Model and Analyze 5G Network Using Wireless Network Modeler App

Since R2026a

This example uses:

Use the Wireless Network Modeler app to model a 5G New Radio (NR) cell with a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna configuration and evaluate network performance.

Create NR Network

Create a network by following these steps.

Open the Wireless Network Modeler app.
On the app toolstrip, click New Session and select 5G Network.
In the New 5G Network dialog box, set Scenario Type to Urban macro.
In the Nodes Placement section, set Number of gNBs to 1, UE Placement to Each cell, Number of UEs to 2, Indoor UE Percentage to 50, and Inter-Site Distance (m) to 1200 meters.
Clear Enable full buffer application data traffic.
Click Create Network.

Configure NR Nodes

Configure the gNB and UE nodes by following these steps.

In the Property Editor: Network pane, set PHY Model to Abstract PHY.
In the Network Browser pane, select gNB1. In the Property Editor: Node pane for gNB1, in the Node Configuration section, set Number of Transmit Antennas to 16, Number of Receive Antennas to 16, and Transmit Power (dBm) to 35.
Click Apply.
In the Network Browser pane, select UE1. In the Property Editor: Node pane for UE1, in the Node Configuration section, set Number of Transmit Antennas to 4, Number of Receive Antennas to 4, and Transmit Power to 25.
Select Apply to all UEs in, set it to Cell, and then click Apply.

Add Mobility to UE Nodes

Add a mobility model to the UE nodes by following these steps.

In the Configure Scenario section of the toolstrip, select Mobility.
In the table in the Select Nodes pane, select All UEs in 5G Network.
In the Select and apply mobility templates pane, click Apply.
On the toolstrip, click Accept.

Configure Custom Channel

Configure a custom channel by following these steps:

In the Configure Scenario section of the toolstrip, select Channel.
In the Configure Channel dialog box, set Select a Channel Model to 38.901. Set Fading channel model to CDL for all links.
Click Apply.

Configure RLC Bearer Between gNB and Each UE Node

Establish a radio link control (RLC) bearer between the gNB and each UE node by following these steps:

In the Configure Scenario section of the toolstrip, select Application Traffic.
In the Customize section of the toolstrip, select RLC Templates.
In the Custom RLC Templates dialog box, set Bucket Size Duration (ms) to 10.

Add Application Traffic

In the Customize section of the app toolstrip, click Application Templates.
In the Custom Application Templates dialog box, in the left pane, select On-Off traffic and click to create a custom On-Off traffic template.
For the custom On-Off traffic template, specify Data Rate (Kbps) as 4+e04.
In the Select uplink node pair(s) pane, select All UEs in the 5G Network. In the Select and apply templates pane, set Application Template to Custom_OnOff_1 and RLC Template to RLC_Bearer_1, and click Apply.
In the Select downlink node pair(s) pane, select All gNBs in the 5G Network. In the Select and apply templates pane, set Application Template to Custom_OnOff_1 and RLC Template to RLC_Bearer_1, and click Apply.
On the toolstrip, click Accept.

Simulate and Analyze Network Performance

To analyze the cell-level performance (uplink throughput, downlink throughput, uplink block error rate (BLER), and downlink BLER), go to the app toolstrip. In the Live Plots section, select Cell. Then, in the Simulation section, click Simulate. You can monitor progress using the status bar at the bottom of the window.

You can also visualize the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for UE nodes and the resource allocation by selecting MCS and Resource Allocation in the Analysis section, respectively.

Further Exploration

Try exporting the MATLAB code or, alternatively, export results, logs, and visualizations for your 5G network scenario by clicking Export on the toolstrip and selecting either Export MATLAB script or Export Results and Logs. You can also save the session to a MAT file and load it back to continue in a later session.