Data and Control Plane Traffic Modelling for LTE Networks

LTE networks constitute a major evolution toward the All-IP concept; therefore, an efficient design/planning of these networks is crucial for providing various IP-based services such as VoIP and Rich Communication Services (RCS). Also, due to the heterogeneity of access technologies supported by the mobile core network, referred to as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), the planning aspect becomes very important and is still a challenging task. Traffic modelling is an important part of the whole network planning process. Previous traffic modelling approaches tend to collect measurements regardless of how time consuming it is considered, while others find it easier to assume or predict values. The traffic model proposed in this paper considers different realistic parameters that can be used for LTE network planning and optimization. In fact, previous LTE planning work did not include all the parameters needed for the network planning process; their focus was mainly on bandwidth where other parameters were not considered. Therefore, it was necessary to come up with reasonable traffic profiles that take into consideration a variety of practical aspects such as signalling, bandwidth, busy hour session attempts and number of simultaneous EPS (Evolved Packet Systems) bearers. The traffic model proposed in this paper is considered a very important part of the network planning process for the EPC. The proposed solution is beneficial for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) while they are in the deployment phase of 4G/LTE networks.