5G NR Capacity Calculator
Work out 5G NR cell capacity from bandwidth, spectral efficiency, MIMO layers, control overhead and the TDD split.
About 5G NR Capacity Calculator
The 3GPP throughput formula reduces to bandwidth × spectral efficiency × layers once modulation order and coding rate are folded into the efficiency term. Roughly 10–18% of resource elements carry control and reference signals rather than data, and on TDD spectrum the remaining capacity is split between directions by the slot pattern. A 4:1 TDD pattern gives excellent downlink figures and an uplink that quietly caps video conferencing and fixed-wireless upload, so both directions have to be sized explicitly.
Formula
5G NR Capacity
usable = bandwidth × spectral efficiency × layers × (1 − overhead); downlink = usable × DL share of the TDD frame.
- overhead
- PDCCH, SSB, CSI-RS and other non-data resource elements
- DL share
- Downlink slots as a fraction of the TDD pattern
Worked example
With the default values below, 5G NR Capacity Calculator returns Downlink Cell Capacity of 1,419.0. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Channel bandwidthaccepts 5–400 MHz
- 100 MHz
- Average spectral efficiency per layeraccepts 0.5–12 bps/Hz
- 5.5 bps/Hz
- MIMO layersaccepts 1–16 layers
- 4 layers
- Control and reference-signal overheadaccepts 0–40 %
- 14 %
- Downlink share of the TDD frameaccepts 10–100 %
- 75 %
Results
- Downlink Cell Capacity
- 1,419.0 Mbps
- Uplink Cell Capacity
- 473.0 Mbps
- Raw Peak Before Overhead
- 2,200.0 Mbps
- Usable Capacity After Overhead
- 1,892.0 Mbps
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 25G NR Capacity
- 3Downlink Cell Capacity= 1,419.0 Mbps
- 4Uplink Cell Capacity= 473.0 Mbps
- 5Raw Peak Before Overhead= 2,200.0 Mbps
- 6Usable Capacity After Overhead= 1,892.0 Mbps
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 1 decimal place, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is 5G NR Capacity calculated?
usable = bandwidth × spectral efficiency × layers × (1 − overhead); downlink = usable × DL share of the TDD frame. The 3GPP throughput formula reduces to bandwidth × spectral efficiency × layers once modulation order and coding rate are folded into the efficiency term. Roughly 10–18% of resource elements carry control and reference signals rather than data, and on TDD spectrum the remaining capacity is split between directions by the slot pattern.
Why does 5G NR Capacity matter?
A 4:1 TDD pattern gives excellent downlink figures and an uplink that quietly caps video conferencing and fixed-wireless upload, so both directions have to be sized explicitly.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Channel bandwidth, Average spectral efficiency per layer, MIMO layers, Control and reference-signal overhead, Downlink share of the TDD frame. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.