HSPA Data Rates Calculation

People often get lost while calculating the data rates for HSDPA, HSUPA or HSPA+

Note: HSPA+ is better known as eHSPA or HSPAe where e stands for evolution or evolved

Most people are aware that the theoretical maximum for HSDPA is 14.4Mbps, so lets see how we reach
14.4Mbps:

In UMTS, in each slot the maximum number of bits transmitted is 2560. The correct term to use is chips rather than bits.
If you want to know where this 2560 comes from or why chips then please refer 3GPP TS 25.211

There are 15 slots per 10ms frame so since the TTI for HSDPA is 2ms, there will be 3 slots. So there will be a total of 7680
chips.

QPSK has 2 bits per symbol = 7680 * 2 chips for 2ms = 15360 chips/2ms = 15360 * 1000 /2 chips per second

Now the SF is fixed at 16

= (15360 * 1000) / (2 * 16)
= 480 Kbps

Terminal that uses 15 QPSK codes will get 480 * 15 = 7.2Mbps

On other hand 16 QAM will have 4 bits per symbol so the rate would be 7.2 * 2 = 14.4Mbps

In HSPA+ we will also have 64QAM which has 6 bits per symbol (2^6 = 64) so the max rate would be 7.2 * 3 = 21.6Mbps.
The figure above is self explanatory and shows the data rate in case of eHSPA.
HSDPA Max data rate is 14.4 Mbps.How it is calculated?

Most people are aware that the theoretical maximum for HSDPA is 14.4Mbps, so lets see how we
reach 14.4Mbps:

n UMTS, in each slot the maximum number of bits transmitted is 2560. The correct term to use is
chips rather than bits. If you want to know where this 2560 comes from or why chips then please
refer 3GPP TS 25.211

There are 15 slots per 10ms frame so since the TTI for HSDPA is 2ms, there will be 3 slots. So there
will be a total of 7680 chips.
QPSK has 2 bits per symbol = 7680 * 2 chips for 2ms = 15360 chips/2ms = 15360 * 1000 /2 chips
per second

Now the SF is fixed at 16

= (15360 * 1000) / (2 * 16)

= 480 Kbps

Terminal that uses 15 QPSK codes will get 480 * 15 = 7.2Mbps

On other hand 16 QAM will have 4 bits per symbol so the rate would be 7.2 * 2 = 14.4Mbps

Other Way to calculate is:-

As you know BW is 3.84mcps.

And SF is fixed to 16 in HSDPA so for 1 code it will come at 3.84*10^6 / 16

Now, if a UE uses 5 codes simultaneously then 5*3.84*10^6/16=1.2*10^6 symbol/sec

For QPSK 1sym=2bit then ;

1.2*10^6 symbol/sec*2bit/sym=2.4 Mbps

For 16QAM 1sym=4bit then ;

1.2*10^6 symbol/sec*4bit/sym=4.8 Mbps

For category 10, UE can use 15 codes with 16 QAM,

So 3*4.8=14.4 Mbps.....

Similar Threads:
 How to calculate Peak Data Rate in LTE
 20 MHz LTE payload data rate on CPRI v5
 RU30 RAN1907 DC-HSDPA with MIMO 84 Mbps
 hsdpa drop rate
 Chip Rate (Spread Bandwidth) & Vocoder Rate (Data Rate) in CDMA

2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Download Speeds

The following table shows a comparison of download speeds on various flavours of 2G,
3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks. The icon column refers to what you’ll most likely see in
the notification bar of your smartphone when using one of these networks.

Generation Icon Technology Maximum Download Speed Typical Download Speed

G GPRS 0.1Mbit/s <0.1Mbit/s

2G
E EDGE 0.3Mbit/s 0.1Mbit/s

3G 3G (Basic) 0.3Mbit/s 0.1Mbit/s

H HSPA 7.2Mbit/s 1.5Mbit/s

3G
H+ HSPA+ 21Mbit/s 4Mbit/s

H+ DC-HSPA+ 42Mbit/s 8Mbit/s

4G 4G LTE Category 4 150Mbit/s 12-15Mbit/s

4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat6 300Mbit/s 24-30Mbit/s

4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat9 450Mbit/s 60Mbit/s

4G+
4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat12 600Mbit/s TBC

4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat16 979Mbit/s TBC

1,000-10,000Mbit/s
5G 5G 5G TBC
(1-10Gbit/s)
You can access the internet on your smartphone using either a 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
Find out how download speeds compare.

When it comes to mobile internet download speeds, terms

like 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G are often used. Referring to four different generations of mobile
technology, each of them gives a very different download speed.

Older 2G connections give a download speed of around 0.1Mbit/s, with this rising to around
8Mbit/s on the most advanced 3G networks. Speeds of around 60Mbit/s are available on 4G
mobile networks in the UK (but this can be substantially higher in other countries like the US).
Next-generation 5G mobile networks are targeting a download speed of over 1,000Mbit/s
(1Gbit/s).

In this article, we take an in-depth look into the topic of download speeds and see how 2G, 3G,
4G and 5G mobile networks compare. We’ll also consider the real-world speeds and how they’ll
impact upon your actual day-to-day usage.

Contents [hide]

 1 What is Download Speed?

 2 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Download Speeds
 3 Impact on Download Times & Streaming
 4 Latency
 5 Download Speeds & Download Limits
 6 Terminology
 7 More Information

What is Download Speed?

The “download speed” is a measure of the rate at which

data can be transferred from the internet to your smartphone. This data might be a web page or a
photo you’re viewing, or it could be an application or video you’re downloading to your
smartphone.

In its rawest form, download speeds are measured in “bits per second” (bps) where a “bit” is a
one or zero in binary. More commonly, however, we talk about download speeds in “megabits
per second” (Mbit/s), where 1 Megabit is equal to 1,000,000 bits.

In general, a faster download speed normally mean that content from the internet loads faster and
with less of a wait. A faster download speed also supports higher-quality streaming (e.g. you
might be able to watch higher definition video as it downloads without encountering buffering).
Download speeds aren’t the full picture however: there is also the related concept of latency
(discussed below) that affects the responsiveness of your internet.

2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Download Speeds

The following table shows a comparison of download speeds on various flavours of 2G, 3G, 4G
and 5G mobile networks. The icon column refers to what you’ll most likely see in the
notification bar of your smartphone when using one of these networks.

Generation Icon Technology Maximum Download Speed Typical Download Speed

G GPRS 0.1Mbit/s <0.1Mbit/s

2G
E EDGE 0.3Mbit/s 0.1Mbit/s

3G 3G (Basic) 0.3Mbit/s 0.1Mbit/s

H HSPA 7.2Mbit/s 1.5Mbit/s

3G
H+ HSPA+ 21Mbit/s 4Mbit/s

H+ DC-HSPA+ 42Mbit/s 8Mbit/s

4G 4G LTE Category 4 150Mbit/s 12-15Mbit/s

4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat6 300Mbit/s 24-30Mbit/s

4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat9 450Mbit/s 60Mbit/s

4G+
4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat12 600Mbit/s TBC

4G+ LTE-Advanced Cat16 979Mbit/s TBC

1,000-10,000Mbit/s
5G 5G 5G TBC
(1-10Gbit/s)

Our table provides two different download speeds. The first is the theoretical “maximum
download speed”. This is based on the limits of the technology, assuming you had
perfect coverage and no congestion on the masts. We’ve also listed a more “typical download
speed” which is more representative of what you’d actually experience on a day-to-day basis.
The actual download speeds you get will depend on a number of factors such as your location,
whether you are indoors or outdoors, the distance to nearby masts and the amount of congestion
on them. You can measure the actual download speed of your connection using tools
like Google’s Speed Test, Netflix’s Fast.com or Ookla’s SpeedTest.net.

Which Technologies Can I Access?

The latest iPhone supports Category 16 LTE-Advanced.

In order to access a certain technology, you’ll need both a mobile phone and a mobile network
that supports it. For instance, if you wanted to access Category 6 LTE-Advanced, you’ll need a
mobile phone that supports it and a mobile network that has coverage in your area.

Most modern smartphones now support 4G technology, but they often differ in the maximum
download speeds supported, or the maximum “category” of LTE they support. Some of the latest
flagship smartphones like the iPhone XS and Galaxy S9 now support up to Category 16 LTE-
Advanced.

Mobile networks will also differ in terms of the maximum download speeds and coverage they
offer. In the UK, it’s possible to get up to Category 9 speeds on EE and Vodafone (up to
450Mbit/s), and up to Category 6 speeds on O2 and Three (up to 300Mbit/s) at the time of
writing. In other countries, however, it often looks quite different. For instance, in the United
States, it’s possible to get up to Category 16 speeds (up to 979Mbit/s) on all of the major mobile
networks including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

Impact on Download Times & Streaming

The following table shows how expected download times compare across the different
technologies:
 Activity 4G Download Time 3G Download Time 2G Download Time

Accessing typical web page 0.5 seconds 4 seconds 3 minutes

Sending an e-mail without attachments <0.1 seconds <0.1 seconds 1 second

Downloading high-quality photograph 0.5 seconds 4 seconds 3 minutes

Downloading an music track (MP3) 3 seconds 10 seconds 7 minutes

Downloading an application 8 seconds 1 minute 40 minutes

For this comparison table, we have used the average download speeds of 30Mbit/s (4G LTE Cat6), 4Mbit/s (3G HSPA+)
and 0.1Mbit/s (2G EDGE). Typical file sizes used in our calculations: 2MB for a webpage, 10KB for a basic e-mail, 2MB
for a high-quality photograph, 5MB for a music track and 30MB for a typical application download.

We haven’t listed 5G download times in the table above but it’s safe to say they would all
download near instantaneously!

Streaming Applications

Netflix is a video streaming application.

When it comes to certain applications that “stream” data, your connection will need to support a
minimum download speed. This is because content from the internet is being shown on your
phone at the same time as whilst you’re downloading it (a concept commonly known as
“streaming”). If the content can’t be downloaded at a sufficient speed, you’ll experience pauses
during playback (also known as “buffering”).

Applications that make use of streaming include voice over IP (e.g. calling via Skype or
WhatsApp), online video apps (e.g. Netflix and YouTube) and online radio. The following table
shows minimum download speeds you would require for this content to play smoothly without
buffering:

Activity Required Download Speed

Skype/WhatsApp phone call 0.1Mbit/s

Skype video call 0.5Mbit/s

Skype video call (HD) 1.5Mbit/s

Listening to online radio 0.2Mbit/s

Watching YouTube videos (basic quality) 0.5Mbit/s

 Activity Required Download Speed

Watching YouTube videos (720p HD quality) 2.5Mbit/s

Watching YouTube videos (1080p HD quality) 4Mbit/s

Watching iPlayer/Netflix (standard definition) 1.5Mbit/s

Watching iPlayer/Netflix (high definition) 5Mbit/s

Watching iPlayer/Netflix (4K UHD) 25Mbit/s

A 3G connection or better should normally be able to sustain most of these activities. Having a
faster 4G connection may also allow you to stream higher quality content (e.g. watching Netflix
in 4K Ultra HD quality).

Latency

Besides download speed, latency is another really

important concept that affects the experience you’ll get on your smartphone. It’s also known as
the “lag” or “ping” if you’re familiar with online gaming.

When your mobile phone wants to download some content from the internet, there is an initial
delay before the server on the other end starts to respond. Only once the server has responded, it
will then be possible for the download to progress. For example, if it takes 0.5 seconds for the
server to initially respond and then 1 second for the file to download, you’ll need to wait a total
of 1.5 seconds for the download to complete.

High latency connections can cause web pages to load slowly, and can also affect the experience
in applications that require real-time connectivity (e.g. voice calling, video calling and gaming
applications).

Across 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G technologies, there’s a major difference in the latency you can
expect:
Generation Typical Latency

2G 500ms (0.5 seconds)

3G 100ms (0.1 seconds)

4G 50ms (0.05 seconds)

5G 1ms (0.001 seconds)*

* The target latency of a 5G connection is 1ms (theoretical). Other figures are based on real-world usage.

Many people argue that the benefits of 5G are more from having reduced latency and increased
capacity rather than having faster download speeds. This is because the download speeds
available on 4G are already fast enough for most uses (e.g. 5Mbit/s is already more than enough
for high-definition video). However, despite faster download speeds not making a huge
difference here, the reduction in latency from 5G technology will help overall response time.

The reduced latency of 5G technology is particularly important for some of the newer embedded
applications of mobile technology. For instance, a connected car travelling on the motorway at
70mph (110km/h) would travel almost 2 meters in the amount of time it takes for a 4G mobile
network to respond. The lower latency of a 5G connection will allow mobile technology to be
used more safely in cars.

Download Speeds & Download Limits

Download speeds shouldn’t directly affect how much data you

consume. This is because the web pages you visit and the files you download are still the same
size (and hence will consume the same amount of data) regardless of which connection type you
have. There are, however, two key exceptions to this:

1. Adaptive Streaming on Videos. Some video providers (e.g. YouTube and Netflix) automatically
adjust the quality of videos depending on what your connection can handle. For instance, you
might receive standard-definition video on a 3G connection and high-definition video on a 4G or
5G connection. This may increase the amount of data you consume as you move to a faster
connection.
 2. Increased Engagement. The increased download speed and improved experience of a faster
internet connection may encourage you to consume more content and to use your phone more
regularly on-the-go.

For both of these reasons, we’d typically advise choosing a larger data allowance when moving
to mobile network or tariff offering faster download speeds.

Terminology
Kbit/s, Mbit/s, Gbit/s

There are 1,000 kilobits in a megabit (1000kbit = 1Mbit) and 1,000

megabits in a gigabit (1,000Mbit = 1Gbit). This means a 1Mbit/s connection is twice as fast as a
500kbit/s connection. Wikipedia has a full explanation.

In everyday life, it is most useful to talk about download speeds in megabits per second (Mbit/s).
2G connections are sometimes specified in kbit/s (e.g. the maximum download speed for GPRS
is 80kbit/s). Similarly, 5G connections are sometimes specified in Gbit/s (e.g. the target
download speed for 5G technology is 1-10Gbit/s). For ease of comparison, we have converted
these measurements to be in the common unit of Mbit/s.

Mbit/s vs Mbps

There’s no difference between Mbit/s and Mbps: they’re just two different ways of abbreviating
“megabits per second”. At Ken’s Tech Tips, we prefer to use the term Mbit/s as we believe it
ensures a little more clarity. The alternative abbreviation, Mbps, is often confused with
“megabytes per second”.

It’s important to draw the distinction between bits and bytes. Whilst download speeds are
normally measured in “megabits per second” (Mbit/s), download limits and download sizes are
measured in megabytes (MB). As there are 8 bits in one byte (and hence 8 megabits in one
megabyte), it would actually take you 8 seconds to download a 1MB file on a 1Mbit/s
connection.

5G Wi-Fi
 The term “5G Wi-Fi” is often confused for 5G mobile technology. In
fact, the “5G” actually stands for 5GHz and relates to the frequencies used by the wi-fi
network to communicate with your device (traditionally, wi-fi networks have used the spectrum
around 2.4GHz).

As the “5G” in “5G Wi-Fi” has no relation to download speeds, it’s recommended that this
technology is now referred to as Wi-Fi 5 or 802.11ac to reduce confusion.

More Information
For more information, please consult your mobile network’s website for details about the
download speeds and coverage they’re able to offer. If you’re in the UK, please see
the EE, O2, Three and Vodafone websites.

Your Comments 61 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received
61 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

MARTIN TAYLOR said:

January 28, 2019 at 4:08 am

Great info, I have a question. Have you thought about reviewing mobile routers
and possibly aerial’s omni-directional and directional one’s ?
I personally have a Huawei B310s-22 that I got from Three Mobile in UK and
although impressed with its speed in UK, now that I am in the Philippines I
wanted extra performance and this is where I have hit a stumbling block with the
omni-directional aerial I purchased as it doesnt seem to improve things much
here in Philippines.
I am also not rich so don’t want to spend a fortune on a new router or different
aerials ascertaining which one give’s the best bang for buck !
My other problem is that I think the tower’s here are overloaded as late at night
2am+ speeds really pickup !

Reply


Ben said:

January 9, 2019 at 3:43 am

This is the most informative and simple break-down I have ever seen. Thank you
for the information. I am a simpleton when it comes to electronics. I now feel like
a genius in the field of network speeds.

Reply

Adrian Molloy said:

December 18, 2018 at 2:51 pm

I live in a small town in Cambridgeshire, at home I have no 3G, no 4G and a week

phone signal. There are no hills or large buildings between my house and the
local phone masts, the problem is low capacity on all networks. I would like to
know if 5G will offer an improvement or is this just another upgrade that will pass
us by.

Reply

Ken replied:

December 18, 2018 at 7:42 pm

Hi Adrian,
Many thanks for your comment, and sorry to hear about the lack of
coverage where you live. To be truthful, it’s probably more likely you’ll see
the roll-out of 4G rather than 5G in your area. At the moment, the major
mobile networks are launching 4G services on 800MHz spectrum (the low-
frequency spectrum previously used for TV broadcasts before the digital
switch-over). This will give much improved rural coverage (think what you
can get on 2G today, but with more capacity and higher speeds).
With regards to 5G, it’s still most likely this will roll out first in urban areas.
This is because 5G uses high-frequency spectrum which has a smaller
range in terms of distance.
Ken

Reply

Adrian Molloy replied:

December 18, 2018 at 8:51 pm

Hi Ken,
Thank you for your reply, fingers crossed we will see some 4G. It has
been promised but nothing so far.
Adrian
UMTS Power Control

Open loop power control is the ability of the UE transmitter to sets its output power
to a specific value. It is used for setting initial uplink and downlink transmission
powers when a UE is accessing the network. The open loop power control tolerance is
± 9 dB (normal conditions) or ± 12 dB (extreme conditions)

Inner loop power control (also called fast closed loop power control) in the uplink is
the ability of the UE transmitter to adjust its output power in accordance with one or
more Transmit Power Control (TPC) commands received in the downlink, in order to
keep the received uplink Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR) at a given SIR target. The
UE transmitter is capable of changing the output power with a step size of 1, 2 and 3
dB, in the slot immediately after the TPC_cmd can be derived. Inner loop power
control frequency is 1500Hz.

The serving cells estimate SIR of the received uplink DPCH, generate TPC
commands (TPC_cmd) and transmit the commands once per slot according to the
following rule: if SIRest> SIRtarget then the TPC command to transmit is "0", while if
SIRest < SIRtarget then the TPC command to transmit is "1". Upon reception of one or
more TPC commands in a slot, the UE derives a single TPC command for each slot,
combining multiple TPC commands if more than one is received in a slot. Two
algorithms are supported by the UE for deriving a TPC_cmd. Which of these two
algorithms is used, is determined by a UE-specific higher-layer parameter,
"PowerControlAlgorithm".

Algorithm 1:

 The power control step is the change in the UE transmitter output power in response to a
single TPC command

Algorithm 2:

 If all five estimated TPC command are "down" the transmit power is reduced by 1 dB

 If all five estimated TPC command are "up" the transmit power is increased by 1 dB

 Otherwise the transmit power is not changed

 Transmitter power control range

The transmit power of the downlink channels is determined by the network. The power control
step size can take four values: 0.5, 1, 1.5 or 2 dB. It is mandatory for UTRAN to support step
size of 1 dB, while support of other step sizes is optional. The UE generates TPC commands to
control the network transmit power and send them in the TPC field of the uplink DPCCH. Upon
receiving the TPC commands UTRAN adjusts its downlink DPCCH/DPDCH power
accordingly.

Outer loop power control is used to maintain the quality of communication at the level of
bearer service quality requirement, while using as low power as possible. The uplink outer loop
power control is responsible for setting a target SIR in the Node B for each individual uplink
inner loop power control. This target SIR is updated for each UE according to the estimated
uplink quality (BLock Error Ration, Bit Error Ratio) for each Radio Resource Control
connection. The downlink outer loop power control is the ability of the UE receiver to converge
to required link quality (BLER) set by the network (RNC) in downlink.

Power control of the downlink common channels are determined by the network. In general
the ratio of the transmit power between different downlink channels is not specified in 3GPP
specifications and may change with time, even dynamically.

Additional special situations of power control are Power control in compressed

mode and Downlink power during handover.

Further reading: 3GPP TS 25.101, 25.133, 25.214, 25.215, 25.331, 25.433, 25.435, 25.841,
25.849