OpenAirInterface-an effective emulation platform for LTE and LTE-Advanced

The OpenAirInterface (OAI) emulation platform is an effective tool to evaluate the performance of LTE and LTE-Advanced system, and test related algorithms and strategies. This platform aims at building a platform that is accuracy, repeatable and scalable. The complete features of OAI emulation platform are presented and the key technologies are introduced. In order to develop the platform for the further application, some new modules have been added and some validation of the platform has been provided. The emulation comes in two flavors: single machine mode and multi-machine mode. PHY abstraction with the core methodology of effective SINR mapping improves the platform´s efficiency and the capability to build a large-scale emulation with multiple nodes. The key function random access and scheduling of MAC layer and the basic call procedure of the platform are provided. The validation results shown in this paper illustrate that the emulation platform is correctly operating and PHY abstraction reduce the emulation time significantly on the basis of accuracy. This emulation platform can be used to test, evaluate and validate of the real LTE system, and with the efficiency operation, it can be improved to support the systemlevel emulation of a large-scale LTE and LTE-A system.