Comparison of wireless data standards

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Mobile communication standards

GSM / UMTS (3GPP) Family

GSM (2G) GPRS EDGE (EGPRS) EDGE Evolution CSD HSCSD

UMTS (3G) HSPA HSDPA HSUPA HSPA+ UMTS-TDD TD-CDMA TD-SCDMA FOMA

UMTS Rev. 8 (Pre-4G) LTE HSOPA (Super 3G)

CDMA (3GPP2) Family

cdmaOne (2G)

CDMA2000 (3G) EV-DO

UMB (Pre-4G)

AMPS Family

AMPS (1G) TACS / ETACS

D-AMPS (2G)

Other Technologies

0G PTT MTS IMTS AMTS OLT MTD Autotel / PALM ARP

1G NMT Hicap CDPD Mobitex DataTAC

2G iDEN PDC CSD PHS WiDEN

Pre-4G iBurst HIPERMAN WiMAX WiBro GAN (UMA)

Channel Access Methods FDMA OFDMA TDMA SSMA CDMA

Frequency bands Cellular GSM UMTS PCS SMR

The following is a comparison of various wireless data access standards and their performance by several different measures.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Standards 2.1 Wide Area 2.2 Local Area 2.3 Personal Area 3 Overview 4 Throughput 5 Latency 6 Spectral use and efficiency 6.1 Frequency 7 Deployment size 8 Technology 8.1 Air interface 8.2 Modulation 8.3 Encoding 8.4 Antennas 8.5 Security 9 References 10 See also 11 Reference list

[edit] Introduction

A wide variety of different wireless data technologies now exist, some in direct competition with one another, others designed to be optimal for specific applications. Wireless technologies can be evaluated by a variety of different metrics described below.

Of the standards evaluated, these can be grouped as follows:

UWB, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wireless USB are intended for use as so called Wireless PAN systems. They are intended for short range communication between devices typically controlled by a single person. A keyboard might communicate with a computer, or a mobile phone with a handsfree kit, using any of these technologies.

WiFi is the most successful system intended for use as a WLAN system. A WLAN is an implementation of a LAN over a microcellular wireless system. Such systems are used to provide wireless Internet access (and access to other systems on the local network such as other computers, shared printers, and other such devices) throughout a private property. Typically a WLAN offers much better bandwidth and latency than the user's Internet connection, being designed as much for local communication as for access to the Internet, and while WiFi may be offered in many places as an Internet access system, access speeds are usually more limited by the shared Internet connection and number of users than the technology itself. Other systems that provide WLAN functionality include DECT and HIPERLAN.

GPRS, EDGE and 1xRTT are bolt-ons to existing 2G cellular systems, providing Internet access to users of existing 2G networks (it should be noted that technically both EDGE and 1xRTT are 3G standards, as defined by the ITU, but are generally deployed on existing networks.) 3G systems such as EV-DO, W-CDMA (including HSDPA and HSUPA) provide combined circuit switched and packet switched data and voice services as standard, usually at better data rates than the 2G extensions. All of these services can be used to provide combined mobile phone access and Internet access at remote locations. Typically GPRS and 1xRTT are used to provide stripped down, mobile phone oriented, Internet access, such as WAP, multimedia messaging, and the downloading of ring-tones, whereas EV-DO and HSDPA's higher speeds make them suitable for use as a broadband replacement.

Pure packet-switched only systems can be created using 3G network technologies, and UMTS-TDD is one example of this. Alternatively, next generation systems such as WiMAX also provide pure packet switched services with no need to support the circuit switching services required for voice systems. WiMAX is available in multiple configurations, including both NLOS and LOS variants. UMTS-TDD, WiMAX, and proprietary systems such as Canopy are used by Wireless ISPs to provide broadband access without the need for direct cable access to the end user.

Some systems are designed for point-to-point line-of-sight communications, such as RONJA and IrDA; once 2 such nodes get too far apart to directly communicate, they can no longer communicate. Other systems are designed to form a wireless mesh network using one of a variety of list of ad-hoc routing protocols. In a mesh network, when 2 nodes get too far apart to directly communicate, they can still indirectly communicate through intermediate nodes.

[edit] Standards

The following standards are included in this comparison.

[edit] Wide Area

• iBurst:
• WiMAX: 802.16e standard (also known as Mobile WiMAX)
• UMTS over W-CDMA
• UMTS-TDD
• EV-DO x1 Rev 0, Rev A, Rev B and x3 standards.
• HSPA D and U standards.
• RTT
• GPRS
• EDGE

[edit] Local Area

• WiFi: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n standards.

[edit] Personal Area

• Bluetooth
• Wibree
• ZigBee
• Wireless USB
• UWB
• EnOcean
• 6loWPAN

[edit] Overview

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods

Standard	Family	Primary Use	Radio Tech	Downlink (Mbit/s)	Uplink (Mbit/s)	Notes
LTE	UMTS/4GSM	Mobile Internet	OFDMA/MIMO/SC-FDMA	326.4	86.4	LTE-Advanced update to offer over 1 Gbit/s speeds.
802.16e	WiMAX	Mobile Internet	MIMO-SOFDMA	70	70	Quoted speeds only achievable at very short ranges, more practically 10 Mbit/s at 10 km.
HIPERMAN	HIPERMAN	Mobile Internet	OFDM	56.9	56.9
WiBro	WiBro	Mobile Internet	OFDMA	50	50	Mobile range (900 m)
iBurst	iBurst 802.20	Mobile Internet	HC-SDMA/TDD/MIMO	64	64	3–12 km
EDGE Evolution	GSM	Mobile Internet	TDMA/FDD	1.9	0.9	3GPP Release 7
UMTS W-CDMA HSDPA+HSUPA HSPA+	UMTS/3GSM	Mobile Internet	CDMA/FDD CDMA/FDD/MIMO	0.384 14.4 42	0.384 5.76 11.5	HSDPA widely deployed. Typical downlink rates today 1–2 Mbit/s, ~200 kbit/s uplink; HSPA+ downlink up to 42 Mbit/s.
UMTS-TDD	UMTS/3GSM	Mobile Internet	CDMA/TDD	16	16	Reported speeds according to IPWireless using 16QAM modulation similar to HSDPA+HSUPA
1xRTT	CDMA2000	Mobile phone	CDMA	0.144	0.144	Succeeded by EV-DO
EV-DO 1x Rev. 0 EV-DO 1x Rev.A EV-DO Rev.B	CDMA2000	Mobile Internet	CDMA/FDD	2.45 3.1 4.9xN	0.15 1.8 1.8xN	Rev B note: N is the number of 1.25 MHz chunks of spectrum used. Not yet deployed.

Notes: All speeds are theoretical maximums and will vary by a number of factors, including the use of external antennae, distance from the tower and the ground speed (e.g. communications on a train may be poorer than when standing still). Usually the bandwidth is shared between several terminals. The performance of each technology is determined by a number of constraints, including the spectral efficiency of the technology, the cell sizes used, and the amount of spectrum available. For more information, see Comparison of wireless data standards.

[edit] Throughput

The throughput is the data rate of the standard. The theoretical maximum throughput is the throughput rate available to a single connection under ideal circumstances. These speeds may not be achieved regularly in typical usage.

For PAN and LAN standards like WiFi these levels of performance are attainable under ideal radio conditions (that is, a complete lack of interference and at close range without obstacles). For WAN standards, though, these figures are often impractical to achieve (for instance they assume you are the only user in the cell) or are not implemented or provisioned by any providers in such a way.

The typical throughput is what users have experienced most of the time when well-within the usable range to the base station. This value is not known for the newest experimental standards. Note that these figures cannot be used to predict the performance of any given standard in any given environment, but rather as benchmarks against which actual experience might be compared.

Throughput (Mbit/s)

Standard	Max Downlink	Max Uplink	Range	Typical Downlink
CDMA RTT 1x	0.3072	0.1536	~18 mi	0.125
CDMA EV-DO Rev. 0	2.4580	0.1536	~18 mi	0.75
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A	3.1000	1.8000	~18 mi
CDMA EV-DO Rev. B	4.9000	1.8000	~18 mi
GSM GPRS Class 10	0.0856	0.0428	~16 mi	0.014
GSM EDGE type 2	0.4736	0.4736	~16 mi	0.034
GSM EDGE Evolution	1.8944	0.9472	~16 mi
UMTS W-CDMA R99	0.3840	0.3840	~18 mi	0.195
UMTS W-CDMA HSDPA	14.400	0.3840	up to 124mi[1]	4.1 (Tre 2007)
UMTS W-CDMA HSUPA	14.400	5.7600	up to 124mi[2]
UMTS W-CDMA HSPA+	42.000	22.000	up to 124mi[3]
UMTS-TDD	16.000[4]	16.000
LTE	326.4	86.4
iBurst: iBurst	24	8	~7.5 mi	>2
WiMAX: 802.16e	70.000	70.000	~4 mi	>10
WiFi: 802.11a	54.000	54.000
WiFi: 802.11b	11.000	11.000	~30 meters	2
WiFi: 802.11g	54.000	54.000	~30 meters	10
WiFi: 802.11n	200.00	200.00	~50 meters	40

• Downlink is the throughput from the base station to the user handset or computer.
• Uplink is the throughput from the user handset or computer to the base station.
• Range is the maximum range possible to receive data at 25% of the typical rate.

[edit] Latency

The latency is the time taken for the smallest packet to travel between the user terminal and base station.

[edit] Spectral use and efficiency

[edit] Frequency

Allocated Frequencies

Standard	Frequencies	Spectrum Type
UMTS over W-CDMA	850 MHz, 1.9, 1.9/2.1, and 1.7/2.1 GHz	Licensed (Cellular/PCS/3G/AWS)
UMTS-TDD	450, 850 MHz, 1.9, 2, 2.5, and 3.5 GHz[5] 2 GHz	Licensed (Cellular, 3G TDD, BRS/IMT-ext, FWA) Unlicensed (see note)
CDMA2000 (inc. EV-DO, 1xRTT)	450, 850, 900 MHz 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, and 2.1 GHz	Licensed (Cellular/PCS/3G/AWS)
EDGE/GPRS	850 MHz 900 MHz 1.8 GHz 1.9 GHz	Licensed (Cellular/PCS/PCN)
iBurst	1.8, 1.9 and 2.1 GHz	Licensed
802.16e	2.3, 2.5, 3.5, 3.7 and 5.8 GHz	Licensed
802.11a	5.25, 5.6 and 5.8 GHz	Unlicensed 802.11a and ISM
802.11b/g/n	2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM
Bluetooth	2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM
Wibree	2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM
ZigBee	868 MHz, 915 MHz, 2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM
Wireless USB, UWB	3.1 to 10.6 GHz	Unlicensed Ultrawideband
EnOcean	868.3 MHz	Unlicensed ISM

Notes:

• Where X/YxHz is used (eg 1.7/2.1 GHz), the first frequency is used for the uplink channels and the second for the downlink channels.
• Unlicensed frequencies vary in how they can be used. 802.11a can make use of both 802.11a-only spectrum and ISM spectrum around 5-6 GHz. A portion of the 2010 MHz spectrum is allocated to unlicensed UMTS-TDD in Europe, but cannot be used for other standards, whereas ISM bands can generally be used for any technology. This improved flexibility does have the downside that ISM bands are often over-used with incompatible, interfering, technologies.
• Unlicensed bands vary from country to country. Most have a 2.4 GHz ISM band, but other bands are only available in certain countries and non ISM bands have restrictions as noted above.
• In Europe, part of the 2 GHz 3G TDD band is designated as unlicensed, but where available is restricted to UMTS TDD operation.^[6]. To date, this has been left unused and some jurisdictions are re-allocating it to licensed use only.
• AMPS/CDMA users tend to refer to 850 MHz band as 800 MHz, whereas 850 MHz is closer and is used by the GSM/UMTS community. For consistency, it is referred to here as 850 MHz.

[edit] Deployment size

Allocated Spectrum per Channel (MHz) Standard Spectrum Total Uplink Downlink iBurst 5 802.16e 10 Variable Variable 802.11a 20 802.11b 20 802.11g 20 802.11n 20 or 40 EVDO 1x A 2.4 1.25 1.25 EVDO 3x B 10 5 5 UMTS (W-CDMA) 10 5 5 UMTS-TDD 5 5/TDD 5/TDD

Spectral efficiency (Bits per second per Hz) Standard Downlink Uplink iBurst 4.88 1.59 802.16e 1.91 0.84 EVDO 1x A 0.85 0.36 EVDO 3x B 0.93 0.28 HSDPA 0.78 0.14 HSUPA 0.78 0.30

[edit] Technology

[edit] Air interface

[edit] Modulation

Modulation refers to the process of changing a parameter (such as frequency, phase and amplitude) of the carrier wave in accordance with the changes in the baseband signal.

[edit] Encoding

[edit] Antennas

Early wireless standards have used a single antenna for sending and receiving data. Modern standards support the use of multiple antennas to improve performance and reliability. These schemes are classified as the uncorrelated antenna arrays and the correlated antenna arrays. For instance, a standard might support Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) where single or multiple and as input or output and can be combined.

[edit] Security

Wireless protocols broadcast data and are generally insecure by their nature (but UWB is a notable exception)^{[citation needed]}. Many standards add security features to counteract this.

[edit] References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ IPWireless
5. ^ UMTS-TDD developer's frequency notes
6. ^ ERC/DEC/(99)25 EU Recommendation on UMTS TDD, Annex 1, points 5 and 6

[edit] See also

• Comparison of mobile phone standards
• OFDM system comparison table
• Spectral efficiency comparison table

[edit] Reference list

• iBurst - Information
• Mobile WiMAX - Part I: A Technical Overview and Performance Evaluation
• Mobile WiMAX – Part II: A Comparative Analysis
• 802.11b/a - A physical medium comparison
• Bluetooth: How Bluetooth technology works
• Bluetooth: Compare with other technologies
• Bluetooth: Specification Documents
• A Comparison of Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11
• IEEE 802.11 Standard Overview
• The Next Generation of Wireless LAN Emerges with 802.11n
• Mobile Broadband: The Global Evolution of UMTS/HSPA – 3GPP Release 7 and Beyond (Registration screen can be skipped)
• Mobile Broadband: EDGE, HSPA and LTE (Registration screen can be skipped)
• Edge: Enhanced data rates for GSM and TDMA 136 evolution
• The Challenges of Using MIMO
• Using Advanced Signal Analysis to Identify Sources of WLAN Transmitter Degradations
• Google Map showing use of Low Power Radio technologies in Smart Grid/Smart Metering Initiatives