LTE Throughput Estimate Calculator

Work out lte throughput estimate instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About LTE Throughput Estimate Calculator

LTE divides bandwidth into 180 kHz resource blocks, each carrying 12 subcarriers over 14 OFDM symbols per millisecond. Multiplying by bits per symbol, MIMO layers and a coding and overhead factor gives per-carrier throughput, and carrier aggregation multiplies that — which is how LTE-Advanced reaches gigabit-class peak rates with 20 MHz carriers.

Formula

LTE throughput

resource blocks = bandwidth / 0.18 MHz; RE/s = RB x 12 x 14 x 1000; throughput = RE/s x bits per symbol x layers x 0.75 x carriers

Worked example

With the default values below, LTE Throughput Estimate Calculator returns Peak downlink throughput of 503. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Channel bandwidthaccepts 1.4–20 MHz: 20 MHz
MIMO layersaccepts 1–4: 2
Carriers aggregatedaccepts 1–5: 3
Modulationone of QPSK (2 bits/symbol), 16-QAM (4), 64-QAM (6), 256-QAM (8): 64-QAM (6)

Results

Peak downlink throughput: 503 Mbps
Resource blocks per carrier: 111
Throughput per carrier: 168 Mbps
Spectral efficiency: 8.39 bps/Hz

Step by step

1Values used
2LTE throughput
3Peak downlink throughput= 503 Mbps
4Resource blocks per carrier= 111
5Throughput per carrier= 168 Mbps
6Spectral efficiency= 8.39 bps/Hz

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 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

Why 180 kHz per resource block?

Twelve subcarriers of 15 kHz each. It is the fundamental scheduling unit in LTE, allocated per millisecond subframe.

Does carrier aggregation double real throughput?

Close to it when both carriers have good signal quality and the network schedules them together, but coverage of the higher band often limits the benefit.