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Features of CDMA

The following features are unique to CDMA


technology:

• Universal frequency reuse


• Fast and accurate power control
• Rake receiver

• Different types of handoff

Frequency reuse
The frequency spectrum is a limited resource. Therefore, wireless telephony, like
radio, must reuse frequency assignments.

For example, two radio stations might transmit at 91.3 FM. There is no interference
as long as the radio stations are far enough apart.
FDMA and TDMA frequency reuse planning
A frequency (channel) can be used again within an FDMA or TDMA network, but cells
using the same frequency must be separated by an appropriate distance.

Adjacent cells must be assigned a different set of frequencies. For example, a cell
using frequency A must not be adjacent to another cell using frequency A.

As a result, each cell site in the site is able to use only 1/7 of the possible
frequencies.
CDMA frequency reuse planning
Each BTS in a CDMA network can use all available frequencies. Adjacent cells can
transmit at the same frequency because users are separated by code channels, not
frequency channels.

This feature of CDMA, called "frequency reuse of one," eliminates the need for
frequency planning.
Power control
Power control is a CDMA feature that enables mobiles to adjust the power at which
they transmit. This ensures that the base station receives all signals at the
appropriate power.

The CDMA network independently controls the power at which each mobile
transmits.

Both forward and reverse links use power control techniques.


Why power control is needed
If all mobiles
transmitted
at the same
power level,
the base
station would
receive
unnecessarily
strong
signals from
mobiles
nearby and
extremely
weak signals
from mobiles
that are far
away. This
would reduce
the capacity
of the
system.

This problem
is called the
near-far
problem.
Rake Receiver
The rake receiver is a CDMA feature that turns what is a problem in other
technologies into an advantage for CDMA.

How the rake receiver works


CDMA's rake receiver is multiple receivers in one. The
rake receiver identifies the three strongest multi-path
signals and combines them to produce one very strong
signal.

The rake receiver therefore uses multipath to reduce


the power the transmitter must send.

Both the mobile and the BTS use rake receivers.

handoff in CDMA

Handoff is the process of transferring a call from one


cell to another. This is necessary to continue the call as
the phone travels.

CDMA is unique in how it handles handoff.

Types of CDMA handoff


CDMA has three primary types of handoff:

• hard
• soft
• idle

The type of handoff depends on the handoff situation.

Types of CDMA handoff


CDMA has three primary types of handoff:

• hard
• soft
• idle

The type of handoff depends on the handoff situation.

Soft handoff
A soft handoff establishes a connection with the new BTS prior to breaking the
connection with the old one. This is possible because CDMA cells use the same
frequency and because the mobile uses a rake receiver.

The CDMA mobile assists the network in the handoff. The mobile detects a new pilot
as it travels to the next coverage area. The new base station then establishes a
connection with the mobile. This new communication link is established while the
mobile maintains the link with the old BTS.

Soft handoffs are also called "make-before-break."


Soft handoff in action

Variations of the soft handoff


There are two variations of soft handoffs involving handoffs between sectors within a
BTS:

• Softer
• Soft-softer

The softer handoff occurs between two sectors of the same BTS. The BTS decodes
and combines the voice signal from each sector and forwards the combined voice
frame to the BSC. The soft-softer handoff is combination handoff involving multiple
cells and multiple sectors within one of the cells.
CDMA hard handoff
A hard handoff requires the mobile to break the connection with the old BTS prior to
making the connection with the new one. CDMA phones use a hard handoff when
moving from a CDMA system to an analog system because soft handoffs are not
possible in analog systems.

A Pilot Beacon Unit (PBU) at the analog cell site alerts the phone that it is reaching
the edge of CDMA coverage. The phone switches from digital to analog mode as
during the hard handoff.

Hard handoffs are also called "break-before-make."

When does CDMA use a hard handoff?


The CDMA hard handoff may be used when moving from a CDMA network to an
analog one. It may also be used when moving to a different:

• RF channel
• MTSO
• Carrier
• Market

Analog to CDMA handoff is not available due to the limitations of analog technology.
CDMA idle handoff
An idle handoff occurs when the phone is in idle
mode. The mobile will detect a pilot signal that is
stronger than the current pilot. The mobile is always
searching for the pilots from any neighboring BTS.
When it finds a stronger signal, the mobile simply
begins attending to the new pilot.

An idle handoff occurs without any assistance from


the BTS.
Advantages of CDMA

CDMA technology has numerous advantages


including:

• Coverage
• Capacity
• Clarity
• Cost
• Compatibility

• Customer satisfaction

Coverage
CDMA's features result in coverage that is between
1.7 and 3 times that of TDMA:

• Power control helps the network dynamically


expand the coverage area.

• Coding and interleaving provide the ability to


cover a larger area for the same amount of
available power used in other systems.
Capacity
CDMA capacity is ten to twenty times that of analog systems, and it's up to four
times that of TDMA. Reasons for this include:

• CDMA's universal frequency reuse


• CDMA users are separated by codes, not frequencies
• Power control minimizes interference, resulting in maximized capacity.

CDMA's soft handoff also helps increase capacity. This is because a soft handoff
requires less power.
Clarity
Often CDMA systems can achieve "wireline" clarity because of CDMA's strong digital
processing. Specifically:

• The rake receiver reduces errors


• The variable rate vocoder reduces the amount of data transmitted per person,
reducing interference.
• The soft handoff also reduces power requirements and interference.
• Power control reduces errors by keeping power at an optimal level.
• CDMA's wide band signal reduces fading.
• Encoding and interleaving reduce errors that result from fading.
Cost
CDMA's better coverage and capacity result in cost benefits:

• Increased coverage per BTS means fewer are needed to cover a given area.
This reduces infrastructure costs for the providers.
• Increased capacity increases the service provider's revenue potential.

CDMA costs per subscriber has steadily declined since 1995 for both cellular and PCS
applications.
Compatibility
CDMA phones are usually dual mode. This means they
can work in both CDMA systems and analog cellular
systems.

Some CDMA phones are dual band as well as dual


mode. They can work in CDMA mode in the PCS band,
CDMA mode in the cellular band, or analog mode in
an analog cellular network.

Customer satisfaction
CDMA results in greater customer satisfaction because CDMA provides better:

• Voice quality
• Longer battery life due to reduced power requirements
• No cross-talk because of CDMA's unique coding
• Privacy--again, because of coding.
• CDMA: stands for Code Division Multiple Access. Both data and voice are
separated from signals using codes and then transmited using a wide frequency
range. Because of this, there are more space left for data transfer (this was one of
the reasons why CDMA is the prefered technology for the 3G generation, which is
broadband access and the use of big multimedia messages). 14% of the worldwide
market goes to CDMA. For the 3G generation CDMA uses 1x EV-DO and EV-DV. It
has a lot of users in Asia, specially in South Korea.
• GSM: stands for Global System Mobile. Even though it is sold as "the latest
technology" in several countries, this technology is older than CDMA (and also
TDMA). But keep in mind that this doesn't mean that GSM is inferior or worse than
CDMA. Roaming readiness and fraud prevention are two major advantages from
this technology. GSM is the most used cell phone technology in the world, with
73% of the worldwide market. It has a very strong presence in Europe.

TDMA technology is the less used from the three main digital technologies (GSM, CDMA
and TDMA) and we think it will gradually be replaced to CDMA or GSM. That's why the
GSM vs CDMA war. At one corner, GSM operators say it is better "because it uses a SIM
chip, it is the most used technology worldwide, it is more secure and it is more
advanced". On the other corner, CDMA followers say it is better "because it is the 3G
generation chosen technology and GSM will migrate to CDMA since CDMA is more
advanced..."

But which one of these statements are correct? Acordingly to Nokia, "this discussion is
not about technology anymore, but about market". We think this is the best way to
describe the war between these two cell phone technologies.

In the beginning, GSM was in fact superior. It had more services and allowed more data
transfer. But CDMA, facing the advantages of the competitor standard, soon delivered the
same features found on GSM. Nowadays, it is not possible to say that GSM services are
better than CDMA. Multimedia messages, video, high-speed Internet access, digital
camera and even PDA function are some of the features we can found on both
technologies. The new CDMA 1XRTT technology, which previews what G3 cell phones
will bring, is more advanced than EDGE, technology from the beginning of 3G generation,
allowing higher transfer rates.

Even the GSM SIM card advantage, that allows you to change your cell phone and keep
your phone list, is being surplaced by some CDMA operators with a service that allows
you to store your phone book on the operator's database, allowing you to recover your
phone book even if your cell phone is stolen (which is not possible with GSM, since if your
cell phone is stolen, your SIM card will be stolen together). Notice that recently a new
accessory called SIM backup was released, which allows you to backup the data stored in
your SIM card. Also some GSM operators are offering a similar backup service.

So, nowadays both technologies are equiparated in technology, but this picture won't be
like that in the future. Afterall, CDMA evolution ground is wider and in a few years it will
be superior than GSM. This means that GSM operators will disapear? Not at all. They will
migrate over CDMA and the war will continue, because the existing CDMA operators chose
to use 1xEV-DO and1XEV-DV technologies for their 3G network and the existing GSM
operators have opted for a different technology, called WCDMA. Also, even though the
current GSM operators will migrate to WCDMA, they still can use their existing GSM
network. So users won't feel anything special when the operators shift to the new cell
generation (3G), independently from the technology they choose.
In this module you learned about CDMA features such as:

• Universal frequency reuse


• Power control
• Rake receiver
• Different types of handoff

You also learned how these features provide advantages such as:

• Coverage
• Capacity
• Clarity
• Cost
• Compatibility
• Customer satisfaction

Features of cdma n spread spectrum---http://www.wb.nic.in/nicnet/cband1.html


 AMPS: stands for Advanced Mobile Phone Service. Analog cell system.
 TDMA: stands for Time Division Multiple Access. It works by dividing the
spectrum into frequency channels and each user uses each channel for a specific
time, to avoid interference.
 CDMA 1XRTT: Second generation technology (2.5G, actually) which allows data
transfers up to 144 Kbps.
 EDGE: stands for Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution. Technology
promoted by GSM operators. Before migrating to WCDMA, EDGE will allow third
generation data and voice access with 384 kbps transfer rate.
 EV-DO: Third generation (3G) fromCDMA 1xEV-DO technology. "EV" comes
from and "DO" from data-only. It uses a second channel, of 1.25 MHz, exclusively for
data transmission. Some countries are already running this standard. In the USA,
Verizon and Sprint started this technology in 2004. This tecnology allows hi-speed
Internet access (2.4 Mbps) using the cell phone or using a wireless connection from
a laptop or PDA.
 EV-DV: Evolution of EV-DO, but still under development. "DV" comes from data-
and-voice. It uses the same channel for trasmiting data and voice. The transfer rate
can reach 5.2 Mbps.
 WCDMA: Wideband CDMA. Third generation technology that will be adopted by
GSM operators. Its European version is known as UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System). It can reach transfer rates up to 2 Mbps.

#######################$$$@@@@@@$$$#######################

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications and CDMA stands
for Code Division Multiple Access. They represent different systems of sharing
of the radio spectrum for communication.

Normally the radio spectrum can be shared by different users accessing the
same frequency band without causing interference. The techniques used for this
are TDMA (Time division multiple access), FDMA (Frequency division
multiple access) and CDMA (Code division multiple access).

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is a form of multiplexing,


which divides the available bandwidth among the different channels.

GSM is a combination of Time and Frequency-Division Multiple Access


(TDMA/FDMA). The FDMA part involves the division by frequency of the
(maximum) 25 MHz bandwidth into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200 kHz
apart. Each of these carrier frequencies is then divided in time, using a TDMA
scheme. The fundamental unit of time in this TDMA scheme is called a burst
period and it lasts 15/26 ms (or approx. 0.577 ms). Eight burst periods are
grouped into a TDMA frame (120/26 ms, or approx. 4.615 ms), which forms
the basic unit for the definition of logical channels. One physical channel is one
burst period per TDMA frame. Thus GSM allows eight simultaneous calls on
the same radio frequency.

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is a form of multiplexing (access to


the same resource will be given to more than one user),which allows the use of
a particular frequency for a number of signals, optimizing the use of available
bandwidth. It is a cellular technology that uses spread-spectrum techniques. In
CDMA technology every channel uses the full available spectrum. Individual
conversations are encoded with a pseudo-random digital sequence.

CDMA employs analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) in combination with


spread spectrum technology. Audio input is first digitized (ADC) into binary
elements. The frequency of the transmitted signal is then made to vary
according to a defined pattern (code), so it can be intercepted only by a receiver
whose frequency response is programmed with the same code, so it follows
exactly along with the transmitter frequency. There are trillions of possible
frequency-sequencing codes; this enhances privacy and makes cloning difficult.
The technology is used in ultra-high-frequency (UHF) cellular telephone
systems in the 800-MHz and 1.9-GHz bands.

GSM was first introduced in 1991 and until recently before the establishment of
CDMA networks, GSM was the only mobile communication system present in
the market. CDMA was first used during World War II by the English allies to
foil German attempts at jamming transmissions. The allies decided to transmit
over several frequencies, instead of one, making it difficult for the Germans to
pick up the complete signal.

Since bandwidth is the major problem in the modern times the CDMA has a
very clear advantage over the GSM in these terms. The number of
channels(users) that can be allocated in a given bandwidth is comparatively
higher for CDMA than for GSM. The cost of setting up a CDMA network is
also comparatively less than the GSM network. Due to these advantages there
is high probability that CDMA technology will dominate the future of mobile
communications.
The technologies are normally evaluated on the following three parameters
namely the data transmission capacity, security and radiation levels.

Following table indicates the data transmission of different technologies.:

Cellular technology Generation Data transmission capacity


GSM 2G 56 Kps
CDMA (IS-95B) 2.5G 64 Kps - 140 Kps
CDMA 2000 3G 2 MBps

The idea of technology with superior security is not a new one. In 1935, a
Russian researcher Dmitrii Vasilevich AGEEV, published his book "The basics
of linery selection theory", where he explained the concept of coding the
signals. After the WWII, Soviet and American military communication systems
started to use the concept very widely because of many valuable advantages of
the system. The origin concept of CDMA scheme was recommended by
QUALCOMM (the famous communication provider in the US and worldwide),
however Korean research institute, ETRI and companies like Hyundai, LG, and
Samsung performed its realization for the first time in the world in 1995. As of
today many countries have accepted it as a national standard of mobile
communication and worldwide number of CDMA subscribers has climbed to
over 100 million.

As already explained, CDMA uses a radically different approach to what GSM


does. It assigns a unique "code" to put multiple users on the same wideband
channel at the same time. The codes so-called "pseudo-random code sequence"
is used by both the mobile station (handset) and the base station to distinguish
between conversations. This gives a greater level of privacy and security to the
communication.

As far as radiation level concerned, CDMA is the most harmless one among all
existing technologies. Of course, it transmits microwaves while on standby
mode, like other technologies do. However, CDMA technology checks 800
times per second its transmission level. Therefore, radiation level is 10 times
less than GSM. Another important thing to point out is that CDMA system
transmits signals only when the user starts conversation. Simply saying, when
you're listening the other ends conversation, you are not affected by microwave
as the speaking person does.
It appears that CDMA would be the dominating technology in future and
Mobile Forensics has to gear itself to the requirements of the CDMA
technology.

CDMA uses a “spread-spectrum” technique whereby electromagnetic energy is spread to allow


for a signal with a wider bandwidth. This allows multiple people on multiple cell phones to be
“multiplexed” over the same channel to share a bandwidth of frequencies.

With CDMA technology, data and voice packets are separated using codes and then
transmitted using a wide frequency range. Since more space is often allocated for data with
CDMA, this standard became attractive for 3G high-speed mobile Internet use.

The CDMA standard was originally designed by Qualcomm in the U.S. and is primarily used in
the U.S. and portions of Asia by other carriers. Sprint,Virgin Mobile and Verizon Wireless use
CDMA while T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM.

While CDMA and GSM compete head on in terms of higher bandwidth speed (i.e. for surfing the
mobile Web), GSM has more complete global coverage due to roaming and international
roaming contracts.

GSM technology tends to cover rural areas in the U.S. more completely than CDMA. Over time,
CDMA won out over less advanced TDMA technology, which was incorporated into more
advanced GSM.

1-G~~In the world of cell phones, 1G signifies first-generation wireless analog technology
standards that originated in the 1980s. 1G was replaced by 2G wireless digital standards.

2-G~~In the world of cell phones, 2G signifies second-generation wireless digital technology.
Fully digital 2G networks replaced analog 1G, which originated in the 1980s.

2G networks saw their first commercial light of day on the GSM standard. GSM stands forglobal
system for mobile communications.

2G on GSM standards were first used in commercial practice in 1991 by Radiolinja, which was
a Finnish GSM operator founded on Sept. 19, 1988. Radiolinja is now part of Elisa, which was
known in the 1990s as the Helsinki Telephone Company.

3-G~~In addition to the GSM protocol, 2G also utilizes various other digital protocols including
CDMA, TDMA, iDEN and PDC. GSM is based on TDMA. 2.5Gbridged 2G to 3G.

3G is the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology. 3G


supersedes 2G technology and precedes 4G technology. 2.5G was a temporary bridge
between 2G and 3G.

3G technologies enabled faster data-transmission speeds, greater network capacity and more
advanced network services.

The first pre-commercial 3G network launched in May 2001 by NTT DoCoMo in Japan. The
network was branded as FOMA. Following the first pre-commercial launch, NTT DoCoMo again
made history with the first commercial launch of 3G in Japan on Oct. 1, 2001.

4-G~~ Following the evolutionary line of cell phone technology standards that has spanned
from 1G, 2G, 2.5G to 3G, 4G describes the entirely brave new world beyond
advanced 3G networks.

4G, which is also known as “beyond 3G” or “fourth-generation” cell phone technology, refers
to the entirely new evolution and a complete 3G replacement in wireless communications.
Just as data-transmission speeds increased from 2G to 3G, the leap from 3G to 4G again
promises even higher data rates than existed in previous generations. 4G promises voice, data
and high-quality multimedia in real-time (“streamed”) form all the time and anywhere.

Various standardization and regulatory bodies estimate the launch of 4G networks


commercially between 2012 and 2015.

{{http://mobiletechtime.com/?p=28

Wikipedia
Cdma Chipsets
CDMA Chipsets is a popular Chipsets used in 3G and 2G mobile phonesmanufactured
by Qualcomm Inc.} }

CDMA Technology.ppt (Size:


302 KB / Downloads: 79)

An Introduction
To
CDMA Technology
Introduction
Short for Code Division Multiple
Access
Developed by US company
-QUALACOMM
Digital technology for
delivering mobile telephone
services
uses spread-spectrum techniques

IS-95 CDMA

is based on IS-95 Technology


Supports 95 million subscribers
worldwide
Network operate in 800 & 1900
freq. band
Provides voice & data services
having speed upto 64 kbits/sec
SMS services also

Benefits of CDMA
Increased Capacity
Improved Quality
Simplified System Planning
Enhanced Privacy
Improved Coverage
Increased Portable Talk Time
Bandwidth on Demand

CDMA-Applications
CDMA for Cellular
CDMA-Short Message Service
Over-the-Air Activation
CDMA Data and Fax
Subscriber Access Control
CDMA for Personal
Communications Services

Conclusion
Technology of choice for 3G
generation because of it’s
Greater total capacity
Outstanding voice quality
Fewer dropped calls

RF planning and implementation is

Reference: http://www.seminarprojects.com/Thread-cdma-technology-full-download-
seminar-report-and-paper-presentation#ixzz0uVbGro00

CDMA Technology

Abstract :

CDMA was developed by QUALCOMM Incorporated, a company in San Diego, California.


QUALCOMM engineers decided to do something different and applied spread
spectrum techniques to a multiple access system, which ultimately became CDMA.
In spread spectrum, instead of giving each person a channel, or each group of 3 or 8 people
a time slot, CDMA puts everyone in the same channel at the same time.
At first thought, it would seem to be an impossible task to make work, but it does work. The
reason it works is explained in the first two words of CDMA, Code Division.
Each user in the system is separated from every other user by a unique digital code. And, to
make sure everyone could have one of these codes of their own, engineers designed 4.4
trillion of them into the system specification.
The fact is, each user is provided their own code for the reverse link. On the forward link, a
group of codes is available for users of the system. There is a little more digital processing
going on here that will be explained in more detail later. For now, once CDMA processing is
complete, the information is converted to an RF signal and sent out over the air link.

Reference: http://www.seminarprojects.com/Thread-cdma-technology-full-download-
seminar-report-and-paper-presentation#ixzz0uVbRrFM8

******http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/jesudass-295961-cdma-09sec03-ajay-
balakumaran-science-technology-ppt-powerpoint/******
http://sciencestage.com/v/22445/lecture-39-gsm-and-cdma-(contd.).html

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/medoia-86139-cdma-education-ppt-
powerpoint/

ACCESS SCHEMES

For radio systems there are two resources, frequency and time. Division by frequency, so that
each pair of communicators is allocated part of the spectrum for all of the time, results in
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA). Division by time, so that each pair of
communicators is allocated all (or at least a large part) of the spectrum for part of the time
results in Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). In Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA), every communicator will be allocated the entire spectrum all of the time. CDMA
uses codes to identify connections.

Multiple Access Schemes

CODING

CDMA uses unique spreading codes to spread the baseband data before transmission. The
signal is transmitted in a channel, which is below noise level. The receiver then uses a
correlator to despread the wanted signal, which is passed through a narrow bandpass filter.
Unwanted signals will not be despread and will not pass through the filter. Codes take the
form of a carefully designed one/zero sequence produced at a much higher rate than that of
the baseband data. The rate of a spreading code is referred to as chip rate rather than bit rate.
See coding process page for more details.
CDMA spreading

CODES

CDMA codes are not required to provide call security, but create a uniqueness to enable call
identification. Codes should not correlate to other codes or time shifted version of itself.
Spreading codes are noise like pseudo-random codes, channel codes are designed for
maximum separation from each other and cell identification codes are balanced not to
correlate to other codes of itself.
See codes page for more details.
Example OVSF codes, used in channel coding

THE SPREADING PROCESS

WCDMA uses Direct Sequence spreading, where spreading process is done by directly
combining the baseband information to high chip rate binary code. The Spreading Factor is
the ratio of the chips (UMTS = 3.84Mchips/s) to baseband information rate. Spreading factors
vary from 4 to 512 in FDD UMTS. Spreading process gain can in expressed in dBs
(Spreading factor 128 = 21dB gain).
See spreading page for more details.

CDMA spreading

POWER CONTROL

CDMA is interference limited multiple access system. Because all users


transmit on the same frequency, internal interference generated by the system is
the most significant factor in determining system capacity and call quality. The
transmit power for each user must be reduced to limit interference, however,
the power should be enough to maintain the required Eb/No (signal to noise
ratio) for a satisfactory call quality. Maximum capacity is achieved when
Eb/No of every user is at the minimum level needed for the acceptable channel
performance. As the MS moves around, the RF environment continuously
changes due to fast and slow fading, external interference, shadowing , and
other factors. The aim of the dynamic power control is to limit transmitted
power on both the links while maintaining link quality under all conditions.
Additional advantages are longer mobile battery life and longer life span of
BTS power amplifiers
See UMTS power control page for more details.

HANDOVER

Handover occurs when a call has to be passed from one cell to another as the
user moves between cells. In a traditional "hard" handover, the connection to
the current cell is broken, and then the connection to the new cell is made. This
is known as a "break-before-make" handover. Since all cells in CDMA use the
same frequency, it is possible to make the connection to the new cell before
leaving the current cell. This is known as a "make-before-break" or "soft"
handover. Soft handovers require less power, which reduces interference and
increases capacity. Mobile can be connected to more that two BTS the
handover. "Softer" handover is a special case of soft handover where the radio
links that are added and removed belong to the same Node B.
See Handover page for more details.
CDMA soft handover

MULTIPATH AND RAKE RECEIVERS

One of the main advantages of CDMA systems is the capability of using


signals that arrive in the receivers with different time delays. This phenomenon
is called multipath. FDMA and TDMA, which are narrow band systems, cannot
discriminate between the multipath arrivals, and resort to equalization to
mitigate the negative effects of multipath. Due to its wide bandwidth and rake
receivers, CDMA uses the multipath signals and combines them to make an
even stronger signal at the receivers. CDMA subscriber units use rake
receivers. This is essentially a set of several receivers. One of the receivers
(fingers) constantly searches for different multipaths and feeds the information
to the other three fingers. Each finger then demodulates the signal
corresponding to a strong multipath. The results are then combined together to
make the signal stronger.

----------------------------------------------

WCDMA

WCDMA Spreading

TDD WCDMA uses spreading factors 4 - 512 to spread the base band data over
~5MHz band. Spreading factor in dBs indicates the process gain. Spreading
factor 128 = 21 dB process gain). Interference margin is calculated from that:

Interference Margin = Process Gain - (Required SNR + System Losses)

Required Signal to Noise Ration is typically about 5 dB


 System losses are defined as losses in receiver path. System losses are
typically 4 - 6 dBs

Overview of Spreading Process

3G and LAN Date Speeds

Here are the theoretical maximum data speeds of 2G, 2.5G, 3G and beyond,
and compared to LAN data speeds.
Data Speed of Mobile Systems (top) and LANs (bottom)

3G and UMTS Technology

Mobile data communications is evolving


quickly because of Internet, Intranet,
Laptops, PDAs and increased
requirements of workforce mobility. 3G
UMTS will be the commercial
convergence of fixed line telephony,
mobile, Internet and computer technology. New technologies are required to
deliver high speed location and mobile terminal specific content to users. The
emergence of new technologies thus provides an opportunity for a similar
boom what the computer industry had in 1980s, and Internet and wireless voice
had in 1990s.

The main IMT-2000 standardisation effort was to create a new air interface that
would increase frequency usage efficiency. The WCDMA air interface was
selected for paired frequency bands (FDD operation) and TDCDMA (TDD
operation) for unpaired spectrum. 3G CDMA2000 standard was created to
support IS-95 evolution.

The UMTS transport network is required


to handle high data traffic. A number of
factors were considered when selecting a
transport protocol: bandwidth efficiency,
quality of service, standardisation stability,
speech delay sensitivity and the permitted
maximum number of concurrent users. In
the UMTS network, ATM (Asynchronous
Transfer Mode) is defined for the
connection between UTRAN and the core network and may also be used within
the core network. In addition to the IMT-2000 frame many new standards will
be integrated as part of the next generation mobile systems. Bluetooth and other
close range communication protocols and several different operating systems
will be used in mobiles. Internet will come to mobiles with WAP, i-mode and
XML protocols. 3G development has helped to start the standardisation and
development of large family of technologies.

This section covers some of the core UMTS technologies and it will be updated
regularly.
3G
Network
Planning
Basics
1. Planning 5. Radio Access Network Design
2. Coverage Planning 6. Core Network Design
3. Capacity Planning 7. Transmission Design
4. General Guidelines 8. The Summary
Cdma2000

Cdma2000 specification was developed by the Third Generation Partnership


Project 2 (3GPP2), a partnership consisting of five telecommunications
standards bodies: ARIB and TTC in Japan, CWTS in China, TTA in Korea and
TIA in North America. Cdma2000 has already been implemented to several
networks as an evolutionary step from cdmaOne as cdma2000 provides full
backward compatibility with IS-95B. Cdma2000 is not constrained to only the
IMT-2000 band, but operators can also overlay acdma2000 1x system, which
supports 144 kbps now and data rates up to 307 kbps in the future, on top of
their existing cdmaOne network.

The evolution of cdma2000 1x is labeled cdma2000 1xEV. 1xEV will be


implemented in steps: 1xEV-DO and 1xEV-DV. 1xEV-DO stands for "1x
Evolution Data Only". 1xEV-DV stands for "1x Evolution Data and Voice".
Both 1xEV cdma2000 evolution steps will use a standard 1.25 MHz carrier.
1xEV-DO probably will be available for cdma2000 operators during 2002 and
1xEV-DV solutions will be available approximately late 2003 or early 2004.

Cdma2000 1x EV-DO and cdma2000 3x are an ITU-approved, IMT-2000


(3G) standards. Cdma2000 3x is part of what the ITU has termed IMT-2000
CDMA MC (Multi Carrier). It uses less that 5 MHz spectrum (3x 1.25 MHz
channels) to give speeds of over 2 Mbps. Cdma2000 1x with lower data speed
is considered to be a 2.5G technology.

Cdma2000 Technical summary

Frequency band: Any existing band.


Minimum frequency band required: 1x: 2x1.25MHz, 3x: 2x3.75
Chip rate: 1x: 1.2288, 3x: 3.6864 Mcps
Maximum user data rate: 1x: 144 kbps now, 307 kbps in the future 1xEV-
DO: max 384 kbps - 2.4 Mbps, 1xEV-DV: 4.8 Mbps.
Frame length: 5ms, 10ms or 20ms
Power control rate: 800 Hz
Spreading factors: 4 ... 256 UL
TDCDMA

UTRA TDD is planned to operate in the unpaired spectrum. TDD uses a


combined time division and code division multiple access scheme. It is base on
radio access technique proposed by ETSI Delta group and the specifications
was finalised 1999.

TDD Technical Summary

Frequency band:1900 MHz -1920 MHz and 2010 MHz - 2025 MHz (Time
Division Duplex) Unpaired, channel spacing is 5 MHz and raster is 200 kHz.
Tx and Rx are not separated in frequency, but by guard period.
Minimum frequency band required: ~ 5MHz, ~ 1.6MHz with 1.28 Mcps
Frequency re-use: 1
Voice coding: AMR (and GSM EFR) codec
Channel coding: Convolutional coding, Turbo code for high rate data
TDMA frame consist of 15 timeslots
Each time slot can be transmit of receive
Duplexer not needed
Asymmetric connection supported
Data by packet and circuit switch
QPSK modulation
Receiver: Joint Detection, (mobile: Rake)
Chip rate: 3.84 Mcps or 1.28 Mcps
Channel raster: 200 kHz
Maximum RF ch bit rate (kbps): ~ 3.3Mbps (1/2 rate coding, spreading
factor 1, 15 timeslots, ex overheads), but interference limited
Frame length: 10ms
Number of slots / frame: 15
Handovers: Hard
Power control period: 100 Hz or 200 Hz UL, ~ 800 Hz DL
Power control step size: 1, 2, 3 dB (Variable)
Power control range: UL 65dB, DL 30dB
Mobile peak power: Power class 1: +33 dBm (+1dB/-3dB) = 2W; class 2 +27
dBm, class 3 +24 dBm, class 4 +21 dBm
Number of unique base station identification
codes: 512/frequency
Physical layer spreading factors: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16

WCDMA (UMTS)

Wideband Code-Division Multiple-Access (W-CDMA)


is one of the main technologies for the implementation
of third-generation (3G) cellular systems. It is base on radio access technique
proposed by ETSI Alpha group and the specifications was finalised 1999.

The implementation of W-CDMA will be a technical challenge because of it's


complexity and versatility. The complexity of W-CDMA systems can be
viewed from different angles: the complexity of each single algorithm, the
complexity of the overall system and the computational complexity of a
receiver. W-CDMA link-level simulations are over 10 times more compute-
intensive than current second-generation simulations. In W-CDMA interface
different users can simultaneously transmit at different data rates and data rates
can even vary in time. UMTS networks need to support all current second
generation services and numerous new applications and services.

FDD Technical summary

Frequency band:1920 MHz -1980 MHz and 2110 MHz - 2170 MHz
(Frequency Division Duplex) UL and DL [more]
Minimum frequency band required: ~ 2x5MHz
Frequency re-use: 1
Carrier Spacing: 4.4MHz - 5.2 MHz
Maximum number of (voice) channels on 2x5MHz: ~196 (spreading factor
256 UL, AMR 7.95kbps) / ~98 (spreading factor 128 UL, AMR 12.2kbps)
Voice coding: AMR codecs (4.75 kHz - 12.2 kHz, GSM EFR=12.2 kHz) and
SID (1.8 kHz)
Channel coding: Convolutional coding, Turbo code for high rate data
Duplexer needed (190MHz separation), Asymmetric connection supported
Tx/Rx isolation: MS: 55dB, BS: 80dB
Receiver: Rake
Receiver sensitivity: Node B: -121dBm, Mobile -117dBm at BER of 10-3
Data type: Packet and circuit switch
Modulation: QPSK
Pulse shaping: Root raised cosine, roll-off = 0.22
Chip rate: 3.84 Mcps
Channel raster: 200 kHz
Maximum user data rate (Physical channel): ~ 2.3Mbps (spreading factor 4,
parallel codes (3 DL / 6 UL), 1/2 rate coding), but interference limited.
Maximum user data rate (Offered): 384 kbps (year 2002), higher rates ( ~ 2
Mbps) in the near future. HSPDA will offer data speeds up to 8-10 Mbps (and
20 Mbps for MIMO systems)
Channel bit rate: 5.76Mbps
Frame length: 10ms (38400 chips)
Number of slots / frame: 15
Number of chips / slot: 2560 chips
Handovers: Soft, Softer, (interfrequency: Hard)
Power control period: Time slot = 1500 Hz rate
Power control step size: 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 dB (Variable)
Power control range: UL 80dB, DL 30dB
Mobile peak power: Power class 1: +33 dBm (+1dB/-3dB) = 2W; class 2 +27
dBm, class 3 +24 dBm, class 4 +21 dBm
Number of unique base station identification codes: 512 / frequency
Physical layer spreading factors: 4 ... 256 UL, 4 ... 512 DL

WCDMA (DoCoMo)

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) officially selected


Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) as one of the global
telecom systems for the new IMT-2000 3G mobile communications
standard. NTT DoCoMo is using an ARIB standardised WCDMA solution.
NEC, Ericsson and Lucent were chosen as suppliers to the 3G network
named FOMA.

More: Arib IMT-2000 page and 3G frequency plan page

FOMA WCDMA Technical summary

Frequency band:1920-1980 and 2110-2170 MHz (Frequency Division


Duplex) UL and DL
Minimum frequency band required: 2x5MHz
Chip rate: 4.096 Mcps
Number of slots / frame: 16
TD-SCDMA

Time Division Synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA) was proposed by China


Wireless Telecommunication Standards group (CWTS) and approved by
the ITU in 1999 and technology is being developed by the Chinese Academy of
Telecommunications Technology and Siemens. TD-SCDMA uses the Time
Division Duplex (TDD) mode, which transmits uplink traffic (traffic from the
mobile terminal to the base station) and downlink traffic (traffic from the base
station to the terminal) in the same frame in different time slots. That means
that the uplink and downlink spectrum is assigned flexibly, dependent on the
type of information being transmitted. When asymmetrical data like e-mail and
internet are transmitted from the base station, more time slots are used for
downlink than for uplink. A symmetrical split in the uplink and downlink takes
place with symmetrical services like telephony.

TD-SCDMA Technical Summary

Frequency band: 2010 MHz - 2025 MHz in China (WLL 1900 MHz - 1920
MHz)
Minimum frequency band required: 1.6MHz
Frequency re-use: 1 (or 3)
Chip rate: 1.28 Mcps
Frame length: 10ms
Number of slots: 7
Modulation: QPSK or 8-PSK
Voice data rate: 8kbit/s
Circuit switched services: 12.2 kbits/s, 64 kbits/s, 144 kbits/s, 384 kbits/s,
2048 kbits/s
Packet data: 9.6kbits/s, 64kbits/s, 144kbits/s, 384kbits/s, 2048kbits/s
Receiver: Joint Detection, (mobile: Rake)
Power control period: 200 Hz
Number of slots / frame: 7
Frame length: 5ms
Multi carrier option
Handovers: Hard
Smart antennas
Baton handover
Uplink synchronisation
Physical layer spreading factors: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16

‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
Cdma2000 and UMTS were developed separately and are 2 separate ITU
approved 3G standards. Cdma2000 1xRTT, cdma2000 1xEV-DO (EVolution,
Data Only) and future cdma2000 3x were developed to be backward
compatible with cdmaOne. Both 1x types have the same bandwidth, chip rate
and it can be used in any existing cdmaOne frequency band and network.
Backward compatibility was a requirement for successful deployment for USA
market. It is easy to implement because operators do not need new frequencies.
[more about cdma2000]

UMTS was developed mainly for countries with GSM networks, because these
countries have agreed to free new frequency ranges for UMTS networks.
Because it is a new technology and in a new frequency band, whole new radio
access network has to be build. The advantage is that new frequency range
gives plenty of new capacity for operators. 3GPP is overseeing the standard
development and has wisely kept the core network as close to GSM core
network as possible. UMTS phones are not meant to be backward compatible
with GSM systems. (but subscriptions (=SIM card) can be, and dual mode
phone will solve the compatibility problems, hopefully). UMTS also has 2
flavors FDD (will be implemented first) and TDD.

Some harmonisation has been done between systems (like chip rate and pilot
issues)
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ Why is WCDMA called "Wideband"?

3G WCDMA systems have 5MHz bandwidth (one direction). 5MHz is neither


wide nor narrow; it is just the bandwidth. New 3G WCDMA systems
have wider bandwidth than existing 2G cdma systems (cdmaOne 1.25MHz),
that's why the "Wide". There are commercial cdma systems with 20MHz
bandwidth.
’’; The fastest modems in existence today for standard phone lines (and the fastest which will ever
exist, because they use the full bandwidth which is available) are designed specifically for how the
phone system A/D converters work. They happen to be non-linear, but the real point is that the
threshold for each A/D step is published. When two of these modems establish contact with each
other, they "negotiate" and test the line to see just how high an amplitude the line will permit.
(They also test various steps in between to make sure they understand how the line is being
amplified.) If they can get up to step 237, for instance, then thereafter they will communicate with
each other in modulo 237. On each A/D digitization time (which is also published) the transmitting
modem sends to the phone system a flat voltage representing one of the 237 voltages which the
line permits, and thus this is what will pop out at the receiving modem. Converting binary streams
into arbitrary modulus transmissions and back out again is left as an exercise to the student.

So the modems are designed precisely around the exact characteristics of the land-line, in published
standards.

Unfortunately, CDMA cell phones work entirely differently. For one thing, while the transmissions in
the land-line system are lossless (as long as you stick to the amplitude and step-function levels
which the line will support) that is not the case for CDMA.
CDMA begins with a far more restricted bandwidth per phone call than a landline does. When you
speak into your phone, it is digitized, but then it is passed through a lossy compression device
called a codec. The codec algorithm is specifically designed to take advantage of the fact that
human spoken language is enormously redundant and that the human ear can compensate for
certain kinds of distortion. In fact, humans are extremely good at this, as you'll realize if you've
ever had a conversation at a busy party, or next to high surf, or by a revving motorcycle. Needless
to say, CDMA's codecs don't induce distortion like that.

The CDMA codec deliberately discards useless detail, and by doing so is capable of achieving a
tenfold reduction in the data stream -- or even more in some cases. Now the emphasis here is on
the word useless. Human ears will barely notice that anything has changed, but test equipment
(and modems) can pinpoint the differences very clearly.

This works beautifully for a human voice, and most people find that CDMA with a 13K codec actually
sounds as good as or even better than a landline does. (Landlines suffer from the fact that the voice
traffic covers several miles from the last stage switch to the home, in analog, on copper wires with
little shielding. Distortion and noise are inevitable.) But what the CDMA codec is doing is completely
wrong for how a standard modem wants to use the link.

For one thing, the traffic that a standard modem tries to feed to the phone looks nothing like a
human voice, and the codec is lost at sea. If a standard modem were connected to such a phone,
what would come out at the far end would bear only a passing resemblance to what went in. The
negotiation between the two modems would fail completely and no connection would take place.

The highest transmission rate available as this is written (May 1999) in most CDMA systems is 14.4
kilobits. There simply is no way to cram 56 kilobits through such a channel; Claude Shannon's
Information Theory doesn't permit it. And even at lower rates, what the modem is feeding the
phone is not what the phone is designed to carry. [Soon the cell systems will deploy a new form of
data services which will support much higher data rates. SCDB 2/2000]

The right solution is for digital communications through CDMA to take advantage of the
characteristics of the medium, just as it does through a landline. In this case, it takes advantage of
the fact that the actual link between the cell system and the phone is digital, unlike landlines. When
the phone carries digital data, it bypasses the codec entirely and transmits the digital information
given it by some external digital device (typically a notebook computer or PIM). At the cell system
the resulting digital stream either is passed through a standard modem before interfacing into the
standard landline phone system, or increasingly it will be gatewayed directly onto the Internet. By
this means, the full digital bandwidth of the phone channel is made available to the user.

Is it possible to jam CDMA?


Short answer: It's possible, but it's impractical.

Long answer: People who ask this question tend to divide into two groups. The first group are those
who are concerned about people who are stupid enough to use their cell phones in environments
where the radio frequency emissions (RF) could cause problems, like near operating jets, or in
hospitals where people are wired to pacemakers. The second group are those who are fed up with
listening to phones ringing in theaters and restaurants.

RF jamming divides into active and passive. Passive jamming means shielding; the ultimate form of
this is known as a "Faraday cage" and it means you are surrounded by conductive metal or fine
screen on all sides, including top and bottom. Active jamming means to broadcast meaningless RF
at the frequencies in question at sufficient power level to disrupt the behavior of the device -- in this
case, the CDMA cell phone.

Active jamming is a lost cause. Not only would it be a violation of FCC regulations (or those of
comparable authorities in other countries) but CDMA uses spread spectrum. Spread spectrum was
developed during World War 2 precisely because it is exceedingly difficult to jam with active
jamming. And in many cases (the hospital heart ward) the cure would be worse than the disease
because the transmit power levels required would cause more harm than the phones could.
Passive jamming would require that metallic shielding be built into the walls of the structure as it
was being constructed. While this might work for a theater, it's impossible for any structure which
has windows unless you put grounded screens over every single one of them. (Which might actually
be possible for the heart ward, but is probably impractical for a restaurant or an airport.) And it
certainly wouldn't be cheap in any case.

How easy is it to eavesdrop on CDMA cellular?


Short answer: Harder than a landline phone.

Long answer: Eavesdropping on the radio link is prohibitively difficult. Any law enforcement agency
which wanted to listen to your calls wouldn't bother with that.

The cellular and PCS carriers are required to cooperate with law enforcement agencies armed with
proper warrants for line taps. If they wish to listen to calls, they tap in at the service provider's
central office. It's approximately comparable to what they would do to tap a landline phone.

It's possible to illicitly tap a landline by having someone climb a phone pole (or go down into a hole)
and tap the wires near your home. The equivalent of this for AMPS was a simple FM radio scanner
that cost a few hundred dollars. But whoever decided to try something like that for CDMA would be
stumped. Even if he had all the information necessary (like your phone's ESN, which is required to
be able to intercept the reverse link) the equipment needed would cost tens of thousands of dollars,
well beyond the means of any private detective or creepy voyeur.

When you speak into your CDMA phone, your voice is digitized and compressed into 50 digital
packets per second. These are then spread, interleaved, passed through a Viterbi forward-error-
correction encoder, scrambled using the Walsh code for the channel you've been assigned,
scrambled again with the short code, possibly encrypted, scrambled yet again with a modified
version of the long code and then transmitted in quadrature with spread spectrum. The creepy
voyeur with his FM scanner can't even pick up spread spectrum, and if he had the right receiver it
would just sound like a very high frequency hiss (well beyond the range of human hearing) bearing
no resemblance whatever to your voice.

The modification of the long code includes knowledge of the ESN (the unique serial number of your
phone) which the phone keeps in its memory and the cell system knows. The ESN is not
transmitted, and thus can't be intercepted. Rather, your phone sends its phone number to the cell
system, which looks the ESN up in its database. (If you're roaming, it gets it from your home
system.) Both your phone and the cell system know the ESN and modify the long code the same
way. Without it, the resulting chip sequence is gibberish.

It would not only take a lot of very expensive and customized hardware to do all this, it would also
take espionage. It's been truly said that if you have someone after you who can intercept your
CDMA radio link and is inclined to do so, you've got a lot worse problems than just this.

Short answer: There's an ideal length for the antenna.

Long answer: The ideal length of an antenna is half a wavelength of whatever the frequency is that
it's designed to operate with.

800 MHz cellular has a wavelength of approximately 37 centimeters, about 15 inches. So an ideal
antenna would be half that, about seven and a half inches. This refers to the dipole, the distance
from the tip of the antenna to the opposite end of the antenna buried inside the phone somewhere
(usually near the bottom). 1900 MHz PCS has a wavelength of approximately 16 centimeters, about
six inches. So the ideal antenna dipole is about 3 inches.

The ideal antenna performs best if it is exactly perpendicular to the impinging waveform. In practice
the orientation of the phone is somewhat random; the antenna will be pointed approximately
upward, but probably at a slant. So cell phone manufacturers generally try to make the antenna
5/8's of a waveform, because if the antenna is at a slant, its cross-section relative to the impinging
waveform will be near to the ideal half a wavelength. For a dual-band phone, one which operates at
both 1900 and at 800 MHz, it's obvious that determining the antenna length is a bit of a problem.
(But not insoluble; it's just a compromise. Since digital is usually more resilient than AMPS, usually
the length is optimized for 800 MHz.)

Making the antenna shorter will both decrease the amount of incoming signal the phone receives,
and will make the phone's transmitter less efficient. But CDMA operates over a very wide range of
effective powers, and it can usually compensate. That's why the phone will usually work with the
antenna down. And because it's digital, if it is working it will sound exactly the same. This has lead
some people to conclude that the antenna is not actually doing anything for them, which is not quite
correct. While the phone can operate with the antenna down, it's easier on the phone if you raise
the antenna; it has more signal ceiling to work with and will be less likely to drop the call. Also, it
will use somewhat less transmit power, and your battery will last somewhat longer.

Making it longer with some sort of extension is worse than useless; it actually degrades the signal.
If the antenna is exactly one wavelength long and is exactly perpendicular to the impinging
waveform, it will pick up essentially no signal at all.

When it reaches one and a half wavelengths, signal strength is again maximized, but for physical
reasons it's a bit lower than the strength with a half-wavelength antenna. (The physical reason is
that the antenna is not an ideal conductor.)

Short answer: The network tells it.

Long answer: CDMA requires that every component of the system, including all the handsets, have
a very precise knowledge of exactly what absolute time it is. This is necessary in order to
synchronize the long code, one of the modulating chip-patterns used to make spread spectrum
work. The long code cycles only once every six weeks (41.4 days) and if the phone's long code is
out of sync, it won't work with the network.

What follows is a bit esoteric, since it gets into the guts of how CDMA works.

The system acquisition process involves three steps. In the first step it has to find the pilot. The
pilot is channel 0 (whose Walsh Code is all zeros) and it broadcasts a signal of constant zeros, which
is not modulated with the long code. In essence, that means that what it is transmitting is the cell's
short-code at whatever phase offset the cell is using. (Phase offset of the short code is how cells are
differentiated from each other, since they all use the same frequencies.)

Once the phone has found that, it can synchronize its short code. Step 2 is to find the sync channel
and to process a sync channel message. The sync channel message contains many interesting
things, but one of the things it contains is "At the tone, the time will be...". Actually, the "tone" is
the next PNROLL(0), which is known to cognoscenti as an "80" because they happen every 80
milliseconds. (It's the next time that the PNROLL, which happens every 26.666 milliseconds,
coincides with a frame, which happens ever 20 milliseconds. There are three PNROLLs for every four
frames.)

The sync channel message also tells the phone what timezone the cell is in (in increments of plus or
minus half hour relative to Universal Time) and the number of leap seconds there have been since
"the beginning of time" (which happens to be time 0 for GPS, sometimes called the epoch. It
happens to have been midnight on January 6, 1980.) Note that the cell and phone won't necessarily
be in the same time zone, which is why your phone may seem to be an hour off if you're right next
to a time-zone line. That happens if it synchronized with a cell on the opposite side of the line.

This idea of the time is accurate to a few microseconds. The inaccuracy comes from the speed of
light delay between the cell and the phone, and the fact that the phone doesn't know how far away
the cell is. (The speed of light is about 980 feet per microsecond, almost exactly 300 meters. If
you're a mile from a cell, then it takes about five microseconds for the signal to reach you.)

It would actually be useless to know that delay. The purpose of knowing the time is to permit
initialization of the long code generator, and the long code being received from the cell is being
delayed by the same amount of time as the sync channel message was. Therefore, it's good that
the sync channel message is delayed by the transmission path length.

Once the phone initializes its long code generator, it moves to step 3, which is to listen to the
paging channel. After that, if it doesn't decide that it can't use that cell, it will register, and then
your phone is online.

This always happens when you first power up your phone. It always happens just after you finish a
call. It happens at other times, too.

Whenever the phone processes a sync-channel message, it sets its internal representation of the
time of day. On most phones, that's what's being displayed on the screen.

The IS-95 specification requires that all the cells be synchronized to within a few microseconds of
each other. In actuality, they do it by having a fixed GPS receiver at each cell, from which the
equipment gets the time very precisely.

Most CDMA phones don't let you manually set the time of day, mostly because doing so would be
pretty useless. The phone would override your time each and every time it acquired a cell, anyway.

So why does the minute display on my phone click over several seconds late compared to WWV?

The phone is usually in a mode called slotted sleep during which as much of the phone as is possible
is shut down to save power, including the CPU. There would be a significant power cost (manifesting
as a significant hit on standby time) in order for the phone to update its display more often during
slotted sleep.

You might note that the "elapsed time" display during a call ticks seconds very accurately. That's
because the CPU is on anyway to handle the call, so there's no additional cost to speak of in
maintaining the display accurately.
reemusk
ow is CDMA superior to TDMA?
Short answer: It supports more calls in the same spectrum, and it dynamically allocates bandwidth
more easily.

Long answer: Spectrum is extremely expensive; it has to be purchased from various governmental
licensing authorities at auction, and sometimes these auctions have involved billions of dollars (or
equivalent monetary value in other currencies). It represents a considerable investment by a
carrier.

Generally speaking, CDMA will carry between two and three times as many calls simultaneously as
TDMA in the same amount of bandwidth. This is due to something known as "frequency reuse" and
is very well explained on this page.

The other major advantage of CDMA is dynamic allocation of bandwidth. To understand this, it's
important to realize that in this context in CDMA, "bandwidth" refers to the ability of any phone to
get data from one end to the other. It doesn't refer to the amount of spectrum used by the phone,
because in CDMA every phone uses the entire spectrum of its carrier whenever it is transmitting or
receiving.

TDMA works by taking a channel with a fixed bandwidth and dividing it into time slots. Any given
phone is then given the ability to use one or more of the slots on an ongoing basis, if it is in a call.
For instance, if the channel is 200 kHz wide with 8 slots, and the phone is allocated one of them,
then the phone has effective bandwitdth of 200/8 = 25 kHz. This bandwidth is allocated to that
phone while the call proceeds, whether the phone actually uses it or not. In other words, when
you're in a call with TDMA and being silent because you're listening to the other person speak, your
phone still uses that full bandwidth to transmit silence.

CDMA is more efficient about that kind of thing. In both TDMA and CDMA, the outgoing voice traffic
is digitized and compressed. But the CDMA codec can realize when the particular packet is
noticeably simpler (e.g. silence, or a sustained tone with little change in modulation) and will
compress the packet far more. Thus the packet may involve fewer bits, and the phone will take less
time to transmit it.

And that's where this odd idea of what "bandwidth" means in CDMA comes in. For in a very real
sense, bandwidth in CDMA equates to received power at the cell. CDMA systems constantly adjust
power to make sure as little is used as necessary, and compensate for this by using coding gain
through the use of forward error correction and other approaches which are much too complicated
to go into here. The chip rate is constant, and if more actual data is carried by the constant chip
rate, then there will be less coding gain. Therefore, it's necessary to use more power instead.

Conceptually, a given cell sector can tolerate a certain amount of total received power before it
becomes difficult to decipher all the channels being received. If one phone uses more of that power
allocation, there is less available for the others.

But this is an advantage, not a disadvantage, for it can be stated a different way: if one phone uses
less of that power allocation, there is more available for the others. This is the right way to look at
it, because this is going on constantly.

In a TDMA system, suppose that the phone needed more or less than the 25 kHz slot. "Less" is a
non-issue because there's no way to get smaller. "More" would require that an additional slot be
allocated to the phone, which would require a protocol-level exchange: the phone says to the cell "I
need more bandwidth", the cell finds some other phone on that same channel and tells it to move,
clearing an additional slot, then sends a message back to the phone telling it "OK, you can use this
slot in addition". This might take quite a while, and by the time it's complete the need may have
passed.

But CDMA actually does this dynamically and on the fly. When the CDMA phone realizes that it
doesn't need to transmit a full digital packet, it will use a "half rate" packet, or "quarter rate" or
"eighth rate", and will transmit for less time. Packet transmissions happen fifty times per second in
current CDMA systems, but a phone with a half-rate packet to send will pseudo-randomly send half
the symbols during the 20 millisecond packet.

Received power at the cell is an instantaneously measured quantity. If two phones are transmitting
at half rate but at different times, the cell is actually only receiving power from one phone at a time.
Effective bandwidth in CDMA is thus actually being dynamically allocated at all times. And when you
are listening and silent, the phone drops to eighth rate and uses virtually no bandwidth at all.

This is very nice for voice traffic and is an additional reason why CDMA is more efficient in use of
spectrum, but where it will become particularly valuable is when data transmission becomes a
significant use. That's because common data use is very bursty, even more than is voice traffic.

Consider how you use a browser, for instance: you click a link and in a short interval your computer
downloads many kilobytes of data. You then sit and read what was downloaded, and there's
virtually no data traffic going on.

In a CDMA system, it would be very easy to allocate a considerable proportion of the bandwidth of a
sector to a single phone for that interval. Nothing special needs to be done except to allocate that
phone a considerable proportion of the power, which it could do without requesting permission from
the cell.

High spectrum efficiency and dynamic allocation of bandwidth are the principle reasons why the
entire wireless telecommunications industry is moving to CDMA. The current generation of GSM is
based on TDMA, but the next generation will use a CDMA air interface.

What is "Soft Handoff"?


Short answer: One of the advantages of CDMA over TDMA.

Long answer: In TDMA or AMPS, due to spectrum reuse, a given slot on a given frequency channel
can't be used by neighboring cells. So when a phone which is in a call moves from one cell to
another, at a certain point it has to switch between cells. In AMPS and TDMA it will be commanded
by the system to change frequencies, all at once. This is called a hard handoff, so called because it's
all or nothing: the transition is a hard one.

In CDMA, on the other hand, all the cells operate on the same frequency. The phone still has a
single RF receiver which converts radio frequency down to baseband, but behind that it has a rake
receiver with multiple fingers. Since all the cells operate on the same frequency, the single RF
receiver picks up all of those which are within range. The phone then assigns fingers from the rake
receiver to various signals, and these are added together to create the full signal the phone utilizes.

Sometimes these are multiple paths from the same cell. For instance, if there's a direct route from
the cell to the phone, and in addition the signal travels to a large building and reflects off it before
reaching the phone, then the CDMA phone can utilize both of these signals for additional clarity.
This is called multipath. (Similar conditions degrade TDMA and AMPS performance.)

But even more useful is when the phone is about halfway between two cells. While in a call, the
phone is not only handling its transport of data back and forth to the cell, but it's also actively
looking for other cells. When it finds one whose signal strength is good (on the same frequency,
remember) it will inform the cell system of this. The cell system might decide at that point to route
the call through both cells simultaneously. The specification actually permits a phone to talk to six
cells at once, though no phone currently in existence has this capability.

So when a CDMA phone in a call moves from one cell to another, the handoff process happens in
multiple steps. First the phone notices the second cell, and the cell begins to carry the call on both
cells. As the phone continues to move, eventually the signal strength from the one the phone is
moving away from will drop to the point where it isn't useful any longer. Again, the phone will
inform the cell system of this fact, and the system will drop the original cell. Thus it isn't an all-or-
nothing transition, which is why it is called soft.
,,,,is it possible to jam CDMA?

Short answer: It's possible, but it's impractical.

Long answer: People who ask this question tend to divide into two groups.
The first group are those who are concerned about people who are stupid
enough to use their cell phones in environments where the radio frequency
emissions (RF) could cause problems, like near operating jets, or in hospitals
where people are wired to pacemakers. The second group are those who are fed
up with listening to phones ringing in theaters and restaurants.

RF jamming divides into active and passive. Passive jamming means shielding;
the ultimate form of this is known as a "Faraday cage" and it means you are
surrounded by conductive metal or fine screen on all sides, including top and
bottom. Active jamming means to broadcast meaningless RF at the frequencies
in question at sufficient power level to disrupt the behavior of the device -- in
this case, the CDMA cell phone.

Active jamming is a lost cause. Not only would it be a violation of FCC


regulations (or those of comparable authorities in other countries) but CDMA
uses spread spectrum. Spread spectrum was developed during World War 2
precisely because it is exceedingly difficult to jam with active jamming. And in
many cases (the hospital heart ward) the cure would be worse than the disease
because the transmit power levels required would cause more harm than the
phones could.

Passive jamming would require that metallic shielding be built into the walls of
the structure as it was being constructed. While this might work for a theater,
it's impossible for any structure which has windows unless you put grounded
screens over every single one of them. (Which might actually be possible for
the heart ward, but is probably impractical for a restaurant or an airport.) And it
certainly wouldn't be cheap in any case.

Can I use a normal modem with my CDMA cell phone?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Sorry, but the long answer is really long.

This isn't a plot by the cell phone manufacturers to force you to discard your
perfectly good modem. To understand why, you have to understand how
normal modems work and how they relate to the regular land-line phone
system.

Originally the phone system was a circuit switch, and modems were analog.
This is in the days of the cross-bar switch, and after a circuit had been
established a single wire carried traffic both ways (possibly with an analog
amplifier in between). Modems were devices which moved digital information
from one place to another using what was known as "frequency shift keying".

That meant that the modem alternated between two frequencies when it
transmitted, with one frequency meaning "1" and the other "0".

Time marches on, and the modems got faster. The new approach was called
"phase shift keying", and it worked by encoding four bits into a single wave.

There things stalled. Meanwhile, the phone companies had been switching to
digital systems which were not cross-bars. Instead, they worked by digitizing
the analog waveform being fed to them, packetizing the results, and
interleaving it at very high speed into a TDMA bit stream inside the switch. So
to connect two lines to each other, instead of a physical switch making an
electrical connection between them, the switch tells each which TDMA time
slot to use. This massively simplifies the switch and improves reliability by
removing all the mechanical moving parts which were associated with the older
cross-bar approach.

But it also meant that the connection from one end of the phone line to the
other was no longer electrically isolated. Rather, it was being digitized and thus
converted to a step function. Any approach which depended on pure analog
waveforms was doomed to fail. But it opened the way for a crafty approach to
modem design.

The fastest modems in existence today for standard phone lines (and the fastest
which will ever exist, because they use the full bandwidth which is available)
are designed specifically for how the phone system A/D converters work. They
happen to be non-linear, but the real point is that the threshold for each A/D
step is published. When two of these modems establish contact with each other,
they "negotiate" and test the line to see just how high an amplitude the line will
permit. (They also test various steps in between to make sure they understand
how the line is being amplified.) If they can get up to step 237, for instance,
then thereafter they will communicate with each other in modulo 237. On each
A/D digitization time (which is also published) the transmitting modem sends
to the phone system a flat voltage representing one of the 237 voltages which
the line permits, and thus this is what will pop out at the receiving modem.
Converting binary streams into arbitrary modulus transmissions and back out
again is left as an exercise to the student.

So the modems are designed precisely around the exact characteristics of the
land-line, in published standards.

Unfortunately, CDMA cell phones work entirely differently. For one thing,
while the transmissions in the land-line system are lossless (as long as you stick
to the amplitude and step-function levels which the line will support) that is not
the case for CDMA.

CDMA begins with a far more restricted bandwidth per phone call than a
landline does. When you speak into your phone, it is digitized, but then it is
passed through a lossy compression device called acodec. The codec algorithm
is specifically designed to take advantage of the fact that human spoken
language is enormously redundant and that the human ear can compensate for
certain kinds of distortion. In fact, humans are extremely good at this, as you'll
realize if you've ever had a conversation at a busy party, or next to high surf, or
by a revving motorcycle. Needless to say, CDMA's codecs don't induce
distortion like that.

The CDMA codec deliberately discards useless detail, and by doing so is


capable of achieving a tenfold reduction in the data stream -- or even more in
some cases. Now the emphasis here is on the worduseless. Human ears will
barely notice that anything has changed, but test equipment (and modems) can
pinpoint the differences very clearly.
This works beautifully for a human voice, and most people find that CDMA
with a 13K codec actually sounds as good as or even better than a landline
does. (Landlines suffer from the fact that the voice traffic covers several miles
from the last stage switch to the home, in analog, on copper wires with little
shielding. Distortion and noise are inevitable.) But what the CDMA codec is
doing is completely wrong for how a standard modem wants to use the link.

For one thing, the traffic that a standard modem tries to feed to the phone looks
nothing like a human voice, and the codec is lost at sea. If a standard modem
were connected to such a phone, what would come out at the far end would
bear only a passing resemblance to what went in. The negotiation between the
two modems would fail completely and no connection would take place.

The highest transmission rate available as this is written (May 1999) in most
CDMA systems is 14.4 kilobits. There simply is no way to cram 56 kilobits
through such a channel; Claude Shannon's InformationTheory doesn't permit it.
And even at lower rates, what the modem is feeding the phone is not what the
phone is designed to carry. [Soon the cell systems will deploy a new form of
data services which will support much higher data rates. SCDB 2/2000]

The right solution is for digital communications through CDMA to take


advantage of the characteristics of the medium, just as it does through a
landline. In this case, it takes advantage of the fact that the actual link between
the cell system and the phone is digital, unlike landlines. When the phone
carries digital data, it bypasses the codec entirely and transmits the digital
information given it by some external digital device (typically a notebook
computer or PIM). At the cell system the resulting digital stream either is
passed through a standard modem before interfacing into the standard landline
phone system, or increasingly it will be gatewayed directly onto the Internet.
By this means, the full digital bandwidth of the phone channel is made
available to the user.

IS-95 is a standard for CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) Digital Cellular .
Mobile Frequency Range Rx: 869-894; Tx: 824-849
Multiple Access Method CDMA/FDM
Duplex Method FDD
Number of Channels 20 (798 users per channel)
Channel Spacing 1250kHz
Modulation QPSK/OQPSK
Channel Bit Rate 1.2288Mb
How CDMA Works
In a CDMA system, your encoded voice is digitized and divided into packets. These packets are
tagged with "codes." The packets then mix with all of the other packets of traffic in the local
CDMA network as they are routed towards their destination. The receiving system only accepts
the packets with the codes destined for it.

CDMA vs. TDMA


The CDMA technology used in IS-95 is in technical competition with the TDMA (Time Division
Multiple Access) technology used in GSM.

IS-95 by Any Other Name


IS-95 is also known as TIA-EIA-95.

The original IS-95 CDMA specification is now referred to ascdmaOne.

Newer CDMA Standards


Newer CDMA standards include cdma2000, CDMA 1X EV, CDMA 1XEV-DO, CDMA MC 3X,
WCDMA and TD-SCDMA.

CDMA-2000 1xRTT is a recent standard for data networking over CDMA-2000 networks.

CDMA Network Operators


ALLTEL, Verizon Wireless , US Cellular, and Qwest communications operate CDMA networks
within the United States. Worldwide, there are over 60 million users of IS-95 and other CDMA
networks.
Additional Reading on CDMA
For more information on CDMA, visit the CDMA Development Group.

·What is CDMA?
·What is 1x?
What is CDMA? (#7400)
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital wireless
technology that was pioneered and commercially
developed by Qualcomm.

CDMA works by converting speech into digital


information, which is then transmitted as a radio signal
over a wireless network. Using a unique code to
distinguish each different call, CDMA enables many more
people to share the airwaves at the same time - without
static, cross-talk or interference.

In 1999, the International Telecommunications Union


selected CDMA as the industry standard for new "third-
generation" (3G) wireless systems. Many leading
wireless carriers are now building or upgrading to 3G
CDMA networks in order to provide more capacity for
voice traffic, along with high-speed data capabilities.

feedback form

by shaner
last modified: 2003-05-22 23:48:41
What is 1x? (#7401)
1xRTT is short for single carrier (1x) radio transmission
technology, a 3G wireless technology based on the
CDMA platform. It is a new Data transfer technology that
can give speeds of up to 86kb's per second. This service
is unique because instead of being billed by the time
spent online, you're actually billed for the amount of
data you transfer through the network. This
improvement for wireless data is similar to going from
dial-up to highspeed service. When data is not being
actively transferred, the 1x Data service becomes
dormant and a virtual connection to the network is
maintained. This , allows you to still receive voice calls
or text messages on your cellphone. When you are ready
to resume the data session, you can re-engage the
network connections immediately.

Not only will 1x improve data transfer, it also allows for


more user network capacity and longer battery life. All of
Bell Mobility's current phones support the 1x network.

1xRTT is also referred to as CDMA2000.


…………….CDMA vs. TDMA
The CDMA technology used in IS-95 is in technical competition with the TDMA (Time Division
Multiple Access) technology used in GSM.

IS-95 by Any Other Name


IS-95 is also known as TIA-EIA-95.

The original IS-95 CDMA specification is now referred to ascdmaOne.

Newer CDMA Standards


Newer CDMA standards include cdma2000, CDMA 1X EV, CDMA 1XEV-DO, CDMA MC 3X,
WCDMA and TD-SCDMA.

CDMA-2000 1xRTT is a recent standard for data networking over CDMA-2000 networks.

CDMA Network Operators


ALLTEL, Verizon Wireless , US Cellular, and Qwest communications operate CDMA networks
within the United States. Worldwide, there are over 60 million users of IS-95 and other CDMA
networks.
Additional Reading on CDMA
For more information on CDMA, visit the CDMA Development Group.

……………..
Call Setup
Basic Mobile Originating Call Diagram

CDMA2000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Huawei CDMA2000 EVDO USB wireless modem

CDMA2000 (also known as IMT Multi-Carrier (IMT-MC)) is a family of 3G[1] mobile technology
standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile
phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev.
0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B[2]. All are approved radio interfaces for
the ITU's IMT-2000. CDMA2000 has a relatively long technical history and is backward-
compatible with its previous 2G iteration IS-95 (cdmaOne). In the United States,CDMA2000 is a
registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA)[3]. The successor to
CDMA2000 is LTE, part of the competing 3GPP family.[4]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 1X

• 2 1xEV-DO

• 3 Networks

• 4 History

• 5 References

• 6 External links

[edit]1X

CDMA2000 1X (IS-2000), also known as 1x and 1xRTT, is the core CDMA2000 wireless air interface
standard. The designation "1x", meaning 1 times Radio Transmission Technology, indicates the same
RF bandwidth as IS-95: a duplex pair of 1.25 MHz radio channels. 1xRTT almost doubles the capacity
of IS-95 by adding 64 more traffic channels to the forward link,orthogonal to (in quadrature with) the
original set of 64. The 1X standard supports packet data speeds of up to 153 kbps with real world data
transmission averaging 60–100 kbps in most commercial applications.[5] IMT-2000 also made changes
to the data link layer for the greater use of data services, including medium and link access control
protocols and QoS. The IS-95 data link layer only provided "best effort delivery" for data and circuit
switched channel for voice (i.e., a voice frame once every 20 ms).

[edit]1xEV-DO

Main article: Evolution-Data Optimized

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized), often abbreviated as EV-DO or EV, is


a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically
for broadband Internet access. It uses multiplexing techniques including code division multiple
access (CDMA) as well as time division multiple access (TDMA) to maximize both individual user's
throughput and the overall system throughput. It is standardized by 3rd Generation Partnership Project
2 (3GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards and has been adopted by many mobile
phone service providers around the world – particularly those previously employing CDMA networks. It
is also used on the Globalstar satellite phonenetwork.[6]

[edit]Networks

See also: List of CDMA2000 networks

The CDMA Development Group states that, as of November 2009, there are 308 operators in 116
countries offering CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO service.[7]

[edit]History

The intended 4G successor to CDMA2000 was UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), however in November
2008, Qualcomm announced it was ending development of the technology, favoringLTE instead.[8]

…………………..
CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a radically new concept in wireless
communications. It has gained widespread international acceptance by cellular radio system
operators as an upgrade that will dramatically increase both their system capacity and the
service quality. It has likewise been chosen for deployment by the majority of the winners of
the United States Personal Communications System spectrum auctions. It may seem,
however, mysterious for those who aren't familiar with it. This site is provided in an effort to
dispel some of the mystery and to disseminate at least a basic level of knowledge about the
technology.

CDMA is a form of spread-spectrum , a family of digital communication techniques that have


been used in military applications for many years. The core principle of spread spectrum is the
use of noise-like carrier waves, and, as the name implies, bandwidths much wider than that
required for simple point-to-point communication at the same data rate. Originally there were
two motivations: either to resist enemy efforts to jam the communications (anti-jam, or AJ),
or to hide the fact that communication was even taking place, sometimes called low
probability of intercept (LPI). It has a history that goes back to the early days of World War
II.

The use of CDMA for civilian mobile radio applications is novel. It was proposed theoretically in
the late 1940's, but the practical application in the civilian marketplace did not take place until
40 years later. Commercial applications became possible because of two evolutionary
developments. One was the availability of very low cost, high density digital integrated
circuits, which reduce the size, weight, and cost of the subscriber stations to an acceptably low
level. The other was the realization that optimal multiple access communication requires that
all user stations regulate their transmitter powers to the lowest that will achieve adequate
signal quality.

CDMA changes the nature of the subscriber station from a predominately analog device to a
predominately digital device. Old-fashioned radio receivers separate stations or channels by
filtering in the frequency domain. CDMA receivers do not eliminate analog processing entirely,
but they separate communication channels by means of a pseudo-random modulation that is
applied and removed in the digital domain, not on the basis of frequency. Multiple users
occupy the same frequency band. This universal frequency reuse is not fortuitous. On the
contrary, it is crucial to the very high spectral efficiency that is the hallmark of CDMA. Other
discussions in these pages show why this is true.

CDMA is altering the face of cellular and PCS communication by:

• Dramatically improving the telephone traffic capacity

• Dramatically improving the voice quality and eliminating the audible effects of
multipath fading

• Reducing the incidence of dropped calls due to handoff failures

• Providing reliable transport mechanism for data communications, such as facsimile and
internet traffic

• Reducing the number of sites needed to support any given amount of traffic

• Simplifying site selection

• Reducing deployment and operating costs because fewer cell sites are needed

• Reducing average transmitted power


• Reducing interference to other electronic devices

• Reducing potential health risks

Commercially introduced in 1995, CDMA quickly became one of the world's fastest-growing
wireless technologies. In 1999, the International Telecommunications Union selected CDMA as
the industry standard for new "third-generation" (3G) wireless systems. Many leading wireless
carriers are now building or upgrading to 3G CDMA networks in order to provide more capacity
for voice traffic, along with high-speed data capabilities.

CDMA is a form of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum communications. In general, Spread


Spectrum communications is distinguished by three key elements:

1. The signal occupies a bandwidth much greater than that which is necessary to send the
information. This results in many benefits, such as immunity to interference and jamming and
multi-user access, which we'll discuss later on.

2. The bandwidth is spread by means of a code which is independent of the data. The
independence of the code distinguishes this from standard modulation schemes in which the
data modulation will always spread the spectrum somewhat.

3. The receiver synchronizes to the code to recover the data. The use of an independent code
and synchronous reception allows multiple users to access the same frequency band at the
same time.

In order to protect the signal, the code used is pseudo-random. It appears random, but is
actually deterministic, so that the receiver can reconstruct the code for synchronous detection.
This pseudo-random code is also called pseudo-noise (PN).

There are three ways to spread the bandwidth of the signal:

• Frequency hopping. The signal is rapidly switched between different frequencies within
the hopping bandwidth pseudo-randomly, and the receiver knows before hand where to find
the signal at any given time.

• Time hopping. The signal is transmitted in short bursts pseudo-randomly, and the
receiver knows beforehand when to expect the burst.

• Direct sequence. The digital data is directly coded at a much higher frequency. The
code is generated pseudo-randomly, the receiver knows how to generate the same code, and
correlates the received signal with that code to extract the data.

How spread spectrum works:


Spread Spectrum uses wide band, noise-like signals. Because Spread Spectrum signals are
noise-like, they are hard to detect. Spread Spectrum signals are also hard to Intercept or
demodulate. Further, Spread Spectrum signals are harder to jam (interfere with) than
narrowband signals. These Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) and anti-jam (AJ) features are
why the military has used Spread Spectrum for so many years. Spread signals are
intentionally made to be much wider band than the information they are carrying to make
them more noise-like.

Spread Spectrum signals use fast codes that run many times the information bandwidth or
data rate. These special "Spreading" codes are called "Pseudo Random" or "Pseudo Noise"
codes. They are called "Pseudo" because they are not real gaussian noise.

Spread Spectrum transmitters use similar transmit power levels to narrow band transmitters.
Because Spread Spectrum signals are so wide, they transmit at a much lower spectral power
density, measured in Watts per Hertz, than narrowband transmitters. This lower transmitted
power density characteristic gives spread signals a big plus. Spread and narrow band signals
can occupy the same band, with little or no interference. This capability is the main reason for
all the interest in Spread Spectrum today.

//////////////////////…………………….

Introduction to CDMA

by Michael Hendry

This paper provides an introduction to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communications, covering
a Radio Carrier Station (RCS) and a Fixed Subscriber Unit (FSU).

This introduction to CDMA proceeds heuristically, we use very little mathematics in developing the
theories, and do not assume a deep mathematical or engineering background. If you would like further
information on the math and communication theories behind this introduction, please consult the following
references:

Viterbi, A. CDMA: Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication Addison-Wesley Wireless


Communications Series, 1995

Pickholtz, R. L., Schilling, D. L., and Milstein, L. B. “Theory of Spread-Spectrum Communications—A


Tutorial” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. COM30, no. 5, May 1982, pp 855-884.

Pickholtz, R. L., Schilling, D. L., and Milstein, L. B. Revisions to “Theory of Spread-Spectrum


Communications—A Tutorial” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. COM32, no. 2, Feb 1984, pp 211-212.

Introduction to Spread Spectrum Communications


CDMA is a form of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum communications. In general, Spread Spectrum
communications is distinguished by three key elements:

1. The signal occupies a bandwidth much greater than that which is necessary to send the information. This
results in many benefits, such as immunity to interference and jamming and multi-user access, which we’ll
discuss later on.

2. The bandwidth is spread by means of a code which is independent of the data. The independence of the
code distinguishes this from standard modulation schemes in which the data modulation will always spread
the spectrum somewhat.

3. The receiver synchronizes to the code to recover the data. The use of an independent code and
synchronous reception allows multiple users to access the same frequency band at the same time.

In order to protect the signal, the code used is pseudo-random. It appears random, but is actually
deterministic, so that the receiver can reconstruct the code for synchronous detection. This pseudo-random
code is also called pseudo-noise (PN).
Figure 1. Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum System

Three Types of Spread Spectrum Communications

There are three ways to spread the bandwidth of the signal:


• Frequency hopping. The signal is rapidly switched between different frequencies within the
hopping bandwidth pseudo-randomly, and the receiver knows before hand where to find the signal
at any given time.
• Time hopping. The signal is transmitted in short bursts pseudo-randomly, and the receiver knows
beforehand when to expect the burst.
• Direct sequence. The digital data is directly coded at a much higher frequency. The code is
generated pseudo-randomly, the receiver knows how to generate the same code, and correlates the
received signal with that code to extract the data.

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

CDMA is a Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum system. The CDMA system works directly on 64 kbit/sec
digital signals. These signals can be digitized voice, ISDN channels, modem data, etc.

Figure 1 shows a simplified Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum system. For clarity, the figure shows one
channel operating in one direction only.

Signal transmission consists of the following steps:

1. A pseudo-random code is generated, different for each channel and each successive connection.

2. The Information data modulates the pseudo-random code (the Information data is “spread”).

3. The resulting signal modulates a carrier.

4. The modulated carrier is amplified and broadcast.

Signal reception consists of the following steps:

1. The carrier is received and amplified.

2. The received signal is mixed with a local carrier to recover the spread digital signal.

3. A pseudo-random code is generated, matching the anticipated signal.

4. The receiver acquires the received code and phase locks its own code to it.

5. The received signal is correlated with the generated code, extracting the Information data.

Implementing CDMA Technology

The following sections describe how a system might implement the steps illustrated in Figure 1.

Input data

CDMA works on Information data from several possible sources, such as digitized voice or ISDN channels.
Data rates can vary, here are some examples:
Data Source Data Rate
Voice Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) 64 kBits/sec
Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) 32 kBits/sec
Low Delay Code Excited Linear Prediction (LD-CELP) 16 kBits/sec
ISDN Bearer Channel (B-Channel) 64 kBits/sec
Data Channel (D-Channel) 16 kBits/sec

The system works with 64 kBits/sec data, but can accept input rates of 8, 16, 32, or 64 kBits/sec. Inputs of
less than 64 kBits/sec are padded with extra bits to bring them up to 64 kBits/sec.

For inputs of 8, 16, 32, or 64 kBits/sec, the system applies Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding, which
doubles the bit rate, up to 128 kbits/sec. The Complex Modulation scheme (which we’ll discuss in more
detail later), transmits two bits at a time, in two bit symbols. For inputs of less than 64 kbits/sec, each
symbol is repeated to bring the transmission rate up to 64 kilosymbols/sec. Each component of the complex
signal carries one bit of the two bit symbol, at 64 kBits/sec, as shown below.

Generating Pseudo-Random Codes

For each channel the base station generates a unique code that changes for every connection. The base
station adds together all the coded transmissions for every subscriber. The subscriber unit correctly
generates its own matching code and uses it to extract the appropriate signals. Note that each subscriber
uses several independant channels.

In order for all this to occur, the pseudo-random code must have the following properties:

1. It must be deterministic. The subscriber station must be able to independently generate the code that
matches the base station code.

2. It must appear random to a listener without prior knowledge of the code (i.e. it has the statistical
properties of sampled white noise).

3. The cross-correlation between any two codes must be small (see below for more information on code
correlation).
4. The code must have a long period (i.e. a long time before the code repeats itself).

Code Correlation

In this context, correlation has a specific mathematical meaning. In general the correlation function has
these properties:

• It equals 1 if the two codes are identical


• It equals 0 of the two codes have nothing in common

Intermediate values indicate how much the codes have in common. The more they have in common, the
harder it is for the receiver to extract the appropriate signal.

There are two correlation functions:

• Cross-Correlation: The correlation of two different codes. As we’ve said, this should be as small
as possible.
• Auto-Correlation: The correlation of a code with a time-delayed version of itself. In order to reject
multi-path interference, this function should equal 0 for any time delay other than zero.

The receiver uses cross-correlation to separate the appropriate signal from signals meant for other receivers,
and auto-correlation to reject multi-path interference.

Figure 2a. Pseudo-Noise Spreading


Figure 2b. Frequency Spreading

Pseudo-Noise Spreading

The FEC coded Information data modulates the pseudo-random code, as shown in Figure 2a. Some
terminology related to the pseudo-random code:

• Chipping Frequency (fc): the bit rate of the PN code.


• Information rate (fi): the bit rate of the digital data.
• Chip: One bit of the PN code.
• Epoch: The length of time before the code starts repeating itself (the period of the code). The
epoch must be longer than the round trip propagation delay (The epoch is on the order of several
seconds).

Figure 2b shows the process of frequency spreading. In general, the bandwidth of a digital signal is twice
its bit rate. The bandwidths of the information data (fi) and the PN code are shown together. The bandwidth
of the combination of the two, for fc>fi, can be approximated by the bandwidth of the PN code.

Processing Gain

An important concept relating to the bandwidth is the processing gain (Gp). This is a theoretical system gain
that reflects the relative advantage that frequency spreading provides. The processing gain is equal to the
ratio of the chipping frequency to the data frequency:
There are two major benefits from high processing gain:

• Interference rejection: the ability of the system to reject interference is directly proportional to Gp.
• System capacity: the capacity of the system is directly proportional to Gp.

So the higher the PN code bit rate (the wider the CDMA bandwidth), the better the system performance.

Figure 3a. Complex Modulator


Figure 3b. Complex Modulation

Transmitting Data

The resultant coded signal next modulates an RF carrier for transmission using Quadrature Phase Shift
Keying (QPSK). QPSK uses four different states to encode each symbol. The four states are phase shifts of
the carrier spaced 90_ apart. By convention, the phase shifts are 45, 135, 225, and 315 degrees. Since there
are four possible states used to encode binary information, each state represents two bits. This two bit
“word” is called a symbol. Figure 3 shows in general how QPSK works.

First, we’ll discuss Complex Modulation in general, applying it to a single channel with no PN-coding (that
is, we’ll show how Complex Modulation would work directly on the symbols). Then we’ll discuss how we
apply it to a multi-channel, PN-coded, system.

Complex Modulation

Algebraically, a carrier wave with an applied phase shift, Ψ (t), can be expressed as a sum of two
components, a Cosine wave and a Sine wave, as:

I(t) is called the real, or In-phase, component of the data, and Q(t) is called the imaginary, or Quadrature-
phase, component of the data. We end up with two Binary PSK waves superimposed. These are easier to
modulate and later demodulate.

This is not only an algebraic identity, but also forms the basis for the actual modulation/demodulation
scheme. The transmitter generates two carrier waves of the same frequency, a sine and cosine. I(t) and Q(t)
are binary, modulating each component by phase shifting it either 0 or 180 degrees. Both components are
then summed together. Since I(t) and Q(t) are binary, we’ll refer to them as simply I and Q.

The receiver generates the two reference waves, and demodulates each component. It is easier to detect
180_ phase shifts than 90_ phase shifts. The following table summarizes this modulation scheme. Note that
I and Q are normalized to 1.

Symbol I Q Phase shift


00 +1 +1 45°
01 +1 -1 315°
10 -1 +1 135°
11 -1 -1 225°

For Digital Signal Processing, the two-bit symbols are considered to be complex
numbers, I +jQ.

Working with Complex Data

In order to make full use of the efficiency of Digital Signal Processing, the conversion of the Information
data into complex symbols occurs before the modulation. The system generates complex PN codes made
up of 2 independent components, PNi +jPNq. To spread the Information data the system performs complex
multiplication between the complex PN codes and the complex data.
Summing Many Channels Together

Many channels are added together and transmitted simultaneously. This addition happens digitally at the
chip rate. Remember, there are millions of chips in each symbol. For clarity, let’s say each chip is
represented by an 8 bit word (it’s slightly more complicated than that, but those details are beyond the
scope of this discussion).

At the Chip Rate

• Information data is converted to two bit symbols.


• The first bit of the symbol is placed in the I data stream, the second bit is placed in the Q data
stream.
• The complex PN code is generated. The complex PN code has two independently generated
components, an I component and a Q component.
• The complex Information data and complex PN code are multiplied together.

For each component (I or Q):

• Each chip is represented by an 8 bit word. However, since one chip is either a one or a zero, the 8
bit word equals either 1 or -1.
• When many channels are added together, the 8-bit word, as the sum of all the chips, can take on
values from between -128 to +128.
• The 8-bit word then goes through a Digital to Analog Converter, resulting in an analog level
proportional to the value of the 8-bit word.
• This value then modulates the amplitude of the carrier (the I component modulates the Cosine, the
Q component modulates the Sine)
• The modulated carriers are added together.

Since I and Q are no longer limited to 1 or -1, the phase shift of the composite carrier is not limited to the
four states, the phase and amplitude vary as

A2 = I2 + Q2

Tan((Ψ ) = Q/I

At the Symbol Rate

Since the PN-code has the statistical properties of random noise, it averages to zero over long periods of
time (such as the symbol period). Therefore, fluctuations in I and Q, and hence the phase modulation of the
carrier, that occur at the chip frequency, average to zero. Over the symbol period the modulation averages
to one of the four states of QPSK, which determine what the symbol is.

The symbol only sees the QPSK, and obeys all the statistical properties of QPSK transmission, including
Bit Error Rate.

Receiving Data

The receiver performs the following steps to extract the Information:

• Demodulation
• Code acquisition and lock
• Correlation of code with signal
• Decoding of Information data

Demodulation

The receiver generates two reference waves, a Cosine wave and a Sine wave. Separately mixing each with
the received carrier, the receiver extracts I(t) and Q(t). Analog to Digital converters restore the 8-bit words
representing the I and Q chips.

Code Acquisition and Lock

The receiver, as described earlier, generates its own complex PN code that matches the code generated by
the transmitter. However, the local code must be phase-locked to the encoded data. The RCS and FSU each
have different ways of acquiring and locking onto the other’s transmitted code. Each method will be
covered in more detail in later sections.

Correlation and Data Despreading

Once the PN code is phase-locked to the pilot, the received signal is sent to a correlator that multiplies it
with the complex PN code, extracting the I and Q data meant for that receiver. The receiver reconstructs the
Information data from the I and Q data.

Automatic Power Control

The RCS gets bombarded by signals from many FSUs. Some of these FSUs are close and their signals are
much stronger than FSUs farther away. This results in the Near/Far problem inherent in CDMA
communications. System Capacity is also dependant on signal power. For these reasons, both the RCS and
FSU measure the received power and send signals to control the other’s transmit power.

Near/Far Problem

Because the cross-correlation between two PN codes is not exactly equal to zero, the system must
overcome what we call the Near/Far problem.

The output of the correlator consists of two components:

• The autocorrelation of the PN code with the desired coded signal


• The sum of the cross-correlation of the PN code with all the other coded signals.

Mathematically, if we are trying to decode the kth signal, we have:

Where:

Aj is the amplitude of the jth signal,


ρ jk is the cross-correlation between the kth and jth signal, and
Σ is the sum over all the j signals (excluding k).
Since the cross-correlation is small (ideally, it is zero), the sum of cross-correlation terms should be much
less than the amplitude of the desired signal. However, if the desired signal is broadcast from far away, and
undesired signals are broadcast from much closer, the desired signal may be so small as to be drowned out
by the cross-correlation terms.

Note that this problem only exists in the reverse direction. The RCS is receiving signals from many FSUs at
different distances, but the FSU is receiving all signals from one RCS. The RCS controls the power of each
FSU so that the signals received from all FSUs are the same strength.

System Capacity

The capacity of a system is approximated by:

where:

is the maximum number of simultaneous calls

is the processing gain

is the total signal to noise ratio per bit, and

is the inter-cell interference factor.

Notice, as we said earlier, the capacity is directly proportional to the processing gain. Capacity is also
inversely proportional to the signal to noise ratio of the received signal. So, the smaller the transmitted
signal, the larger the system capacity (as long as the receiver can detect the signal in the noise!). Both the
RCS and FSU control the power transmitted by the other so that the received signal is as small as possible
while maintaining a minimum signal to noise ratio. This maximizes system capacity.
Figure 4. Multi-Path Interference Rejection

Interference Rejection
CDMA technology is inherently resistant to interference and jamming. A common problem with urban
communications is multi-path interference.

Multi-path interference is caused by the broadcast signal traveling over different paths to reach the receiver.
The receiver then has to recover the signal combined with echoes of varying amplitude and phase. This
results in two types of interference:

• Inter-chip interference: The reflected signals are delayed long enough that successive bits (or
chips, in this case) in the demodulated signals overlap, creating uncertainty in the data.
• Selective fading: The reflected signals are delayed long enough that they are randomly out of
phase, and add destructively to the desired signal, causing it to fade.

Combating Interference

Two methods are commonly used to combat multi-path interference:

• Rake filter: Correlators are set up at appropriate time intervals to extract all the echoes. The
relative amplitude and phase of each echo is measured, and each echo signal is phase corrected
and added to the signal.
• Adaptive Matched Filter. This filter is “matched” to the transfer function (i.e. the propagation
characteristics) of the signal path. It phase shifts the echo signals and adds them to maximize the
received signal.

System Operation

The following sections describe a hypothetical implmentation of CDMA technology. A connection can be
one of many types of data, but for simplicity we will refer to any connection as a “call”.

These sections cover the following system states:

• System Idle: System operation when there is no call in progress.


• Call Setup: The steps to setup a connection.
• Call Processing: The processing and transmission of the digital data once a connection is
established.
• Call Teardown: The steps taken once a call is finished to free system resources.

But first, in order to understand system operation, you must understand the Pilot codes and communication
channels the system uses.

Pilot Codes

At each phase of operation, the system broadcasts pilot signals. These pilot signals are the unmodulated PN
codes associated with each channel, used to synchronize and track the locally generated PN codes for
despreading. The system uses the following pilot signals.

• Global Pilot: Broadcast by the RCS. All FSUs use the Global Pilot for all received channels.
• Short Access Pilot: Broadcast by FSU. Monitored by the RCS for an incoming access attempt by
an FSU. Alerts the RCS that an FSU is requesting access.
• Long Access Pilot: Broadcast by the FSU. Allows the RCS to synchronize to the FSU to setup a
call.
• Assigned Pilot: Broadcast by FSU. Unmodulated PN code of the assigned channel. Allows RCS to
synchronize to and track the PN codes of the FSU assigned channels for despreading.

Communication Channels

In order to understand system operation, we need to introduce the system communication channels. The
system has the following channel groups:

• The Broadcast Channel group: Channels continuously broadcasted by the RCS.


• Call Setup Channel group: Channels used to setup a call. There are four sets of these channels; up
to 4 FSUs can request access at one time.
• Assigned Channel group: Channels used for the call.

Each logical channel in each group is realized by assigning a unique PN code to it.

Channel Channel Direction Number of Description


Group Name Channels
Broadcast Global Pilot F One An unmodulated PN code that the FSU can
synchronize to.
Fast F One A single message indicating which services
Broadcast and access channels are available. This
Channel information may change rapidly.
Slow F One Paging messages and other system
Broadcast information that does not need to be updated
Channel rapidly.
Call Setup Short Pilot R Four Alerts the RCS that an FSU is requesting
access.
Long Pilot Four Allows the RCS to synchronize to the FSU to
setup a call.
Access R Four Used by the FSUs to access an RCS and
Channel get assigned channels.
Control F Four Used by the RCS to reply to access attempts
Channel from FSUs.
Control F Four Controls FSU power during initial access.
Channel APC
Assigned Assigned Pilot R One per FSU An unmodulated PN code that the RCS can
synchronize to.
APC Channel F One per FSU Controls FSU power during call.
R Controls RCS power of assigned FSU
channels.
Traffic F Up to 3 per Signal data from RCS to FSU.
Channels FSU
R Signal data from FSU to RCS.
Order wire F One per FSU Control signals: CDMA and Telco messages.
R
Note on Direction: F - Forward - From RCS to FSU
R - Reverse - From FSU to RCS

Pilot Ramp Up

When the FSU transmits its Short and Long Access Pilots, it ramps the power up to determine what power
level it should transmit. When the RCS detects the Short Access Pilot, it acknowledges over the Fast
Broadcast Channel. The FSU then knows that it is being received, and switches to the Long Access Pilot
code. The Long Access Pilot code ramps up more slowly, until the RCS locks and starts transmitting
Automatic Power Control signals.

System Idle

On startup, the RCS places one of its modems in broadcast mode, in which state it broadcasts the following
Global Channels continuously:

• Global Pilot
• Slow Broadcast Channel
• Fast Broadcast Channel

In addition, the RCS sets aside 4 modems for Call Setup channels. These modems continuously listen for
access attempts by the FSUs. We’ll discuss the operation of the modems in more detail later.

Paging Groups and Sleep Cycles

The RCS divides all the FSUs associated with it into paging groups. The RCS assigns each paging group a
particular time slot on its Slow Broadcast Channel (the first time slot is reserved for general Slow
Broadcast information). When the RCS pages an FSU, the RCS will only page it during the time slot of that
FSU’s paging group.

The Slow Broadcast Channel cycles through all the paging groups. The cycle takes approximately one
second to complete. Each FSU remains powered down for most of the cycle. When the Slow Broadcast
Channel reaches the time slot of the FSU’s paging group, the FSU powers up, synchronizes to the Global
Pilot, and checks for its address in the paging group. If it recognizes its paging address, it requests access; if
not, it powers down. This results in a duty cycle of less than 10%, and saves considerable power at the
FSU.
Figure 5. Call Setup

Call Setup

Two events can initiate a call:


• The FSU receives a page from the RCS, as explained above. This is called a terminating call.
• The FSU generates an off-hook signal in response to subscriber equipment. The FSU locks on to
the Global Pilot. This is called an originating call.

Once either of these events occur, call setup proceeds as follows:

1. FSU requests access.

• FSU transmits Short Access Pilot Code.


• RCS detects transmission and acknowledges. Flags Call Setup Channel as busy.
• FSU transmits Long Access Pilot Code.
• RCS synchronizes to the FSU and confirms sync over Control Channel.
• RCS measures received power and starts transmitting APC signal on APC Control Channel.
• RCS and FSU exchange messages on Access and Control Channels. Type of service and types of
traffic channels are specified.

2. RCS assigns channel group to FSU.

• RCS designates assigned code on Control Channel


• FSU generates complex PN codes for all channels in its assigned group.
• Both FSU and RCS synchronously switch to the assigned channel groups.
• The call is connected.
• The RCS flags the Call Setup Channel as available, and assigns it to the next available modem.

Note that the RCS now tracks the Assigned Pilot; the FSU continues to track the Global Pilot.

Call Processing

Call processing puts together everything we’ve covered so far. There are slight differences in the way the
RCS and FSU process calls, so we will cover both the Forward link (RCS to FSU) and Reverse link (FSU
to RCS). Note that the system uses Frequency Division Duplexing for the Forward and Reverse links: they
transmit over different frequencies.

In the forward direction, the RCS:

1. Generates CDMA data signal for each traffic channel:

• FEC codes the Information data, and converts the data to two-bit symbols.
• Converts the symbols to I and Q data, and pads each data stream to 64 kbits/sec.
• Generates the Complex PN code for each channel.
• Multiplies the Complex Information data and the Complex PN code together.
• Reads APC data from FSU, digitally scales channels accordingly.

2. Generates other signal channels:

• Calculates APC signal


• Converts it to I data only
• Multiplies it with its own Complex PN code

3. Adds all signals together:


• Traffic channels
• APC channel
• Order Wire channel
• Global Pilot

4. Adds together the signals for all currently active FSUs.

5. Modulates and transmits carriers

• I and Q data modulate Cosine and Sine carriers.


• Carriers are combined, amplified, and broadcast.

The FSU:

1. Extracts the I and Q data:

• Receives and amplifies the modulated carriers.


• Demodulates the signal and extracts the I and Q data.

2. Filters the I and Q data:

• Extracts multi-path information from the Pilot Rake filter and supplies it to the Adaptive Matched
Filter.
• Removes multi-path interference from I and Q data using the Adaptive Matched Filter.
• Performs Automatic Gain Control on received signal

3. Extracts the CDMA data signal for each traffic channel:

• Generates the Complex PN code for each channel.


• Multiplies the Complex signal and the Complex PN code together.
• Converts the I and Q data to symbols.
• Decodes the symbols for error correction.
• Extracts the signal data.

In the reverse direction, the FSU:

1. Generates CDMA data signal for each traffic channel:

• FEC codes the Information data, and converts the data to two-bit symbols.
• Converts the symbols to I and Q data, and pads each data stream to 64 kbits/sec.
• Generates the Complex PN code for each channel.
• Multiplies the Complex signal and the Complex PN code together.
• Reads APC data from FSU, digitally scales channels accordingly.

2. Generates other signal channels:

• Calculates APC signal


• Converts it to I data only
• Multiplies it with its own Complex PN code
3. Adds all signals together:

• Traffic channels
• APC channel
• Order Wire channel
• Global Pilot

4. Passes the signal through a pulse shaping digital filter.

5. Modulates and transmits carriers

• I and Q data modulate Cosine and Sine carriers.


• Carriers are combined, amplified, and broadcast.

The RCS:

1. Extracts the I and Q data:

• Receives and amplifies the modulated carriers.


• Demodulates the signal and extracts the I and Q data.

2. Filters the I and Q data:

• Extracts multi-path information from the Pilot Rake filter and supplies it to the Adaptive Matched
Filter.
• Removes multi-path interference from I and Q data using the Adaptive Matched Filter.
• Performs Automatic Gain Control on the received signal

3. Extracts the CDMA data signal for each traffic channel, for each subscriber connection:

• Generates the Complex PN code for each channel.


• Multiplies the Complex signal and the Complex PN code together.
• Converts the I and Q data to symbols.
• Decodes the symbols for error correction.
• Extracts the Information data.

Call Teardown

An on-hook signal causes the RCS to release the resources, and the FSU returns to its idle state.

………………..

Introduction to Spread Spectrum


by Randy Roberts, Director of RF/Spread Spectrum Consulting (Retired)

Over the last eight or nine years a new commercial marketplace has been
emerging. Called spread spectrum, this field covers the art of secure digital
communications that is now being exploited for commercial and industrial
purposes. In the next several years hardly anyone will escape being involved, in
some way, with spread spectrum communications. Applications for commercial
spread spectrum range from "wireless" LAN's (computer to computer local area
networks), to integrated bar code scanner/palmtop computer/radio modem
devices for warehousing, to digital dispatch, to digital cellular telephone
communications, to "information society" city/area/state or country wide
networks for passing faxes, computer data, email, or multimedia data.

The IEEE Spectrum of August, 1990 contained an article entitled Spread


Spectrum Goes Commercial,by Donald L. Schilling of City College of New
York, Raymond L. Pickholtz of George Washington University, and Laurence
B. Milstein of UC San Diego. This article summarized the coming of
commercial spread spectrum:

"Spread-spectrum radio communications, long a favorite technology of the


military because it resists jamming and is hard for an enemy to intercept, is
now on the verge of potentially explosive commercial development. The
reason: spread-spectrum signals, which are distributed over a wide range of
frequencies and then collected onto their original frequency at the receiver, are
so inconspicuous as to be 'transparent.' Just as they are unlikely to be
intercepted by a military opponent, so are they unlikely to interfere with other
signals intended for business and consumer users -- even ones transmitted on
the same frequencies. Such an advantage opens up crowded frequency spectra
to vastly expanded use.

"A case in point is a two-year demonstration project the Federal


Communications Commission (FCC) authorized in May (1990) for Houston,
Texas, and Orlando, Fla. In both places, a new spread spectrum personal
communications network (PCN) will share the 1.85-1.9-gigahertz band with
local electric and gas utilities. The FCC licensee, Millicom Inc., a New York
City-based cellular telephone company, expects to enlist 45000 subscribers.

"The demonstration is intended to show that spread-spectrum users can share a


frequency band with conventional microwave radio users--without one group
interfering with the other -- thereby increasing the efficiency with which that
band is used. . . . "

How Spread Spectrum Works

Spread Spectrum uses wide band, noise-like signals. Because Spread Spectrum
signals are noise-like, they are hard to detect. Spread Spectrum signals are also
hard to Intercept or demodulate. Further, Spread Spectrum signals are harder to
jam (interfere with) than narrowband signals. These Low Probability of
Intercept (LPI) and anti-jam (AJ) features are why the military has used Spread
Spectrum for so many years. Spread signals are intentionally made to be much
wider band than the information they are carrying to make them more noise-
like.

Spread Spectrum signals use fast codes that run many times the information
bandwidth or data rate. These special "Spreading" codes are called "Pseudo
Random" or "Pseudo Noise" codes. They are called "Pseudo" because they are
not real gaussian noise.

Spread Spectrum transmitters use similar transmit power levels to narrow band
transmitters. Because Spread Spectrum signals are so wide, they transmit at a
much lower spectral power density, measured in Watts per Hertz, than
narrowband transmitters. This lower transmitted power density characteristic
gives spread signals a big plus. Spread and narrow band signals can occupy the
same band, with little or no interference. This capability is the main reason for
all the interest in Spread Spectrum today.

More Details on Spread Spectrum

Over the last 50 years, a class of modulation techniques usually called "Spread
Spectrum," has been developed. This group of modulation techniques is
characterized by its wide frequency spectra. The modulated output signals
occupy a much greater bandwidth than the signal's baseband information
bandwidth. To qualify as a spread spectrum signal, two criteria should be met:

1. The transmitted signal bandwidth is much greater than the information


bandwidth.

2. Some function other than the information being transmitted is employed


to determine the resultant transmitted bandwidth.

A Spectrum Analyzer Photo of a Direct Sequence (DS) Spread Spectrum signal.


Most commercial part 15.247 spread spectrum systems transmit an RF signal
bandwidth as wide as 20 to 254 times the bandwidth of the information being
sent. Some spread spectrum systems have employed RF bandwidths 1000 times
their information bandwidth. Common spread spectrum systems are of the
"direct sequence" or "frequency hopping" type, or else some combination of
these two types (called a "hybrid").

A Spectrum Analyzer Photo of a Frequency Hop (FH) Spread Spectrum signal.

There are also "Time Hopped" and "Chirp" systems in existence. Time hopped
spread spectrum systems have found no commercial application to date.
However, the arrival of cheap random access memory (RAM) and fast micro-
controller chips make time hopping a viable alternative spread spectrum
technique for the future. "Chirp" signals are often employed in radar systems
and only rarely used in commercial spread spectrum systems.

Direct sequence systems -- Direct sequence spread spectrum systems are so


called because they employ a high speed code sequence, along with the basic
information being sent, to modulate their RF carrier. The high speed code
sequence is used directly to modulate the carrier, thereby directly setting the
transmitted RF bandwidth. Binary code sequences as short as 11 bits or as long
as [2^(89) - 1] have been employed for this purpose, at code rates from under a
bit per second to several hundred megabits per second.

The result of modulating an RF carrier with such a code sequence is to produce


a signal centered at the carrier frequency, direct sequence modulated spread
spectrum with a (sin x/x)2 frequency spectrum. The main lobe of this spectrum
has a bandwidth twice the clock rate of the modulating code, from null to null.
The sidelobes have a null to null bandwidth equal to the code's clock rate.
Figure 1 illustrates the most common type of direct sequence modulated spread
spectrum signal. Direct sequence spectra vary somewhat in spectral shape
depending upon the actual carrier and data modulation used. The signal
illustrated is that for a binary phase shift keyed (BPSK) signal, which is the
most common modulation signal type used in direct sequence systems.

Frequency hopping systems -- The wideband frequency spectrum desired is


generated in a different manner in a frequency hopping system. It does just
what its name implies. That is, it "hops" from frequency to frequency over a
wide band. The specific order in which frequencies are occupied is a function
of a code sequence, and the rate of hopping from one frequency to another is a
function of the information rate. The transmitted spectrum of a frequency
hopping signal is quite different from that of a direct sequence system. Instead
of a [(sin x)/x]^2-shaped envelope, the frequency hopper's output is flat over
the band of frequencies used. Figure 2 shows an output spectrum of a frequency
hopping system. The bandwidth of a frequency hopping signal is simply w
times the number of frequency slots available, where w is the bandwidth of
each hop channel.

"Inside" Spread Spectrum

This section is intended to gently introduce the reader to the more intricate
aspects of the rapidly growing world of spread spectrum, wireless local and
wide area networks, as well as introduce the evolution (some may call it
explosion) in new communications technologies such as PCN/PCS. We will
also try to thoroughly define new terms and concepts the first time we use
them.

As an introduction, a little history lesson and a few definitions seem to be in


order. Spread Spectrum (SS) dates back to World War II. A German lady
scientist was granted a patent on a simple frequency hopping CW system. The
allies also experimented with spread spectrum in World War II. These early
research and development efforts tried to provide countermeasures for radar,
navigation beacons and communications. The U. S. Military has used SS
signals over satellites for at least 25 years. An old, but faithful, highly capable
design like the Magnavox USC-28 modem is an example of this kind of
equipment. Housed in two or three six foot racks, it had selectable data rates
from a few hundred bits per second to about 64 kBits per second. It transmitted
a spread bandwidth of 60 MHZ. Many newer commercial satellite systems are
now converting to SS to increase channel capacity and reduce costs.

Over the last twenty years, many spread spectrum signals have appeared on the
air. The easiest way to characterize these modulations is by their frequency
spectra. These SS signals occupy a much greater bandwidth than needed by the
information bandwidth of the transmitted data. To rate being called an SS
signal, two technicalities must be met:

• The signal bandwidth must be much wider than the information


bandwidth.
• Some code or pattern, other than the data to be transmitted, determines
the actual on-the-air transmit bandwidth.

In today's commercial spread spectrum systems, bandwidths of 10 to 100 times


the information rates are used. Military systems have used spectrum widths
from 1000 to 1 million times the information bandwidth. There are two very
common spread spectrum modulations: frequency hopping and direct sequence.
At least two other types of spreading modulations have been used: time
hopping and chirp.

What Exactly is Spread Spectrum?

One way to look at spread spectrum is that it trades a wider signal bandwidth
for better signal to noise ratio. Frequency hop and direct sequence are well-
known techniques today. The following paragraphs will describe each of these
common techniques in a little more detail and show that pseudo noise code
techniques provide the common thread through all spread spectrum types.

Frequency hopping is the easiest spread spectrum modulation to use. Any radio
with a digitally controlled frequency synthesizer can, theoretically, be
converted to a frequency hopping radio. This conversion requires the addition
of a pseudo noise (PN) code generator to select the frequencies for transmission
or reception. Most hopping systems use uniform frequency hopping over a
band of frequencies. This is not absolutely necessary, if both the transmitter and
receiver of the system know in advance what frequencies are to be skipped.
Thus a frequency hopper in two meters, could be made that skipped over
commonly used repeater frequency pairs. A frequency hopped system can use
analog or digital carrier modulation and can be designed using conventional
narrow band radio techniques. De-hopping in the receiver is done by a
synchronized pseudo noise code generator that drives the receiver's local
oscillator frequency synthesizer.

The most practical, all digital version of SS is direct sequence. A direct


sequence system uses a locally generated pseudo noise code to encode digital
data to be transmitted. The local code runs at much higher rate than the data
rate. Data for transmission is simply logically modulo-2 added (an EXOR
operation) with the faster pseudo noise code. The composite pseudo noise and
data can be passed through a data scrambler to randomize the output spectrum
(and thereby remove discrete spectral lines). A direct sequence modulator is
then used to double sideband suppressed carrier modulate the carrier frequency
to be transmitted. The resultant DSB suppressed carrier AM modulation can
also be thought of as binary phase shift keying (BPSK). Carrier modulation
other than BPSK is possible with direct sequence. However, binary phase shift
keying is the simplest and most often used SS modulation technique.

An SS receiver uses a locally generated replica pseudo noise code and a


receiver correlator to separate only the desired coded information from all
possible signals. A SS correlator can be thought of as a very special matched
filter -- it responds only to signals that are encoded with a pseudo noise code
that matches its own code. Thus, an SS correlator can be "tuned" to different
codes simply by changing its local code. This correlator does not respond to
man made, natural or artificial noise or interference. It responds only to SS
signals with identical matched signal characteristics and encoded with the
identical pseudo noise code.

What Spread Spectrum Does

The use of these special pseudo noise codes in spread spectrum (SS)
communications makes signals appear wide band and noise-like. It is this very
characteristic that makes SS signals possess the quality of Low Probability of
Intercept. SS signals are hard to detect on narrow band equipment because the
signal's energy is spread over a bandwidth of maybe 100 times the information
bandwidth.

The spread of energy over a wide band, or lower spectral power density, makes
SS signals less likely to interfere with narrowband communications. Narrow
band communications, conversely, cause little to no interference to SS systems
because the correlation receiver effectively integrates over a very wide
bandwidth to recover an SS signal. The correlator then "spreads" out a narrow
band interferer over the receiver's total detection bandwidth. Since the total
integrated signal density or SNR at the correlator's input determines whether
there will be interference or not. All SS systems have a threshold or tolerance
level of interference beyond which useful communication ceases. This
tolerance or threshold is related to the SS processing gain. Processing gain is
essentially the ratio of the RF bandwidth to the information bandwidth.

A typical commercial direct sequence radio, might have a processing gain of


from 11 to 16 dB, depending on data rate. It can tolerate total jammer power
levels of from 0 to 5 dB stronger than the desired signal. Yes, the system can
work at negative SNR in the RF bandwidth. Because of the processing gain of
the receiver's correlator, the system functions at positive SNR on the baseband
data.
Besides being hard to intercept and jam, spread spectrum signals are hard to
exploit or spoof. Signal exploitation is the ability of an enemy (or a non-
network member) to listen in to a network and use information from the
network without being a valid network member or participant. Spoofing is the
act of falsely or maliciously introducing misleading or false traffic or messages
to a network. SS signals also are naturally more secure than narrowband radio
communications. Thus SS signals can be made to have any degree of message
privacy that is desired. Messages can also, be cryptographically encoded to any
level of secrecy desired. The very nature of SS allows military or intelligence
levels of privacy and security to be had with minimal complexity. While these
characteristics may not be very important to everyday business and LAN (local
area network) needs, these features are important to understand.

Some Spread Spectrum Terms Defined

Spread spectrum technology seems to present an alphabet soup to most


newcomers. We define some of the more commonly used terms in this field in
the following text box. For a complete glossary, see our complete Glossary.
A Brief Spread Spectrum Glossary
For more definitions of spread spectrum terms, please visit our Technical
Glossary.

• AJ: Anti-Jam, designed to resist interference or jamming.


• BPSK: Binary Phase Shift Keying -- Digital DSB suppressed carrier
modulation.
• CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access -- a way to increase channel
capacity.
• CHIP: The time it takes to transmit a bit or single symbol of a PN code.
• CODE: A digital bit stream with noise-like characteristics.
• CORRELATOR: The SS receiver compponent that demodulates a Spread
Spectrum signal.
• DE-SPREADING: The process used by a correlator to recover
narrowband information from a spread spectrum signal.
• WIRELESS LAN: Wireless Local Area Network - a 1,000-foot or less
range computer-to-computer data communications network.
• PCN: Personal Communication Network. PCNs are usually short range
(hundreds of feet to 1 mile or so) and involve cellular radio type
architecture. Services include digital voice, FAX, mobile data and
national/international data communications.
• PCS: Personal Communication System. PCSs are usually associated with
cordless telephone type devices. Service is typically digital voice only.
• PN: Pseudo Noise - a digital signal with noise-like properties.
• RF: Radio Frequency - generally a frequency from around 50 kHz to
around 3 GHz. RF is usually referred to whenever a signal is radiated
through the air.
• SS: Spread Spectrum, a wideband modulation which imparts noise-like
characteristics to an RF signal.

• WIRELESS UAN: Wireless Universe Area Network - a collection of


wireless MANs or WANs that link together an entire nation or the world.
UANs use very small aperture (VSAT) earth station gateway technology.

Conclusion

Our world is rapidly changing -- computers have gone from mainframes to


palmtops. Radio communications has gone from lunchbox sized (or trunk
mounted/remote handset car phone) to cigarette-pack-sized micro-cellular
telephone technology. The technical challenges of this progress are significant.
The new opportunities created by this new technology are also significant.
We've talked here about some of the very basic principles in spread spectrum
and talked about evolving career opportunities -- isn't it time somebody did
something about moving forward in the new millennium?

/////////////////////………………….

CDMA vs TDMA Home

Last Updated: 15-Apr-2004

NOTE: During this discussion I will use the generic term "CDMA" to refer to
the IS-95B standard. Technically speaking, CDMA is only a means to transmit
bits of information, while IS-95B is a transmission protocol that employs
CDMA. You may also hear the term "TDMA" used to refer generically to the
IS-136 standard. Once again, TDMA is only a method of transmitting bits,
while IS-136 is a protocol that happens to employ TDMA.

I spend quite a bit of time reading the messages that flow through the various
PCS newsgroups and forums on the Internet, and if one thing is abundantly
clear, it is that people don't seem to know the true differences between CDMA
and TDMA. And who could blame them? There is so much hype surrounding
these two competing technologies that it is difficult for a regular PCS
subscriber to know who is telling the truth.

I personally am NOT an RF engineer, nor do I work for any of the cellular or


PCS companies. It is however my hobby to keep up with the latest
developments in mobile communication (as this web site amply demonstrates).
I would like to clear the air by interjecting my own spin on this debate. I hope
that by the time you finish reading this editorial you will have a better
understanding of the true strengths and weaknesses of both technologies.

The Basics

Let's begin by learning what these two acronyms stand for. TDMA stands for
"Time Division Multiple Access", while CDMA stands for "Code Division
Multiple Access". Three of the four words in each acronym are identical, since
each technology essentially achieves the same goal, but by using different
methods. Each strives to better utilize the radio spectrum by allowing multiple
users to share the same physical channel. You heard that right. More than one
person can carry on a conversation on the same frequency without causing
interference. This is the magic of digital technology.

Where the two competing technologies differ is in the manner in which users
share the common resource. TDMA does it by chopping up the channel into
sequential time slices. Each user of the channel takes turns transmitting and
receiving in a round-robin fashion. In reality, only one person is actually using
the channel at any given moment, but he or she only uses it for short bursts. He
then gives up the channel momentarily to allow the other users to have their
turn. This is very similar to how a computer with just one processor can seem
to run multiple applications simultaneously.

CDMA on the hand really does let everyone transmit at the same time.
Conventional wisdom would lead you to believe that this is simply not
possible. Using conventional modulation techniques, it most certainly is
impossible. What makes CDMA work is a special type of digital modulation
called "Spread Spectrum". This form of modulation takes the user's stream of
bits and splatters them across a very wide channel in a pseudo-random fashion.
The "pseudo" part is very important here, since the receiver must be able to
undo the randomization in order to collect the bits together in a coherent order.

If you are still having trouble understanding the differences though, perhaps
this analogy will help you. This my own version of an excellent analogy
provided by Qualcomm:

Imagine a room full of people, all trying to carry on one-on-one conversations.


In TDMA each couple takes turns talking. They keep their turns short by saying
only one sentence at a time. As there is never more than one person speaking in
the room at any given moment, no one has to worry about being heard over the
background din. In CDMA each couple talks at the same time, but they all use
a different language. Because none of the listeners understand any language
other than that of the individual to whom they are listening, the background din
doesn't cause any real problem.

Voice Encoding

At this point many people confuse two distinctly different issues involved in
the transmission of digital audio. The first is the WAY in which the stream of
bits is delivered from one end to the other. This part of the "air interface" is
what makes one technology different from another. The second is the
compression algorithm used to squeeze the audio into as small a stream of bits
as possible.
This latter component is known at the "Voice Coder", or Vocoder for short.
Another term commonly used is CODEC, which is a similar word to modem. It
combines the terms "COder" and "DECoder". Although each technology has
chosen their own unique CODECs, there is no rule saying that one transmission
method needs to use a specific CODEC. People often lump a technology's
transmission method with its CODEC as though they were single entities. We
will discuss CODECs in greater detail later on in this article.

Voice encoding schemes differ slightly in their approach to the problem.


Because of this, certain types of human voice work better with some CODECs
than they do with others. The point to remember is thatall PCS CODECs are
compromises of some sort. Since human voices have such a fantastic range of
pitch and tonal depth, one cannot expect any single compromise to handle each
one equally well. This inability to cope with all types of voice at the same level
does lead some people to choose one technology over another.

All of the PCS technologies try to minimize battery consumption during calls
by keeping the transmission of unnecessary data to a minimum. The phone
decides whether or not you are presently speaking, or if the sound it hears is
just background noise. If the phone determines that there is no intelligent data
to transmit it blanks the audio and it reduces the transmitter duty cycle (in the
case of TDMA) or the number of transmitted bits (in the case of CDMA).
When the audio is blanked your caller would suddenly find themselves
listening to "dead air", and this may cause them to think the call has dropped.

To avoid this psychological problem many service providers insert what is


known as "Comfort Noise" during the blanked periods. Comfort Noise is
synthesized white noise that tries to mimic the volume and structure of the real
background noise. This fake background noise assures the caller that the
connection is alive and well.

However, in newer CODECs such as EVRC (used exclusively on CDMA


systems) the background noise is generally suppressed even while the user is
talking. This piece of magic makes it sound as though the cell phone user
is not in a noisy environment at all. Under these conditions, Comfort Noise is
neither necessary, nor desirable. You can read my article on EVRC by clicking
here.

CDMA
Now that we have a rudimentary understanding of the two technologies, let's
try and examine what advantages they provide. We'll begin with CDMA, since
this newer technology has created the greatest "buzz" in the mobile
communications industry.

One of the terms you'll hear in conjunction with CDMA is "Soft Handoff". A
handoff occurs in any cellular system when your call switches from one cell
site to another as you travel. In all other technologies this handoff occurs when
the network informs your phone of the new channel to which it must switch.
The phone then stops receiving and transmitting on the old channel, and it
commences transmitting and receiving on the new channel. It goes without
saying that this is known as a "Hard Handoff".

In CDMA however, every site are on the SAME frequency. In order to begin
listening to a new site the phone only needs to change the pseudo-random
sequence it uses to decode the desired data from the jumble of bits sent for
everyone else. While a call is in progress the network chooses two or more
alternate sites that it feels are handoff candidates. It simultaneously broadcasts
a copy of your call on each of these sites. Your phone can then pick and choose
between the different sources for your call, and move between them whenever
it feels like it. It can even combine the data received from two or more different
sites to ease the transition from one to the other.

This arrangement therefore puts the phone in almost complete control of the
handoff process. Such an arrangement should ensure that there is always a new
site primed and ready to take over the call at a moment's notice. In theory, this
should put an end to dropped calls and audio interruptions during the handoff
process. In practice it works quite well, but dropped calls are still a fact of life
in a mobile environment. However, CDMA rarely drops a call due to a failed
handoff.

A big problem facing CDMA systems is channel pollution. This occurs when
signals from too many base stations are present at the subscriber's phone, but
none are dominant. When this situation occurs the audio quality degrades
rapidly, even when the signal seem otherwise very strong. Pollution occurs
frequently in densely populated urban environments where service providers
must build many sites in close proximity. Channel pollution can also result
from massive multipath problems caused by many tall buildings. Taming
pollution is a tuning and system design issue. It is up to the service provider to
reduce this phenomenon as much as possible.
In defense of CDMA however, I should point out that the new EVRC CODEC
is far more robust than either of the earlier CODECs. Because of its increased
robustness it provides much more consistent audio in the face of high frame
error rates. EVRC is an 8 kilobit CODEC that provides audio quality that
is almost as good to the older 13 kilobit CODEC. Since CDMA consumes only
as much of the "ether" as a user talks, switching everyone to an 8 kilobit
CODEC was an inevitable move.

Don't confuse EVRC with the old (and unlamented) 8 kilobit CODEC
implemented in the early days of CDMA deployment. That CODEC was
simply awful, and very few good things could be said about it. EVRC is a far
more advanced compression algorithm that cleans up many of the stability
problems inherent in the two older CODECs. The sound reproduction
is slightly muddier than the 13 kilobit CODEC, but the improvement in stability
makes up for this.

Supporters often cite capacity as one CDMA's biggest assets. Virtually no one
disagrees that CDMA has a very high "spectral efficiency". It can
accommodate more users per MHz of bandwidth than any other technology.
What experts do not agree upon is by how much. Unlike other technologies, in
which the capacity is fixed and easily computed, CDMA has what is known as
"Soft Capacity". You canalways add just one more caller to a CDMA channel,
but once you get past a certain point you begin to pollute the channel such that
it becomes difficult to retrieve an error-free data stream for any of the
participants.

The ultimate capacity of a system is therefore dependent upon where you draw
the line. How much degradation is a carrier willing to subject their subscribers
to before they admit that they have run out ofuseable capacity? Even if
someone does set a standard error rate at which these calculations are made, it
does not mean that you personally will find the service particularly acceptable
at that error rate.

TDMA

Let's move away from CDMA now and have a look at TDMA. Before we can
go any further though, I should note that there are actually three
different flavors of TDMA in the PCS market. Each of these technologies
implements TDMA in a slightly different way. The most complex
implementation is, without a doubt, GSM. It overlays the basic TDMA
principles with many innovations that reduce the potential problems inherent in
the system.

To reduce the effects of co-channel interference, multipath, and fading, the


GSM network can use something known as Frequency Hopping. This means
that your call literally jumps from one channel to another at fairly short
intervals. By doing this the likelihood of a given RF problem is randomized,
and the effects are far less noticeable to the end user. Frequency Hopping is
always available, but not mandated. This means that your GSM provider may
or may not use it.

iDEN is a proprietary Motorola technology that no other company seems to


participate in. Only Motorola makes iDEN phones, and only Motorola makes
iDEN infrastructure equipment. Perhaps the company guards its technology on
purpose. iDEN was initially deployed as an alternative to standard packet radio
systems commonly used by public safety and business users. However, it also
provided phone interconnect services that are extinguishable from phone
services offered by the other PCS systems, as well as packet data services for
web browsing and hooking up your laptop to the Internet.

Finally there is the old IS-136 technology, but this is now an officially dead
technology. All of the North American providers who used it (Rogers,
Cingular, and AT&T) are abandoning it in favor of GSM. The same is
happening in other parts of the world where IS-136 was used. I therefore will
not spend much time talking about this variation of TDMA.

Each of these TDMA technologies uses a different CODEC. GSM sports a


CODEC called EFR (short for Enhanced Full Rate). This CODEC is arguable
the best sounding one available in the PCS world. IS-136 used to sound
horrible, but in the fall of 1997 they replaced their old CODEC with a new one.
This new CODEC sounds much better than the old, but it doesn't quite match
the GSM and CDMA entries.

TDMA systems still rely on the switch to determine when to perform a handoff.
Unlike the old analog system however, the switch does not do this in a vacuum.
The TDMA handset constantly monitors the signals coming from other sites,
and it reports this information to the switch without the caller being aware of it.
The switch then uses this information to make better handoff choices at more
appropriate times.

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of TDMA system to some people is the
obviousness of handoffs. Some people don't tend to hear them, and I can only
envy those individuals. Those of us who are sensitive to the slight interruptions
caused by handoffs will probably find GSM the most frustrating. It's handoffs
are by far the most messy. When handoffs occur infrequently (such as when we
are stationary or in areas with few sites), they really don't present a problem at
all. However, when they occur very frequently (while travelling in an area with
a huge number of sites) they can become annoying.

Spectral Efficiency

Channel capacity in a TDMA system is fixed and indisputable. Each channel


carries a finite number of "slots", and you can never accommodate a new caller
once each of those slots is filled. Spectral efficiency varies from one
technology to another, but computing a precise number is still a contentious
issue. For example, GSM provides 8 slots in a channel 200 kHz wide, while
iDEN provides 3 slots in a channel only 25 kHz wide. GSM therefore
consumes 25 kHz per user, while IS-136 consumes only 8.333 kHz per user.
When Direct Connect is used on iDEN, 6 users can be stuffed into a single
channel, thus only 4.166 kHz is consumer per user. There is also a new 6:1
interconnect CODEC coming for iDEN which will allow 6 phone users per
channel.

One would be sorely tempted to proclaim that iDEN has 3 to 6 times the
capacity of GSM. In a one-cell system this is certainly true, but once we start
deploying multiple cells and channel reuse the situation becomes more
complex. Due to GSM's better error management and frequency hopping the
interference of a co-channel site is greatly reduced. This allows frequencies to
be reused more frequently without a degradation in the overall quality of the
service.

Capacity is measured in "calls per cell per MHz". An GSM system using N=4
reuse (this means you have 4 different sets of frequencies to spread out around
town) the figure is 5.0 We get an efficiency value of 6.6 for N=3. Unfortunately
I could not find any figures for iDEN systems, but based on similar figures
released for the IS-136 system we can expect efficiency values of 6.0 to 10.0.

Computing this figure for CDMA requires that certain assumptions are made.
Formulas have been devised, and using very optimistic assumptions CDMA
can provide a whopping 45 users per cell per MHz. However, when using
more pessimistic (and perhaps more realistic) assumptions, the value is 12. That
still gives CDMA an almost 2:1 advantage over GSM, but questionable
advantage over a well-implement iDEN system.
In-building Coverage

Now let's deal with another issue involving CDMA and TDMA. In-building
coverage is something that many people talk about, but few people properly
understand. Although CDMA has a slight edge in this department, due to a
marginally greater tolerance for weak signals, all the technologies fair about the
same. This is because the few dB advantage CDMA has is often "used up"
when the provider detunes the sites to take advantage of this process gain.

So, while a CDMA phone might be able to produce a reasonable call with a
signal level of -106 dBm, whereas a GSM phone might need -99 dBm to
provide the same level of service, does this mean that CDMA networks will
always have a 7 dB advantage? If all things were equal, then yes, but they aren't
equal.

As I mentioned earlier, channel pollution is a big issue with CDMA networks


and to keep channel pollution to a minimum in urban environments a CDMA
provider needs to keep site overlap to a minimum. Subsequently, a CDMA
network engineer will use that 7 dB advantage to his advantage by de-tuning
the network accordingly. This means that CDMA users will frequently see
markedly lower signal levels indoors than a GSM user will, but in the end it all
works out about the same.

The most important aspect to in-building coverage is the proximity of the


nearest site. When a site is located just outside of a building it can penetrate just
about any building material. When a site is much further away however, the
signals have a much harder time of getting past the walls of a structure.

When it comes to distance, remember that signals are subject to the "distance
squared law". This means that signals decrease by the square of the distance. A
site at 0.25 kilometers away will have 4 times the signal strength of a site at
0.50 kilometers away, and 16 times that of a site 1.0 kilometers away. Distance
squared however is the rate of signal reduction in free space. Recent studies
have shown that terrestrial communications are usually subject to rates as high
as "Distance cubed", or even "Distance to the 4th". If the latter is true, then a
site 1.0 kilometers away will actually be 1/256th as strong than a site 0.25
kilometers away.

In-building penetration is therefore less a technology issue than it is an


implementation issue. Service providers who have sites close to the buildings
you commonly visit will inevitably look better than those who don't. Never use
someone else's in-building experiences unless you expect to go in the same
buildings as they do. You cannot make useful generalizations about in-building
coverage based upon one person's experience.

CDMA does have one peculiarity concerning in-building penetration that does
not affect TDMA. When the number of users on a channel goes up, the general
level of signal pollution goes up in tandem. To compensate for this the CDMA
system directs each phone to transmit with slightly more power. However, if a
phone is already at its limit (such as might be the case inside a building) it
cannot do anything to "keep up with the pack". This condition is known as "the
shrinking coverage phenomenon" or "site breathing". During slow periods of
the day you might find coverage inside a specific building quite good. During
rush hour however, you might find it exceedingly poor (or non-existent). Think
of this as the difference between one person calling a number and an entire call
center calling the number. The less people using the system, the more likely the
call will go through.

Some Final Observations

In the end, can we really proclaim a winner in the CDMA vs TDMA war? For
the time being I think not. Perhaps in the future, when newer technologies built
around wider bandwidth CDMA technologies come into existence, the issue
will warrant another look. By that time, even GSM will have moved to CDMA
as its air interface of choice, but don't let that fool you into believing that they
think the current TDMA air interface is inadequate for its purpose. Future
standards are being built around high speed data.

If you are presently in the market for a new phone my advise to you is to ignore
the hype surrounding the technologies and look at service provider instead.
Judge each with an eye to price, phone choice, coverage, and reputation.
Technology should play a very small roll in your choice (with the exception of
IS-136, whose future is extremely limited at this time). If you follow this
advice, you'll probably be much happier with the phone and service you
inevitably wind up with.

/////////////////////////////……………………….

Applications
CDMA2000 was designed with the mobile Internet in mind. It is an efficient and reliable IP-based platform on
which to deliver wireless data applications. EV-DO technologies, optimized for broadband data, were designed to
provide high-speed user data rates - that are faster than fixed-line broadband solutions - and low latencies to
enable a broad range of data, multimedia and delay-sensitive services to ensure a superior customer experience.
CDMA2000 supports thousands of applications across multiple execution environments (e.g., BREW, Java, Linux,
Palm, RIM, Windows Mobile, etc.) and customers can choose from a wide variety of handsets, fixed wireless
phones, PDAs, smart phones, notebooks, desktop modems and PC cards to access these applications.
For operators, CDMA2000 offers a robust platform that is easy to evolve and capable of enabling a time-to-market
advantage of 1 to 2 years or more—in a competitive market, this is a significant benefit.
Today, CDMA2000 operators offer thousands of applications targeting consumers, businesses and public service
organizations on their EV-DO Rel. 0 and Rev. A networks.

• Consumer: Popular consumer applications include short messaging, instant messaging, picture
messaging, mobile TV, music downloads, video downloads, online gaming with richly rendered 3D
graphics, and location-based services.
• Business: The business customer benefits from having high-speed data connectivity to the Internet and
their virtual private network (VPN), and services such as sending and receiving e-mail with large
attachments, push-to-talk and multimedia (PTT and PTM), and sales force automation functions.
• Public Service: The above services are also valuable tools for the public sector, including national
security, first-responder and public safety users. Providing universal access to telephony and Internet
services is a key economic priority for most governments. In many countries, EV-DO wireless broadband
technologies are being deployed as a more economical DSL substitute. Forward looking governments
are taking full advantage of these services by connecting schools, hospitals, medical clinics, police
stations and communities to CDMA2000 telecommunication networks.

Next-generation mobile technologies, EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B, are IP-based and enable operators to offer a
wide range of value-added services, including voice over IP (VoIP), video conferencing, advertising, social
networking, m-commerce, radio and television. They also support multicast services, “one-to-many” delivery,
which allows transmitting the same content to an unlimited number of users without the need to rebroadcast the
information multiple times.
CDMA2000 operators have leveraged their success in delivering broadband data services to establish
themselves as leaders in service innovation while driving double-digit growth in data revenues. In some markets
in Asia, they are already generating over 30 percent of their revenues from data services, and in the U.S., they
have surpassed the 25 percent mark.

cdmaOne

cdmaOne™ is the brand name that describes a complete digital wireless telecommunications solution based on
the TIA/EIA IS-95 CDMA standard, including IS-95A and IS-95B revisions. It represents a second generation (2G)
digital radio solution that uses the spectrally efficient Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) scheme to send
voice, data and signaling data (e.g., Caller ID) between mobile telephones and cell sites in a variety of spectrum
and regulatory environments, including cellular, personal communication services (PCS), wireless local loop
(WLL) and fixed wireless.

IS-95A: The first CDMA cellular standard

TIA/EIA IS-95 (Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Association Interim Standard - 95)
was published in July 1993. The IS-95A revision was published in May 1995 and is the basis for more than 115
commercial 2G CDMA systems around the world. IS-95A describes the 1.25 MHz CDMA channel structure,
power control, call processing, intercellular hand-offs, and registration techniques for end-to-end wireless system
operation. In addition to voice services, many IS-95A operators provide circuit-switched data connections at14.4
kbps. IS-95A was first deployed in September 1995 by Hutchison in Hong Kong.

IS-95B: 2.5G

The IS-95B revision, also known as TIA/EIA-95, combines IS-95A, ANSI-J-STD-008 and TSB-74 into a single
standards document. The ANSI-J-STD-008 specification, published in 1995, defines a compatibility standard for
1.8 to 2.0 GHz CDMA PCS systems. TSB-74 describes the interaction between IS-95A and CDMA PCS systems
that conform to ANSI-J-STD-008. The operators that commercialized IS-95B systems offered 64 kbps packet-
switched data services, in addition to voice services. Due to the data speeds that IS-95B is capable of reaching, it
is categorized as a 2.5G technology. cdmaOne IS-95B was first deployed in September 1999, in South Korea,
and has since been adopted by operators in Israel, Japan, Mongolia and Peru.
………..
CDMA2000
CDMA2000® represents a family of IMT-2000 (3G) standards providing high-quality voice and broadband
data services over wireless networks. CDMA2000 builds on the inherent advantages of CDMA technologies
and introduces other enhancements, such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM),
advanced control and signaling mechanisms, improved interference management techniques, end-to-end
Quality of Service (QoS), and new antenna techniques such as Multiple Inputs Multiple Outputs (MIMO) and
beamforming to increase data throughput rates and quality of service, while significantly improving network
capacity and reducing delivery cost.
Currently, CDMA2000 includes CDMA2000 1X (1X) and CDMA2000 EV-DO (EV-DO) standards.
CDMA2000 1X (IS-2000) supports circuit-switched voice up to and beyond 35 simultaneous call per sector
and high-speed data of up to 153 kbps in both directions. It was recognized by the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) as an IMT-2000 standard in November 1999. CDMA2000 EV-DO
(Evolution-Data Optimized) introduces new high-speed packet-switched transmission techniques that are
specifically designed and optimized for a data-centric broadband network that can deliver peak data rates
beyond 3 Mbps in a mobile environment. CDMA2000 EV-DO was approved as an IMT-2000 standard
(cdma2000 High Rate packet Data Air Interface, IS-856) in 2001.
Built on the principle of backwards compatibility, the CDMA2000 evolution path has provided operators
favorable economics and a significant time-to-market advantage in introducing new value-added services.
CDMA2000 1X was deployed in 2000, as the first IMT-2000 standard to be commercially available, and
today, along with EV-DO, it is the leading 3G technology serving around a half billion users worldwide.
CDMA2000 systems provide a family of related services including cellular, PCS, WLL and fixed wireless.

CDMA Technology

CDMA is a "spread spectrum" technology, allowing many users to occupy the same time and frequency
allocations in a given band/space. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) assigns unique codes to each
communication to differentiate it from others in the same spectrum. In a world of finite spectrum resources,
CDMA enables many more people to share the airwaves at the same time than do alternative technologies.
The CDMA air interface is used in both 2G and 3G networks. 2G CDMA standards are branded cdmaOne™
and include IS-95A and IS-95B. CDMA is the foundation for 3G services: the two dominant IMT-2000
standards, CDMA2000® and WCDMA, are based on CDMA.

http://download.cnet.com/windows/lg-electronics/3260-20_4-10027208.html?tag=mncol
lg electronics
CDMA / IS-95 / IS-707 / cdma2000 Resource Center
Some useful links to CDMA, IS-95, IS-707, cdma2000 and 1XRTT resources.

Also see our GSM, GPRS and UMTS sections.

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Published By: Berg Insight


Date Published: Jan 2010

******

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IS-95 CDMA Cellular System Solution RF Switching, Receiver, Transmitter,


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Faltu starts…TRANSMITTER APPARATUS WITH ADAPTIVE


POWER AND PHASE FOR CDMA APPLICATIONS description/claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application for patent claims priority to Patent Application No. 60/683,410 entitled
“Transmit Modulator with Polar Loop for WCDMA and GSM/EDGE Applications,” filed May 23,
2006, and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to spread spectrum mobile communication networks, and more
particularly, to a method and apparatus for generating an RF signal from a baseband signal for
communication in a spread spectrum mobile cellular communication network.

2. Description of Related Art

In wireless radiotelephone communication systems, several users may communicate over one or
more wireless channels. Communication over the wireless channels may employ a variety of
multiple access techniques that enable multiple users to share limited frequency spectrum. These
multiple access techniques may include time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division
multiple access (FDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA).

An exemplary CDMA system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307, entitled “SPREAD
SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SATELLITE OR
TERRESTRIAL REPEATERS,” issued Feb. 13, 1990, incorporated herein by reference. An
exemplary CDMA system is further described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,459, entitled “SYSTEM AND
METHOD FOR GENERATING SIGNAL WAVEFORMS IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE
SYSTEM,” issued Apr. 7, 1992, and incorporated herein by reference.

As described in the above referenced patents, CDMA systems employ a forward-link (base
station to mobile station) pilot signal. In typical CDMA wireless communication systems, such as
that described in EIA/TIA IS-95, the pilot signal acts as a “beacon” transmitting a constant zero
symbol, spread with the same pseudo-noise (PN) sequences used by the traffic bearing signals.
The pilot signal may be covered with an all-zero Walsh sequence. During initial system
acquisition, a mobile station may search through PN offsets to locate a base station\'s pilot signal.
Once the mobile station has acquired the pilot signal, it may derive a stable phase and magnitude
reference for coherent demodulation and modulation (transmission to the base station), such as
that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,687 entitled “MOBILE DEMODULATOR ARCHITECTURE
FOR A SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM,” issued Jun.
9, 1998, and incorporated herein by reference.
In addition, mobile units may be required to transmit signals using one or more RF frequencies
and related channels. In such networks mobile units generally have limited transmit power. In
order to conserve power and prevent or reduce dropped calls each mobile unit should transmit
precisely modulated signals (with stable phase and magnitude) to a base station. The present
invention provides such a mobile unit based system transmitter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a spread spectrum cellular network mobile unit transmitter that
enables communication via protocols having different bandwidths and baseband signal
generation, the transmitter including a phase locked loop and an amplitude control loop.

The transmitter may include an intermediate frequency that modulates a base-band (“BB”),
spread spectrum signal to generate an IF signal. The transmitter may further include means for
determining the phase component of the IF signal and means for determining the amplitude
component of the IF signal. The transmitter may include means for generating a baseband
frequency signal based on the IF signal phase component and a phase feedback signal. The
transmitter may also include means for RF modulating the baseband frequency signal and means
for amplitude modifying the RF modulated signal to generate a spread spectrum RF signal. The
RF signal would correspond to the baseband, spread spectrum signal. In an embodiment the
amplitude modification may be based on an amplitude feedback signal. In this embodiment the
transmitter may include means for generating the amplitude feedback signal based on the spread
spectrum RF signal and IF signal. The transmitter may also include means for generating the
phase feedback signal based on the spread spectrum RF signal.

In an embodiment the means for determining the phase component may include a limiter and a
phase-frequency detector. The IF modulator may include a gain control. In addition, the means
for determining the amplitude component of the IF signal may include a peak detector. Further,
the means for RF modulating the baseband frequency signal may include a voltage controlled
oscillator (“VCO”) and a divider. In an embodiment the means for amplitude modifying the RF
modulated signal to generate a spread spectrum RF signal may include an RF variable gain
amplifier (“VGA”) and a power amplifier. In this embodiment the gain of the RF VGA and power
amplifier may be modulated by the amplitude feedback signal. Further, the means for generating
the phase feedback signal based on the spread spectrum RF signal may include a single side
band (“SSB”) mixer and limiter. In an embodiment the BB signal may have a bandwidth and the
IF signal may have a carrier frequency that is at least ten times greater than the BB signal
bandwidth. Further, the BB signal may have two, different bandwidths. Also, the BB signal may
be generated using different encoding protocols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from
the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like
reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cellular communication system comprising a plurality of base


stations and mobile station that may practice the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit that may include an embodiment of the
present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station that may be used in the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal modulator
according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a forward link data formatter that may be used to practice
the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal IF and RF
modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal phase frequency
modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal IF filter and RF
and amplitude modulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal phase and
amplitude controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Throughout this description, embodiments and variations are described for the purpose of
illustrating uses and implementations of the invention. The illustrative description should be
understood as presenting examples of the invention, rather than as limiting the scope of the
invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cellular system segment 10 in which the present invention may be
employed. In this cellular system segment 10, there is a plurality of base stations 22, 24, 26, 42,
and 44 that are geographically separated and a mobile unit 30. The mobile unit may be any
wireless apparatus that includes a cellular Modulator/Demodulator (“modem”) that may
communicate with a base station (“BS”) 22, 24, 26, 42, or 46. For example, the mobile unit may
be a cellular telephone, personal data assistant (“PDA”), or computer. In one embodiment, each
base station may communicate with the mobile unit when the signal strength of the mobile unit,
as received at a base station, is sufficiently strong. In one invention embodiment, the base
stations support the same wireless communication protocol standard (such as the CDMA IS2000
rev. C standard, WCDMA, and GSM/EDGE). In another embodiment of the invention, the base
stations may support different or multiple communication protocol standards. In addition, the
mobile unit 30may support a single or multiple communication protocol standards. For example,
the device 30 may support a CDMA standard, Advanced Mobile Phone Service (“AMPS”)
standard, a Time Division Multiple Access (“TDMA”) standard, and a Groupe Spécial Mobile
(“GSM”) standard, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (“WCDMA”), and Enhanced Data
rate for GSM Evolution (“GSM/EDGE”). In the example shown in FIG. 1, the mobile unit 30 is
capable of communicating with all of the base stations 22, 24, 26, 42, or 44using a WCDMA and
GSM/EDGE standard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 100 that may be used in practicing
the present invention. The exemplary base station 100 may include a CPU 102, a RAM 104, a
ROM 106, a storage unit 108, a first modem/transceiver 112 and a second
modem/transceiver 114. The first modem/transceiver 112 may couple, in a well-known manner,
the base station 100 to a central cellular network control center via an Internet connection or via a
wired telephone system such as the Plain Old Telephone System (“POTS”). The second
modem/transceiver 114 couples the base station 100 to the cellular network segment 10. The
modem/transceiver 114 may be an Ethernet modem, telephone modem, wireless modem or other
communication device that communicates with the cellular network 10 (FIG. 1). The
CPU 102 directs communications between the first and second modem, 112and 114,
respectively, for messages between the central network control center, Internet, or POTS, and
one or more mobile units.

The ROM 106 may store program instructions to be executed by the CPU 102. The
RAM 104 may be used to store temporary program information and overhead information for
other base stations in its sector (i.e., nearby base stations). The storage unit 108may comprise
any convenient form of data storage and may be used to store the overhead information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit 120 that may be used to practice the
present invention. The exemplary device120 may include a central processing unit (“CPU”) 122, a
random access memory (“RAM”) 124, a read only memory (“ROM”) 126, a display 128, a user
input device 132, a transceiver application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) 134, a
microphone 138, a speaker142, and an antenna 144. The ROM 126 is coupled to the
CPU 122 and stores the program instructions executed by the CPU 122. The RAM 124 is coupled
to the CPU 122 and stores temporary program data and overhead information. The user-input
device 132 may comprise an input device such as a keypad, touch pad screen, track ball or other
similar input device that allows the user to navigate through menus in order to place calls, in
addition to performing other functions. The display 128 is an output device such as a CRT, LCD
or other similar screen display that enables the user to read received data and to place calls.

The microphone 138 and speaker 142 may be incorporated into a handset that is coupled to the
ASIC 134. The microphone 138 and speaker 142 may also be separated from the handset to
allow hands-free communication. In this mode, the ASIC 134 may include voice activation
circuitry that converts voice commands into data. The data is transmitted to the CPU 122 via a
serial bus 136 and may include a telephone number to be dialed.

The transceiver ASIC 134 includes an instruction set necessary to communicate data and voice
signals over the cellular network segment 10. In one embodiment, the transceiver ASIC 134 is a
WCDMA and GSM/EDGE ASIC and the cellular network is a WCDMA or GSM/EDGE network
that supports data and voice communication. The ASIC 134 is coupled to the antenna 144 to
communicate signals within the cellular network segment 10. When a data signal is received by
the transceiver ASIC 134, the data is transferred to the CPU 122 via a serial bus 136. The data
can include base station overhead information to be stored by the mobile unit in accordance with
the methods described herein.

The ASIC 134 may perform operations to determine the magnitude and phase of any base station
pilot signals. The ASIC 134 may employ the determined pilot signal attributes when generating
mobile RF signals. An exemplary portion of the ASIC 134 is shown inFIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4,
the exemplary ASIC 134 includes a baseband modulator 260, an IF and RF modulator 300, and
an antenna 270. The baseband modulator converts data (that may be voice or digital data) into
in-phase (“I”) and quadrature (“Q”) signals having a predetermined bandwidth (15 MHz for
WCDMA and 2 MHz for GSM/EDGE). The baseband modulator may also provide a power control
(“PC”) signal where the PC signal may be generated from a base station received signal. The PC
signal may indicate the mobile unit RF signal power level required or suggested by the base
station. The IF and RF modulator 300 converts the baseband I and Q signal into an RF signal, the
RF signal having a center frequency of 1800 MHz or 900 MHz in an embodiment. The
antenna 270radiates the generated RF signal for reception by a base station 22.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a typical forward link data formatter as used by a CDMA
baseband modulator 260 is shown inFIG. 4. Data source 202 may be, for example, a variable rate
vocoder such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,420, entitled “VARIABLE RATE
VOCODER,” issued Aug. 8, 1997, and incorporated herein by reference. CRC and tail bit
generator 204 calculates and appends cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits and tail bits to the
frames generated by data source 202. The frame is then provided to encoder 206, which provides
forward error correction coding, such as convolutional encoding, upon the frame as is known in
the art. The encoded symbols are provided to repetition generator 220, which repeats the
reordered symbols to provide the appropriate modulation symbol rate. The repeated symbols are
then provided to interleaver 208, which re-orders the symbols in accordance with a
predetermined interleaver format. The repeated, interleaved symbol stream is then covered with a
set of orthogonal Walsh sequences in the Walsh coverer 222, and gain adjusted in gain
element 224. It should be understood that other forward link data formatters are also known in the
art. For example, it is well known that the repetition generator 220 may be placed after the
interleaver 208. The data is then spread in PN spreader 238 using a complex PN code generated
by PN generator 240.

In spread spectrum mobile cellular communication networks (such as WCDMA systems), the
signal power level between base stations and mobile units is carefully controlled. For example in
WCDMA mobile communication system versions, a mobile unit calculates the channel quality of a
signal transmitted from the base station and periodically reports this measured channel quality to
the base station. The base station may then adjust the gain of future transmissions to the
reporting mobile unit accordingly. In addition, the mobile unit may determine and report the
channel quality of pilot signals received from other base stations. Depending on the reported
channel quality of other pilot signals, communication between the mobile unit and another base
station may be established.

GSM/EDGE systems have different power concerns. In an embodiment the mobile station or
unit 30 may communicate with a base station 22 via GSM/EDGE protocols or WCDMA protocols.
The mobile station 30 transmitter 250 may need to employ strict power controls to enable multiple
protocol transmission capability. FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit
or station signal IF and RF modulator 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In an embodiment the modulator 300 controls the power level and frequency of the generated RF
signal 342 by treating the modulated IF signal 306 as a polar signal (amplitude and phase based)
signal. The modulator 300 actively controls the amplitude (power level) and phase (frequency) of
the generated RF signal342 via a closed loop or feedback loop for the amplitude and phase
(independent). The modulator 300 supports GSM/EDGE and WCDMA protocols by treating the
underlying signal as an amplitude and phase modulated signal versus multi-channel, I and Q, or
GSM formatted signals.

As shown in FIG. 6 the IF and RF modulator 300 includes an IF modulator 304, power
divider 302, phase frequency modulator (“PFM”)310, IF Filter, RF and Amplitude Modulator
(“FRAM”) 340, antenna 270, and phase and amplitude controller (“PAC”) 370. In WCMDA
applications the required power control range may be about 75 dB whereas in GSM/EDGE
applications the required power control range may be about 30 dB. In an embodiment the power
divider 302 enables 75 dB of power control range by dividing a power control (“PC”) signal into a
PC1 signal having a 45 dB range and a PC2 signal having a 30 dB range. In an embodiment the
PC1 signal is only used for WCMDA applications. The PC2 may be used in both GSM/EDGE and
WCDMA applications.

In an embodiment the IF modulator 304 has a gain range of 45 dB and adjusts the IF
signal 306 gain based on the received PC1 signal. In addition in an embodiment the IF signal
may have a center frequency of about 450 MHz where WCMDA applications have a 15 Mhz
bandwidth and GSM/EDGE applications have a 2 MHz bandwidth and the RF signal center
frequency is about 900 MHz or 1800 MHz. The relatively high (as compared to the underlying
modulated signal bandwidths of 2 MHz or 15 MHz) IF center frequency enables the IF and RF
modulator to provide better cancellation of the phase nonlinearities in the phase modulation path.
Ideally the IF center frequency is at least tens greater than the application modulated signal
bandwidth (15 MHz for WCDMA and 2 MHz for GSM/EDGE).

The IF signal 306 is provided to the PFM 310 and the PAC 370. The PFM 310 extracts the
frequency component of the IF signal 306and modulates the IF signal 306 frequency component
via a feedback component, Phase Signal (“PS”) generated by the PAC 370. The
PFM 310 provides the IF Frequency Modulated (“IF-FM”) signal to the FRAM 340. The PAC
determines the PS signal and a corresponding amplitude modulation “AM” signal based on the IF
signal 306 and RF signal 342 based on the polar based evaluation of the IF and RF
signals 306 and 342. As noted the polar based evaluation enables the invention 300 to use
similar processing techniques regardless of the underlying signal modulation (WCMDA, CDMA,
TDMA, GSM, GSM/EDGE). The AM signal provides the amplitude component of the IF signal to
the FRAM 340.

The FRAM 340 receives the IF-FM signal and the AM signal. The FRAM band-pass filters and
shifts the IF-FM signal to RF and amplitude modulates the RF signal via the AM signal to
generate the RF signal 342 where the RF signal 342 corresponds to the IF signal 306 shifted to
RF and corrected for phase (frequency) and amplitude (power) deviations. FIG. 7 is a simplified
block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal PFM 310 according to an
embodiment of the present invention.

The PFM 310 includes a limiter 312, switch 314, phase frequency detector (“PFD”) 316, and
charge pump 318. The limiter 312receives the IF signal 306 and amplitude limits the signal to
effectively remove the amplitude component of the polar signal (as modeled in the invention). The
resulting frequency or phase modulated signal is input to the switch 314. In an embodiment the
switch314 may flip the limited IF signal and PS as the R and V signals of the PFD 316 based on
the RF selected, i.e., 900 MHz or 1800 MHz. In combination with the charge pump 318, the
PFD 316 produces a baseband frequency modulated signal (BB-FM) that is provided to the
FRAM 340.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal


FRAM 340 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The FRAM 340 includes a
switch 346, a coupler 344, an antenna 270, a WCDMA loop filter 350, a voltage controller
oscillator (“VCO”) 352, a divider 354, a RF variable gain amplifier (“VGA”) 356, a power
amplifier 358, a GSM/EDGE loop filter 360, a VCO 362, a divider 364, a RF VGA 366, and a
power amplifier 368. The FRAM has two
paths 350, 352, 354, 356, 358 and 360, 362,364, 366, 368 for WCDMA applications
(components 350, 352, 354, 356, and 358) and GSM/EDGE applications (360, 362, 364, 366,
and 368). The switch 346 transmits the BB-FM signal to the appropriate path based on the active
application (WCDMA or GSM/EDGE).

The WDCMA loop filter 350 has a 15 MHz filter and the GSM/EDGE loop filter 360 has a 2 MHz
filter. The filters remove aliased frequency components in the BB-FM signal. The
VCOs 352 and 362 shift the base band signal to RF, 1800 MHz in an embodiment. The
divider 354, 364 may be reduce the RF frequency to 900 MHz (in an embodiment) when selected
as the RF operating frequency. The RF VGA 356, 366, and power amplifier 358, 368 affect the
amplitude of the RF signal where the RF VGA and power amplifier is modulated by the AM signal.
The resultant RF, amplitude modified signal is radiated by antenna 270. In an embodiment a
coupler 344transmits the RF signal to the PAC 370.

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary mobile unit or station signal


PAC 370 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The PAC 370 includes a band-
pass filter 372, a band-pass filter 374, a limiter 376, a peak detector 378, a baseband (“BB”)
VGA 382, a Single Side-Band (“SSB”) Mixer 384, and an IF VGA 386. The PAC 370 receives the
RF signals 342 and IF signals 306and generates the PS signal and AM signal (the PS signal
used by the PFM 310 and the AM used by the FRAM 340). In an embodiment the IF signal 306 is
band pass filtered by the filter 372. The filter 372 employs a 15 MHz band for WCDMA
applications and 2 MHz for GSM/EDGE applications since it will be compared to a single side
band IF signal as described below. The band-passed IF signal is input to the peak detector 378.
The RF signal 342 is downshifted to a single sideband IF signal (signal bandwidth of 15 MHz or 2
MHz versus 30 MHz or 4 MHz for double sideband IF signals) via the SSB mixer 384. The local
oscillator (“LO”) frequency is set to 1350 or 450 when the RF signal has a carrier frequency of
1800 and 900 respectively. The resultant SSB IF signal is gain modified by the IF VGA 386. The
IF VGA 386adjusts the gain of the SSB IF based on the PC2 signal. The resultant gain adjusted
SSB IF signal is compared to the band passed IF signal via the peak detector 378. The resultant
peak-detected signal is a base band, amplitude modulated signal. The BB AM signal is gain
adjusted by the BB VGA 382 to produce the AM signal, which is provided to the FRAM 340. The
BB VGA 382 gain is also set by the PC2 signal.

The SSB, gain adjusted IF signal is also processed by the limiter 376. Similar to the limiter 312,
the limiter 376 effectively removes any amplitude modulation present in the IF signal to produce a
BB phase modulated (“PM”) signal. The BB PM signal is band pass filtered by the filter 374. The
filter 374 employs a 15 MHz band for WCDMA applications and 2 MHz for GSM/EDGE
applications since it is applied to a BB signal. The resultant signal PS is transmitted to the
PFM 310.

In summary, the present invention provides a dual mode transmitter that can be configured for
WCDMA or GSM/EDGE modulation modes. The techniques employed by the invention may work
for single band or channel and multi-band or multi-channel BB signals operation. In an
embodiment the present invention 300 may be used in WCDMA mode at 900 MHz or 1800 MHz,
or in GSM/EDGE mode at 900 MHz or 1800 MHz. The IF and RF modulator (“IRM”) 300 employs
two feedback loops: a phase locked loop and an amplitude control loop.

In an embodiment the IRM 300 phase locked loop includes the following components: the Phase
Frequency Modulator 310, FRAM340, and SSB Mixer 384, IF VGA 386, Limiter 376, and Band-
Pass-Filter 374 of the PAC 370. The loop bandwidth for the phase locked loop is 15 MHz for
WCDMA mode and 2 MHz for GSM/EDGE mode. Switch 346 of the FRAM 340 selects the
WCDMA or the GSM/EDGE mode of operation respectively.

The amplitude control loop includes the following components: RF VGA (356—WCDMA; 366—
GSM/EDGE) and Power Amplifier (358—WCDMA; 368—GSM/EDGE) of the FRAM 340, the SSB
Mixer 384, the IF VGA 386, the Peak Detector 378, the Band-Pass filter 372, and the BB
VGA 382 of the PAC 370. It is noted that the gain of the BB VGA 382 is the inverse of the gain of
the IF VGA386 in order to maintain constant loop gain for the amplitude control loop.

The previous description of the preferred embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in
the wireless communications art to make or use the present invention. The various modifications
to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic
principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without the use of inventive
faculty. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown
herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features
disclosed herein.

While this invention has been described in terms of a best mode for achieving this invention\'s
objectives, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the wireless communications art that
variations may be accomplished in view of these teachings without deviating from the spirit or
scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention may be implemented using
any combination of computer programming software, firmware or hardware. As a preparatory step
to practicing the invention or constructing an apparatus according to the invention, the computer
programming code (whether software or firmware) according to the invention will typically be
stored in one or more machine readable storage mediums such as fixed (hard) drives, diskettes,
optical disks, magnetic tape, semiconductor memories such as ROMs, PROMs, etc., thereby
making an article of manufacture in accordance with the invention. The article of manufacture
containing the computer programming code is used by either executing the code directly from the
storage device, by copying the code from the storage device into another storage device such as
a hard disk, RAM, etc., or by transmitting the code on a network for remote execution.

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 like Airtel, Reliance and Hutch, BSNL will soon launch an Internet access data
card for laptops and desktops.

The data card or GSM modem will be available in two options – network interface
card or EVDO card. BSNL has promised to provide Internet speed upto 2.4mbps with
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The EVDO card will cost INR 6k with an activation fee of INR 250. BSNL also has plans
to bundle EDGE/GPRS PC Data Card with its cellular mobile connections.

Faltu ends……..
CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital air interface standard, claiming eight to fifteen times the
capacity of traditional analog cellular systems. It employs a commercial adaptation of a military spread-
spectrum technology. Based on spread spectrum theory, it gives essentially the same services and qualities
as wireline service. The primary difference is that access to the local exchange carrier (LEC) is provided via
a wireless phone.

Though CDMA’s application in cellular telephony is relatively new, it is not a new technology. CDMA has
been used in many military applications, such as:

• Anti-jamming (because of the spread signal, it is difficult to jam or interfere with a CDMA signal).
• Ranging (measuring the distance of the transmission to know when it will be received).
• Secure communications (the spread spectrum signal is very hard to detect).

CDMA is a spread spectrum technology, which means that it spreads the information contained in a
particular signal of interest over a much greater bandwidth than the original signal. With CDMA, unique
digital codes, rather than separate RF frequencies or channels, are used to differentiate subscribers. The
codes are shared by both the mobile station (cellular phone) and the base station, and are called pseudo-
random code sequences. Since each user is separated by a unique code, all users can share the same
frequency band (range of radio spectrum). This gives many unique advantages to the CDMA technique over
other RF techniques in cellular communication.

CDMA is a digital multiple access technique and this cellular aspect of the protocol is specified by the
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) as IS-95. In CDMA, the BSSAP is divided into the DTAP and
BSMAP (which corresponds to BSSMAP in GSM).

……………………………………………………….

CDMA2000 Subscriber Growth History:


March 2001 through June 2004

2001 2002 2003 2004


Mar-01 46,000 Mar-02 7,604,000 Mar-03 43,898,000 Mar-04 98,570,000
Jun-01 421,000 Jun-02 13,370,000 Jun-03 54,885,000 Jun-04 112,600,000
Sep-01 1,634,000 Sep-02 23,841,000 Sep-03 66,742,000
Dec-01 3,650,000 Dec-02 32,607,000 Dec-03 85,410,000

By Leon Perlman, Editor CellularOnline

What is CDMA?

Code Division Multiple Access, a cellular technology orginally known as IS-


95,competes with GSM technology for dominance in the cellular world.
There are now different variations, but the original CDMA is now known
ascdmaOne.

• Latest CDMA Global Subscriber & Operator Numbers

• 10 million new CDMA2000 subscribers were added in 3Q 2003

• See other cellular technologies of the world

• CDMA2000 Coverage & Operators

We now have cdma2000 and its variants like 1X EV, 1XEV-DO, and MC 3X. The refer
to variants of usage of a 1.25Mhz channel. 3X uses a 5 Mhz channel.

Wideband CDMA that forms the basis of UMTS 3G networks, Developed originally by
Qualcomm, CDMA is characterized by high capacity and small cell radius, employing
spread-spectrum technology and a special coding scheme.

Developed originally by Qualcomm and enhanced by Ericsson, CDMA is characterized


by high capacity and small cell radius, employing spread-spectrum technology and a
special coding scheme.

CDMA was adopted by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in 1993.


In September 1998, only three years after the first commercial deployment, there
were 16 million subscribers on cdmaOne systems worldwide. By May 2001 there
were 35 million subscribers on cdmaOne systems worldwide and there are now 60
million.

Over 35 countries have either commercial or trial activity ongoing. There are already
43 Wireless Local Loop (WLL) systems in 22 countries using cdmaOnetechnology.

Enhancing today's data capabilities is the 1XRTT CDMA standard - this next
evolutionary step for cdmaOne operators will provide data rates up to 300 kbps,
significant capacity increases as well as extended battery life for handsets.

Worldwide resources are being devoted to roll out third-generation CDMA


technology, including Multi-Carrier (cdma2000 1xMC and HDR in 1.25 MHz
bandwidth), and 3xMC in 5 MHz bandwidth) and Direct Spread (WCDMA in 5 MHz
bandwidth).

This first phase of cdma2000 - variously called 1XRTT, 3G1X, or just plain
1X - is designed to double current voice capacity and support always-on
data transmission speeds 10 times faster than typically available today,
some 153.6 kbps on both the forward and reverse links. (see more on
cdma2000)

QUALCOMM owns a substantial portfolio of CDMA patents, including many


``essential'' patents that are necessary for the deployment of any proposed 3G
CDMA system, such as Multi-Carrier, Direct Spread, and another system referred to
as TD-SCDMA.

QUALCOMM has now granted royalty bearing licenses to more than 75 manufacturers
for CDMA and, as part of these licenses, has transferred technology and know-how in
assisting these companies to develop and deploy CDMA products.

A significant number of these companies' licenses cover third-generation


applications, including WCDMA, 1x and High Data Rate (HDR). Under terms of
QUALCOMM's existing 3G licensing agreements, a licensee will pay the same royalty
to QUALCOMM for 3G systems, including WCDMA, TD-SCDMA and 1x, as that
licensee pays QUALCOMM for today's CDMA infrastructure, phones and test
equipment.

Enhancing today's data capabilities is the 1XRTT CDMA standard - this next
evolutionary step for cdmaOne operators will provide data rates up to 300 kbps,
significant capacity increases as well as extended battery life for handsets.

Worldwide resources are being devoted to roll out third-generation CDMA


technology, including Multi-Carrier (cdma2000 1xMC and HDR in 1.25 MHz
bandwidth), and 3xMC in 5 MHz bandwidth) and Direct Spread (WCDMA in 5 MHz
bandwidth).

……………………………………………

Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a protocol used in second and third


generation wireless communications. CDMA is a type of multiplexing that enables optimal use
of available bandwidth. CDMA is based on the spread spectrum technology that operates by
digitizing multiple conversations, whereas the GSM (Global Positioning System) operates on the
slice spectrum called a carrier. This carrier is divided into time slots and each subscriber is
allotted a different time slot. No other subscriber can have an access to this channel until the
ongoing call is finished. Both CDMA and GSM are the protocol standards of the cellular phone
industry.
International Compatibility
 The major operational difference between these standards is their international compatibility,
which means that GSM phones can work outside their geographical borders, but the CDMA
phones cannot be operated overseas. Most of the countries use GSM technology, whereas the
United States has almost an equal number of CDMA and GSM users.
SIM versus ESN
 GSM phones have accounts that have a card associated with them. This card is called a
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card; it carries all the information pertaining to the account
holder in an encrypted form. When this card is placed in the given slot of the phone the GSM
service gets activated. The CDMA works on a different principle. It gets activated remotely by
using the ESN, which is the phone’s serial number. The carrier has a record of all the ESNs in its
network and it activates the phones with approved connections. CDMA refuses access to phones
not meant for its network.
Flexibility
 GSM is more flexible than CDMA as it allows you to use a wide range of phones with your
service. The SIM card can be placed in any GSM supporting hardware and you can have access
to all your contacts. But this is not possible with the CDMA phones as they are activated on the
basis of the ESN. The CDMA works only if your ESN is registered in its database. In case your
CDMA phone does not work, you need to buy a new one, but this not the case with the GSM
phones. You can retain all the information in the SIM card. This SIM card can be put in a different
set and you can keep using the same number.
Security
 CDMA technology provides more security to the users than the GSM technology as
encryption is inherent in the CDMA system. The CDMA system gives more security to the user
because it uses the spread spectrum signal. This signal cannot be detected easily as compared
to signals of GSM, which are concentrated in the narrow bandwidth. Therefore, the
CDMA phone calls are more secure than the GSM calls. GSM technology needs to be
upgraded in terms of encryption to make it operate more securely.
…………
 CDMA and GSM are the mobile telecommunication standards used by cellular networks.
They allow a mobile phone to communicate with the wider mobile communications network and
vice versa to provide network connectivity. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is the
dominant standard in the United States, while GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
is more prevalent outside the U.S. and was developed by the GSM Association, an international
body that promotes the GSM standard internationally. GSM is used around the world, but CDMA
is used only in the United States, Japan and South Korea. In the U.S., Verizon and Sprint both
use CDMA, while T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM.
Differences in Coverage
 CDMA coverage is more limited than GSM. There is no CDMA support in Europe, because
the European Union mandates GSM use. In North America, CDMA often offers more coverage
than GSM, especially in rural areas. Since GSM is an international standard, it's better if you plan
to do international roaming. You need to own a quad-band cellphone to use GSM. GSM
reaches 1 billion users as opposed to CDMA's 270 million users.
Differences in Data Transfer
 CDMA has a faster data transfer rate than GSM. CDMA has the EVDO data transfer
technology, which has a maximum download speed of about 2mbps and requires a mobile phone
that is EVDO ready. GSM has EDGE, which is slower than CDMA, with a maximum download
speed of 384kbps, and requires an EDGE-ready cell phone. If you plan to browse the Web a lot,
watch videos and download music, CDMA may be a better choice.
SIM Cards
 GSM phones have SIM cards that store contact info. If you travel internationally, you can
remove the SIM cards and replace them with local ones that will allow you to make local calls. In
addition, when you get a new phone, you can simply insert your SIM into the new device and your
data will be there. With CDMA, your account information is programmed into your mobile phone
and the carrier must transfer the data to a new phone.

Read more: Differences Between CDMA & GSM |


eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6668347_differences-between-cdma-
gsm.html#ixzz0vBqWkIsA
…………To define CDMA is to define the cellular phone. Code Division Multiple Access
is a mobile communications technology that permits many signals to travel on the
same frequency. The result is a cost-effective network of communication requiring
less points of communication than its contemporary TDMA (time division multiple
access).

Like cell phones, CDMA has evolved over time. It migrated from analog to digital in
the late 1990s and is one of two cellular phone protocols in use by major carriers.
History
1. California-based Qualcomm developed the original CDMA concept. In 1989,
the company tested the protocol in the San Diego area. One year later, the
company joined forces with NYNEX to test cell phone technology in New York
City (NYNEX was purchased by Bell Atlantic. Verizon later purchased Bell
Atlantic.). By 1993, it was selected by the Telecommunications Industry of
America trade group as a standard for digital cellular phone networks. Soon
after, Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel) announced it would adopt CDMA for its
networks.
Function
2. Cellular phone networks operate on frequencies, much like radios. The signal
relies on a public frequency that is linked by a series of towers, which act as
repeaters. The cellular phone antenna links to the nearest tower and
transmits call data back and forth. The network encrypts each call with a
unique code. The coding used allows the packets to be transferred securely to
and from the tower, without calls getting mixed up between users.
Types
3. There are two types of CDMA technology. IS 95 is the network tested and
introduced by Qualcomm in the 1990s. This is the backbone of the 2G (second
generation) networks built by cellular phone companies between 1997 and
2003. The networks, and corresponding phones, were capable of supporting
voice calls and basic text messaging. CDMA2000, a more rrecent evolution, is
a 2.5G network. This level of network stands between the 2G and 3G
networks, providing more robust data delivery. Services include video, audio
and photo messaging and enhanced World Wide Web functions. A 3G network
provides full Internet features on a cellular phone. 3G CDMA networks are
called Wideband CDMA or W-CDMA.
Identification
4. CDMA is the network that supports Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel users.
AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile utilize GSM (Global System for Mobile
communications). While CDMA phones provide faster download rates and data
speeds, GSM is an international standard that uses interchangeable cards to
move personal data from phone to phone. CDMA phones do not utilize the SIM
card technology, meaning that users who change phones lose the data
inputed on the device. This includes phone numbers, pictures and saved text
messages.
Considerations
5. CDMA has been banned in a number of countries in an effort to standardize
cellular phone technologies. China, for one, has outlawed the protocol as to
standardize its national cellular network. It has also been done in other Asian
nations so that users can easily travel between countries without having to
worry about accessing a cellular phone network.

……………… Which Cell Phone Providers Use CDMA?


… CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access and is a major technological channel
access method used in wireless telecommunications. It is different from GSM (Global System for
Mobile Communications). Typically, CDMA handsets differ from GSM handsets and don't feature
the use of a SIM card, though handsets supporting both standards are also available. The data
services offered by CDMA providers are also different from those offered by GSM providers
because of the different access methods used.
Verizon Wireless
 With 91.2 million subscribers according to Mountain Wireless, Verizon is the largest mobile
phone network in the U.S. It supports all 3 generations of CDMA: IS-95, 1x and EV-DO.
According to the Verizon section of the Cell Phone Providers Review 2010, plans offered include
prepaid, individual, family, business, international, data and mobile-to-mobile. Free nights and
weekend minutes are also available from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m., which include unlimited free mobile-
to-mobile, free domestic long distance calls and free text and picture messaging. Phones offered
range from refurbished clamshell models to high-end Blackberry devices. The basic plan includes
voice mail, numeric paging, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, walkie-talkie, and 3-way and
conference calling.
Sprint Nextel
 Sprint Nextel is the third-largest U.S. mobile phone network with 48.1 million customers, as
stated by Mountain Wireless. Sprint is the CDMA wing of Spring Nextel and offers plans such as
individual, family and mobile-to-mobile, as well as the comprehensive premium plan "Unlimited
Everything." The free night minutes run from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and include mobile-to-mobile,
domestic long-distance, picture messaging and unlimited text messaging, according to the Sprint
Nextel section of the Cell Phone Providers Review 2010. High-end iPhone and Blackberry
devices as well as refurbished CDMA phones are some of the handsets offered with the plans;
the basic plan includes voice mail, numeric paging, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way
and conference calls. Virgin Mobile US and Boost Mobile are Sprint Nextel subsidiaries that use
CDMA.
U.S. Cellular
 Serving 6.1 million subscribers across 26 states, U.S. Cellular is the nation's sixth-largest
mobile service provider and runs on a CDMA network, as stated by Mountain Wireless. U.S.
Cellular's plan offerings include prepaid, individual, family, data and business plans. Free nights
and weekends package features free and unlimited domestic long distance as well as mobile-to-
mobile minutes, text and picture messaging and free incoming minutes from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The
basic plan offers voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding and 3-way calling according to
the Cell Phone Provider Review 2010.
Cricket Wireless
 According to Mountain Wireless, Cricket has 4.6 million subscribers in more than 25 states
and offers mostly unlimited plan options (no time restrictions), making it an "on the go" mobile
provider. Cricket offers unlimited local and national calling---and, in some plans, calls to Canada
and Mexico as well. The Cell Phone Provider Review 2010 states that the basic individual or
prepaid plans come with picture messaging and text included, as well as caller ID, voice mail,
mobile web browsing and call waiting, on top of the unlimited calls.

…………………………

Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards are small electronic storage devices used by
telephones and networks using the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology.
Networks and telephones based on the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system,
generally don't use SIM cards, instead "locking" each subscriber and telephone
number to a specific cellphone. Despite this longstanding difference, there is an
emerging technology for bringing SIM-like functions to CDMA phones.
What's a SIM Card?
1. SIM cards are small (smaller than thumbnail-size) data storage cards used in
GSM telephones. As their full name suggests, SIM cards hold information
about a subscriber's unique identity, and are each linked to a single person or
phone account.
What are SIM cards used for?
2. SIM cards can be removed from one telephone and inserted into another --
allowing a person to take their unique phone number (and sometimes
contacts and text messages) with them onto any unlocked GSM cellphone
they want. Once the SIM card is inserted into a cellphone, that cellphone is
automatically assigned the subscriber's telephone number.

Every GSM network uses SIM cards. Some American GSM cellular networks are
AT&T and T-Mobile . Overseas, companies such as Orange, Cellcom and
Telstra are among the world's many GSM network operators.
What is CDMA?
3. CDMA is a radio technology invented by the Qualcomm company. It enables
large numbers of cellphones to work simultaneously in the same area by
assigning each telephone a unique radio transmission pattern defined by a
preset code. Verizon and Sprint are the two largest CDMA operators in the
U.S.
How do CDMA networks manage identity?
4. Naturally, CDMA networks also need to keep track of their subscribers'
identities -- which phones carry which phone numbers and belong to which
people. Instead of a removable card, CDMA networks use data carried in the
circuits of each telephone. The Electronic Serial Number (ESN) and Mobile
Equipment Identifier (MEID) are numbers unique to each CDMA telephone,
and used by CDMA networks to manage service to phones and users.

Because CDMA networks rely on unique data in each telephone's non-


removable circuitry, it's generally more difficult for CDMA subscribers to start
using a different phone. CDMA cellphones don't have a slot for accepting a
SIM card, and GSM and CDMA are mutually incompatible radio systems.
SIM (well, RUIM) comes to CDMA
5. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has developed a standard
that will allow SIM-like cards known as removable user identity modules
(RUIMs) to be used on CDMA networks. The RUIM would fill the same role for
CDMA as SIM cards do for GSM. As of 2010, CDMA networks in China are the
most prolific users of RUIM-equipped phones, while RUIM technology in
America isn't widespread.

//////////////////………
cDMA is characterized by high capacity and small cell radius,
employing spread-spectrum technology and a special coding
scheme.

Capabilities of cdmaOne evolution have already been defined in


standards. IS-95B provides ISDN rates up to 64 kbps.

The next phase of cdmaOne is a standard knows as 1XRTT and


enables 144 kbps packet data in a mobile environment.

Other features available are a two-fold increase in both standby


time and voice capacity. All of these capabilities will be available in
an existing cdmaOne 1.25 MHz channel.

The next phase of cdmaOne evolution will incorporate the


capabilities of 1XRTT, support all channel sizes (5 MHz, 10 MHz,
etc.), provide circuit and packet data rates up to 2 Mbps,
incorporate advanced multimedia capabilities, and include a
framework for advanced 3G voice services and vocoders, including
voice over packet and circuit data.

This phase of the standard will be complete by 4Q99.


There are now a number of flavours of CDMA:

Composi Wireless technology that uses both CDMA and TDMA.


te For large-cell licensed band and small-cell unlicensed
CDMA/T band applications. Uses CDMA between cells and
DMA TDMA within cells. Based on Omnipoint technology.

CDMA In addition to the original Qualcomm-invented N-


CDMA (originally just 'CDMA', also known in the US
as IS-95. See N-CDMA below). Latest variations are
B-CDMA, W-CDMA and composite CDMA/TDMA.
Developed originally by Qualcomm, CDMA is
characterized by high capacity and small cell radius,
employing spread-spectrum technology and a special
coding scheme. It was adopted by the
Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in
1993. The first CDMA-based networks are now
operational. B-CDMA is the basis for 3G UMTS (see
below)

cdmaOn First Generation Narrowband CDMA (IS-95). See


e above.
cdma200 The new second-generation CDMA MoU spec for
0 inclusion in UMTS. Click HERE for more technical
details...
……..
Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) is the world's largest fabless semiconductor producer and the largest
provider of wireless chipset and software technology, which powers the majority of all 3G devices commercially
available today. We are redefining the experience of wireless mobility by applying our unmatched legacy of
wireless innovation to enable new generations of increasingly powerful mobile handsets, computers and consumer
electronics devices. As a result, 3G wireless connectivity is being extended into an ever-wider range of products
and services.

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