Performance Analysis of LTE-A with 256-QAM
Tarek Nasr Halawa Ramy Ahmed Fathy
Electronics and Communications Senior, IEEE
Engineering Cairo, Egypt
Ain Shams University ramy.ahmed@ieee.org
Cairo, Egypt
tarek.n.halawa@ieee.org
AbstractLong Term Evolution (LTE) developed by
Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), is the
access part of the Evolved Packet System (EPS). LTE
physical layer is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiple Access (OFDMA) with Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation (QAM). Although there has been lots of
enhancements in the LTE physical layer, yet higher order
modulation schemes were not introduced in the
specification until Release 12. This paper investigates the
performance of LTE with 256-QAM which was introduced
in the 3GPP standard in release 12.3 aiming to enhance the
spectral efficiency of the system and increase the peak data
rates. Bit Error Rate (BER) values were populated for the
probable Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) operating ranges.
The results are based on a MATLAB system model
simulation. The results demonstrate that LTE-A can adopt
the 256-QAM higher order modulation especially for
nomadic users.
KeywordsLong Term Evolution (LTE); Long Term Evolution
Advanced (LTE-A); Modulation; Throughput; BER
I. INTRODUCTION
3GPP has always considered the importance of the high
spectral efficiency along with the high peak data rates for
mobile networks, where each developed technology aimed for
better performance than the previous one. Lots of features and
enhancements such as Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output
(MIMO), Carrier Aggregation, Relay Nodes & Coordinated
Multi Point operation (CoMP), were added with each newer
technology release. The continuous improvement of the
network performance is essential in order to cope with the
highly demanding data customers need and growing traffic.
The first LTE standard, release 8, was frozen in 2008, and
with the added benefit of enhancements that are being
introduced in new 3GPP releases, LTE has proven its stability
and growing footprint [1]. Subsequent releases supported the
main motivation for LTE, ensuring the continuity of
competitiveness through higher data rates and better quality of
service, in addition to reduced cost and system complexity.
LTE is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple
Access (OFDMA), and achieves high data rates by combining
large bandwidths, higher order modulation and spatial
ISBN: 978-1-4673-7503-0 2016 IEEE
Abdelhalim Zekry
Electronics and Communications
Engineering
Ain Shams University
Cairo, Egypt
aaazekry@asunet.shams.edu.eg
multiplexing. LTE release 12.3 introduced a higher order
modulation scheme to enhance the spectral efficiency and the
system throughput. This was achieved by introducing the 256-
QAM and consequently modifying other system requirements
such as, the Transport Block Size (TBS).
In order to gain the maximal benefit of the various available
coding options and modulation schemes, and due to the
vulnerable nature and dynamic behavior of the mobile network
channel, the Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) feature
was implemented in LTE. AMC basically selects an optimal
combination of modulation and coding scheme that would be
suitable for transmission based on the channel quality and radio
conditions in order to provide the user with optimum data rates.
Thus, with good radio conditions, high data rates are provided;
while low data rates are transmitted when the channel is
experiencing bad radio conditions. This feature provides
maximal channel utilization while guaranteeing transmission
reliability.
In this paper, the main focus is to assess the performance of
the LTE-A system under various radio conditions, represented
by different channel models and quality scenarios, while using
higher order modulation schemes. The different scenarios are
investigated through MATLAB simulations of the LTE-A
upgraded physical layer. The performance was measured by
calculating the BER and radio conditions were represented by
the varying levels of interference plus noise under various
channel models. This study will also help in the
implementation of the air interface packet schedulers and AMC
algorithm.
The paper is organized as follows: In section II, related
studies are summarized. Section III introduces the AMC
technique. Section IV outlines the system model. Section V
presents the simulation results for all investigated channel
models. Finally, section VI concludes the results and analysis.
II. RELATED STUDIES
Higher order modulation was generically studied, and
implemented in some systems, such as Digital Video
Broadcasting Second Generation Terrestrial (DVB-T2) [2].
When considering mobile networks, previous work has been
done to analyze the performance of LTE system and physical
layer under different radio conditions and with various channel
models.
141
 In [3] the performance assessment of the LTE-A physical TABLE I. 4-BIT CQI DEFINED IN TS 36.213 TABLE 7.2.3-2 [7]
layer was analyzed, considering QAM modulation orders up to CQI index modulation code rate x 1024 efficiency
64-QAM as implemented in release 10. The results have
0 out of range
shown that, LTE-A can achieve 10-3 BER when using 64-
QAM, 0.75 code rate and 4x4 MIMO, reaching 74 Mbps of 1 QPSK 78 0.1523
downlink data throughput for Physical Downlink Shared 2 QPSK 193 0.3770
Channel (PDSCH). No higher order modulation scheme was 3 QPSK 449 0.8770
assessed in this study. 4 16QAM 378 1.4766
In [4], the key differentiator between indoor and outdoor 5 16QAM 490 1.9141
scenarios is represented in the mobility. The paper showed that 6 16QAM 616 2.4063
small cells can make use of the stationary nature of the users to
7 64QAM 466 2.7305
implement the 256-QAM. In [5], 256-QAM was expected to be
adopted by 3GPP specifically for small cells. The paper 8 64QAM 567 3.3223
provided performance analysis for small cell environments as a 9 64QAM 666 3.9023
suitable condition for gaining benefit from this higher order 10 64QAM 772 4.5234
modulation. Results have shown 256-QAM has a potential and 11 64QAM 873 5.1152
feasible upgrade. 12 256QAM 711 5.5547
Authors in [6] addressed the link level performance 13 256QAM 797 6.2266
evaluation of 256-QAM. Their results demonstrated 33% 14 256QAM 885 6.9141
throughput increase in an AWGN channel compared to 64-
15 256QAM 948 7.4063
QAM, while the throughput decreased to 23.1% in a more
realistic channel i.e. EPA-10HZ.
It is apparent that there is still a gap in studying the IV. SYSTEM MODEL
performance of LTE physical layer with the 256-QAM
modulation scheme under various scenarios which represent MATLAB-based link level simulation environments of
realistic radio channel conditions. Accordingly, a performance UMTS and LTE systems were implemented in various
assessment of employing higher order modulation in LTE-A by literatures and by different research groups. The Vienna LTE
means of a sound and rigorous reproducible simulation model Simulator provides a standard compliant simulation
is presented in this paper in order to analyze the potential usage environment that was selected as the LTE link level simulator
of higher order modulation schemes in future 3GPP Releases. to be used in this work [9]. In order to test the 256-QAM
modulation, new blocks were added to the Vienna LTE
Simulator code along with some modifications and upgrades to
III. ADAPTIVE MODULATION AND CODING (AMC) IN LTE-A the existing modules of the Simulator.
AMC is a technique that is used to maintain a predefined
target value for the user BER, and thereby overcoming the time The Vienna LTE Simulator consists of three building
varying radio conditions which negatively affect the UE. blocks: namely, the Transmitter, the Channel Model and the
Deteriorating conditions of the radio channel might hence lead Receiver. Figure 1 demonstrates these Simulator building
to unstable BER values at the receiver. The stabilization of the blocks. The Channel block in Figure 1 models the link
BER value is achieved by means of modifying the transmitted between the Transmitter and the Receiver, while the signaling
signal waveforms, in terms of Modulation and Coding is assumed to be error-free.
Schemes (MCS), to resist possible deteriorating instantaneous Bit Error
channel conditions experienced by each user at their assigned
Throughput
frequencies and scheduled time intervals.
LTE-A supports various combinations of MCS which are
Transmitter Channel Model Receiver
represented in the Channel Quality Indicator (CQI). CQI is
reported by the UE, and is further adjusted by the network in Signaling
order to support the channel aware scheduling process. In
addition, the CQI is also used in assigning Resource Blocks Fig. 1. LTE Link Level Simulator Structure [9]
(RB) and in mapping modulation orders and coding rates in the
MCS selection process. The layout of the Transmitter is shown in Figure 2. The
transmitter generates new user data Transport Block (TB) in
The UE will report the highest CQI index between 1 and 15 case the previous TB has been acknowledged. If the previous
shown in Table I which satisfies the condition of receiving the TB was not acknowledged, it is retransmitted as part of the
PDSCH with a combination of modulation scheme and Hybrid repeat request (HARQ) scheme. The transmitter then
transport block size corresponding to the CQI index, or CQI calculates and appends the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to
index 0 if CQI index 1 does not satisfy the condition [7]. each user TB. Each TB is encoded using a turbo encoder, and
The use of the spectrum is more efficient whenever the then each block of the encoded bits is then interleaved and is
higher CQI index is used, where more bits are represented by rate matched. In the actual implementation in real systems, this
the transmitted symbols with the higher modulation technique, process depends on the CQI that is fed back by the user and
while introducing less overhead for data protection, represented which acts as an indicator to select the needed coding rate.
in the coding rate [8]. However, in this work, CQI values were applied in the
Transmitter to force a certain MCS in accordance to TS 36.213.

ISBN: 978-1-4673-7503-0 2016 IEEE 142

The enforced MCS means that the scheduler will assign a static
value for the amount of random data bits to be generated,
which is not the case in practical LTE system implementation
as discussed in the AMC section.
The transmitter then continues its processing by the data
modulation, which maps the encoded TB to the modulation
symbols, which was updated in this research to support the 256
QAM. Depending on the enforced CQI, the modulation scheme
is selected for the Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH). Now
the simulator supports the 4-QAM, 16-QAM, 64-QAM and
finally the 256-QAM.
Figure 3 shows the Receiver layout where the detected soft
bits are decoded to obtain the data bits and several figures, such
as coded/un-coded BER, BLER and throughput.
The receiver performs the physical layer processing
considering all functions done by the transmitter, where the
signaling information are assumed to be transmitted error-free,
while data bits are decoded after estimating the channel effect
through the reference signals in the resource grid.
Received Signal Signaling

The modulated symbols are then mapped to the transmit

CP Removal
antennas based on the Rank Indicator (RI) feedback to select
one of four modes: Single Antenna, Transmit Diversity (TxD),
Open Loop Spatial Multiplexing (OLSM), and Closed Loop FFT

Spatial Multiplexing (CLSM).

Time- Freq. resource block grid
The symbols to be transmitted on each antenna are then
mapped individually to the resource elements. Reference
symbols and synchronization symbols that are needed for the Channel Resource block
channel estimation and synchronization process at the receiver estimation disassembling
are inserted into the time-frequency grid.
HARQ Control

OFDM detection

Random data bits generation

Channel decoding

Data bits channel coding

Decoded data BER Throughput
bits
Scheduler
Symbol mapping

Pre-assigned CQI
values, one layer,
Layer mapping, Pre-coding Reference/Sync symbols
Fig. 3. LTE downlink receiver structure
single user
transmission
The 256-QAM has been integrated into the code, in
OFDM symbol assembly addition to the required modifications to support the higher
modulation order and data throughput. This required
IFFT modification in the symbol mapper and TBS tables as shown in
figure 4 where the blocks that needed modification are
highlighted in grey color. In addition, updated CQI tables were
CP Insertion
included and integrated into the system to support the
modulation and coding schemes defined in the updated release
Signaling TX Signal of the standard.
HARQ Control
Fig. 2. LTE downlink transmitter

The Channel Model supports different transmission conditions:

Random data bits generation
Power Delay Profile-based channel models, e.g.
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Data bits channel coding
Pedestrian B (PedB), or Vehicular A (VehA) Scheduler

Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) Symbol mapping

(Pre-assigned CQI
Flat Rayleigh fading values, one layer,
single user Layer mapping, Pre-coding Reference/Sync symbols
transmission)
PedB and VehA are empirical channel models specified in
the ITU - Radio communication Sector (ITU-R) OFDM symbol assembly
recommendation M.1225, modeling different terrestrial test
environments necessary to elaborate the performance figures of
IFFT
candidate terrestrial and satellite Radio Transmission
Technologies (RTTs). These are channel impulse response
models which are based on a tapped-delay line model as CP Insertion

described in ITU-R M.1225 [10-11].

Signaling TX Signal

Fig. 4. LTE downlink Modified Transmitter

ISBN: 978-1-4673-7503-0 2016 IEEE 143

 The scale of the presented output is limited to the case of a
single downlink connection covering the link between one
eNodeB and one UE. This is the Single-Downlink Simulation
mode of Vienna simulator. Although multi-user and multi-cell
scenarios are supported by the Simulator, the adopted model in
this research focuses on the channel tracking and estimation
and neglects the scheduling impact.

V. RESULTS
The performance of the upgraded physical layer was tested
under different radio conditions. In order to do so, different
noise levels represented in SNR were considered in addition to
the performance comparison for the case of Nomadic and Fig. 6. Performace of 256 QAM, PedB
Mobile users. Various plots are presented showing the BER
performance versus SNR for different channel models, namely Figures 7 shows the effect of the VehA channel models
AWGN, PedB and VehA, which are ITU standardized channel which demonstrate a degradation of the performance.
models [11]. Accordingly, in principle, and as expected better channel
conditions are required to realize the targeted BER. However,
Relevant system parameters are shown in Table II. The the reported figures are considered practically acceptable as
reported CQI parameters in Table II are mapped to CQI entries compared to targeted SNR values for commercially available
of Table I. The carrier frequency and channel bandwidth are LTE system, under lower MCS at severe radio conditions [12].
selected to be 2 GHZ and 10 MHZ respectively. These CQI
values correspond to 256 QAM.

TABLE II. SIMULATION PARAMETERS

Carrier Frequency: 2GHZ

Channel bandwidth: 10 MHZ
FFT Size: 128
OFDM symbols per frame: 14
Subcarrier spacing: 15kHz
Duplex Mode: FDD
CQI: 12,13,14,15
Channel type: AWGN, PedB, VehA
Fig. 7. Performace of 256 QAM, VehA

The following MATLAB based simulation graphs represent

the performance of the 256-QAM modulation for different
channel models. The graph maps BER as a function of SNR.
Figure 5 shows the performance of the 256-QAM
modulation under less severe channel conditions modeled by
AWGN. This channel model provides a proof of concept of the
256-QAM modulation order feasibility within LTE-A systems.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper studied the performance of LTE-A after
integrating the 256-QAM into the system by adopting the latest
3GPP standard. It has focused mainly on the behavior of the
LTE-A link under ITU standardized channel models. Different
channel models have been simulated taking into account the
varying channel deterioration conditions. Specifically, varying
SNR values under AWGN, PedB, and VehA channel models
have been tested, where different levels of SNR take into
account varying levels of channel deterioration. A MATLAB
system model based on an upgraded Vienna LTE Simulator
model was used as the modeling environment of this work. The
results demonstrate that LTE-A can adopt the 256-QAM higher
order modulation especially for nomadic users.

[1]
[2]
Fig. 5. Performace of 256 QAM, AWGN
[3]
Figures 6 demonstrates the effect of a PedB channel model
on the performance of the system. PedB channels represent
Nomadic user experience whose BER values were achieved at
[4]
lower SNR values when more protection is favored over higher
data rates by means of employing higher coding rates.
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