Comparison of mobile phone standards

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Global System for Mobile Communications (AKA GSM, around 80–85 % market share) and IS-95 (AKA cdmaOne, around 10–15 % market share^[1]) are the two most prevalent mobile communication technologies. Both technologies have to solve the same problem: to divide the finite RF spectrum among multiple users.

TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access—underlying technology used in GSM's 2G) does it by chopping up the channel into sequential time slices. Each user of the channel takes turns to transmit and receive signals. In reality, only one person is actually using the channel at a specific moment. This is analogous to time-sharing on a large computer server.

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access—underlying technology used in GSM's 3G and IS-95's 2G) on the other hand, uses a special type of digital modulation called spread spectrum which spreads the voice data over a very wide channel in pseudorandom fashion. The receiver undoes the randomization to collect the bits together and produce the sound.

For comparison, imagine a cocktail party, where couples are talking to each other in a single room. The room represents the available bandwidth. In GSM, a speaker takes turns talking to a listener. The speaker talks for a short time and then stops to let another pair talk. There is never more than one speaker talking in the room, no one has to worry about two conversations mixing. In CDMA, any speaker can talk at any time; however each uses a different language. Each listener can only understand the language of their partner. As more and more couples talk, the background noise (representing the noise floor) gets louder, but because of the difference in languages, conversations do not mix.

Contents 1 Comparison table 2 Advantages of 2G GSM 3 Disadvantages of 2G GSM 4 Advantages of IS-95 5 Disadvantages of IS-95 6 Development of the Market Share of Mobile Standards 7 See also 8 References

Comparison table

Feature	NMT	GSM	UMTS	IS-95	CDMA
Technology	FDMA	TDMA	W-CDMA	CDMA	CDMA
Generation	1G	2G	3G	2G	2G / 3G
Digital	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Year of First Use	1981	1991	2001	1995	2000 / 2002
Worldwide market share[2]	0%	72%	12%	0.6%	12%
Roaming	Scandinavia	Worldwide, 200+ countries	Worldwide	Limited	Limited
Handset interoperability	None	SIM card	SIM card	None	RUIM (not commonly implemented)
Operator locking	Monopoly	Unlockable	Unlockable	ESN	ESN
Common Interference	None	Interferes with some electronics, such as amplifiers	None	None	None
Signal quality/coverage area	Good coverage due to low frequencies	Good coverage indoors on 850/900 MHz. Repeaters possible. 35 km hard limit.	Smaller cells and lower indoors coverage on 2100 MHz; equivalent coverage indoors and superior range to GSM on 850/900 MHz.	Unlimited cell size, low transmitter power permits large cells	Unlimited cell size, low transmitter power permits large cells
Frequency utilization/Call density	Very low density	0.2 MHz = 8 timeslots. Each timeslot can hold up to 2 calls through interleaving.	5 MHz = 2 Mbit/s. Each call uses 1.8-12 kbit/s depending on chosen quality and audio complexity.	? Comparable to UMTS	? Comparable to UMTS
Battery life	Low, due to high transmitter power (1 watt)	Very good due to simple protocol, good coverage and mature, power-efficient chipsets.	Lower due to high demands of WCDMA power control and young chipsets.	Lower due to high demands of CDMA power control.	Lower due to high demands of CDMA power control and young chipsets.
Handoff	Hard	Hard	Soft	Soft	Soft
Breathing	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intellectual property	Scandinavian telecom operators	Concentrated among a few manufacturers	Concentrated among a few manufacturers	Qualcomm	Qualcomm

Advantages of 2G GSM

• GSM is mature; this maturity means a more stable network with robust features.
• Less signal deterioration inside buildings.
• Ability to use repeaters.
• Talktime is generally higher in GSM phones due to the pulse nature of transmission.
• The availability of Subscriber Identity Modules allows users to switch networks and handsets at will, aside from a subsidy lock.
• GSM covers virtually all parts of the world so international roaming is not a problem.
• The much bigger number of subscribers globally creates a better network effect for GSM handset makers, carriers and end users.

Disadvantages of 2G GSM

• Pulse nature of TDMA transmission used in 2G interferes with some electronics, especially certain audio amplifiers. 3G uses W-CDMA now.
• Intellectual property is concentrated among a few industry participants, creating barriers to entry for new entrants and limiting competition among phone manufacturers.^{[citation needed]}
• GSM has a fixed maximum cell site range of 35 km, which is imposed by technical limitations. [1]

Advantages of IS-95

• Capacity is IS-95's biggest asset; it can accommodate more users per MHz of bandwidth than any other technology.
• Has no built-in limit to the number of concurrent users.
• Uses precise clocks that do not limit the distance a tower can cover.^[3]
• Consumes less power and covers large areas so cell size in IS-95 is larger.
• Able to produce a reasonable call with lower signal (cell phone reception) levels.
• Uses soft handoff, reducing the likelihood of dropped calls.
• IS-95's variable rate voice coders reduce the rate being transmitted when speaker is not talking, which allows the channel to be packed more efficiently.
• Has a well-defined path to higher data rates.

Disadvantages of IS-95

• Most technologies are patented and must be licensed from Qualcomm.
• Breathing of base stations, where coverage area shrinks under load. As the number of subscribers using a particular site goes up, the range of that site goes down.
• Because IS-95 towers interfere with each other, they are normally installed on much shorter towers. Because of this, IS-95 may not perform well in hilly terrain.
• IS-95 covers a smaller portion of the world, and IS-95 phones are generally unable to roam internationally.
• Manufacturers are often hesitant to release IS-95 devices due to the smaller market, so features are sometimes late in coming to IS-95 devices.
• Even barring subsidy locks, CDMA phones are linked by ESN to a specific network, thus phones are typically not portable across providers.

Development of the Market Share of Mobile Standards

This graphic compares the market shares of the different mobile standards.

In a fast growing market, GSM/3GSM (red) grows faster than the market and is gaining market share, the CDMA family (blue) grows at about the same rate as the market, while other technologies (grey) are being phased out.

See also

• Comparison of wireless data standards
• Spectral efficiency comparison table

References

1. ^ "Subscriber statistics end Q1 2007". Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
2. ^ http://www.gsmworld.com/news/statistics/pdf/gsma_stats_q1_07.pdf
3. ^ Frequently Asked PCS Questions

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