Modeling and Analyzing the Coexistence of Wi-Fi and LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum

We leverage stochastic geometry to characterize key performance metrics for neighboring Wi-Fi and LTE networks in unlicensed spectrum. Our analysis focuses on a single unlicensed frequency band, where the locations for the Wi-Fi access points and LTE eNodeBs are modeled as two independent homogeneous Poisson point processes. Three LTE coexistence mechanisms are investigated: 1) LTE with continuous transmission and no protocol modifications; 2) LTE with discontinuous transmission; and 3) LTE with listen-before-talk and random back-off. For each scenario, we derive the medium access probability, the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio coverage probability, the density of successful transmissions (DST), and the rate coverage probability for both Wi-Fi and LTE. Compared with the baseline scenario where one Wi-Fi network coexists with an additional Wi-Fi network, our results show that Wi-Fi performance is severely degraded when LTE transmits continuously. However, LTE is able to improve the DST and rate coverage probability of Wi-Fi while maintaining acceptable data rate performance when it adopts one or more of the following coexistence features: a shorter transmission duty cycle, lower channel access priority, or more sensitive clear channel assessment thresholds.