Introduction
Name: Kaydian Johnson MIS Yr 1/ Str 2
Consumers demand more from their technologies; the most wanted feature is better faster access to communication. A number of technologies currently exist to provide users with high speed wireless connectivity. This paper is designed to briefly describe the following technologies: TDM (Time-division multiplexing), FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing), GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), TDMA (time division multiple access) and 4G. It will place emphasis on their differences and similarities.
Communication Technologies
Name: Kaydian Johnson MIS Yr 1/ Str 2
Multiplexing is defined as a form of data transmission in which one communication channel carries several transmissions at the same time. Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a method of putting multiple data streams in a single signal by separating the signal into many segments, each having a very short duration. Each individual data stream is reassembled at the receiving end based on the timing. The multiplexer, which is the circuit that combines signals at the source/transmitting end of a communications link, accepts the input from each individual end user, breaks each of the signal into segments, and assigns the segments to the composite signal in a rotating, (repeating sequence). The channel capacity is fully utilized in TDM by interleaving a number of messages belonging to different users into one long message. This message sent through the physical channel must be separated at the receiving end. Two strengths of the
TDM are that its use of its capacity is high and there is no need to include identification of the
traffic stream on each packet. However on the negative side the initial cost is very high and the noise problem for analog communication has a much greater effect. In FDM multiplexing the bandwidth of an entire physical medium is divided into smaller channels where each channel has its own bandwidth. When these channels are multiplexing at the same time a 400Hz is allocated to separate each. The voice channels are raised in frequency with each channel having a different amount. Frequency-division multiplexing works best with low-speed devices. The frequency division multiplexing schemes used around the world is to some degree standardized. A wide spread standard is 12 400-Hz each voice channels ( 300Hz for user, plus two guard bands of 500Hz each) multiplexed into the 60 to 108 KHz band. Many carriers offer a 48 to 56 kbps leased line service to customers, based on the group. FDM system support full duplex information flow which is required by most of application (full duplex transmission is the flow of information in same direction simultaneously). Noise is not necessary
Name: Kaydian Johnson MIS Yr 1/ Str 2
a problem in this multiplexing because noise problem for analog communication has lesser effect on it. However in FDM system, the initial cost is high, this maybe because it requires cable and cable connector to connect its two ends. GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) this is a digital telephony system that has a variation of TDMA and is the most widely used out of the three digital wireless telephony technology which is TDMA, GSM, and CDMA. GSM digitises and compresses data, then sends it down a channel with two other streams of user data, each in its own time slot. It has a frequency band of either the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz. Call quality problems which includes dropped calls and missed calls are common problems with GSM technology. GSM technology cannot accommodate as many callers on a single cell tower as the more modern CDMA technology. The security problem is also a problem for the GSM technology, ZDNet UK reports that GSM has a serious security flaw, demonstrated by a hacker who was able to intercept phone calls from a number of GSM-based cellular phones. The problem is based directly on the technology according to this hacker and his solution was to "turn off" the GSM technology (only the older 2G technology though) that is commonly used by people all over the world. The problem is largely mitigated however by the use of the more modern 3G technology that is commonly used (as of November, 2010) on many GSM phones. On the bright side GSM can accommodate more users per MHz of bandwidth than any other technology and its IS-95 consumes less power and covers large areas so cell size in IS-95 is larger. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is a technique used for digital communication, and wireless technology which involves multiplexing. This, coupled with code division, which
Name: Kaydian Johnson MIS Yr 1/ Str 2
requires a certain code to send and receive the frequency, further protects CDMA communications from interference. Since CDMA spreads the bandwidth over a wide frequency range, the mobile propagation channel appears to be frequency selective and this allows multipath resolution. This inherent multipath diversity is one of the major contributors to the increased capacity of the CDMA system. CDMA has several unique features that make it a costeffective, high quality wireless solution, it also have a very large call processing speed. The thing about CDMA is that most time it is broadcasted in an analog signal and brings dropped calls every now an then. CDMA also is not the fastest in transferring data, with GSM in some networks you can transfer data at broadband speeds, but wirelessly. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is one of several technologies used in digital wireless transmissions that increase the efficiency of the network by allowing a greater number of simultaneous transmissions. Networks using TDMA assign 6 timeslots for each frequency channel. Devices using the wireless network send bursts of information that are reassembled at the receiving end. TDMA builds on FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) by dividing conversations by frequency and time. Since digital compression allows voice to be sent under 10 kilobits per second (equivalent to 10 kHz), TDMA can fit three digital conversations into a FDMA/Analog channel (which is 30 kHz). By sampling a persons voice for, say 30 milliseconds, then transmitting it in 10 milliseconds; the system is able to offer 3 timeslots per channel in a roundrobin fashion. This technique allows compatibility with FDMA while enabling digital services and easily boosting the system by 3 times capacity. This leads to increase calls, more users on the network and better cellular quality. While TDMA is a good digital system, it is still somewhat inefficient
Name: Kaydian Johnson MIS Yr 1/ Str 2
since it has no flexibility for varying digital data rates (high quality voice, low quality voice, pager traffic) and has no accommodations for silence in a telephone conversation. In other words, once a call is initiated, the channel/timeslot pair belongs to the phone for the duration of the call. TDMA also requires strict signalling and timeslot synchronization. A digital control channel provides synchronization functionality as well as adding voice mail and message notification. In telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to the 3G and 2G families of standards. In 2009, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbit/s for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 Gbit/s for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users). A 4G system is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure all-IP based mobile broadband solution to laptop computer wireless modems, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Facilities such as ultra-broadband Internet access, IP telephony, gaming services, and streamed multimedia may be provided to users.
Name: Kaydian Johnson MIS Yr 1/ Str 2