RSRP and RSRQ

Reference Signals Received Power (RSRP) and Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) are key measures of signal level and quality for modern LTE networks. In cellular networks, when a mobile device moves from cell to cell and performs cell selection/reselection and handover, it has to measure the signal strength/quality of the neighbor cells. In the procedure of handover, the LTE specification provides the flexibility of using RSRP, RSRQ, or both.

RSRP – Reference Signal Received Power is an RSSI type of measurement. It is the power of the LTE Reference Signals spread over the full bandwidth and narrowband. A minimum of -20 dB SINR (of the S-Synch channel) is needed to detect RSRP/RSRQ.

RSRQ – Reference Signal Received Quality: Quality considering also RSSI and the number of used Resource Blocks (N) RSRQ = (N * RSRP) / RSSI measured over the same bandwidth. RSRQ is a C/I type of measurement and it indicates the quality of the received reference signal. The RSRQ measurement provides additional information when RSRP is not sufficient to make a reliable handover or cell reselection decision.

You can find more information on RSRP and RSRQ values in the 4G (LTE) section of the Mobile Signal Strength Recommendations page.

RSRP

RSRP	Signal strength	Description
>= -80 dBm	Excellent	Strong signal with maximum data speeds
-80 dBm to -90 dBm	Good	Strong signal with good data speeds
-90 dBm to -100 dBm	Fair to poor	Reliable data speeds may be attained, but marginal data with drop-outs is possible. When this value gets close to -100, performance will drop drastically
<= -100 dBm	No signal	Disnonnection

RSRQ

RSRQ	Signal quality	Description
>= -10 dB	Excellent	Strong signal with maximum data speeds
-10 dB to -15 dB	Good	Strong signal with good data speeds
-15 dB to -20 dB	Fair to poor	Reliable data speeds may be attained, but marginal data with drop-outs is possible. When this value gets close to -20, performance will drop drastically
<= -20 dB	No signal	Disconnection