Work out 5G NR cell capacity from bandwidth, spectral efficiency, MIMO layers, control overhead and the TDD split.
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.
5G NR Capacity
usable = bandwidth × spectral efficiency × layers × (1 − overhead); downlink = usable × DL share of the TDD frame.
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.
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.
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.