LTE RF Link Budget

In any two-way radio system, the radio pathlosses and the equipment output powers
and sensitivities must be taken into account for both directions. This is especially true in
a mobile network (e.g. downlink: BS to UE and uplink: UE to BS), where there are
different characteristics for the uplink and downlink paths.
These include, for example, the possibility of mast head amplifiers in the uplink path, the
transmit power capability of the UE typically being less than that of the BS, and the
sensitivity of the BS receiver typically better than that of the UE.
If the differences between the uplink and downlink are not considered, it is possible that
the BS has a service area far greater than that which the UE is able to use due to the
UEs typically lower output power. Therefore, the maximum allowable pathloss in the
uplink and downlink must be calculated to determine how well the links are balanced. A
balanced system gain is where the maximum allowable pathloss in the uplink is
equivalent to the maximum allowable pathloss in the downlink.
Some items will have an equal impact upon both the uplink and downlink. For instance,
increasing the gain of the antenna (assuming it is being used for both transmission and
reception) affects both the uplink and downlink, therefore maintaining system balance.
The RF link budget is typically used to determine whether the downlink or uplink is the
limiting path. Thus, it is important to analyze the RF link budget in both directions.
The following sub-sections present the RF link budget as three components. The first
component will be the power that is radiated out of the antennas into the surrounding
environment, the second component corresponds to the level of the signal that is
needed to be received, and the third component addresses the parameters that would
be encountered between the transmitting antenna on one end to the receiving antenna
at the other end.

The Tx EIRP value derived in above Table 1st and the Effective Rx Faded Sensitivity
value derived in below Table 2nd are based on the composite resource elements (i.e.

subcarrier).
These values could also be represented as a per occupied resource element.
The Rx Sensitivity and Tx EIRP can be expressed on either a per sub-carrier basis or
per composite sub-carriers basis; but, to derive a valid system gain value, both
parameters must share the same reference (i.e. either both are per sub-carrier or both
are per composite sub-carriers).

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