An Empirical Comparative Analysis of 4G LTE Network and 5G New Radio

Abstract

The rapid deployment of wireless cellular communication technologies has witnessed a progressive trend globally, particularly in the last two decades. The need to constantly conduct a regular and proper empirical network performance of these cellular communication technologies towards managing and optimizing service quality is imperative. Previous research has primarily relied on the existing system simulations. Only a few works of literature conducted experimental measurements to evaluate the QoS delivered by these networks. However, an empirical comparative analysis of the different wireless networks remains. This study presents an empirical-based comparative analysis of 5G NR and 4G LTE networks. The analysis is based on available measurements extracted from the Verizon network in the united states. The quality of service (QoS) of the tested wireless network was evaluated. In terms of signal coverage, the 4G network proved superior while the 5G network took the lead in terms of signal quality. The limited coverage of the investigated 5G network could be attributed to the fewer numbers of 5G antennas recently deployed in the environment of study.