eNodeB Capacity Calculator
Size an eNodeB: sector throughput, connected users, S1 transport requirement and RRC connection load.
About eNodeB Capacity Calculator
An eNodeB's capacity is the sum of its cells, where a cell is one carrier on one sector. The transport link must carry that traffic plus GTP-U and IPsec encapsulation, while the RRC-connected count is a separate hardware limit that fills up long before the throughput does in dense or IoT-heavy areas. Sites fail in two different ways — out of megabits or out of RRC contexts — and only checking the first one leaves you troubleshooting connection rejections on a cell that looks half empty.
Formula
eNodeB Capacity
site throughput = sectors × carriers × per-carrier throughput; S1 = site throughput × (1 + transport overhead).
- cells
- sectors × carriers per sector
- activity ratio
- Share of RRC-connected users transmitting at any instant
Worked example
With the default values below, eNodeB Capacity Calculator returns Site Air-Interface Throughput of 450.0. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Sectorsaccepts 1–12 sectors
- 3 sectors
- Carriers per sectoraccepts 1–8 carriers
- 2 carriers
- Throughput per carrieraccepts 1–2,000 Mbps
- 75 Mbps
- RRC-connected users per cellaccepts 10–5,000 users
- 600 users
- Simultaneously active share of connected usersaccepts 1–100 %
- 8 %
- S1 transport overhead (GTP-U, IPsec)accepts 0–60 %
- 15 %
Results
- Site Air-Interface Throughput
- 450.0 Mbps
- S1 Transport Required
- 517.5 Mbps
- RRC-Connected Users
- 3,600
- Simultaneously Active Users
- 288
- Throughput per Active User
- 1.56 Mbps
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2eNodeB Capacity
- 3Site Air-Interface Throughput= 450.0 Mbps
- 4S1 Transport Required= 517.5 Mbps
- 5RRC-Connected Users= 3,600
- 6Simultaneously Active Users= 288
- 7Throughput per Active User= 1.56 Mbps
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 6 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 2 decimal places, 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 eNodeB Capacity calculated?
site throughput = sectors × carriers × per-carrier throughput; S1 = site throughput × (1 + transport overhead). An eNodeB's capacity is the sum of its cells, where a cell is one carrier on one sector. The transport link must carry that traffic plus GTP-U and IPsec encapsulation, while the RRC-connected count is a separate hardware limit that fills up long before the throughput does in dense or IoT-heavy areas.
Why does eNodeB Capacity matter?
Sites fail in two different ways — out of megabits or out of RRC contexts — and only checking the first one leaves you troubleshooting connection rejections on a cell that looks half empty.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 6 inputs: Sectors, Carriers per sector, Throughput per carrier, RRC-connected users per cell, Simultaneously active share of connected users, S1 transport overhead (GTP-U, IPsec). The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.