LTE Data Rate Calculation

Peak LTE data rate can be calculated using the following parameters:

1 Time-slot=0.5 ms (i.e 1 Sub-frame = 1 ms)
1 Time-slot=7 Modulation Symbols (when normal CP length is used)
1 Modulation Symbol=6 bits; if 64 QAM is used as modulation scheme

Data rate for a single carrier=Number of symbols per time slot*Bits per symbol/Duration of a time slot=7*6/0.5e-3=84kbps

If 1200 carriers (100RBs) are used then the aggregated throughput would be=1200*84kbps=100.8Mbps

If 4×4 MIMO is used then the capacity would increase four fold to=403.2Mbps

With 3/4 channel coding the data rate would be reduced to=302.4Mbps

Note:

1. A Resource Block (RB)=12 Carriers

2. Actual data rate would depend upon the instantaneous channel conditions and number of users sharing the resources e.g. going down from 64QAM to QPSK in adverse channel conditions would reduce the data rate from 302.4Mbps to 100.8Mbps.  Changing the code rate from 3/4 to 1/3 would further reduce the data rate to 44.8Mbps.

Author: Yasir

More than 20 years of experience in various organizations in Pakistan, the USA, and Europe. Worked with the Mobile and Portable Radio Group (MPRG) of Virginia Tech and Qualcomm USA and was one of the first researchers to propose Space Time Block Codes for eight transmit antennas. Have publsihed a book “Recipes for Communication and Signal Processing” through Springer Nature.

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