The World's Most Ubiquitous Wireless Data Service

One online source described GPRS or General Packet Radio Service as the most ubiquitous wireless data service in the world. To those who have a limited English vocabulary like myself, ubiquitous is an adjective that describes something existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time. I think that description is accurate because GPRS is presently available with almost every GSM network.

This type of wireless network is actually a method devised to enhance 2G phones. It was designed to make these phones send and receive data faster. A General Packet Radio Service connection enables a phone to be "always on" and gives it the ability to transfer data immediately. It also provides the additional benefit of allowing data to be transferred while the phone is making a voice call. This technology allows the mobile phone to deliver much than just voice calls. It transforms a cell phone into a multi-media communications device that is capable of sending and receiving graphic images and video.

The GPRS Classes

There are several different classes of GPRS phone which determines the speed of the data transfer rates. In general, the higher the GPRS class, the faster the data can be transferred.The class refers to the number of timeslots available for upload or download. Also, the time slots used for data are in addition to the slot that is reserved for voice calls. These means that the greater the number of slots, the faster the data transfer speed because these time slots are available simultaneously.

These are some of the GRPS classes being used today:

Class 2: -3 slots -Max. Data Transfer Speed: 8 - 12 kbps upload / 16 - 24 kbps download


Class 4: -4 slots -Max. Data Transfer Speed: 8 - 12 kbps upload / 24 - 32 kbps download


Class 6: -4 slots -Max. Data Transfer Speed: 24 - 26 kbps upload / 24 - 36 kbps download


Class 8: -5 slots -Max. Data Transfer Speed: 8 - 12 kbps upload / 32 - 40 kbps download


Class 10: -5 slots -Max. Data Transfer Speed: 16 - 24 kbps upload / 32 - 48 kbps download


Class 8: -5 slots -Max. Data Transfer Speed: 32 - 48 kbps upload / 32 - 48 kbps download

The Cellular Digital Packet Data Wireless Network

The Cellular Digital Packet Data or CDCP is one of the best kind wireless network that operates today. This type of network utilizes unused bandwidth normally used by AMPS mobile phones that are between 800 and 900 MHz to transfer data. This means that the CDCP can achieve speeds of up to 19.2 kbit/s.



A Brief History

The Cellular Digital Packet Data wireless network was considered a great leap in technology when it was developed in the early part of the 1990s. Unfortunately, the existing wireless networks during that period proved to be a daunting hindrance. These established systems were slower but they were less expensive and CDPD was unable to gain widespread acceptance before newer, faster standards became the norm. Another thing going against CDPD was that it had very limited consumer offerings.

This revolutionary technology was in fact first offered by AT&T Wireless under the PocketNet brand in the United States. It was one of the first consumer offerings of wireless web service. However, PocketNet was generally considered a dismal failure. Competition from 2G services such as Sprint's Wireless Web proved to be too much. AT&T Wireless eventually refused to activate the devices after the company offered four phones to the public.

Things continued to become worst for Cellular Digital Packet Data when major carriers in the United States threatened to shut down CDPD service in 2004. In July 2005, the AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless CDPD networks were shut down.


Comparison with other Technologies:

Compared with other Wireless networks Cellular Digital Packet Data is superior to Specialized Mobile Radio, and Proprietary Wireless Data Networks in terms of speed. Only Circuit Switched Cellular can equal CDCP technology when it comes to speed.

When it comes to security, Specialized Mobile Radio, Proprietary Wireless Data Networks and Circuit Switched Cellular cannot match the security provided by CDCP technology. Cellular Digital Packet Data is also the leader when it comes to ubiquity.

In the area of cost of service and cost of deployment, Specialized Mobile Radio, Proprietary Wireless Data Networks and Circuit Switched Cellular are also inferior to the more affordable Cellular Digital Packet Data wireless network.

The innovative CDCP wireless type of network is also superior in the mobility and interoperability than Specialized Mobile Radio, Proprietary Wireless Data Networks and Circuit Switched Cellular. All these information has lead me to wonder why this technology failed when it has superior attributes than the competition.

Key Players

These are some of the key players that have been involved in the Cellular Digital Packet Data market:

Ameritech Cellular

AT&T Wireless Services

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile

GTE Mobilnet (PCSI)

Hughes Network Systems

Motorola, Inc.

Pacific Communications Sciences, Inc.

Sierra Wireless, Inc

The Realm of Wireless Networks

This new blog is all about wireless networks. The term wireless network is widely used to describe a telecommunications network whose interconnections between nodes is implemented without the use of wires. These networks are commonly implemented with some type of remote information transmission system that uses electromagnetic waves.

It is be difficult to categorize and compare wireless data networks exist because they exist in huge numbers and varieties. For instance, there are mobile telephone networks that run over wireless voice networks and others that on their own physical layer networks. There are also less common types of wireless networks that are intended only to connect small devices over short distances.

Major Wireless Networks Types

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service- is a broadband wireless point-to-multipoint specification utilizing UHF (Ultra High Frequency)
communications.

Cellular Digital Packet Data- is an overlay to the existing D-AMPS cellular network, which enables users to transmit packets of data over the cellular network using a portable computing device and a CDPD modem.

Packet Data Cellular- a wireless standard providing two-way, 19.2 kbps packet data transmission over existing cellular telephone channels.

General Packet Radio Service- a method of enhancing 2G phones to enable them to send and receive data more rapidly

High Speed Circuit Switched Data- a circuit-switched wireless data transmission for mobile users at data rates up to 38.4 Kbps, four times faster than the standard data rates of the
Global System for Mobile

Local Multipoint Distribution Service- is a system for broadband microwave wireless transmission direct from a local antenna to homes and businesses within a line-of-sight radius

Wi-Fi -refers to any type of 802.11 network, whether 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc

1x Radio Transmission Technology- The first version of (CDMA2000) wireless cellphone technology that allow data to be transmitted at rates of 307 Kbps downstream and 153 Kbps upstream as well as twice the voice capacity on a single 1.25MHz Code Division Multiple Access CMDA) channel in new or existing spectrum.

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access- a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access