A case study on protocol stack integration for 3GPP LTE evolved node B

This paper presents a case study of the integration of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) physical layer into the radio protocol subsystem of a macrocell base station. We conduct tests in the laboratory using a modular experimental setup aimed at validating this protocol stack integration. Measurements and analysis are carried out with the aid of Wireshark, a well-known protocol analyzer tool. This choice allows the inspection of data packets at the application program interface between PHY and MAC subsystems. Our results suggest that the LTE protocol stack can operate synchronously, thus supporting message sequences conveyed within both random access and radio-resource-control connection procedures. The proposed experimental setup and test methodology make it possible to validate the control plane operation of the protocol stack without the need of a core network interface.