Differences Between RSSI, RSRP, and RSRQ

Understanding The Differences Between RSSI vs. RSRP vs. RSRQ.

RSRP is a metric specific to 4G LTE that looks at the average of all the RF power in the passband. It measures the average amount of resource elementals that carry reference signals that are cell-specific over the entirety of the bandwidth.

RSSI is certainly a valid metric to use but is better utilized for 3G technologies including CDMA1X and GSM. RSSI looks at the combined total of the RF power in the passband of the channel, including thermal noise and interference.

RSRQ is a measurement type C/I. It indicates the quality of the received reference signal. RSRQ measurement provides more info when RSRP is not sufficient to make a cell reselection or reliable handover decision.