Comparison between LTE and WiMAX based on system level simulation using OPNET modeler (release 16)

Abstract

In this paper a comparative study between LTE and WiMAX, the two leading wireless broadband technologies, is introduced. The performance metrics used for the evaluation are the response time and the throughput derived from OPNET modeler release 16 system level simulator. To perform the comparison 4 scenarios were developed the first two are for 7 cell LTE and 7cell WiMAX networks while the second two are for 19 cell LTE and 19cell WiMAX networks. The numerical results are obtained for links between mobiles at fixed relative positions in the four scenarios. Through this analysis we found that LTE networks gave shorter response time than WiMAX. The throughput is also compared and results showed that WiMAX outperformed LTE in this respect.