Enter the channel throughput (b/s), the channel bandwidth (hz), and the channel utilization (%) into the calculator to determine the Spectral Efficiency. 

Spectral Efficiency Formula

The following formula is used to calculate the Spectral Efficiency.

Espect = T / (B*U/100)
  • Where (b/s/Hz) is the Spectral Efficiency ((b/s/Hz))
  • T is the channel throughput (b/s) 
  • B is the channel bandwidth (hz) 
  • U is the channel utilization (%) 

To calculate the spectral efficiency, divide the channel throughput by the product of the channel bandwidth and channel utilization rate.

How to Calculate Spectral Efficiency?

The following example problems outline how to calculate the Spectral Efficiency.

Example Problem #1

  1. First, determine the channel throughput (b/s). In this example, the channel throughput (b/s) is given as 75 .
  2. Next, determine the channel bandwidth (hz). For this problem, the channel bandwidth (hz) is given as  200 .
  3. Next, determine the channel utilization (%). In this case, the channel utilization (%) is found to be 75.
  4. Finally, calculate the Spectral Efficiency using the formula above: 

Espect = T / (B*U/100)

Inserting the values from above and solving yields: 

Espect = 75/ (200*75/100) = .50 ((b/s/Hz))

Example Problem #2

Using the same method as above, determine the variables required by the equation. For this example problem, these are provided as:

channel throughput (b/s) = 50

channel bandwidth (hz) = 300

channel utilization (%) = 20

Enter these given values yields: 

Espect = 50 / (300*20/100) = .833 ((b/s/Hz))