How to calculate

lte maximum throughput

 OFDM
LTE uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for the downlink - that is, in Downlink the Data is transmitted
over many narrow band carriers of 180 KHz each instead of spreading one signal over the complete career bandwidth ie.
OFDM uses a large number of narrow sub-carriers for multi-carrier transmission to carry data.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), is a frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) scheme used as a digital
multi-carrier modulation method. OFDM meets the LTE requirement for spectrum flexibility and enables cost-efficient
solutions for very wide carriers with high peak rates. The basic LTE downlink physical resource can be seen as a time-
frequency grid, as illustrated in Figure below:

The OFDM symbols are grouped into Resource Blocks. The resource blocks have a total size of 180kHz in the frequency
domain and 0.5ms in the time domain. Each 1ms Transmission Time Interval (TTI) consists of two slots (1 Subframe).
 subframe
One Subframe (Scheduling Block) is composed by:

Resource Blocks: 2
Time domain: 14 OFDM Symbols (1 ms)
Frequency domain: 12 Sub-carriers (180 KHz)
 Channel bandwidth
Channel Bandwidth is the width of the channel as measured from the lowest channel edge to the highest channel edge.

The channel edge is the center frequency ± (channel bandwidth/2).

Transmission Bandwidth is the number of active Resource Blocks in a transmission. As the bandwidth increases, the
number of Resource Blocks increases. The Transmission Bandwidth Configuration is the maximum number of Resource
Blocks for the particular Channel Bandwidth.

The maximum occupied bandwidth is the number of Resource Blocks multiplied by 180 kHz.

Transmission Bandwidth Configuration

180 KHz x 25 = 4.5 MHz

Note: All the remaining SubCarriers are reserved for Guard SubCarriers and cannot by used for any transmissions
Link adaptation
TIME DOMAIN:

- Modulation Scheme
- Channel Coding

Modulation Scheme:
The modulation scheme and quantity of redundancy depend upon the RF channel conditions. UE experiencing good
channel conditions are more likely to be allocated higher order modulation schemes with less redundancy

Channel Coding:
The figure below Illustrates an example link adaptation strategy which defines the physical layer coding rate as a function of
the channel conditions and modulation scheme. The coding rate reflects the quantity of redundancy added by the physical
layer. A low coding rate indicates a large quantity of redundancy while a high coding rate reflects a small quantity of
redundancy. A coding rate of 1 corresponds to no redundancy
 downlink peak rate (20 MHz)
By carrier
One Subframe (Scheduling Block) is composed by:

Resource Blocks: 2 (Time Domain)

Time domain: 14 OFDM Symbols (1 ms)
Frequency domain: 12 Sub-carriers (180 KHz)

Assuming 20 MHz, 4x4 MIMO and 64QAM

14 OFDM symbols per 1 ms Subframe

64QAM = 6 bits per symbol
6 x 14 = 84 bits per 1 ms Subframe

Maximum Throughput by eNode (assuming 3 sectors)

84 bits / 1 ms = 84 kbps per Subcarrier 3 x 302.4 Mbps = 907.2 Mbps
12 x 84 kbps = 1.008 Mbps per Scheduling Block
100 Scheduling Blocks in 20 MHz
100 x 1.008 Mbps = 100.8 Mbps per Antenna

4 x 4 MIMO (4 Antennas)
403.2 Mbps !!

But in reality approx. 300 Mbps

Note: Estimate about 25% overhead such as PDCCH, reference signal, Sync
signals, PBCH, and some coding, we get 403.2 Mbps x 0.75 = 302.4 Mbps.
 downlink peak rate (10 MHz)
By carrier
One Subframe (Scheduling Block) is composed by:

Resource Blocks: 2
Time domain: 14 OFDM Symbols (1 ms)
Frequency domain: 12 Sub-carriers (180 KHz)

Assuming 10 MHz, 2x2 MIMO and 64QAM

14 OFDM symbols per 1 ms Subframe

64QAM = 6 bits per symbol
6 x 14 = 84 bits per 1 ms Subframe

84 bits / 1 ms = 84 kbps per Subcarrier

12 x 84 kbps = 1.008 Mbps per Scheduling Block Maximum Throughput by eNode (assuming 3 sectors)
50 Scheduling Blocks in 10 MHz 3 x 75.6 Mbps = 226.8 Mbps
50 x 1.008 Mbps = 50.4 Mbps per Antenna

2 x 2 MIMO (2 Antennas)
100.8 Mbps !!

But in reality approx. 75.6 Mbps

Note: Estimate about 25% overhead such as PDCCH, reference signal, Sync
signals, PBCH, and some coding, we get 100.8 Mbps x 0.75 = 75.6 Mbps.
 Physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)
 The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is used to transfer application data. The throughput achieved by the
PDSCH depends upon the:
• the number of resource elements allocated to the PDSCH
• the modulation scheme applied to each resource element
• the quantity of redundancy included by physical layer processing
• the use of multiple antenna transmission schemes

 The number of PDSCH resource elements depends upon the channel bandwidth, It also depends upon the overheads
generated by the other physical channels and physical signals

 The modulation scheme and quantity of redundancy depend upon the RF channel conditions. UE experiencing good
 channel conditions are more likely to be allocated higher order modulation schemes with less redundancy

 Multiple antenna transmission schemes increase the throughput achieved by the PDSCH. 2x2 MIMO approximately
 doubles the peak throughput.

 Reference signal overheads increase when using MIMO so the throughputs are less than double the single antenna case

 The PDSCH is a shared channel so its throughput capability has to be shared between all users. Increasing the number of
users reduces the throughput per user.

 Users experiencing poor channel conditions will reduce the total cell throughput
Maximum throughput by cell

Table below presents a set of theoretical absolute maximum physical layer throughputs which could be achieved if all
resource elements were allocated to the PDSCH and the physical layer did not add any redundancy. These figures are
not achievable in practice but provide a starting point from which to derive the maximum expected throughputs by cell
 downlink peak rate (10 MHz)
By carrier
Another way to calculate more accurately the maximum Downlink Throughput is the following:

 Check the 3GPP specs 36.213, table 7.1.7.1-1

 Check the 3GPP specs 36.213, table 7.1.7.2.1-1

Table 7.1.7.1-1 shows the mapping between MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) index and TBS (Transport Block Size)
index. Let's pick the highest MCS index 28 (64 QAM with the least coding), which is mapping to TBS index of 26
 downlink peak rate (10 MHz)
By carrier
Table 7.1.7.2.1-1 shows the transport block size. It indicates the number of bits that can be transmitted in a subframe/TTI
(Transmit Time Interval).

For example, with 50 PRBs (Physical Resource Blocks) and TBS index of 26, the TBS is 36696. Assume 2x2 MIMO, the
Peak Data Rate will be 36696 x 2 = 73.4 Mbps.
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