Optimizing DRX configuration to improve battery power saving and latency of active mobile applications over LTE-A network

In LTE networks, mobile applications and their higher data rate requirements are the latest phenomenon causing a tremendous need in power saving for mobile devices. Discontinuous reception (DRX) is one of the key power saving mechanisms in LTE. Since DRX saves battery power of user equipment usually at the expense of potential increase in latency, an optimization is needed to find the best tradeoff between latency and power saving. In this paper, we first develop an analytical model to estimate power saving achieved and latency incurred by DRX operation. Then, a tradeoff scheme is formulated to maintain a balance between these two performance parameters based on operator´s preference for power saving. We validate analytical model using system level simulation results obtained from OPNET Modeler. The results show that the proposed tradeoff scheme is highly efficient in keeping a balance between power saving and latency. We have shown that proposed scheme can achieve a significant delay improvement with a small decrease in power saving. The results also indicate that short DRX cycles are very effective in reducing latency for active traffic.