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CQI

CQIstandsforChannelQualityIndicator.Asthenameimplies,itisanindicatorcarryingtheinformationonhow
good/badthecommunicationchannelqualityis.ThisCQIisforHSDPA.(LTEalsohasCQIforitsownpurpose).

CQIistheinformationthatUEsendstothenetworkandpracticallyitimpliesthefollowingtwo
i)CurrentCommunicationChannelQualityisthisandthat..
ii)I(UE)wantstogetthedatawiththisandthattransportblocksize,whichinturncanbedirectlyconvertedinto
throughput

InHSDPA,theCQIvaluerangesfrom0~30.30indicatesthebestchannelqualityand0,1indicatesthepoorest
channelquality.DependingwhichvalueUEreports,networktransmitdatawithdifferenttransportblocksize.If
networkgetshighCQIvaluefromUE,ittransmitthedatawithlargertransportblocksizeandviceversa.

WhatifnetworksendsalargetransportblockeventhoughUEreportslowCQI,itishighlyprobablethatUEfailedto
decodeit(causeCRCerroronUEside)andUEsendNACKtonetworkandthenetworkhavetoretransmititwhichin
turncausewasteofradioresources.

WhatifUEreporthighCQIevenwhentherealchannelqualityispoor?Inthiscase,networkwouldsendalarge
transportblocksizeaccordingtotheCQIvalueanditwouldbecomehighlyprobablethatUEfailedtodecodeit
(causeCRCerroronUEside)andUEsendNACKtonetworkandthenetworkhavetoretransmititwhichinturn
causewasteofradioresources.

HowUEcanmeasureCQI?Thisisthemostuncleartopictome.AsfarasIknow,thereisnoexplicitdescriptionin
anystandardonthemechanismbywhichtheCQIiscalculated,butitisprettyobviousthatthefollowingfactorsplay
importantrolestoCQImeasurement.
signaltonoiseratio(SNR)
signaltointerferenceplusnoiseratio(SINR)
signaltonoiseplusdistortionratio(SNDR)
Itisnotdefinedinthespecificationonhowthesefactorsareusedandwhetherthereisanyotherfactorsbeing
involved.Theimplementationisalluptochipsetmakers.Usuallyatchipsetdevelopmentstage,theydoalotof
testingtocorrelatethemeasuredSNRandthemeasuredBLERbythechipsetandcreatesomeinternaltable(or
equation)forthecorrelation.Andthemappingtable(function)wouldeventuallyusedtodetermineCQIvalue.

InLTE,thereare15differentCQIvaluesrandingfrom1to15andmappingbetweenCQIandmodulcationscheme,
transportblocksizeisdefinedasfollows(36.213)

IfyouareanengineerinNetwork(eNodeB)programming,youneedtoknowthenumberofresourceblocksandMCS
foreachCQIvaluetoproperlyallocatetheresourcesforeachofUEs.Withthemodulationschemeinthetable,you
wouldgetacertainrangeofMCSyoucanuseforeachCQIindex.ButyoucannotpinpointaspecificMCSand
NumberofRBs.YouneedanotherconditiontogettheproperMCSandNRBsanditis'CodeRate'showninthetable.
Butstillthereisnotasingleformulathatwouldgiveyouasingle/determinedvalueforMCSandNRB.Youhaveto
comeupwithasetofMCSandNRBthatmeetthemodulationschemeandCodeRaterequirementinthetable.One

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examplecasecanbeasfollows.

CQI

REs/PRB

N_RB

MCS

TBS

CodeRate

Modulation Bits/Symbol
QPSK

138

20

536

0.101449

QPSK

138

20

536

0.101449

QPSK

138

20

872

0.162319

QPSK

138

20

1736

0.318841

QPSK

138

20

2417

0.442210

QPSK

138

20

3112

0.568116

16QAM

138

20

12

4008

0.365217

16QAM

138

20

14

5160

0.469565

16QAM

138

20

16

6200

0.563768

10

64QAM

138

20

20

7992

0.484058

11

64QAM

138

20

23

9912

0.600000

12

64QAM

138

20

25

11448

0.692754

13

64QAM

138

20

27

12576

0.760870

14

64QAM

138

20

28

14688

0.888406

15

64QAM

138

20

28

14688

0.888406

Note1:RefertoThroughtputCalculationExamplefordeterminingN_RB,MCS,TBSdetermination.
Note2:REs/PRBvariesdependingonCFIvalueasfollows.

CFI

REs/PRB

150

138

126

Note3:IusedthefollowingformulaexplainedinCodeRatesection.
v_CodingRate:=(int2float(p_TBSize+24))/(int2float(p_N_PRB*tsc_REs_Per_PRB*v_BitsPerSymbol))

CQIiscarriedbyPUCCHorPUSCHdependingonthesituationasfollows.
CarriedbyPUCCH:PeriodicCQI
CarriedbyPUSCH:AperiodicCQI.

RegardingCQIreportperiodandconfiguration,refertoCQI,PMI,RIReportingConfigurationpart.

<TwoImportantCQITable>

Wehavetwodifferenttablesasshownbelowdefinedin36.213.Nowthequestionisinwhichsituationthefirsttable
(Table7.2.31)isusedandinwhichsituationthesecondtable(Table7.21)isused).Overallstoryisdescribedin
36.213section7.2,Iwilljustreorganizethosestatementsinalittlebitdifferentstructure.

Thetableshownaboveisusedinfollowingsituation.Inthistable,4bitisusedtoindicateeachCQIvalue.
1)Fortransmissionmodes1,2,3and5,aswellastransmissionmodes8,9and10withoutPMI/RIreporting,
transmissionmode4withRI=1,andtransmissionmodes8,9and10withPMI/RIreportingandRI=1

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2)ForRI>1withtransmissionmode4,aswellastransmissionmodes8,9and10withPMI/RIreporting,
PUSCHbasedtriggeredreporting.Inthiscase,oneoutofthe4bitCQI(16differentvalue)isreportedforeach
Codeword(CW0andCW1).

FollowingisanothertablethatisusedforCQIreport,butthisisnottheabsolutevalue.Itisadifferentvaluefortwo
differentCQIvalue.Then..howthisdifferenceisdefined?Itisdefinedasfollows:
Codeword1offsetlevel=widebandCQIindexforcodeword0widebandCQIindexforcodeword1.

Thistableisusedinfollowingcase:
1)ForRI>1withtransmissionmode4,aswellastransmissionmodes8,9and10withPMI/RIreporting,
PUCCHbasedreportingincludesreportinga4bitwidebandCQIforcodeword0accordingtoTable7.2.31and
awidebandspatialdifferentialCQI

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