Improving CQI for LTE

CQI is fixed as per modulation, so if you want to have batter CQI..improve your SINR.

you will using only 1 carrier, so try to remove overlapping ( reduce the number of server
within 3, 5 & 10 Db).
also, if possible then make Your PCI plan as per MOD3,MOD6 & MOD30.

For uplink.

for parameters, i dont think you will be allowed to change :-(

i can recommend some parameters..on which vendor you are working??

from radio side below are the points to check.

Uplink scheduling overview
BSR (Buffer Status Report)
PHR (Power Headroom Report) is the UE at maximum power?
Cell bandwidth vs. maximum allowable PRBs
Link Adaptation
MCS available and 16QAM
PDCCH SIB scheduling colliding with UL grant

you can check these parameters .

dlChannelBandwidth / ulChannelBandwidth
(nrOfSymbolsPdcch) (Control Region Size)
noOfUsedTxAntennas controls whether OLSM MIMO is used (2) or not.
partOfRadioPower NOTE: this is the % part of RU capability independent of
SectorEquipmentFunction::confOutputPower settings
pZeroNominalPucch some UEs need this to be increased or ACK/NACKs are not
received successfully on PUCCH.
pZeroNominalPusch some UEs need this to be increased from default or lots of errors
seen on PUSCH
SectorEquipmentFunction=Sx
confOutputPower / fqBand (readOnly)
DataRadioBearer
Various parameters for RLC status reporting and retransmission. Should be set to
recommended values.
MACConfiguration
xxMaxHARQTx enable (>1) or disable (1) HARQ. Recommended to use 4 HARQTx.
tPeriodicBSRTimer seen in UE testing to have some impact, recommend to set to 5ms.
tTimeAlignmentTimer seen in UE testing to have some impact, recommend to set to
5120ms