The Mobile Network group of CND has recently made available the first release of the new 5G-LENA NR network simulator
What is 5G-LENA?
5G-LENA is a novel 5G NR network simulator, licensed under the GPLv2, that allows getting indicators from PHY to application layer from an end-to-end simulation of a 5G deployment. We designed it as a pluggable module for the widely known network simulator ns-3. The simulator is the natural evolution of LENA, the LTE/EPC Network Simulator, which was entirely designed and developed at CTTC in close consultation with industry, and with funding of Ubiquiys. The development started as a fork of the mmWave module, and it incorporates fundamental PHY-MAC NR features aligned with NR Release 15 TS 38.300.
Why is it interesting?
The simulator inherits all the exciting features of ns-3, like the full stack and end-to-end capabilities, the multi-band and multi-radio access technology characteristics, e.g., with WiFi/WiGig, the ability to build hybrid HW/SW prototypes, etc., and of course it focuses on the novel 3GPP New Radio technology.
Can I have a touch of the 5G-LENA features?
As of February 2019, it is aligned with NR Release 15 TS 38.300 and it includes fundamental PHY-MAC NR features like NR frame structure, support of numerologies, flexible TTI, mini-slots, mixed UL-DL slot formats, OFDMA- and TDMA-based access, a selection of schedulers, NR timings, FDM of numerologies, and UL standard-compliant scheme with SR/UL-grant/BSR.
How can I get it?
If you are interested in getting the software, please drop us an email at info@5g-lena.cttc.es, and we will be happy to grant you access. When obtaining this code, you should realize that there is a lot of work and goodwill behind it. As a result, any feedback on the code, in terms of bug reports, engagement in the community, feature contribution, is highly appreciated.
What are the future directions?
Its development, initially funded by InterDigital, Inc., is open to the community to foster early adoption, contributions by industrial and academic partners, collaborative development and results reproducibility. The development of the simulator is still ongoing, and more releases will come out soon. Currently, the efforts are focused on 1) refactoring of the PHY layer through a new Link-to-System Mapping for NR, and 2) Beyond 5G extensions to NR, for its use in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U).
How can I get more information?
We have a website in which you can satisfy your curiosity, at http://5g-lena.cttc.es. Without any doubt, we would love to hear from you for a possible collaboration!