# Evaluating 60 GHz FWA Deployments for Urban and Rural Environments in Belgium
## 2 Fixed Wireless Access
### Planning Tools for FWA Designs
#### 2.2.2 Research Focused Tools  
The range of research tools is very wide, and depends on the specific objectives the research teams investigate. They can range from channel modelling to link-level simulators. Still, a full protocol stack simulator needs optimisation functions to reduce the complexity and provide accurate results. There are about 50 5G simulator tools available in the literature, according to [56]. The following is an overview of some of the most popular tools. The 5G Air simulator is an open-source system-level tool that models key 5G NR elements such as MaMIMO, extended multi-cast and broadcast, enhanced random access procedure, and NB-IoT, as well as support for performance analysis of reference 5G scenarios with varying mobility, traffic load, and deployment configurations [36]. Similarly, the 5G K-Simsys, an open-source software system-level simulator too, evaluates the performance of 5G networks, in particular, the new improvements of 5G NR such as beam forming in MaMIMO systems. Several antenna configurations are implemented to evaluate the mmWave performance of the 3 GPP Rel 16 standard [37]. On the other hand, the MatLAB 5G toolbox is a link-level simulator that provides 5G NR standardised modelling able to simulate UL and DL base-band specifications and the effects of interference in end-to-end links. It supports 5G NR waveform generation, channel modelling, test and measurements of 5G links, including signalling and control information channels; still, network planning must be done by external tools [25; 38]. CGA Simulation produced an online replica of Kensington, Liverpool, utilising 'digital twin' technology to build a 5G network planning tool. This tool enables 5G network planning to examine an area by visualising LoS 5G receivers and working around constraints such as trees or tall buildings. It models the IEEE 802.11 ad protocol working at 60 GHz to evaluate the packet error rate (PER) of the network links and compare them with test-bed measurements providing comparable results [39; 40]. In [57], the authors evaluate the performance of a single 5G BS at 28 GHz for a FWA service, investigating the effects of trees on coverage for urban and suburban scenarios. It shows that CPEs installed outdoor have a range up to 160 m compared to 70 m for indoor installations. In addition, throughput could be improved if MaMIMO beamforming is used. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has introduced a quasi-deterministic channel realisation tool that includes the IEEE 802.11 ad/ay standard with ray tracing capabilities for system level simulations [58]. In [59], this tool is used to validate a simplified model of the RT methods for mobile indoor receivers in the 60 GHz band. Discrete-event network simulators, such as OMNeT++ [42; 43], OPNET [45] or NS-3 [41], are some of the most popular simulation tools. While these are essentially generic network simulators, specific modules such as 5 GSim, LTESim, Simu5G are able to simulate LTE and 5G networks. These tools are packet focused and mimic substantial sections of the protocol stack due to their event-driven nature. In terms of computational complexity, this makes simulating very large networks with many network nodes prohibitively expensive. OMNeT++ includes the 4 GSim, 5 GSim and Simu5G modules to perform cellular network simulations focused on the radio resource allocation (RRA) procedures and data plane simulations in 4G and 5G networks. Similarly, the NS-3 network simulator with the 5G-LENA module, aims to solve real-world issues, including several 5G technologies such as hybrid beamforming, vertical handover, V2X communications and multi-tier heterogeneous network. Then, OPNET simulates the physical, MAC and Link layer of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model, featuring comprehensive hardware models that consider resource allocation and protocol testing for realistic Monte Carlo simulations.