_fb_granularity: granularity of CQI feedback in multiples of resource blocks
• LTE_params.UE_config.PMI_fb: whether PMI feedback is activated or not (true/false)
• LTE_params.UE_config.RIandPMI_fb: whether RI feedback is activated in addition to PMI feedback (true/false)
• LTE_params.UE_config.CQI_fb: whether CQI feedback is activated
• LTE_params.UE_config.predict: whether channel prediction is activated for the feedback calculation; the channel
prediction algorithm is simple linear extrapolation on every subcarrier;
• LTE_params.UE_config.SINR_averaging.averager: defines the Effective Signal to Interference and Noise
Ratio Mapping (ESM) averager used. Possible values are EESM and MIESM.
• LTE_params.UE_config.SINR_averaging.EESMbetas: defines the calibration factors required for Exponential
Effective Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio Mapping (EESM). Those values are obtained from extensive training
simulations and should not be changed.
• LTE_params.UE_config.SINR_averaging.MIESMbetas: defines the calibration factors required for Mutual
Information Effective Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio Mapping (MIESM). Those values are obtained from extensive
training simulations and should not be changed.
• LTE_params.UE_config.SINR_averaging.MCSs: defines the used MCS set. Modification of these values might
lead to unexpected behavior, as the calibration factors (EESMbetas and MIESMbetas) are not trained for other MCSs.
• LTE_params.BS_config.nTx: number of antennas at the eNodeB.
• LTE_params.feedback.ignore_channel_estimation: whether the channel estimation mean square error is
taken into account during the feedback calculation or not. If channel estimation is activated, the option should be set to
true, otherwise the performance of the system might be overestimated.
• LTE_params.feedback.channel_averaging: whether channel averaging is used during feedback calculation or
not. If set to true just a single average channel value per resource block is used to compute the feedback for complexity
reduction. Especially in ≥ 4 × 4 systems this degrades the performance of the feedback method.
• LTE_params.feedback.codebook: channel vector quantization codebook used for ZF beamforming (transmission
mode 8). PERFECT provides perfect channel knowledge to the eNodeB (subsampled to one value per RB), LTE utilizes
the LTE precoder codebook to quantize the channel.
• LTE_params.feedback.codebook_size: size of the codebook (in number of code vectors) if a DFT or RANDOM
codebook is employed.
• LTE_params.feedback.CQI_quantization: whether quantized or unquantized channel quality (receive SNR)
feedback is provided.

D. Channel model parameters

Parameters that configure how the channel is generated and the signal filtered.
• LTE_params.ChanMod_config.filtering: BlockFading (channel is constant during one subframe) or
FastFading (Fast Fading is currently not supported for LTE-A TX modes 8 and 9).
• LTE_params.ChanMod_config.interpolation_method: the channel interpolation method for the channels
which are generated in the simulator. Either shift_to_nearest_neighbor for nearest neighbor interpolation or
sinc_interpolation for sinc interpolation, which is more precise. Necessary if the channel sampling rate is not
equal to the sampling rate of the transmit signal.
• LTE_params.ChanMod_config.sin_num: specifies the number of sin realizations used for the modified rosa-zheng
model [12], [13].
• LTE_params.ChanMod_config.type: specifies the type of channel used. The available ones are:
– AWGN: Additive White Gaussian Noise channel.
– flat Rayleigh: temporally uncorrelated frequency flat Rayleigh fading channel.
– flat Rayleigh corr: temporally correlated frequency flat Rayleigh fading channel.
– Tap-delay based models: PedA, PedB, PedBcorr, VehA, VehB, TU, RA, and HT [18], [19].
– Externally-generated channel coefficients: winner_II. Uses the publicly-available Winner II implementation to
generate the channel coefficients [20]. The following parameters can be configured when using the Winner II channel
model.
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.Scenario: 1=A1, 2=A2, 3=B1, 4=B2, 5=B3, 6=B4,
7=B5a, 8=B5c, 9=B5f, 10=C1, 11=C2, 12=C3, 13=C4, 14=D1 and 15=D2a.
 9

∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.PropagCondition: LOS or NLOS.

∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.SampleDensity: number of time samples per half
wavelength
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.UniformTimeSampling: use same time sampling
grid for all links (yes or no).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.FixedPdpUsed: nonrandom path delays and pow-
ers (yes or no).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.FixedAnglesUsed: nonrandom AoD/AoAs (yes
or no).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.PolarisedArrays: usage of dual polarised arrays
(yes or no).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.TimeEvolution: usage of time evolution (yes or
no).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.PathLossModelUsed: usage of path loss model
(yes or no).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.ShadowingModelUsed: usage of shadow fading
model (yes or no).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.PathLossModel: path loss model function name
(pathloss).
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.PathLossOption: Available options are CR_light,
CR_heavy, RR_light, RR_heavy. CR=Corridor-Room, RR=Room-Room NLOS.
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.RandomSeed: sets a random seed. Can be left empty.
∗ LTE_params.ChanMod_config.winner_settings.UseManualPropCondition: whether to use man-
ual propagation condition (LOS/NLOS) settings or not (yes or no). If not, the propagation condition is drawn
from probabilities.
• LTE_params.ChanMod_config.corr_coefRX: correlation between the receiver antennas. Only compatible with
block fading filtering.
• LTE_params.ChanMod_config.corr_coefTX: correlation between the transmitter antennas. Only compatible with
block fading filtering.
• LTE_params.ChanMod_config.time_correlation: sets whether the channel realizations are time-correlated or
not. correlated or independent. This parameter is also related with LTE_params.N_seed_reset.

E. Scheduler parameters
Configuration of the scheduler parameters.
• LTE_params.scheduler.type: type of scheduler. Already numerous schedulers are supported (see [21] and [22])
the most important being:
– round robin: round robin scheduler without support of UE feedback.
– fixed: round robin scheduler but with support of UE feedback (MCS and MIMO preprocessing are adapted).
– best cqi: scheduling decisions are taken according to the reported channel quality, such as to maximize the system
throughput.
– proportional fair: proportional fair scheduler.
Other supported schedulers are (note: these are not thoroughly tested for all configurations):
– max throughput: max. throughput scheduler based on a linear program
– max min: max. min. scheduler
– var fair: throughput suboptimal scheduler with variable, adjustable fairness
(it utilizes the parameter LTE_params.scheduler.fairness)
– variable fair: throughput optimal scheduler with variable, adjustable fairness
– alpha fair: scheduler with fairness indirectly set by the parameter LTE_params.scheduler.alpha
All those schedulers assume full buffer simulations. The only scheduler that supports the traffic models is the
RoundRobin_Traffic scheduler.
• LTE_params.scheduler.assignment: either static, semi static or dynamic. Whether the scheduler will
statically assign or dynamically assign CQIs and other params. The best cqi scheduler is capable of assigning MCSs
dynamically. The semi static scheduler adapts automatically the precoder and layer number according to the PMI and RI
feedback (use this one in conjunction with closed loop spatial multiplexing and activated PMI and RI feedback). The semi
static scheduler assigns resource blocks in a round robin fashion.
• LTE_params.scheduler.fixed_scheduler_assignment: this option is used only for the fixed scheduler.
In that case, the parameter is a vector of length LTE_params.nUE containing the number of RBs allocated to each user.
 10

The total number or assigned RBs must be equal or less than the number of RB available in the specified bandwidth: eg.
for 2 UEs and 1.4 MHz [4 2] would assign four RBs to the first user and two to the second.
• LTE_params.scheduler.cqi: the CQI the scheduler is going to use when transmitting data. When set to ’set’,
when in the static case, the CQI value to use will be read from the cqi_i variable, which is to be set from the
script file that launches the simulation (eg. LTE_sim_batch). This is only used with the round robin and fixed
scheduler in static mode.
• LTE_params.scheduler.PMI: sets the Precoding Matrix Indicator, if no feedback is employed.

F. Variable uplink delay

Additionally to the LTE_params.uplink_delay variable, it is possible to specify individual delay values for specific
variables. The delay of any property of the outputs.ueOutput class may independently defined. If you were to add
additional properties to the object, it would be possible to assign a specific delay with this option without further code
modifications.
Although the feature is quite flexible, the most common application is to define a common uplink delay for most of the
parameters and (for example) a different one for the CQI, RI and PMI feedback.
Below is an example that sets the global uplink delay to one, while setting different delays for the ACKs and CQI/PMI/RI.
The extra delays are specified with the optional LTE_params.extra_uplink_delays parameter, containing a cell array
of property names and delays in TTIs.
LTE_params.uplink_delay = 1;
LTE_params.extra_uplink_delays = {...
’ACK’,3,...
’RI’,8,...
’PMI’,8,...
’CQI’,8 };
In this example, all feedback will be delayed one TTI, while the ACKs will experience a delay of three TTIs and the CQI,
PMI and RI feedback will be delayed eight TTIs.

IMPORTANT: while the configuration may allow for flexibility, setting different delays for the CQI, RI and/or PMI
can lead to unexpected results. e.g., if the CQI dimensions do not match those resulting from a given rank value or if the
retrieved PMI (after delay) would not be in the range of the retrieved RI due to them referring to actually different TTIs, the
simulator (very probably the scheduler) will in the best case crash, and in the worst case not crash and maybe yield erratic
results, leaving you wondering why the results look strange.

The simulator also allows the possibility to specify a configurable update rate for Channel State Information (CSI) feedback.
The feedback to which this now applies comprises the following outputs.ueOutput variables: RI, PMI, PMI_WB, CQI, and
CQI_bar. However, the variable choice can be changed with the CSI_feedback_variables of the outputs.ueOutput
class. In the case you would decide to add additional feedback to the simulator and would require this feature, the considered
CSI variable set can be easily modifiable.
This feature is configured by the optional LTE_params.CSI_feedback_interval parameter. If not defined, it is
equivalent to setting it to one. For LTE_params.CSI_feedback_interval=1, the values output by the uplink channel
correspond to the delayed feedback. for higher values (N ), N values are sent and the feedback is updated again after N TTIs.
i.e., in the normal case, the received feedback would correspond to the following TTIs:
 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, . . . ,
if LTE_params.CSI_feedback_interval=3 is specified, the feedback received by the scheduler will correspond to the
following TTIs:
 
1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 7, 7, 7, . . . .
It is important to not that this overwriting of the actual feedback with an old one is performed after valid feedback is received,
i.e., after a number of TTIs equal to the maximum uplink delay has passed.

VI. R EFERENCE SIMULATION RESULTS INCLUDED

Besides the one mentioned on Section II, the simulator is provided with some reference simulation results, which can be
compared with performance curves from 3GPP RAN documents such as [23] to cross-check the results of the simulator.
The example simulation results distributed with the simulator are described below.
 11

• plot_reference_BLER_curves_r655 produces the plots in Figure 5, showing Block Error Ratio (BLER) and
throughput for an Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) simulation using the MCS defined in [11] (CQIs 1-15).
• plot_R1071967_throughput_curves_r553 shows the BLER and throughput curves obtained from performing
AWGN simulations with the MCSs specified in R1-071967, page 16 [23], as seen in Figure 6.
The MCS, including the CQI value used in the simulator, the modulation and Effective Code Rate (ECR) used in each of
the simulations are shown in Table III.
CQI Modulation ECR [23] ECRx1024
101 4QAM 1/9 114
102 4QAM 1/6 171
103 4QAM 0.21 215
104 4QAM 1/4 256
105 4QAM 1/3 314
CQI Modulation ECR ECRx1024 [11]
106 4QAM 0.42 430
107 4QAM 1/2 512 1 4QAM 0.0762 78
108 4QAM 0.58 594 2 4QAM 0.1172 120
109 4QAM 2/3 683 3 4QAM 0.1885 193
110 4QAM 0.73 748 4 4QAM 0.3008 308
5 4QAM 0.4385 449
111 16QAM 0.43 440
6 4QAM 0.5879 602
112 16QAM 0.46 471
113 16QAM 1/2 512 7 16QAM 0.3691 378
114 16QAM 0.54 553 8 16QAM 0.4785 490
115 16QAM 0.58 594 9 16QAM 0.6016 616
116 16QAM 0.61 625
10 64QAM 0.4551 466
117 16QAM 2/3 683
11 64QAM 0.5537 567
118 16QAM 0.73 748
12 64QAM 0.6504 666
119 16QAM 4/5 819
13 64QAM 0.7539 772
120 64QAM 0.58 594 14 64QAM 0.8525 873
121 64QAM 0.62 635 15 64QAM 0.9258 948
122 64QAM 2/3 683
123 64QAM 0.70 717
124 64QAM 0.74 758
125 64QAM 4/5 819
126 64QAM 0.85 870
127 64QAM 0.90 922

TABLE III: MCSs used in the LTE_sim_batch_R1_07196 (left) and LTE_sim_batch_quick_test (right) M AT-
LAB scripts

BLER, 1.4MHz, SISO AWGN, 5000 subframes throughput, 1.4MHz, SISO AWGN, 5000 subframes
0
10 6

CQI 01 5
CQI 02
CQI 03 CQI 01
-1
10 CQI 04 4 CQI 02
throughput [Mbps]

CQI 05 CQI 03
CQI 06 CQI 04
BLER

CQI 07 3 CQI 05
CQI 06
CQI 08 CQI 07
-2
CQI 09 CQI 08
10 CQI 10 2 CQI 09
CQI 11 CQI 10
CQI 12 CQI 11
1 CQI 12
CQI 13 CQI 13
CQI 14 CQI 14
-3 CQI 15 CQI 15
10 0
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
SNR [dB] SNR [dB]

(a) BLER, AWGN no HARQ (b) Throughput, AWGN, no HARQ

Fig. 5: Reference BLER and throughput plots for the 15 MCSs defined in [11]
 12

BLER, 1.4MHz, SISO AWGN, 5000 subframes throughput, 1.4MHz, SISO AWGN, 5000 subframes
0
10 6

QPSK, R=1/9
QPSK, R=1/6
QPSK, R=0.21
5 QPSK, R=1/4
QPSK, R=1/3
QPSK, R=1/9
QPSK, R=1/6 QPSK, R=0.42
QPSK, R=0.21 QPSK, R=1/2
−1
QPSK, R=1/4 QPSK, R=0.58
10 QPSK, R=1/3 4 QPSK, R=2/3
QPSK, R=0.42
QPSK, R=1/2
QPSK, R=0.73
16QAM, R=0.43

throughput [Mbps]
QPSK, R=0.58
QPSK, R=2/3 16QAM, R=0.46
QPSK, R=0.73 16QAM, R=1/2
BLER

16QAM, R=0.43 3
16QAM, R=0.54
16QAM, R=0.46
16QAM, R=1/2
16QAM, R=0.58
16QAM, R=0.54 16QAM, R=0.61
16QAM, R=0.58 16QAM, R=2/3
10
−2 16QAM, R=0.61 2 16QAM, R=0.73
16QAM, R=2/3
16QAM, R=4/5
16QAM, R=0.73
16QAM, R=4/5 64QAM, R=0.58
64QAM, R=0.58 64QAM, R=0.62
64QAM, R=0.62 64QAM, R=2/3
64QAM, R=2/3 1 64QAM, R=0.70
64QAM, R=0.70
64QAM, R=0.74
64QAM, R=0.74
64QAM, R=4/5 64QAM, R=4/5
64QAM, R=0.85 64QAM, R=0.85
−3 64QAM, R=0.90 64QAM, R=0.90
10 0
−15 −10 −5 0 5 10 15 20 25 −15 −10 −5 0 5 10 15 20 25
SNR [dB] SNR [dB]

(a) BLER, AWGN no HARQ (b) Throughput, AWGN, no HARQ

Fig. 6: Reference BLER and throughput plots for the 27 MCSs defined in [23]

VII. R EPRODUCING THE RESULTS / PLOTS PRESENTED ON A PAPER

One of the main points of the simulator is to allow you to reproduce and review our results, as well as the algorithms that
produce them. For each of the following publications a script is prepared in the folder paper scripts that will reproduce the
results in the corresponding paper:
• Currently no papers presenting results obtained with the LTE-A simulator are published. The Vienna LTE Link Level
Simulator contains several scripts for reproducing published results.

VIII. E XTENSIONS OF THE V IENNA LTE-A L INK L EVEL S IMULATOR COMPARED TO THE V IENNA LTE L INK L EVEL
S IMULATOR
The Vienna LTE-A Link Level Simulator is a direct extension of the Vienna LTE Link Level simulator. It contains all the
features and transmit modes implemented in the LTE simulator. The LTE simulator supports standard compliant transmission
from up to four transmit antennas in one of the following transmit modes:
• Single antenna port scheme (mode 1): transmission from a single antenna port only.
• Transmit diversity scheme (mode 2): transmission from two antenna ports utilizing the Alamouti transmit diversity scheme.
• Open loop transmit diversity scheme/large delay CDD scheme (mode 3): transmission from 2 or 4 antenna ports, utilizing
large delay Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD).
• Closed loop spatial multiplexing (mode 4): transmission from 2 or 4 antenna ports, utilizing UE feedback for choosing the
appropriate precoding matrix. Corresponds to the single and dual layer transmission schemes defined in the LTE spec.

These four transmission modes all rely on the LTE reference signal structure, consisting of Cell Specific (CS) Reference Signals
(RS).

In addition to these transmission modes, the LTE-A simulator supports the following modes:
• MUMIMO based on the LTE codebook (mode 5): this mode allows to share spatial transmission layers between users. It
is also based on CS-RS. Just a dummy mode is implemented here, assuming:
– A round robin scheduler (fixed MUMIMO) that equally distributes time, frequency and space resources to users.
– Only “benchmark” receivers are implemented, assuming full channel knowledge. Here each user decodes all spatial
layers and throws away the ones that are not intended for him.
• Transmission modes based on UE specific RS and CSI RS
– Non-standard defined precoding (mode 8): ZF beamforming is implemented as an example, utilizing the ZF_MUMIMO
scheduler.
– Up to eight layer transmission (mode 9): this mode is the LTE-A counterpart of the LTE modes 4 and 5. It allows fast
switching between SUMIMO and MUMIMO with up to eight transmit antennas. For MUMIMO the same dummy
scheme as for mode 5 is implemented (employing the fixed MUMIMO scheduler), and the SUMIMO scheme is
based on the UE feedback algorithms presented in [9].
 13

More advanced features of LTE-A like e.g. carrier aggregation and basestation cooperation are not implemented in the first
release, but the structure of the simulator allows to include such features as well (by implementing appropriate schedulers,...).

IX. SNR DEFINITION

In a MIMO-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission system the SNR γ is the measurement for
channel quality information and is a key factor of link error prediction. There are different measures or calculation procedures
for the SNR in SISO and MIMO systems. For SISO systems the SNR can be viewed as receiving SNR, that is, received
signal-to-noise ratio before the detector. Usually post-detection Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) is used for
MIMO link prediction. It is representing the SNR after combining in the receiver and measures the likelihood that a MCS will
be decoded successfully.
The LTE Link Level simulator SNR γ is defined as follows:
T N ×1
• BS_output.y_tx contains the Tx-signal vector x = [x1 , . . . , xNT ] ∈ C T , where xk ∈ C with k ∈ [1, . . . , NT ] is the
Tx-symbol sent from the k-th Tx-antenna (NT . . . number of Tx-antennas). We get

– the total Tx-power, σx2 = trace(Rx ) = trace(E xxH ) = 1
– the Tx-power per Tx-antenna, σx2k = E{|xk |2 } = 1/NT
2
• ChanMod_output.H defines the channel matrix H, with kHkF = NT NR (NR . . . number of Rx-antennas)
• BS_output.cell_genie.v defines the noise vector v with respect to the size of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
(LTE_params.Nfft) and the number of subcarriers (LTE_params.N_tot) before the detector, where vec(v) ∼
CN (0, σv2 I)
2
• BS_output.cell_genie.n defines the noise vector n after the FFT, where vec(n) ∼ CN (0, σn I)
• ChanMod_output.y_rx contains the Rx-signal vector y = Hx + v

– we get the receive SNR (before the detector),

kHxk2F NR 1
γprefft = = = 2
NR σv2 NR σv2 σv
– where the SNR after the FFT becomes,
kHxk2F NR 1
γpostfft = 2
= 2
= 2
NR σn NR σ n σn

The difference between γprefft and γpostfft is given by the relation σv2 /σn2 = Nfft /Ntot (using a FFT-size of 128 and 72
subcarrriers, we get Nfft /Ntot = 128/72 = 1.778 , 2.5 dB).
We recommend to use the SNR after FFT (γpostfft ) when doing simulations over SNR, as this allows direct comparisons
to theoretic results.

X. N OTE ON PARALLEL SIMULATIONS AND RANDOM NUMBER GENERATION

Note that when using parallel simulations the random number generator will return the same sequence of numbers in each of
the parallel-running M ATLAB labs. Since the parfor loop is over SNR values, this would mean that each SNR iteration is in
principle identical to the other ones just with a different noise level (this may not be the case depending on the circumstances,
though). If this is not adequate for your needs, you may need to modify the code regarding the RandStream initialization.
Below is a code that illustrates what happens when using RandStreams in parallel mode:
sim_length=15;
n_sims = 10;
output = zeros(n_sims,sim_length);
for sim_=1:n_sims
a_RandStream = RandStream(’mt19937ar’,’Seed’,0);
matlabpool open
parfor t_=1:sim_length
pause(1); %simulate doing something
output(sim_,t_) = rand(a_RandStream);
end
matlabpool close
end
output
 14

XI. C HANGELOG
Changelog of the Vienna LTE-A Link Level simulator:
• v.1.3r1924,2013-03-08
– Added LTE-A fast fading compatibility: The fast fading channel estimators LS, MMSE, MMSE_full ,
Smoothness_match, Smoothness_deviate and Smoothness_approx using the LTE-A reference symbol
structure have been added as well as a ZF receiver for fast fading.
– Added a new proportional fair scheduler (prop fair gran) that allows to vary the scheduling granularity. All
other schedulers operate on a RB basis, while this scheduler can be set to assign resources in multiples of RBs
only. To do this, open the scheduler object (prop_fair_gran_scheduler.m in +schedulers folder) and
adjust the object-property gran. The fairness parameter α of the scheduler can also be adjusted using the variable
LTE_params.scheduler.alpha in LTE_load_parameter.m.
– Extended the feedback granularity options for CQI and PMI from either wideband or per RB, to any value in multiples
of RBs. This is only supported for the standard compliant PMI, CQI feedback and not for specialized feedback, e.g.,
for non-codebook based MU-MIMO.
– Fixed crash when using the EPedA channel model due to a missing correlation matrix generation for that channel.
– Added feature to enable for a configurable update rate for CSI feedback. The feedback to which this now applies
comprises the following outputs.ueOutput variables: RI, PMI, PMI_WB, CQI, and CQI_bar. However, the
variable choice can be changed with the CSI_feedback_variables of the outputs.ueOutput class. See
Section V-F for a more detailed description of this feature.
– It is now possible to independently define the uplink delay of any variable contained in the outputs.ueOutput
object. An example use case would be to define a different feedback value to the PMI and RI feedback, while the
rest employ the common value defined in LTE_params.uplink_delay. See Section V-F for a more detailed
description of this feature.
– Reorganized channel matrix generation-related functions to its own folder.
– Updated the AWGN BLER scripts. They are now merged into a single LTE_sim_batch_BLER_curves.m script
in the examples folder.
– Updated LTE_sim_batch_quick_test (see Section II-A). Simulation results for SISO, TxD (2×2), OLSM
(2×2, 4×2, 4×4), and CLSM (2×2, 4×2, 4×4) configurations are now provided. As opposed to before, where this
test simulation was based on a fix CQI, this example now features Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) and
MIMO feedback over the whole SNR range.
– Small performance improvements.
– Added MIMO support to the round robin scheduler.
– Optimized the MIESM SINR averaging and the code to generate the CLSM precoders (i.e., noticeably faster
simulations).
– Merged the LTE_sim_single and LTE_sim_par implementations into a single implementation supporting both
normal and parallel simulations and a simpler input-output variable flow.
– Fixed rank indicator feedback calculation bug that limited the OLSM transmission with four transmit antennas to rank
3.
• v.1.2r1546, 2012-10-16 (marked before as LTE-A_v1.0_r200.zip)
– Added support of distributed antennas. Note that DASs are only used in combination with a pathloss and shadow-fading
model, because otherwise there would not be a difference between centralized and distributed antennas.
– Improved support of interference alignment (IA) with a new structural element in the simulator, the base station
coordinator (BS coordinator). With this element it should be possible to incorporate also other coordination schemes
(simply follow the example of IA).
– Added least squares (LS) and linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) channel estimators for LTE-A.
– Fixed normalization error in the sinc interpolator. A sqrt was missing in the constructor. Thanks to Han Zhou
(Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (SARI), China), for pointing out this bug.
– Added new AWGN BLER curves for both 1.4 MHz and 5 MHz. See the examples/AWGN_BLER_curves folder.
• v.1.1r100, 2011-09-27 (marked before as LTE-A_v1.0_r100.zip)
– First release of the Vienna LTE-A Link Level simulator.

The Vienna LTE-A Link Level simulator is an extension of the Vienna LTE Link Level simulator. It is built around Version
1.7 of the LTE simulator. For convenience, the changelog of the Vienna LTE Link Level simulator until this version is also
included:
• v.1.7r1089, 2011-10-04
– MEX files are now compiled with Microsoft Visual C++ 2010, so the appropriate runtime files are needed. Refer to
Section XIII for more information on how to get them.
 15

– Fixed typos in the LTE_sim_batch_BLER_curves file that reproduces the AWGN BLER curves.
– BICM capacity curves are now loaded by default not from a file, but from a hardcoded source. Loading from a file is
still supported, though.
– Fixed error in the rate matching that caused an incorrect number of bits than otherwise expected by the layers for
cases of bandwidth higher than 1.4 MHz and certain resource block allocations.
– Changed the layout of the load_parameters file. It was getting so long it was no longer readable. Moved the
individual configuration parameters for each simulation type to separate object files in the simulation_config
package.
– Fixed discrepancy initialization in the gold code generation MEX file. Thanks to Srikanth Isanaka for pointing out
this bug and Mitsuo Sakamoto for generously providing an updated version of the gold code generation code.
• v.1.6r917, 2011-01-19
– Fixed error in LTE_sim_results_plots when there is no frequency offset estimation.
– Fixed signaling bug for TB sizes smaller than 40 bits. Thanks to Wang Dongming (Southeast University, China) for
pointing out this bug.
– Fixed bug in the new implementation of the rate matching. The LLR repetition was not taken into account, therefore
affecting performance.
• v.1.5r811, 2010-11-05
– Added experimental multi-base station simulation support. Still in very early development stages.
– Reimplementation in M ATLAB of most of the rate-matching procedures. The code is optimized enough so that MEX
functions are now much less needed. This should improve code readability and maintainability.
– Added “Companies (no matter profit-oriented or not) are not allowed for free usage and have to contact the licensor
before usage.” to the license agreement (Section A).
– Fixed bug in the fixed scheduler. The PBCHsyms variable was being used, thus causing the simulation to crash when
the scheduler function was called.
– The CQI used for each Transport Block (TB) transmission in now stored in the results trace (used_CQI variable in
ueSpecificTraces, in turn stored in simulation_results).
– Added trace to track the codeblock BLER. The ACK value is the decimal representation of the codeblock ACK vector
for each codeword.
• v.1.4r715, 2010-07-12
– Fixed bug in the channel coding process. According to [14]: ”If the code to be encoded is the 0-th code block and the
number of filler bits is greater than zero, i.e. F > 0, then the encoder shall set ck = 0, k = 0, . . . , (F − 1) at its input
and shall set d0k =<NULL>, k = 0, . . . , (F − 1) and d1k =<NULL>, k = 0, . . . , (F − 1) at its output”. These bits were
erroneously set to 0 instead of <NULL>. In LTE_rx_DLSCH, the first BS_signaling.TB_segmentation.F
LLR values of d(0) and d(1) are replaced by -LTE_params.UE_config.LLR_clipping. Thanks to Wu Gaojin
(University of Posts and Telecommunications, China) for pointing out this bug.
– Fixed bug in the RX rate matching process that caused a crash when no filler (<NULL>) bits were present (ie.
UE_signaling.turbo_rate_matcher(stream_index).null_positions{i} was empty). Thanks to
Narciso Garcı́a Cano (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain) for helping us out with this bug.
– The Gold sequence generation was based on version 8.2.0 of the standard. Between the latest release and v8.2.0.,
pseudo random sequence generator was updated to include Nc [15]. Thanks to Mitsuo Sakamoto (Couei Corp, Japan)
for helping us out with this bug and kindly providing an updated version of the Gold Sequence generation that is also
∼ 40x faster.
– Added comment on issues that may arise from using random number generators and parallel simulations.
– Added support of user equipment feedback (CQI, RI and PMI). The feedback values are evaluated as described in [6]
(added a script to allow reproduction of the figures in this paper). CQI feedback is based on ESM. MIESM and
EESM are supported for SINR averaging. The feedback calculation is just tested for the ZF receiver.
– The receiver for 4x1 and 4x2 TxD mode was modified. The performance is unchanged, but execution speed has been
greatly improved.
• v.1.3r620, 2010-02-18.
– Fixed bug in the turbo decoding process. The second decoder was initialized to the interleaved systematic bits instead
of zero. Due to this there is a small performance improvement in the order of 0.2 dB. Thanks to Klaus Hueske
(Technische Universität Dortmund Information Processing Lab, Germany) for helping us out with this bug.
– Fixed errors in the way the fixed scheduler object was called that made it impossible to use it. Thanks to Tommaso
Balercia (Comneon GmbH, Germany) for pointing out this bug.
– Changed structure of the simulations parameters’ loading file in order to decrease the number of configuration files.
– Added doubly dispersive channel estimation with scalable complexity [24] and related files needed to reproduce the
figures from the paper.
 16

– Added precoding matrix indicator feedback support as described in [25] and related files needed to reproduce the
figures from the paper.
• v.1.2r553, 2009-12-25.
– Minor bugfixes and improvements.
– Fixed bug in the rate matching process that caused the <NULL> bits inserted during the sub-block interleaving process
to be treated as zeros (see [14]). Due to this fix the performance of the channel coding is slightly improved. Reference
and example simulations included with the simulator have been updated accordingly. Thanks to Ching Hsiang Wu
(Institute for Information Industry Networks and Multimedia Institute, Taipei) for pointing out this bug.
– Fixed bug that caused poor performance of the ZF receiver. This was due to a bad noise scaling being passed on to
the demapper. After the fix the ZF and Soft Sphere Decoder (SSD) receivers have the same performance for the SISO
case.
– Since according to the MathWorks,the seqgen function will be removed from future versions of the Communications
Toolbox software, calls to seqgen.pn have been substituted by calls to commsrc.pn. See Section XIII for issues
this change may cause.
– Fixed bug that caused performance decrease for fast fading simulations at high user velocities. For the decoding of
the last seven OFDM symbols, the channel of the first seven OFDM symbols was used.
– Added support of the Winner II + channel model [26]. See Section XIV on more information on how to enable this
functionality.
• v.1.1r450, 2009-08-25.
– Minor bugfixes and improvements.
– Added Parallel and Distributed Toolbox support (parfor).
– Added best CQI (only for SISO and fixed schedulers.
• v.1.0r400, 2009-05-15.
– First publicly available version of the LTE Link Level Simulator.

XII. R EFERENCING
A version of the LTE Link Level Simulator paper is available in our publication data-base here.
If you are using the simulator for your scientific work, please use the reference below:
@ARTICLE{JASP2011,
author = {C.˜Mehlf\"uhrer and J.˜Colom Ikuno and M.˜Simko and S.˜Schwarz and M.˜Wrulich and M.˜Rupp},
title = {The Vienna {LTE} Simulators - Enabling Reproducibility in Wireless Communications Research},
journal = {{EURASIP} Journal on Advances in Signal Processing},
year = {2011},
volume = {Vol. 2011},
pages = {1-13}
}

C. Mehlf\"uhrer, J. Colom Ikuno, M. Simko, S. Schwarz, M. Wrulich, M. Rupp,

The Vienna LTE Simulators - Enabling Reproducibility in Wireless Communications Research,
EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, Vol. 2011, pages 1 - 13, 2011.

XIII. K NOWN ISSUES

• The LTE simulators make use of the new Object-Oriented capabilities of Matlab (available since R2008a), the simulators
will not run under older Matlab releases without extensive changes.
• Please note that MEX-files generated using Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 require that Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 run-time
libraries be available on the computer they are run on. The runtime files can be downloaded here (x86) or here (x64).
• In order to be able to use the parallel version of the simulator (when setting LTE_params.simulation_type to
parallel, you need the parallel toolbox (included by default with M ATLAB r2009a and above or as an add-on with
previous versions). It will not work if you don’t have the toolbox, just crashing the moment the matlabpool function is
called.
• In M ATLAB versions prior to r2009a the code may not work, as the commsrc.pn function does not exist. You will need to
replace every call to commsrc.pn with a call to seqgen.pn in order to run the simulator. No change in the arguments
is needed. Such changes should be applied to the code in the LTE_common_gen_Synchronization_Signal and
LTE_common_gen_Reference_Signal functions.
• In the LTE_rx_turbo_decode function, only the max-log-map decoder type has been tested. The decoder_type
variable is used as input an configures the SISO decoder function, which is part of [27].
• It was pointed out that in [12], the phase φ is not different for each sinusoid. We are using a modified version [13].
 17

XIV. U SING THE W INNER P HASE II CHANNEL MODEL REFERENCE IMPLEMENTATION

Starting with v.1.2r553, it is possible to use channels generated with the publicly-available M ATLAB implementation of the
WINNER Phase II Channel Model [26]. Since the code is distributed under the GNU GPL, its files are not included in the
simulator release. In order to use to be able to use it, you will have to download it yourself. For this, go to the WINNER Phase
II Model website, download the WIM2_3D_ant_ver064_220908.zip file and unzip the .mat files in the ./Winner
Channel Model folder.

XV. Q UESTIONS
For questions please check our forum, where you will be able to post your questions/comments/bug reports. It makes it
easer for you to see what other people asked and also makes it easier for us to answer you (when we have time).

XVI. M AILING L IST

If you want to receive information about future updates you can subscribe to our LTE simulator mailing list here. Note
that you can change the display language to english in the selection panel to the right.

XVII. T HE P EOPLE ( SO FAR ) BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SIMULATOR

• Dagmar Bosanska
• Josep Colom Ikuno
• Govinda Lilley
• Christian Mehlfürer
• Michael Meidlinger
• Martin Müller
• Stefan Pendl
• Jörg Reitterer
• Markus Rupp
• Stefan Schwarz
• Michal Šimko
• Qi Wang
• Martin Wrulich

XVIII. L ICENSE AGREEMENT

These terms (license for the LTE link level simulator) refer to the use of the LTE-A link-level simulator (the ”Original Work),
developed by the Institute of Telecommunications, Vienna University of Technology (the licensor).

A. Academic Usage
Academic Usage in the context of this license describes the use of the Original Work in scientific projects without any
reimbursement or financial claims that bear on results derived by the Original Work, but subject however to the restrictions
provided for in Clauses B and H hereinbelow. The main goal in the sense of Academic Usage shall be to obtain cientifically
significant results that can be used for publication. Academic Usage of the Original work will only be granted after this license
agreement is:
1) printed on letterhead of university department or research institute,
2) signed by the department head, including date and stamp of the department,
3) then scanned and, including the above, and emailed to: Univ.Prof. Markus Rupp (mrupp@nt.tuwien.ac.at).

Companies (no matter profit-oriented or not) are not allowed for free usage and have to contact the licensor before usage.

B. Grant of copyright license

Licensor grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable license, restricted to non-commercial use,
for the duration of the copyright, to install the Original ork and any Derivative Works thereof on one personal computer. The
license allows You to:
1) Use the Original Work only for Academic Usage. Any usage of the Original Work, entirely or in part or modified, requires
the proper citation, e.g. as reference in a publication.
2) Translate, adapt, alter, transform, modify, or arrange the Original Work, thereby creating derivative works (Derivative
Works) based upon the Original Work. Distribution, either royalty-free or commercially, in parts or in modified form of
the Original Work, i.e. also of Derivative Works, is prohibited and not covered by ”Academic Usage”.
3) Display results derived from the Original Work, or in modified form, publicly, without commercial usage.
 18

C. Grant of source code license

The term ”Source Code” means the preferred form of the Original Work for making modifications to it and all available
documentation describing how to modify the Original Work. Licensor agrees to provide a machine-readable copy of the Source
Code of the Original Work along with each copy of the Original Work that Licensor distributes. Licensor reserves the right
to satisfy this obligation by placing a machine-readable copy of the Source Code in an information repository reasonably
calculated to permit inexpensive and convenient access by You for as long as Licensor continues to distribute the Original Work.

D. Exclusions from license grant

Neither the names of Licensor, nor the names of any contributors to the Original Work, nor any of their trademarks or service
marks, may be used without express prior permission of the Licensor, except as expressly provided otherwise in Clause B1
hereinabove. Except as expressly stated herein, nothing in this License grants any license to Licensor’s trademarks, copyrights,
patents, trade secrets or any other intellectual property. No license is granted to the trademarks of Licensor even if such marks
are included in the Original Work. Nothing in this License shall be interpreted to prohibit Licensor from licensing under terms
different from this License any Original Work that Licensor otherwise would have a right to license.

E. Warranty of provenance and disclaimer of warranty

Licensor warrants that the copyright in and to the Original Work is owned by the Licensor or is sublicensed to You under the
terms of this License with the permission of the contributor(s) of those copyrights and patent rights. Except as expressly stated
in the immediately preceding sentence, the Original Work is provided under this License on an ”AS IS” BASIS and WITHOUT
WARRANTY, either express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of noniinfringement, merchantability or
fitness for a particular purpose. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY OF THE ORIGINAL WORK IS WITH YOU.
This DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY constitutes an essential part of this License. No license to he Original Work is granted
by this License except under this disclaimer.

F. Limitation of liability
Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, shall the
Licensor be liable to anyone for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result
of this License or the use of the Original Work including, without limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage,
computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses. This limitation of liability shall not apply
to the extent applicable law prohibits such limitation.

G. Termination
If, at any time, You infringe upon the grants of this License, it shall terminate immediately and You may no longer exercise
any of the rights granted to You by this License.

H. Open source and code under other license terms

The original work also contains work licensed under other licenses other than the license for the LTE link-level simulator. The
terms and conditions described in this document are only applicable to the parts of the Original Work not under other licenses.
A list of the parts of the Original Work not under the license for the LTE link-level simulator can be found in Appendix I.

I. Appendix I
The following parts of the original work are not under the terms of the license for the LTE link-level simulator, and are thus
excluded from the terms and conditions stated by this license.
The usage and adaptation of these sections for use with the original work is done in compliance with the license terms they
are released under. Any translation, adaptation, alteration, transformation, modification, or further use of the hereinbelow stated
parts of the original work must be done under the terms of the applicable licenses for that specific part, which are also included
in the package.
• CRC calculations C-code: MEXed version of the code generated by pycrc [28]. Under the MIT License.
• Turbo and convolutional encoder/decoder C-code, from the Coded Modulation Library (CML) by Iterative Solutions [27].
Licensed under the GNU lesser General Public License.
 19

Use c-source M ATLAB functions License

crc16.c
LTE_common_crc16
crc16.h
CRC generation and crc24a.c
LTE_common_crc24a MIT License [4]
checking crc24a.h
crc24b.c
LTE_common_crc24b
crc24b.h
ConvEncode.c
convolutional.h
LTE_tx_convolutional_encoder
Channel coding maxstar.h GNU Lesser GPL [3]
LTE_rx_siso_decode
siso.h
SisoDecode.c

XIX. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the whole LTE research group for continuous support and lively discussions. This work has
been funded by A1 Telekom Austria AG, the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Wireless Technologies for Sustainable Mobility,
as well as the Institute of Telecommunications Vienna University of Technology. The views expressed in this paper are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views within mobilkom austria AG.

R EFERENCES
[1] [Online]. Available: http://www.nt.tuwien.ac.at/ltesimulator/
[2] C. Mehlführer, M. Wrulich, J. C. Ikuno, D. Bosanska, and M. Rupp, “Simulating the long term evolution physical layer,” in Proc. of the 17th European
Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO 2009), Glasgow, Scotland, Aug. 2009.
[3] I. Free Software Foundation, “GNU lesser general public license, version 2.1.” [Online]. Available: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html
[4] M. I. of Technology, “MIT license.” [Online]. Available: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
[5] Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network, “Evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA); LTE physical layer – general description,”
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Tech. Rep. TS 36.201 Version 8.3.0, Mar. 2009.
[6] S. Schwarz, C. Mehlfhrer, and M. Rupp, “Calculation of the Spatial Preprocessing and Link Adaption Feedback for 3GPP UMTS/LTE,” in Proc. IEEE
Wireless Advanced 2010, London, UK, June 2010.
[7] C. Mehlfuhrer, J. Colom Ikuno, M. Simko, S. Schwarz, M. Wrulich, and M. Rupp, “The vienna lte simulators - enabling reproducibility in
wireless communications research,” EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, vol. 2011, no. 1, p. 29, 2011. [Online]. Available:
http://asp.eurasipjournals.com/content/2011/1/29
[8] 3GPP, “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels and Modulation
(Release 10),” December 2010, [Online]. Available: http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36211.htm.
[9] S. Schwarz and M. Rupp, “Throughput maximizing feedback for MIMO OFDM based wireless communication systems,” in Signal Processing Advances
in Wireless Communications SPAWC 2011, San Francisco, CA, June 2011.
[10] G. Dietl, O. Labreche, and W. Utschick, “Channel vector quantization for multiuser MIMO systems aiming at maximum sum rate,” in IEEE Global
Telecommunications Conference 2009, Dec. 2009, pp. 1 –5.
[11] Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network, “Evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA); physical layer procedures,” 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP), Tech. Rep. TS 36.213, Mar. 2009.
[12] Y. R. Zheng and C. Xiao, “Simulation models with correct statistical properties for rayleigh fading channels,” Communications, IEEE Transactions on,
June 2003.
[13] T. Zemen and C. Mecklenbräuker, “Time-Variant Channel Estimation Using Discrete Prolate Spheroidal Sequences,” IEEE Transactions on Signal
Processing, vol. 53, no. 9, pp. 3597–3607, Sept. 2005.
[14] Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network, “Evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA); multiplexing and channel coding,” 3rd
Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Tech. Rep. TS 36.212, Mar. 2009.
[15] ——, “Evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA); physical channels and modulation,” 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Tech. Rep.
TS 36.211 Version 8.7.0, May 2009.
[16] ——, “Evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA); user equipment (UE) radio access capabilities,” 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),
Tech. Rep. TS 36.306, 2009.
[17] 3GPP, “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer procedures (Release
10),” December 2010, [Online]. Available: http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36213.htm.
[18] ITU-R, “Guidelines for evaluation of radio transmission technologies for IMT-2000,” ITU-R, Tech. Rep. M.1225, 1997.
[19] Technical Specification Group GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network, “Radio transmission and reception, annex c.3 propagation models,” 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP), Tech. Rep. TS 05.05 V.8.20.0 (Release 1999), 2009.
[20] L. Hentilä, P. Kyösti, M. Käske, M. Narandzic, and M. Alatossava. (2007) MATLAB implementation of the WINNER Phase II channel model ver1.1.
[Online]. Available: http://www.ist-winner.org/phase 2 model.html
[21] S. Schwarz, C. Mehlführer, and M. Rupp, “Low complexity approximate maximum throughput scheduling for LTE,” in 44th Annual Asilomar Conference
on Signals, Systems, and Computers, Pacific Grove, California, Nov. 2010.
[22] ——, “Throughput maximizing multiuser scheduling with adjustable fairness,” in International Conference on Communications ICC 2011, Kyoto, Japan,
June 2011.
[23] Alcatel-Lucent, “DL E-UTRA performance checkpoint,” 3GPP TSG-RAN1, Tech. Rep. R1-071967, 2007.
[24] M. Šimko, C. Mehlführer, M. Wrulich, and M. Rupp, “Doubly Dispersive Channel Estimation with Scalable Complexity,” in Proc. WSA 2010, Bremen,
Germany, Feb. 2010, accepted.
[25] S. Schwarz, M. Wrulich, and M. Rupp, “Mutual information based calculation of the precoding matrix indicator for 3GPP UMTS/LTE,” in Proc. WSA
2010, Bremen, Germany, Feb. 2010, accepted.
[26] L. Hentilä, P. Kyösti, M. Käske, M. Narandzic, and M. Alatossava, “MATLAB implementation of the WINNER Phase II Channel Model ver1.1,”
December 2007. [Online]. Available: https://www.ist-winner.org/phase 2 model.html
[27] I. Solutions, “Iterative Solutions Coded Modulation Library (ISCML).” [Online]. Available: http://www.iterativesolutions.com/
[28] T. Pircher, “pycrc CRC calculator and C source code generator.” [Online]. Available: http://www.tty1.net/pycrc/
 20

L IST OF F IGURES
1 Plots resulting from running the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test.m, M ATLAB script. 1.4 MHz, PedA channel,
zero-delay feedback, single user. 2 × 2 (left) and 4 × 2 (right) antenna configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Plots resulting from running the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test.m M ATLAB script. 1.4 MHz, PedA channel,
zero-delay feedback, single user. 4 × 4 (left) antenna configuration and aggregate plot containing all of the simulated
antenna configurations (right). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3 Plots resulting from running the LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_SUMIMO.m M ATLAB script . . . . . . . . 4
4 Plots resulting from running the LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_MUMIMO.m M ATLAB script . . . . . . . . 5
5 Reference BLER and throughput plots for the 15 MCSs defined in [11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6 Reference BLER and throughput plots for the 27 MCSs defined in [23] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

L IST OF TABLES
I Basic settings used for the LTE_sim_batch_quick_test.m M ATLAB script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
II Basic settings used for the LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_SUMIMO.m and
LTEA_sim_batch_quick_test_MUMIMO.m M ATLAB scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III MCSs used in the LTE_sim_batch_R1_07196 (left) and LTE_sim_batch_quick_test (right) M AT-
LAB scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11