Enabling Site-Specific Cellular Network Simulation Through Ray-Tracing-Driven ns-3

Published

May 1, 2026

Author(s)

Tanguy Ropitault, Matteo Bordin, Paolo Testolina, Michele Polese, Pedram Johari, Nada Golmie, Tommaso Melodia

Abstract

Evaluating 5G New Radio (NR) is challenging because performance emerges from the tight coupling of propagation, beam management, scheduling, and higher–layer interactions. System-level simulation is therefore indispensable, yet the vast majority of studies rely on the statistical 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Report (TR) 38.901 channel model. TR 38.901 is well suited to capture average behavior across many statistical realizations, but cannot reproduce sitespecific phenomena such as corner diffraction, street-canyon blockage, or deterministic Line-of-Sight conditions and angle-ofdeparture/ arrival relationships that drive directional links. 5GLENA, a 5G NR module for the system-level Network Simulator 3 (ns-3), implements TR 38.901 out of the box. This paper extends 5G-LENA with a trace-based channel model that processes the Multipath Components (MPCs) obtained from external raytracers (e.g., Sionna RT) or measurement campaigns. Our module constructs frequency-domain channel matrices, and feeds them to the existing PHY/MAC stack without any further modifications. The result is an alternative channel model that preserves 3GPP compliance while offering geometric fidelity. The new module unlocks studies that require site awareness, including beam management, blockage mitigation, and environment-aware sensing. We demonstrate its capabilities with two examples: (i) precise beam-steering validation around Paris' Place de l'E´ toile and (ii) end-to-end metric analysis along a street canyon in Boston. In both cases, the trace-driven engine exposes performance inflections that the statistical model does not exhibit, confirming its value for high-fidelity NR research.

Proceedings Title

IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking Conference 2026

Conference Dates

February 9-12, 2026

Conference Location

Las Vegas, NV, US

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

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Keywords

System-level, 5G NR, Ray-tracing

Citation

Ropitault, T. , Bordin, M. , Testolina, P. , Polese, M. , Johari, P. , Golmie, N. and Melodia, T. (2026), Enabling Site-Specific Cellular Network Simulation Through Ray-Tracing-Driven ns-3, IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking Conference 2026, Las Vegas, NV, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960344 (Accessed May 12, 2026)

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