The mobile network operators should expand their network capacity as service traffic increases in mobile networks. It is important to balance network capacity and traffic volume in terms of service quality and operating costs, and this network balance can be quantified by the capacity margin, which is defined as the difference between network capacity and traffic volume. There are two approaches to assess the network capacity: single-cell and national scale. However, the single-cell approach has too narrow to estimate the whole operator network, and the national scale approach should consider regional traffic density distribution. This Letter proposes a methodology for assessing the capacity margin from the perspective of traffic-intensive regions where the actual network balance is determined. The authors introduce the concept of a virtual sample region that consists of traffic-intensive cells in the metropolitan area. Then they show the methodology to estimate and predict the network capacity and traffic trends in this region. Finally, they derive the capacity margin of the mobile network. They used the real measured data in the top 10% traffic-intensive cells about three years in Seoul, South Korea, and evaluated 4G downlink capacity margin in this region until 2024.

中文翻译：

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评估4G LTE无线网络网络平衡的方法

随着移动网络业务流量的增加，移动网络运营商应扩大其网络容量。在服务质量和运营成本方面平衡网络容量和流量是很重要的，这种网络平衡可以通过容量裕度来量化，容量裕度定义为网络容量和流量之间的差值。有两种评估网络容量的方法：单小区和国家规模。然而，单小区方法太窄，无法估计整个运营商网络，而国家尺度方法应考虑区域流量密度分布。本信函提出了一种从确定实际网络平衡的流量密集区域的角度评估容量裕度的方法。作者介绍了虚拟样本区域的概念，该区域由大都市区的交通密集小区组成。然后他们展示了估计和预测该地区网络容量和流量趋势的方法。最后，他们推导出移动网络的容量余量。他们使用了韩国首尔大约三年前10%流量密集型小区的真实实测数据，评估了该地区到2024年的4G下行容量裕度。