User Equipment category

UE category
Downlink
Uplink
Narrow Band

LTE category 36.306 v15.0.0 (Rel 15 Mar 2018)

LTE category

UE category

The UE category (without suffix) defines a combined uplink and downlink radio throughput capability


Category		3GPP release	Downlink						Uplink
			Maximum number of DL-SCH transport block bits received within a TTI		Maximum number of bits of a DL-SCH transport block received within a TTI	Total number of soft channel bits	Maximum number of supported layers for spatial multiplexing in DL	Support for 256QAM in DL	Maximum number of UL-SCH transport block bits transmitted within a TTI		Maximum number of bits of an UL-SCH transport block transmitted within a TTI	Support for 64QAM in UL
				(Mbit/s)		Total number of soft channel bits		Support for 256QAM in DL		(Mbit/s)		Support for 64QAM in UL
0		Rel 12	1000	1	1000	25344	1	No	1000	1	1000	No
1		Rel 8	10296	10	10296	250368	1	No	5160	5	5160	No
1bis		Rel 14	10296	10	10296	250368	1	No	5160	5	5160	No
2		Rel 8	51024	51	51024	1237248	2	No	25456	25	25456	No
3		Rel 8	102048	102	75376	1237248	2	No	51024	51	51024	No
4		Rel 8	150752	150	75376	1827072	2	No	51024	51	51024	No
5		Rel 8	299552	299	149776	3667200	4	No	75376	75	75376	Yes
6	4	Rel 10	301504	301	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	3654144	2 or 4	No	51024	51	51024	No
7	4	Rel 10	301504	301	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	3654144	2 or 4	No	102048	102	51024	No
8	5	Rel 10	2998560	2998	299856	35982720	8	No	1497760	1497	149776	Yes
9	6,4	Rel 11	452256	452	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	5481216	2 or 4	No	51024	51	51024	No
10	7,4	Rel 11	452256	452	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	5481216	2 or 4	No	102048	102	51024	No
11	9,6,4	Rel 11	603008	603	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 97896 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 195816 (4 layers, 256QAM)	7308288	2 or 4	Optional	51024	51	51024	No
12	10,7,4	Rel 11	603008	603	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 97896 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 195816 (4 layers, 256QAM)	7308288	2 or 4	Optional	102048	102	51024	No

A UE indicating category 6 or 7 shall also indicate category 4
A UE indicating category 8 shall also indicate category 5
A UE indicating category 9 shall also indicate category 6 and 4
A UE indicating category 10 shall also indicate category 7 and 4
A UE indicating category 11 shall also indicate category 9, 6 and 4
A UE indicating category 12 shall also indicate category 10, 7 and 4

UE category Downlink

The field ue-CategoryDL defines downlink capability


Downlink category	3GPP release	Downlink
		Maximum number of DL-SCH transport block bits received within a TTI		Maximum number of bits of a DL-SCH transport block received within a TTI	Total number of soft channel bits	Maximum number of supported layers for spatial multiplexing in DL	Support for 256QAM in DL
			(Mbit/s)		Total number of soft channel bits		Support for 256QAM in DL
M1	Rel 13	1000	1	1000	25344	1	No
M2	Rel 14	4008	4	1000	73152	1	No
0	Rel 12	1000	1	1000	25344	1	No
1bis	Rel 14	10296	10	10296	250368	1	No
4	Rel 14	150752	150	75376	1827072	2	No
6	Rel 12	301504	301	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	3654144	2 or 4	No
7	Rel 12	301504	301	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	3654144	2 or 4	No
9	Rel 12	452256	452	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	5481216	2 or 4	No
10	Rel 12	452256	452	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM)	5481216	2 or 4	No
11	Rel 12	603008	603	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 97896 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 195816 (4 layers, 256QAM)	7308288	2 or 4	Optional
12	Rel 12	603008	603	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 97896 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 195816 (4 layers, 256QAM)	7308288	2 or 4	Optional
13	Rel 12	391632	391	97896 (2 layers, 256QAM) 195816 (4 layers, 256QAM)	3654144	2 or 4	Mandatory
14	Rel 12	3916560	3916	391656 (8 layers, 256QAM)	47431680	8	Mandatory
15	Rel 12	749856 - 798800	749 - 798	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 100752 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 201936 (4 layers, 256QAM)	9744384	2 or 4	Optional
16	Rel 12	978960 - 1051360	978 - 1051	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 100752 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 201936 (4 layers, 256QAM)	12789504	2 or 4	Optional
17	Rel 13	25065984	25065	391656 (8 layers, 256QAM)	303562752	8	Mandatory
18	Rel 13	1174752 - 1206016	1174 - 1206	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 100752 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 201936 (4 layers, 256QAM) 299856 (8 layers, 64QAM) 391656 (8 layers, 256QAM)	14616576	2 or 4 or 8	Optional
19	Rel 13	1566336 - 1658272	1566 - 1658	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 100752 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 201936 (4 layers, 256QAM) 299856 (8 layers, 64QAM) 391656 (8 layers, 256QAM)	19488768	2 or 4 or 8	Optional
20	Rel 14	1948064 - 2019360	1948 - 2019	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 100752 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 201936 (4 layers, 256QAM) 299856 (8 layers, 64QAM) 391656 (8 layers, 256QAM)	24360960	2 or 4 or 8	Optional
21	Rel 14	1348960 - 1413120	1348 - 1413	75376 (2 layers, 64QAM) 100752 (2 layers, 256QAM) 149776 (4 layers, 64QAM) 201936 (4 layers, 256QAM)	17052672	2 or 4	Optional

UE category Uplink

The field ue-CategoryUL defines uplink capability


Uplink category	3GPP release	Uplink
		Maximum number of UL-SCH transport block bits transmitted within a TTI		Maximum number of bits of an UL-SCH transport block transmitted within a TTI	Support for 64QAM in UL	Support for 256QAM in UL
			(Mbit/s)		Support for 64QAM in UL	Support for 256QAM in UL
M1	Rel 13	1000	1	1000	No	No
M2	Rel 14	6968	6	6968	No	No
0	Rel 12	1000	1	1000	No	No
1bis	Rel 14	5160	5	5160	No	No
3	Rel 12	51024	51	51024	No	No
5	Rel 12	75376	75	75376	Yes	No
7	Rel 12	102048	102	51024	No	No
8	Rel 12	1497760	1497	149776	Yes	No
13	Rel 12	150752	150	75376	Yes	No
14	Rel 13	9585664	9585	149776	Yes	No
15	Rel 13	226128	226	75376	Yes	No
16	Rel 14	105528	105	105528	Yes	Yes
17	Rel 14	2119360	2119	211936	Yes	Yes
18	Rel 14	211056	211	105528	Yes	Yes
19	Rel 14	13563904	13563	211936	Yes	Yes
20	Rel 14	316584	316	105528	Yes	Yes
21	Rel 14	301504	301	75376	Yes	No

RRC UE-EUTRA-Capability
ue-Category INTEGER (1..5)
ue-Category-v1020 INTEGER (6..8)
   ue-Category-v1170 INTEGER (9..10)
   ue-Category-v11a0 INTEGER (11..12)
      ue-CategoryDL-r12 INTEGER (0..14)
      ue-CategoryUL-r12 INTEGER (0..13)
      ue-CategoryDL-v1260 INTEGER (15..16)
         ue-CategoryDL-v1310 ENUMERATED {n17, m1}
         ue-CategoryUL-v1310 ENUMERATED {n14, m1}
         ue-CategoryDL-v1330 INTEGER (18..19)
         ue-CategoryUL-v1340 INTEGER (15)

Supported DL/UL categories combinations set

Defines the only combinations for UE UL and DL categories that are allowed to be signalled with ue-CategoryDL and ue-CategoryUL
It also defines which UE Categories a UE shall indicate in addition to the combinations for UE UL and DL Categories

DL Category	UL Category	Additional RRC signalling		Maximum UE channel bandwidth [PRB]
DL Category	UL Category	UE category	DL/UL category	Maximum UE channel bandwidth [PRB]
M1	M1	N/A		6
M2	M2		M1, M1	25
0	0	N/A (1)
1bis	1bis	1
4	5	4
6	5	6, 4
6	16	6, 4	6, 5
7	13	7, 4
7	18	7, 4	7, 13
9	5	9, 6, 4
9	16	9, 6, 4	9, 5
10	13	10, 7, 4
10	18	10, 7, 4	10, 13
11	5	11, 9, 6, 4
11	16	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5
12	13	12, 10, 7, 4
12	15	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13
12	18	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13
12	20	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 12, 15
13	3	6, 4, 9*
13	5	6, 4, 9*
13	7	7, 4, 10*
13	13	7, 4, 10*
13	16	6, 4	13, 5
13	18	7, 4	13, 13
14	8	8, 5
14	17	8, 5	14, 8
15	3	11, 9, 6, 4
15	5	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5
15	7	12, 10, 7, 4
15	13	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13
15	16	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5 15, 5
15	18	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 15, 13
16	3	11, 9, 6, 4
16	5	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5
16	7	12, 10, 7, 4
16	13	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13
16	15	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13
16	16	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5 16, 5
16	18	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13
16	20	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 16, 15
17	14	8, 5	14, 8
17	19	8, 5	14, 8 17, 14
18	3	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 3
18	5	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 5 11, 5
18	7	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 7
18	13	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13
18	15	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13
18	16	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5 16, 5 18, 5
18	18	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13
18	20	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 18, 15
19	3	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 13
19	5	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 5 11, 5
19	7	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 7
19	13	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13
19	15	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13
19	16	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5 16, 5 19, 5
19	18	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 19, 13
19	20	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 19, 15
19	21	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 19, 15
20	3	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 3 19, 3
20	5	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 5 11, 5 19, 5
20	7	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 7 19, 7
20	13	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13 19, 13
20	15	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13 19, 13 19, 15
20	16	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5 16, 5 19, 5 19, 16
20	18	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 19, 13 19, 18
20	20	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 19, 15 19, 20
20	21	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 19, 15 19, 21
21	3	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 3 18, 3
21	5	11, 9, 6, 4	16, 5 11, 5 18, 5
21	7	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 7 18, 7
21	13	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13 18, 13
21	15	12, 10, 7, 4	16, 13 12, 13 18, 13 18, 15
21	16	11, 9, 6, 4	11, 5 16, 5 18, 5 18, 16
21	18	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 18, 13 18, 18
21	20	12, 10, 7, 4	12, 13 16, 13 18, 15 18, 20
Nb = 77

* = if supported
(1) 36.331 : A UE indicating DL category 0 shall also indicate any of the categories (1..5) in ue-Category, which is ignored by the eNB

Example of RRC signalling for the highest combination
UE-EUTRA-Capability
ue-Category = 4
   ue-Category-v1020 = 7
   ue-Category-v1170 = 10
      ue-Category-v11a0 = 12
      ue-CategoryDL-r12 = 12
      ue-CategoryUL-r12 = 13
         ue-CategoryDL-v1260 = 16

UE category Narrow Band

Category	3GPP release	Downlink				Uplink			Total layer 2 buffer size
		Maximum number of DL-SCH transport block bits received within a TTI		Maximum number of bits of a DL-SCH transport block received within a TTI	Total number of soft channel bits	Maximum number of UL-SCH transport block bits transmitted within a TTI		Maximum number of bits of an UL-SCH transport block transmitted within a TTI	Total layer 2 buffer size
			(Kbit/s)		Total number of soft channel bits		(Kbit/s)		Bytes
NB1	Rel 13	680	680	680	2112	1000	1000	1000	4000
NB2	Rel 14	2536	2536	2536	6400	2536	2536	2536	8000

RRC UECapabilityInformation-NB
ue-Category-NB-r13 ENUMERATED {nb1}