LTE Cell Range & Coverage Estimator

Find the distance at which a propagation model's median path loss equals the MAPL. Path loss rises steadily with distance in every model here, so the estimator solves each one by bisection between 10 m and 100 km, after taking off any building entry loss for indoor users. The MAPL comes from a link budget: the LTE Link Budget calculator works out the limiting one and can pass it straight in with the frequency and antenna heights, or you can enter it directly.

TR 38.901 path loss applies from 0.5 to 100 GHz, and to 30 GHz for RMa. UMa and UMi apply from 10 m to 5 km of ground distance with terminals at 1.5 to 22.5 m. RMa applies from 10 m to 10 km in line of sight and to 5 km out of it, with base stations at 10 to 150 m and terminals at 1 to 10 m. TR 38.901 states UMa and UMi at one base height each, 25 m and 10 m, rather than a range, so at any other base height the estimator flags their results and leaves them out of the bounds. Okumura-Hata covers 150 to 1500 MHz and its COST 231 extension 1500 to 2000 MHz, with base stations at 30 to 200 m, terminals at 1 to 10 m and distances of 1 to 20 km, or to 100 km up to 1500 MHz with the distance term of ITU-R P.529-3.

The result is flagged with the reason and excluded from the planning bounds. If a model cannot reach the required path loss at all, it reports no range rather than extrapolating. When fewer than two comparable models are in range, the tool says so instead of reporting a spread. When the ones in range all come from one model family, as above 2000 MHz where Okumura-Hata stops, it reports the spread with a warning that it understates the model uncertainty.

For indoor terminals the tool applies ITU-R P.2109 building entry loss for the chosen building class and percentile, and subtracts it from the MAPL before solving the range. When a budget handed over from the LTE Link Budget calculator already includes building entry loss, the hand off turns the indoor option off so the loss is not counted twice.

Cells tile a service area as hexagons. A hexagon of radius r covers about 2.6 r², while a circle covers about 3.14 r², so using the circle overstates the area each site serves by about a fifth and undercounts the sites needed.

No. These are scenario based and measurement fitted models, and none of them sees hills or buildings at specific locations. Use this tool for scoping, and use the Coverage Predictor for terrain aware prediction once site positions are known.