Performance comparison of PDCP buffer management schemes in LTE system

Long Term Evolution (LTE) provides a new radio technology that allows operators to achieve even higher peak throughputs than HSPA+. One of the LTE system performance optimization point is the PDCP buffer management mainly in the downlink. Per bearer PDCP buffers at eNodeB (eNB) hold DL data before it is transmitted over radio interface. This buffered data also contributes towards X2 traffic volume which influences the required handover completion time during inter-eNB handover events. An efficient buffer management scheme is required to maintain the per-bearer PDCP buffer occupancy to a minimal level without a noticeable degradation in user application performance. This work presents three buffer management schemes for PDCP buffers at eNB and provides a thorough study of their performance for real world scenarios. Through an intensive set of simulations, the effectiveness of proposed PDCP buffer management schemes in achieving an optimal PDCP buffer occupancy is proved. Furthermore, the configuration parameters are suggested to achieve optimum LTE system performance using the proposed scheme.