RSRQ is used to determine the best cell for LTE radio connection

RSRQ is used to determine the best cell for LTE radio connection at a certain geographic
location. However, while RSRP is the absolute strength of the reference radio signals, RSRQ is
the signal-to-noise ratio. Like RSRP, RSRQ can be used as the criterion for initial cell selection
or handover. If a UE changes its location or if radio conditions change due to other reasons and RSRP (i.e., the absolute signal strength of the reference signals) remains stable or becomes even better than before.
Similar to what was described for RSRP, for RSRQ also three quality ranges can be defined, but the
numbers here are still very uncertain since no loaded network environment has yet been monitored,
due to the fact that the number of calls and location of subscribers are limited during field trials. All in
all, it seems that in general RSRQ values higher than−9 dB guarantee the best subscriber experience.
The range between−9and−12 dB can be seen as neutral with a slight degradation of QoS, but
overall customer experience is still at a fair level. Starting with RSRQ values of−13 dB and lower,
things become worse with significant declines of throughput and a high risk of call drop.