Real-world experiences with CQI-based analyses for dense LTE networks

Much work has been done in the area of telecommunications transmission parameters and, in particular, Channel Quality Indicators, to analyse the best ways to improve the performance and quality of communications. However, there is a gap in published papers when it comes to real-world experiences with CQI reports and network-side analysis of transmission parameters that can provide information about user equipment and network elements behaviour. In this paper, we present our experiences with a real-world analysis of dense LTE networks, focusing on two main aspects - what information can CQI reports give us about the behaviour of user equipment in the network, and what information do they provide in relation to the individual network elements. We show what insights can be derived from a network wide statistical analysis of CQI reports and how these insights can be further used by operators to understand potential problems in their network.