Simulator for performance analysis in UMTS FDD networks with HSDPA

High speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) is a technology to extend the peak data rates and capacity of 3G mobile data transmission systems. It targets especially favorable radio channel environments with the possibility to use higher order modulation and higher code rates. Furthermore fast retransmissions and enhanced scheduling algorithms can be used to boost data rates and to provide the required quality of service (QoS). A dynamic W-CDMA system level simulator has been extended to enable the simulation of packet switched services with special focus on HSDPA. The complete simulation system contains traffic sources that create sequences of packets for each active user equipment (UE), models the protocol stack and provides the possibility to collect performance indicators, e.g. sector packet data throughput, page throughput, and packet delays, in different scenarios for offline analysis. The simulation tool will be described and some example results concerning packet data performance of HSDPA will be shown.