How is 5G NR peak throughput calculated?

TS 38.306 sums a per-layer term across all aggregated carriers and component layers. For each layer the rate is Qm × f × Rmax × (NPRB × 12 / Tsymbol) × (1 − OH), where Qm is bits per symbol (2/4/6/8 for QPSK–256QAM), f is the scaling factor (1, 0.8, 0.75 or 0.4), Rmax is 948/1024, NPRB is the allocated PRBs, and Tsymbol is the average OFDM symbol duration for the numerology. The overhead OH accounts for control/reference signals.

What overhead value should I use?

TS 38.306 defines fixed OH figures rather than a computed one: 0.14 for FR1 downlink, 0.08 for FR1 uplink, 0.18 for FR2 downlink and 0.10 for FR2 uplink. These are deliberately conservative averages covering DMRS, PDCCH/PUCCH and other non-data REs, so the published peak is a headline number, not a per-slot scheduling result.

Why is my real throughput far below the calculated peak?

The 38.306 formula assumes the highest modulation, full code rate (Rmax), every PRB scheduled to you, and the flat overhead constant. In a live network the MCS tracks channel quality, you share PRBs with other UEs, TDD steals slots for uplink, and HARQ retransmissions cost airtime. Treat the calculator output as a ceiling for marketing/dimensioning, not a steady-state figure.

Does adding MIMO layers scale throughput linearly?

On paper yes — each spatial layer adds one full Qm × f × Rmax term, so 4 layers is 4× a single layer in the formula. In practice rank only climbs to 2, 4 or 8 when the radio channel is rich enough to separate the streams; under poor SINR the scheduler drops to rank 1 and the extra layers contribute nothing.

5G NR Throughput Calculator

Compute peak PDSCH/PUSCH throughput per 3GPP TS 38.306 — with FR1/FR2 N_PRB tables, MIMO layers, modulation order and code rate.

100% FREE3GPP-accurateNo signup

The 5G NR peak throughput calculator implements the exact formula from 3GPP TS 38.306 §4.1.2. Given your bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, number of MIMO layers, modulation order and code rate, it returns the theoretical peak data rate in Mbps and Gbps. This is the headline number you see in 5G brochures — a typical commercial 5G carrier at 100 MHz / 30 kHz SCS / 4 layers / 256QAM / 0.92 code rate reaches roughly 2.3 Gbps DL per carrier AFTER the TS 38.306 overhead is taken off (about 2.7 Gbps before it). Use this tool to size backhaul, validate marketing claims, or sanity-check a throughput KPI against the physical ceiling.

Frequency Range

Direction

Subcarrier Spacing (SCS)

Channel Bandwidth (MHz)

MIMO Layers

Modulation

Code Rate (R_max)

3GPP cap: 948/1024 = 0.9258

Overhead (OH)

14% (FR1 DL)

Peak Throughput

2337.05Mbps

≈ 2.337 Gbps at 100 MHz / 30 kHz / 4 layers

N_PRB

273

from TS 38.101 table

Symbol Duration (T_s)

35.714µs

At 100 MHz with 30 kHz SCS, 4 layers, Q_m = 8, and R = 0.9258, you get 2337.0 Mbps peak DL.

How It Works

The peak data rate per component carrier is:

data_rate (Mbps) = 10^-6 × v_Layers × Q_m × f × R_max
                 × (N_PRB_BW,μ × 12 / T_s^μ)
                 × (1 − OH)

v_Layers — number of MIMO layers (1, 2, 4, or 8).
Q_m — modulation order: 2 (QPSK), 4 (16QAM), 6 (64QAM), 8 (256QAM), 10 (1024QAM).
f — scaling factor (1, 0.8, 0.75 or 0.4); we assume 1.
R_max — max code rate. 948/1024 ≈ 0.9258 is the 3GPP ceiling.
N_PRB — PRBs available for the configured bandwidth and SCS (from TS 38.101 tables).
T_s^μ — OFDM symbol duration for numerology μ.
OH — overhead: 0.14 FR1 DL, 0.08 FR1 UL, 0.18 FR2 DL, 0.10 FR2 UL.

The tool plugs in the 3GPP N_PRB table for your (BW, SCS) pair — e.g. 273 PRBs at 100 MHz / 30 kHz, 66 PRBs at 100 MHz / 120 kHz FR2. The symbol period is 10⁻³ / (14 × 2^μ) seconds (14 symbols per slot, 2^μ slots per subframe).

3GPP References

• TS 38.306 §4.1.2 — Peak data rate formula
• TS 38.101-1 Table 5.3.2-1 — FR1 transmission bandwidth configuration (N_PRB)
• TS 38.101-2 Table 5.3.2-1 — FR2 transmission bandwidth configuration (N_PRB)
• TS 38.214 — PDSCH / PUSCH physical layer procedures

How to calculate 5G NR peak throughput

Pick the band and bandwidth. Choose the channel bandwidth (e.g. 100 MHz) and whether it is FR1 or FR2 — this sets the overhead constant.
Set the numerology. Select the subcarrier spacing (15/30/60/120 kHz); it determines the symbol duration Tsymbol and the maximum PRB count for that bandwidth.
Choose layers and modulation. Enter the number of MIMO layers and the modulation order (QPSK to 256QAM) you want to model.
Set the code rate. Leave Rmax at 948/1024 for the theoretical peak, or lower it to model a realistic MCS.
Read the result. The tool applies the 38.306 sum and shows the peak Mbps; adjust layers or modulation to compare scenarios.

Frequently asked questions

How is 5G NR peak throughput calculated?: TS 38.306 sums a per-layer term across all aggregated carriers and component layers. For each layer the rate is Qm × f × Rmax × (NPRB × 12 / Tsymbol) × (1 − OH), where Qm is bits per symbol (2/4/6/8 for QPSK–256QAM), f is the scaling factor (1, 0.8, 0.75 or 0.4), Rmax is 948/1024, NPRB is the allocated PRBs, and Tsymbol is the average OFDM symbol duration for the numerology. The overhead OH accounts for control/reference signals.
What overhead value should I use?: TS 38.306 defines fixed OH figures rather than a computed one: 0.14 for FR1 downlink, 0.08 for FR1 uplink, 0.18 for FR2 downlink and 0.10 for FR2 uplink. These are deliberately conservative averages covering DMRS, PDCCH/PUCCH and other non-data REs, so the published peak is a headline number, not a per-slot scheduling result.
Why is my real throughput far below the calculated peak?: The 38.306 formula assumes the highest modulation, full code rate (Rmax), every PRB scheduled to you, and the flat overhead constant. In a live network the MCS tracks channel quality, you share PRBs with other UEs, TDD steals slots for uplink, and HARQ retransmissions cost airtime. Treat the calculator output as a ceiling for marketing/dimensioning, not a steady-state figure.
Does adding MIMO layers scale throughput linearly?: On paper yes — each spatial layer adds one full Qm × f × Rmax term, so 4 layers is 4× a single layer in the formula. In practice rank only climbs to 2, 4 or 8 when the radio channel is rich enough to separate the streams; under poor SINR the scheduler drops to rank 1 and the extra layers contribute nothing.

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