A lightweight and accurate link abtractsion model for the simulation of LTE networks in ns-3

abtract model for the simulation of downlink data transmission in LTE networks. The purpose of this model is to provide an accurate link performance metric at a low computational cost by relying solely on the knowledge of the SINR and of the modulation and coding scheme. To this aim, the model combines Mutual Information-based multi-carrier compression metrics with Link-Level performance curves matching, to obtain lookup tables that express the dependency of the Block Error Rate on the SINR values and on the modulation and coding scheme being used. In addition, we propose a 3GPP-compliant Channel Quality Indicator evaluation procedure, based on the proposed Link abtract Model, to be used as part of the LTE Adaptive Modulation and Coding mechanisms. Finally, we discuss how these contributions have been tested, validated and integrated in the ns-3 simulator. The link abtract model described in this paper has been included in the official ns-3 distribution since release 3.14.