CDL vs TDL in 5G-NR mmWave: A 3GPP-Compliant Performance Evaluation

Abstract

Desire Guel, Mahamadi Sogoba, Boureima Zerbo and Oumarou Sie

The use of millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency bands in Fifth-Generation New Radio (5G-NR) promises unprecedented data rates and spectral efficiency, but their highly variable propagation characteristics make accurate performance evaluation a critical challenge. Among the standardized 3GPP models, the Clustered Delay Line (CDL) and the Tapped Delay Line (TDL) are widely used, yet their comparative impact on mmWave system reliability has not been thoroughly quantified. This paper presents a detailed evaluation of CDL and TDL models under realistic deployment conditions, including both Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) scenarios. Simulations are performed with 3GPP- defined parameters, accounting for delay profiles, delay spreads, Doppler effects, carrier frequency, and antenna configurations. Performance is assessed through Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and Block Error Rate (BLER) metrics. Results indicate that CDL models exhibit superior robustness in NLOS environments, achieving a BLER of 0.02% at 25 dB SNR for CDL-C versus 0.3% or TDL-C, while in LOS conditions CDL-D achieves 0.06% BLER compared to TDL- E’s 6.495×10−5%. These outcomes demonstrate that the choice of channel model significantly influences system-level evaluations and provide insights into optimizing 5G-NR mmWave deployments through appropriate channel modeling and signal processing strategies

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