GSM

-> GSM Vs CDMA

By Ed Sutherland The ultimate outcome of the battle for dominance between these two competing cellular data transmission technologies may lie more in their history than their respective merits. To understand the current prevalence of GSM, one needs a foundation in the forces that converged to push one technology ahead of the other. 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 several years, the world's two main methods -- Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) -- have divided the wireless world into opposing camps. Ultimately, the emergence of a victorious technology may owe more to historical forces than the latest wireless innovation, or the merits of one standard over the other.

CDMA's World War II Foundations

CDMA, put into an historical context, is a recently patented technology that only became commercially available in the mid-1990s, but had its roots in pre-World War II America. In 1940, hollywood actress turned inventor, Hedy Lamarr, and co-inventor George Antheil, with World War II looming, co-patented a way for torpedoes to be controlled by sending signals over multiple radio frequencies using random patterns. Despite arduous efforts by the inventors to advance the technology from experiment to implementation, the U.S. Navy discarded their work as architecturally unfeasible. The idea, which was known as frequency-hopping, and later as frequency-hopping spread-spectrum technology (FHSS), remained 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 expired, used it to secure communications for the U.S. during the 1962 Cuban 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 stopand-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.

Which Technology is Better: GSM or CDMA?

Introduction
Before deciding which technology is superior, let's talk a little more about these two tecnologies: 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.

CDMA vs. GSM, Which One Is the Best for You?

Are you looking to pick a side between CDMA vs GSM, the two major telecommunication standards that are used by the cellular networks worldwide?

It can be a hard choice to choose between CDMA vs. GSM, as both have their own advantages. When in the hunt for a cell phone carrier, you may have to figure out which of these two technologies is the best for you and hopefully this article will shed some light on the whole CDMA vs. GSM issue.

CDMA vs. GSM: Breakdown of the technologies

The Origins of CDMA and GSM

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access is a technology developed by Qualcomm in the United States, and it is currently the dominant network standard in North America.

GSM: Global System for Mobile communications was invented in 1987 by the GSM Association, an international organization dedicated to developing this standard worldwide. CDMA was established earlier in North America and thus has a bit more coverage than GSM. GSM on the other hand is an international standard backed by an international organization and the protocol is a more mature and thus more robust. There is no clear winner in the CDMA vs. GSM debate here; it all depends on your needs.
Coverage of CDMA vs. GSM

CDMA: It is mostly used in America and some parts of Asia. It is currently making progress in other parts of the world, but the coverage is still limited compared to the GSM technology. Its support is currently non-existent in Europe because the European Union mandates the sole use of GSM. In North America however, CDMA generally offers a better coverage than GSM in some rural areas because it was deployed earlier. Its network reaches over 270 million users worldwide. GSM: Being an international standard, it is better suited for international roaming, provided you own a quad-band cell phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz). The GSM network is also well established in North America, but not as much as the CDMA network yet. Its network reaches over a billion users worldwide. CDMA is prominent in North America, but GSM reaches a lot more users worldwide (about 1 billion vs 270 million). In the CDMA vs. GSM debate, GSM wins if you plan to travel to foreign countries but CDMA might have a better coverage in your area.
Data transfer

CDMA: The best data transfer technology it has to offer is the EVDO technology, allowing for a maximum download speed of about 2mb/s (about 700kbps in practice), which is similar to what a DSL line has to offer. EVDO is not available everywhere yet and requires a cell phone that is EVDO ready. GSM: Offers EDGE, allowing for a maximum download speed of 384kbps (around 140kbps in practice). More technologies are being developed on top of EDGE such as HSDPA to boost the transfer rate to over 384kbps in practice. This technology requires an EDGE-ready cell phone. CDMA offers faster data download and would therefore be the favoured choice for data transfer. GSM is catching up fast however, but its EDGE technology is subject to interferences.
Phone Identification (SIM cards)

CDMA: Your account information is programmed into your cellular phone. If you want to change your phone, you have to contact your carrier and have them reprogram your new phone. You will also need to re-enter your contact list and calendar information into your new phone. If you have a lot of contacts, your carrier might be able to help you perform this task. Some

CDMA2000 cell phones support R-UIM cards (Removable User Identity Module) which are used to store account information and contact lists, but these are not very common in North America yet. GSM: Your account information along with your contact list and other personal data are stored on a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module). It is a small chip you can freely remove from your phone. When you get a new mobile device, you can simply insert your SIM card into it and it will work with your current account information and contact list. If you travel to another country, it might even be possible to purchase a prepaid SIM card which you can use to avoid roaming fees. GSM is a clear winner here. The SIM card technology offers many advantages if you plan to travel or switch phone often. CDMA phones are slowly catching up with R-UIM cards, but cell phones that make use of this technology as still rare.

Which technology is the best for me?

When asking yourself which technology to choose between CDMA vs. GSM, first ask yourself the following questions: 1. Is international roaming important to me? If you travel a lot to foreign countries, you might want to opt for a GSM phone for a better coverage. 2. Am I going to transfer a lot of data using the phone? If you intend to use the phone for mobile web browsing, watching television or downloading MP3s, you might be better off with a CDMA phone. Currently, it offers the best data transfer speed with its EVDO technology and is the clear winner for now. 3. Do I plan to change phone often? If you do, a GSM phone is best for you since you can swap the SIM card to a new device without having to re-enter your personal data. Once you have established your basic needs, compare CDMA and GSM signals in your region. Also compare the carriers offering both services in your area. Talk to your friends and colleagues and ask them if they are satisfied with their cell phone carrier and how good their signal is. Remember, when choosing between CDMA vs. GSM, preferring a network technology over another also means limiting your choice in carriers.