Singal Ttrength in LTE Systems

LTE
1

I’m new to LTE, so starting to learn about it. I’ve had lots of experience with wifi for outdoor use (mostly using Mimosa equipment). I also have 45+ years of experience with various forms of ‘two way’ radio (from 560 khz to 1 Ghz). So you can see where I’m lacking in knowledge and experience.

I see the values of RSRP1 and RSRP2. These appear to signal strength values measured in dbm. So are these similar/comparable to RSSI values?

With Mimosa equipment, we start to see problems with an RSSI link between a client and the access point at around -73 dbm or so. As long as we’re at -70 or better, we’re usually ‘ok’. With commercial digital two-way radio systems, we see a ‘usable’ signal down to an RSSI of around -105 to - 110 dbm. Below that becomes marginal.

What are ‘typical’ values of RSRP1 and RSRP2 for a link that will start to give trouble with Baicells equipment? Can this be compared to these other types of communications systems?

John Rayfield, Jr.
Rayfield Communications

2

RSRP and RSSI are similar measurement, however, RSSI is a raw signal strength, where RSRP takes into account other metrics. See link below.

A good rule of thumb in most cases is to install clients at -100RSRP, or better.
Typically you will find that RSSI is about 30 point stronger than RSRP number.

All of this is in a mostly clean RF environment.