Unit 4 Multiple Access Schemes

1. Discuss the various multiple access techniques used in wireless communication with their merits
and demerits.(16) (May 2013) (Nov 2010).
TDMA

Creating multiple sub channels is by subdividing the time duration T f into k non overlapping
subintervals each of duration Tf /k.
After that each user who wants to transmit information is assigned a particular slot, within each frame.
This method is known as TDMA.

Guard times

Time time ---- time

Slot 1 slot 2 slot N
time

Fig: time is divided in slots

Features of TDMA
 TDMA is used for transmission of data and digital voice signals.
 It is necessary to include guard times between the adjacent channels.
 Synchronisation is necessary.
 Power efficiency is better.
 TDMA is a method of time division multiplexing the digitally modulated carriers between
various earth stations in satellite network through common satellite transponder.
 Each earth station transmits a short burst of digitally modulated carriers during the time slot
assigned to H in the TDMA framed such a time slot is called as epoch.
 The burst of each station is synchronized so that at any instant of time, only one earth station’s
carrier is present in transponder.
 The transponder receives this carrier, amplifies it and relays it back to all the earth stations.
Thus each earth station receives the burst from all other stations.

The first time slot in each TDMA is reserved and it is referred as reference burst or preamble.
Reference burst is made of :
 Carrier recovery sequence → from CRS, all receiving stations recovers a frequency and phase
coherent carrier.
 Bit tuning recovery→the sequence is used by the receiving station for clock recovery.
 Unique word→At the end of each reference burst a unique word is transmitted.
Guard time
There is always a guard time between transmission from the successive station.
CEPT Primary Multiplexer Frame:
CEPT→ Conference of European Postal and Telecommunication Administration.
Operation
 TDMA basically a store and forward system because each station is allowed to transmit only
during its specified slot.
 Each CEPT frame is made up of 8 bit PCM encoded samples from 16 independent channels.
 Each channel has a separate coder which converts the incoming signal into an 8 bit PCM by
sampling it at 16 KHz. Thus output of each coder we get a 128 Kbps PCM signal.
 All these PCM channels are Time division multiplexed and the TDM/PCM signal at 2.048
Mbps is obtained at Multiplexer output.
 There are 16 channels in one frame and CEPT multiplexer format specifies a 2ms frame time.
So each earth station is allowed to transmit only once in 2ms. Hence the PCM encoded
samples will have to be stored.

FDMA

In this method the channel bandwidth is sub divided into non overlapping sub channels.

Guard bands

Band 1 band 2 ------- band N

frequency
Fig

 As shown in the above figure there are N bands which are non overlapping.
 Each channel is assigned the frequency slot (band) permanently.
 All the users can transmit their information simultaneously over the band allocated to them.
 The bands are isolated from each other by guard bands. These guard bands are necessary to
avoid interchannel interference.

Advantages :

 The users can transmit continuously without any interruption.

 The channel bandwidth is utilized more efficiently.
 No sychronisation or codeword is required in FDMA.

Disadvantages :

 Extra guard bands are required to avoid inter channel interference.

 There is the possibility of intermodulation distortion at the transponder.
  Power efficiency is reduced
Application :

 FDMA is used for wireline channels channels for voice and data transmission.
 Telephone communication

CDMA
In this method every user is assigned a unique code sequence or signature sequence.the signal is then
spread across the complete frequency band with the help of this code . at the receiver the signal is
recovered with the help of same code.
Since the signals in CDMA is spread over the complete frequency band it is called Spread Spectrum
multiple access.
Access to the user is given randomly Hence signal transmission from various users overlap in time as
well as frequency. The figure illustrates CDMA concept.

Time slots

User 2 User 2 User 1

Frequency
band 2

Frequency
band 1
User 1 User 2 User 1
TIME

CDMA TRANSMISSION

Advantages:
 Maximum utilization of the channel takes place
 Synchronisation is not necessary

Disadvantages:
 Chance of data collision because of overlap
 Protocols are necessary to avoid collision.

SDMA

Principle: The narrow beam of radio waves is aimed at particular part of space. The same channel is
reused over the another narrow beam aimed at another part of the space. This division of space in
different directions of base station through highly directional beams is called Space Division Multiple
Access (SDMA). As shown in figure the space is divided and three channels are transmitted on same
frequency.

Advantages:
 It saves the channel bandwidth
 Improves the utility of bandwidth.
2.Explain with a neat block diagram the SDMA technique and Discuss its applications in wired and
wireless communication(May 2013) (Nov 2013).

SDMA
SDMA uses physical separation methods that permit the sharing of wireless channels.
For instance, a single channel may be used simultaneously if the users are spaced far
enough from one another to avoid interference. Known as frequency reuse, the method is
widely used in cellular radio systems. Cell sites are spaced from one another to minimize
interference.

In addition to spacing, directional antennas are used to avoid interference. Most cell
sites use three antennas to create 120° sectors that allow frequency sharing (Fig. 6a).
New technologies like smart antennas or adaptive arrays use dynamic beam forming to
shrink signals into narrow beams that can be focused on specific users, excluding all
others (Fig. 6b).

SDMA separates users on shared frequencies by isolating them with directional

antennas. Most cell sites have three antenna arrays to separate their coverage into
isolated 120° sectors (a). Adaptive arrays use beamforming to pinpoint desired users
while ignoring any others on the same frequency (b).

One unique variation of SDMA, polarization division multiple access (PDMA), separates
signals by using different polarizations of the antennas. Two different signals then can
use the same frequency, one transmitting a vertically polarized signal and the other
transmitting a horizontally polarized signal.

The signals won’t interfere with one another even if they’re on the same frequency
because they’re orthogonal and the antennas won’t respond to the oppositely polarized
signal. Separate vertical and horizontal receiver antennas are used to recover the two
orthogonal signals. This technique is widely used in satellite systems.

Polarization is also used for multiplexing in fiber optic systems. The new 100-Gbit/s
systems use dual polarization quadrature phase shift keying (DP-QPSK) to achieve high
speeds on a single fiber. The high-speed data is divided into two slower data streams, one
using vertical light polarization and the other horizontal light polarization. Polarization
filters separate the two signals at the transmitter and receiver and merge them back into
the high-speed stream.

3. (i)Explain the principle of FDMA with diagram .(8) (Nov 2013).

In this method the channel bandwidth is sub divided into non overlapping sub channels.

Guard bands

Band 1 band 2 ------- band N

frequency

 As shown in the above figure there are N bands which are non overlapping.
 Each channel is assigned the frequency slot (band) permanently.
 All the users can transmit their information simultaneously over the band allocated to them.
 The bands are isolated from each other by guard bands. These guard bands are necessary to
avoid interchannel interference.

(ii) Discuss the TDMA technique in detail and compare it with FDMA.(8) (Nov 2013). (Nov 2011 )

Creating multiple subchannels is by subdividing the time duration T f into k non overlapping
subintervals each of duration Tf /k.
After that each user who wants to transmit information is assigned a particular slot, within each frame.
This method is known as TDMA.

Guard times

Time time ---- time

Slot 1 slot 2 slot N
time
Features of TDMA
 TDMA is used for transmission of data and digital voice signals.
 It is necessary to include guard times between the adjacent channels.
 Synchronisation is necessary.
 Power efficiency is better.
 TDMA is a method of time division multiplexing the digitally modulated carriers between
various earth stations in satellite network through common satellite transponder.
 Each earth station transmits a short burst of digitally modulated carriers during the time slot
assigned to H in the TDMA framed such a time slot is called as epoch.
 The burst of each station is synchronized so that at any instant of time, only one earth station’s
carrier is present in transponder.
  The transponder receives this carrier, amplifies it and relays it back to all the earth stations.
Thus each earth station receives the burst from all other stations.

The first time slot in each TDMA is reserved and it is referred as reference burst or preamble.
Reference burst is made of :
 Carrier recovery sequence → from CRS, all receiving stations recovers a frequency and phase
coherent carrier.
 Bit tuning recovery→the sequence is used by the receiving station for clock recovery.
 Unique word→At the end of each reference burst a unique word is transmitted.

Guard time
There is always a guard time between transmission from the successive station.
CEPT Primary Multiplexer Frame:
CEPT→ Conference of European Postal and Telecommunication Administration.

Operation
 TDMA basically a store and forward system because each station is allowed to transmit only
during its specified slot.
 Each CEPT frame is made up of 8 bit PCM encoded samples from 16 independent channels.
 Each channel has a separate coder which converts the incoming signal into an 8 bit PCM by
sampling it at 16 KHz. Thus output of each coder we get a 128 Kbps PCM signal.
 All these PCM channels are Time division multiplexed and the TDM/PCM signal at 2.048
Mbps is obtained at Multiplexer output.
 There are 16 channels in one frame and CEPT multiplexer format specifies a 2ms frame time.
So each earth station is allowed to transmit only once in 2ms. Hence the PCM encoded
samples will have to be stored.
Comparison
S.NO FDMA TDMA
1. Overall bandwidth is shared among Time sharing takes place.
 stations

2. Due to non linearity of devices inter Due to incorrect synchronization there

modulation products are generated can be an interference between the
due to interference between adjacent adjacent time slots.
channels.
3. Synchronisation not necessary. Synchronization is essential.

4. How is interference avoided by using CDMA. Explain.(Nov 2012)

5. Discuss in detail the concept of TDMA and SDMA and their applications in wire and wireless
communications (Nov 2012)
TDMA
Time division multiple access (TDMA) is a channel access method for shared medium
networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal
into different time slots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using
its own time slot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium (e.g.
radio frequency channel) while using only a part of its channel capacity. TDMA is used in the
digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-
136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless
Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones. It is also used extensively
in satellite systems, combat-net radio systems, and PON networks for upstream traffic from
premises to the operator. TDMA is a type of Time-division multiplexing, with the special point
that instead of having one transmitter connected to one receiver, there are multiple
transmitters. In the case of the uplink from a mobile phone to a base station this becomes
particularly difficult because the mobile phone can move around and vary the timing
advance required to make its transmission match the gap in transmission from its peers.

TDMA Characteristics
 Shares single carrier frequency with multiple users
 Non-continuous transmission makes handoff simpler
 Slots can be assigned on demand in dynamic TDMA
 Less stringent power control than CDMA due to reduced intra cell interference
 Higher synchronization overhead than CDMA
 Advanced equalization may be necessary for high data rates if the channel is
"frequency selective" and creates Intersymbol interference
 Cell breathing (borrowing resources from adjacent cells) is more complicated than in
CDMA
 Frequency/slot allocation complexity
 Pulsating power envelope: Interference with other devices
SDMA
Space-division multiple access (SDMA) is a channel access method based on creating
parallel spatial pipes next to higher capacity pipes through spatial multiplexing and/or
diversity, by which it is able to offer superior performance in radio multiple access
communication systems. In traditional mobile cellular network systems, the base station has
no information on the position of the mobile units within the cell and radiates the signal in all
directions within the cell in order to provide radio coverage. This results in wasting power on
transmissions when there are no mobile units to reach, in addition to causing interference for
adjacent cells using the same frequency, so called co-channel cells. Likewise, in reception,
the antenna receives signals coming from all directions including noise and interference
signals. By using smart antenna technology and differing spatial locations of mobile units
within the cell, space-division multiple access techniques offer attractive performance
enhancements. The radiation pattern of the base station, both in transmission and reception,
is adapted to each user to obtain highest gain in the direction of that user. This is often done
using phased array techniques.
In GSM cellular networks, the base station is aware of the mobile phone's position by use of a
technique called "timing advance" (TA). The base transceiver station (BTS) can determine
how distant the mobile station (MS) is by interpreting the reported TA. This information,
along with other parameters, can then be used to power down the BTS or MS, if a power
control feature is implemented in the network. The power control in either BTS or MS is
implemented in most modern networks, especially on the MS, as this ensures a better battery
life for the MS. This is also why having a BTS close to the user results in less exposure to
electromagnetic radiation.

6.Discuss in detail about CDMA technique and compare its performance with TDMA and FDMA.
(May 2012)
CDMA
In this method every user is assigned a unique code sequence or signature sequence.the signal is then
spread across the complete frequency band with the help of this code . at the receiver the signal is
recovered with the help of same code.
Since the signals in CDMA is spread over the complete frequency band it is called Spread Spectrum
multiple access.
Access to the user is given randomly Hence signal transmission from various users overlap in time as
well as frequency. The figure illustrates CDMA concept.

Time slots

User 2 User 2 User 1

Frequency
band 2

Frequency
User 1 User 2 User 1 band 1

TIME
Advantages:
 Maximum utilization of the channel takes place
 Synchronisation is not necessary

Disadvantages:
 Chance of data collision because of overlap
 Protocols are necessary to avoid collision.
PARAMETER FDMA TDMA CDMA
S.NO
1. Technique Sharing of overall Sharing of the Sharing of both
bandwidth time of satellite bandwidth and
satellite transponder time
transponder
2. Interference Adjacent Interference Performance is
effects frequency bands between the user affected because
interference. of adjacent time of adjacent time
Generated slots. Generated and frequency
because of non because of slots. But due to
linearity of the incorrect frequency
satellite synchronization hopping the effect
transponder is less
amplifier
3. Synchronization Not required Time Not required
synchronization is
essential
4. Code word Not required Not required Code words are
required by the
ground station
5. Power efficiency Reduced Full power Full power
efficiency is efficiency is
possible possible
6. Guard times and Guard bands are Guard times are Guard times and
bands required required bands both are
required

7.With neat block diagram explain FDMA.Discuss its application in communication .( May’11,Nov’10).

In this method the channel bandwidth is sub divided into non overlapping sub channels.

Guard bands

Band 1 band 2 ------- band N

frequency
 As shown in the above figure there are N bands which are non overlapping.
 Each channel is assigned the frequency slot (band) permanently.
 All the users can transmit their information simultaneously over the band allocated to them.
 The bands are isolated from each other by guard bands. These guard bands are necessary to
avoid interchannel interference.
 Advantages :

 The users can transmit continuously without any interruption.

 The channel bandwidth is utilized more efficiently.
 No sychronisation or codeword is required in FDMA.

Disadvantages :

 Extra guard bands are required to avoid inter channel interference.

 There is the possibility of intermodulation distortion at the transponder.
 Power efficiency is reduced

Application :

 FDMA is used for wireline channels channels for voice and data transmission.
 Telephone communication

8.(i)Explain application of CDMA in wireless communication . (10)

CDMA is another pure digital technique. It is also known as spread spectrum because it takes the
digitized version of an analog signal and spreads it out over a wider bandwidth at a lower power level.
This method is called direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) . The digitized and compressed voice
signal in serial data form is spread by processing it in an XOR circuit along with a chipping signal at a
much higher frequency. In the cdma IS-95 standard, a 1.2288-Mbit/s chipping signal spreads the
digitized compressed voice at 13 kbits/s.

Spread spectrum is the technique of CDMA. The compressed and digitized voice signal is processed
in an XOR logic circuit along with a higher-frequency coded chipping signal. The result is that the
digital voice is spread over a much wider bandwidth that can be shared with other users using
different codes.

The chipping signal is derived from a pseudorandom code generator that assigns a unique code to
each user of the channel. This code spreads the voice signal over a bandwidth of 1.25 MHz. The
resulting signal is at a low power level and appears more like noise. Many such signals can occupy the
same channel simultaneously. For example, using 64 unique chipping codes allows up to 64 users to
occupy the same 1.25-MHz channel at the same time. At the receiver, a correlating circuit finds and
identifies a specific caller’s code and recovers it.

The third generation (3G) cell-phone technology called wideband CDMA (WCDMA) uses a similar
method with compressed voice and 3.84-Mbit/s chipping codes in a 5-MHz channel to allow multiple
users to share the same band.

(ii)Compare performance of CDMA with FDMA and TDMA (6) (May 2011)

S.NO PARAMETER FDMA TDMA CDMA

1. Technique Sharing of overall Sharing of the Sharing of both
bandwidth time of satellite bandwidth and
satellite transponder time
transponder
2. Interference Adjacent Interference Performance is
effects frequency bands between the user affected because
interference. of adjacent time of adjacent time
Generated slots. Generated and frequency
because of non because of slots. But due to
linearity of the incorrect frequency
satellite synchronization hopping the effect
transponder is less
amplifier
3. Synchronization Not required
Time Not required
synchronization is
essential
4. Code word Not required Not required Code words are
required by the
ground station
5. Power efficiency Reduced Full power Full power
efficiency is efficiency is
possible possible
6. Guard times and Guard bands are Guard times are Guard times and
bands required required bands both are
required

9. Discuss concept of CDMA techniques and mention its merits and demerits. ( Nov 2011)

 In CDMA more than one user is allowed to share a channel or sub channel with the help of
direct sequence spread spectrum signals.
 In CDMA each user is given a unique code sequence or signature sequence. This sequence
allows the user to spread the information signal across the assigned frequency bands.
 At the receiver the signal is recovered by using the same code sequence.At the receiver the
signals received from various users are separated by checking the cross correlation of the
received signals with each possible signature sequence.
 In CDMA the users access the channel in random manner. Hence the signal transmitter by
multiple users will completely overlap both in time and frequency.
 The CDMA signals are spread in frequency. Therefore demodulation and separation of these
signals at the receiver can be achieved by using pseudorandom code sequence.
10. (i)500 users employ FDMA to transmit 1000-bit packets of data. The channel bandwidth is
100MHz and QPSK is used at each of the 500 carrier frequencies employed.(6)(Nov/Dec2014).(June
2014)
(1)What is the maximum bandwidth allocated to each user ?(2)What is the bit rate employed by each
user?(3)How long does it take to transmit a packet?

ii) Explain about TDMA and FDMA systems (10)(June 2014) (May 2013) (May 2012 )
TDMA
Time division multiple access (TDMA) is a channel access method for shared medium
networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal
into different time slots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using
its own time slot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium (e.g.
radio frequency channel) while using only a part of its channel capacity. TDMA is used in the
digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-
136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless
Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones. It is also used extensively
in satellite systems, combat-net radio systems, and PON networks for upstream traffic from
premises to the operator. TDMA is a type of Time-division multiplexing, with the special point
that instead of having one transmitter connected to one receiver, there are multiple
transmitters. In the case of the uplink from a mobile phone to a base station this becomes
particularly difficult because the mobile phone can move around and vary the timing
advance required to make its transmission match the gap in transmission from its peers.

TDMA Characteristics
 Shares single carrier frequency with multiple users
 Non-continuous transmission makes handoff simpler
 Slots can be assigned on demand in dynamic TDMA
 Less stringent power control than CDMA due to reduced intra cell interference
 Higher synchronization overhead than CDMA
 Advanced equalization may be necessary for high data rates if the channel is
"frequency selective" and creates Intersymbol interference
 Cell breathing (borrowing resources from adjacent cells) is more complicated than in
CDMA
 Frequency/slot allocation complexity
 Pulsating power envelope: Interference with other devices
FDMA
Frequency Division Multiple Access or FDMA is a channel access method used in
multiple-access protocols as a channelization protocol. FDMA gives users an individual
allocation of one or severa lfrequency bands, or channels. It is particularly commonplace
in satellite communication. FDMA, like other Multiple Access systems, coordinates access
between multiple users. Alternatives include TDMA,CDMA, or SDMA. These protocols are
utilized differently, at different levels of the theoretical OSI model.
Disadvantage: Crosstalk may cause interference among frequencies and disrupt the
transmission.
Features:
 In FDMA all users share the satellite transponder or frequency
channel simultaneously but each user transmits at single frequency.
 FDMA can be used with both analog and digital signal.
 FDMA requires high-performing filters in the radio hardware, in contrast
to TDMA and CDMA.
 FDMA is not vulnerable to the timing problems that TDMA has. Since a
predetermined frequency band is available for the entire period of communication, stream
data (a continuous flow of data that may not be packetized) can easily be used with
FDMA.
 Due to the frequency filtering, FDMA is not sensitive to near-far problem which is
pronounced for CDMA.
 Each user transmits and receives at different frequencies as each user gets a unique
frequency slots.
FDMA is distinct from frequency division duplexing (FDD). While FDMA allows multiple
users simultaneous access to a transmission system, FDD refers to how the radio channel is
shared between the uplinkand downlink (for instance, the traffic going back and forth
between a mobile-phone and a mobile phone base station). Frequency-division
multiplexing (FDM) is also distinct from FDMA. FDM is a physical layer technique that
combines and transmits low-bandwidth channels through a high-bandwidth channel. FDMA,
on the other hand, is an access method in the data link layer.
FDMA also supports demand assignment in addition to fixed assignment. Demand
assignment allows all users apparently continuous access of the radio spectrum by assigning
carrier frequencies on a temporary basis using a statistical assignment process. The first
FDMA demand-assignment system for satellite was developed by COMSAT for use on
the Intelsat series IVA and V satellites.

There are two main techniques:

Multi-channel per-carrier (MCPC)
Single-channel per-carrier (SCPC)
 11. (i) Explain a CDMA system(10) (June 2014) (Nov 2013).
In this method every user is assigned a unique code sequence or signature sequence.the signal is then
spread across the complete frequency band with the help of this code . at the receiver the signal is
recovered with the help of same code.
Since the signals in CDMA is spread over the complete frequency band it is called Spread Spectrum
multiple access.
Access to the user is given randomly Hence signal transmission from various users overlap in time as
well as frequency. The figure illustrates CDMA concept.

Time slots

User 2 User 2 User 1

Frequency
band 2

Frequency
User 1 User 2 User 1 band 1

TIME

Fig
Advantages:
 Maximum utilization of the channel takes place
 Synchronisation is not necessary

Disadvantages:
 Chance of data collision because of overlap
 Protocols are necessary to avoid collision.

(ii) Compare wired and wireless communication systems(6) (June 2014)

Wired Communication
PSTN
 The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the world telephone system.
 It is used for data as well as voice communications.
 Twisted-pair wire and fiber-optic cable provide the connections for the system.
Home and business phones are connected to subscriber loop carriers (SLCs).
The area serviced by SLCs is called the local loop.
 Wired home networks use coaxial cable, telephone wires, cat-5 wires, or the home’s electric
power wiring.
Multiplexing
 Multiplexing technology enables simultaneous multi-use of transmission lines.
 Copper wire allows up to 24 simultaneous calls per wire.
 Fiber-optic cable permits up to 43,384 calls per strand.
Last Mile Technologies
 The “last mile” refers to the phone lines that connect homes and businesses to the local loop.
  The inability of users to access the high-speed fiber-optic cable creates a bottleneck
of data called the last mile problem.
 Digital telephony technologies that use twisted-pair wire are referred to as last mile
technologies.
 ISDN
 DSL
Wireless Transmission Media
 Wireless transmission media refers to the methods of carrying data through the air or space
using infrared, radio, or microwave signals.
 Infrared- Infrared is a wireless transmission medium that carries data via light beams.
 Radio -is a wireless transmission medium that carries data via radio frequency signals.
 Microwaves are high-frequency radio waves.
o Much of long-distance telephone service is carried by microwaves.
o Microwaves travel in a straight line.
o Microwave relay stations are built about 30 miles apart.

 Wireless home networks use radio signals.

Wired and Wireless Applications
 Teleconferencing:
 It is the simplest wired application for voice communication.
 A telephone is used to conduct a conference between more than two people who are
separated by a distance.
 Videoconferencing:
 Two or more people can have a face-to-face meeting when they are geographically
separated.
 Cameras, a computer, and videoconferencing software are used to conduct the
conference.
 Telecommuting:
 Telecommuting is performing work at home while being linked to the office by
telecommunications-equipped computers.
 The advantages of telecommuting include not having to commute, flexible hours,
more family time, and familiar surroundings.
 Workgroup Computing:
 A workgroup is a group of individuals, working together on a task, who are able to
communicate and collaborate by way of computers connected to a network.
 Groupware software is used by workgroups.

12. Draw the typical TDMA system. Explain the operation with the time pattern.(Nov/Dec 2014).

Creating multiple subchannels is by subdividing the time duration T f into k non overlapping
subintervals each of duration Tf /k.
After that each user who wants to transmit information is assigned a particular slot, within each frame.
This method is known as TDMA.

Guard times

Time time ---- time

Slot 1 slot 2 slot N
time

fig
Features of TDMA
  TDMA is used for transmission of data and digital voice signals.
 It is necessary to include guard times between the adjacent channels.
 Synchronisation is necessary.
 Power efficiency is better.
 TDMA is a method of time division multiplexing the digitally modulated carriers between
various earth stations in satellite network through common satellite transponder.
 Each earth station transmits a short burst of digitally modulated carriers during the time slot
assigned to H in the TDMA framed such a time slot is called as epoch.
 The burst of each station is synchronized so that at any instant of time, only one earth station’s
carrier is present in transponder.
 The transponder receives this carrier, amplifies it and relays it back to all the earth stations.
Thus each earth station receives the burst from all other stations.

The first time slot in each TDMA is reserved and it is referred as reference burst or preamble.
Reference burst is made of :
 Carrier recovery sequence → from CRS, all receiving stations recovers a frequency and phase
coherent carrier.
 Bit tuning recovery→the sequence is used by the receiving station for clock recovery.
 Unique word→At the end of each reference burst a unique word is transmitted.

Guard time
There is always a guard time between transmission from the successive station.
CEPT Primary Multiplexer Frame:
CEPT→ Conference of European Postal and Telecommunication Administration.

Fig
Operation
 TDMA basically a store and forward system because each station is allowed to transmit only
during its specified slot.
 Each CEPT frame is made up of 8 bit PCM encoded samples from 16 independent channels.
 Each channel has a separate coder which converts the incoming signal into an 8 bit PCM by
sampling it at 16 KHz. Thus output of each coder we get a 128 Kbps PCM signal.
 All these PCM channels are Time division multiplexed and the TDM/PCM signal at 2.048
Mbps is obtained at Multiplexer output.
 There are 16 channels in one frame and CEPT multiplexer format specifies a 2ms frame time.
So each earth station is allowed to transmit only once in 2ms. Hence the PCM encoded
samples will have to be stored.