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4G
HSDPA GSM -> GSM Vs CDMA
WiFi
VoIP By Ed Sutherland
LBS
WAP The ultimate outcome of the battle for dominance between these two
J2ME competing cellular data transmission technologies may lie more in their
SMS history than their respective merits. To understand the current prevalence of GSM,
MExE one needs a foundation in the forces that converged to push one technology ahead
3G of the other.
GSM One of the most contentious battles being waged in the wireless infrastructure
industry is the debate over the efficient use and allocation of finite airwaves. For
Bluetoot several years, the world's two main methods -- Code-Division Multiple Access
h (CDMA) and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) -- have divided
GPRS the wireless world into opposing camps. Ultimately, the emergence of a victorious
WiMax technology may owe more to historical forces than the latest wireless innovation,
or the merits of one standard over the other.
Wireless
Future CDMA's World War II Foundations
CDMA, put into an historical context, is a recently patented technology that only
Wireless became commercially available in the mid-1990s, but had its roots in pre-World
FAQ War II America. In
Latest
1940, hollywood actress turned inventor, Hedy Lamarr, and co-inventor George
News
Antheil, with World War II looming, co-patented a way for torpedoes to be
Forum
controlled by sending signals over multiple radio frequencies using random
Group
patterns. Despite arduous efforts by the inventors to advance the technology from
Blog
experiment to implementation, the U.S. Navy discarded their work as
Site
architecturally unfeasible. The idea, which was known as frequency-hopping, and
Map
later as frequency-hopping spread-spectrum technology (FHSS), remained
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dormant until 1957 when engineers at the Sylvania Electronic Systems Division,
in Buffalo, New York took up the idea, and after the Lamarr-Antheil patent
submit
your
expired, used it to secure communications for the U.S. during the 1962 Cuban
article Missile Crisis. After becoming an integral part of government security technology,
the U.S. military, in the mid-80s, declassified what has now become CDMA
technology, a technique based on spread-spectrum technology.
What interested the military soon caught the eye of a nascent wireless industry.
CDMA, incorporating spread-spectrum, works by digitizing multiple
conversations, attaching a code known only to the sender and receiver, and then
dicing the signals into bits and reassembling them. The military loved CDMA
because coded signals with trillions of possible combinations resulted in extremely
secure transmissions.
Qualcomm, which patented CDMA, and other telecommunications companies,
were attracted to the technology because it enabled many simultaneous
conversations, rather than the limited stop-and-go transmissions of analog and the
previous digital option.
CDMA was not field tested for commercial use until 1991, and was launched
commercially in Hong Kong in 1995. CDMA technology is currently used by
major cellular carriers in the United States and is the backbone of Sprint's Personal
Communications System (PCS). Along with Sprint, major users of CDMA
technology are Verizon and GTE.
Advantages of CDMA include:
• Increased cellular communications security.
• Simultaneous conversations.
• Increased efficiency, meaning that the carrier can serve more subscribers.
• Smaller phones.
• Low power requirements and little cell-to-cell coordination needed by
operators.
• Extended reach - beneficial to rural users situated far from cells.
Disadvantages of CDMA include:
• Due to its proprietary nature, all of CDMA's flaws are not known to the
engineering community.
• CDMA is relatively new, and the network is not as mature as GSM.
• CDMA cannot offer international roaming, a large GSM advantage.

The Euro-Asian Alternative: GSM

Analysts consider Qualcomm's major competitive disadvantage to be its lack of
access to the European market now controlled by Global System for Mobile
communications (GSM). The wireless world is now divided into GSM (much of
Western Europe) and CDMA (North America and parts of Asia).
Bad timing may have prevented the evolution of one, single global wireless
standard. Just two years before CDMA's 1995 introduction in Hong Kong,
European carriers and manufacturers chose to support the first available digital
technology - Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). GSM uses TDMA as its
core technology. Therefore, since the majority of wireless users are in Europe and
Asia, GSM has taken the worldwide lead as the technology of choice.
Mobile Handset manufacturers ultimately split into two camps, as Motorola,
Lucent, and Nextel chose CDMA, and Nokia and Ericsson eventually pushed
these companies out and became the dominant GSM players.
Advantages of GSM:
• GSM is already used worldwide with over 450 million subscribers.
• International roaming permits subscribers to use one phone throughout
Western Europe. CDMA will work in Asia, but not France, Germany, the
U.K. and other popular European destinations.
• GSM is mature, having started in the mid-80s. This maturity means a more
stable network with robust features. CDMA is still building its network.
 • GSM's maturity means engineers cut their teeth on the technology, creating
an unconscious preference.
• The availability of Subscriber Identity Modules, which are smart cards that
provide secure data encryption give GSM m-commerce advantages.
In brief, GSM is a "more elegant way to upgrade to 3G," says Strategis Group
senior wireless analyst Adam Guy.
Disadvantages of GSM:
• Lack of access to burgeoning American market.
Conclusion
Today, the battle between CDMA and GSM is muddled. Where at one point
Europe clearly favored GSM and North America, CDMA, the distinct advantage
of one over the other has blurred as major carriers like AT&T Wireless begin to
support GSM, and recent trials even showed compatibility between the two
technologies.
GSM still holds the upper hand however. There's the numerical advantage for one
thing: 456 million GSM users versus CDMA's 82 million.
Other factors potentially tipping the scales in the GSM direction include :
AT&T Wireless' move to overlay GSM atop its TDMA network means the
European technology (GSM) gains instant access to North America's number two
network.
Qualcomm's recently announced that Wideband-CDMA (WCDMA) won't be
ready in Europe until 2005. This comes amidst reports that GSM's successor,
General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) remains on target for deployment in 2001-
2002.
For all of the historical and technological reasons outlined above, it appears that
GSM, or some combination of GSM and CDMA, will become the long sought
after grail for a global wireless standard. A universalization of wireless
technologies can only stand to benefit the compatibility and development costs
and demands on all wireless commerce participants.
Latest News on GSM
[2009-09-30] : Make free international calls using 0208
[2008-10-04] : Mobile Data Modules: Powering the Market for Mobile Internet Peripherals
a nd Devices
[2007-08-06] : Review: Nokia 6300 is "Simply beautiful - beautifully simple."
[2007-08-02] : iPhone Review: Feature comparison with alternatives
[2007-08-01] : PDA Review: Palm Treo 750
[2007-06-27] : Deal along with Maxis and Altobridge for GSM Remote communications
[2007-06-25] : Who is the first 3G luxury phone?
[2007-06-18] : GSM Coverage for Alaska’s rural areas
[2007-06-18] : GSM/GPRS Modem for M2M Applications
[2007-06-18] : Thuraya launching Prepaid Roaming in Dubai
[2007-06-13] : Indonesia exceeds 10 million CDMA subscribers
[2007-06-13] : New Telecom network inVodafone
[2007-06-12] : Telecom Ltd moves to GSM technology
[2007-06-12] : Nokia Siemens Won the GSM Contract with Heilongjiang MCC
[2007-06-08] : Nokia phones are banned in US
 Most Viewed GSM Articles
Make free international calls using 0208
Nokia phones are banned in US
Who is the first 3G luxury phone?
GSM/GPRS Modem for M2M Applications
New Telecom network inVodafone
Profile of the average Indian mobile
consumer.
GSM / CDMA - Mobile number portability
Mobile Data Modules: Powering the Market
for Mobile Internet Peripherals a nd
Devices
Gsm and Gprs application based SIM card
readers
GSM Association Gains 100 Million New
Subscribers In The Americas
China Mobile selects Alcatel-Lucent to
Upgrade GSM Network in Pakistan
Mumbai MTNL slashes ISD tariffs
Review: Nokia 6300 is "Simply beautiful -
beautifully simple."
Cannot get connected? it is due to
congestion in Indian GSM networks
Ericsson emerges lowest bidder in BSNL's
GSM tender
Most Emailed GSM Articles
Nokia phones are banned in US
Review: Nokia 6300 is "Simply beautiful -
beautifully simple."
GSM/GPRS Modem for M2M Applications
Thuraya launching Prepaid Roaming in
Dubai
GSM Coverage for Alaska’s rural areas
China Mobile selects Alcatel-Lucent to
Upgrade GSM Network in Pakistan
Nokia Siemens Won the GSM Contract with
Heilongjiang MCC
Indonesia exceeds 10 million CDMA
subscribers
Deal along with Maxis and Altobridge for
GSM Remote communications
Telecom Ltd moves to GSM technology
Gsm and Gprs application based SIM card
readers
New Telecom network inVodafone
PDA Review: Palm Treo 750
Who is the first 3G luxury phone?
iPhone Review: Feature comparison with
alternatives

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