MC-CDMA and the Moves Towards 4G Networks
MC-CDMA and the Moves Towards 4G Networks
4th August, 2009
US : Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology is a continuing driving force behind wireless networks around the globe and according to the CDMA Development Group (CDG), there were 431 million CDMA subscribers and 91million CDMA 2000 1x subscribers worldwide by the end of the year 2007. According to 3GPP2, there are 280 operators globally that use the CDMA 2000 family of standards.
Systems beyond 3G such as WiMAX and 3GPP LTE which are based on OFDM have already been established. However, some systems such as Evolved HSPA, EV-DO Rev B and UMB are based on CDMA. The CDMA Development Group claims that a variety of technologies will drive competition which is healthier for the market.
It is therefore believed that 4G may not be connected to a specific technology and will be a multitude of different access technologies that will complement each other providing a seamless experience to the user regardless of location.
On the other hand, major European vendors believe that the 3GPP and 3GPP2 paths could coincide at the LTE point (2010-2011) and that after this time the same technology will be used by carriers that have been using 3GPP and 3GPP2 standards. It is also worth noting that the major backer of CDMA technologies Qualcomm believes that there is no reason why CDMA could not be used for even higher data rates such as those defined by the ITU for 4G, if a 4x4 MIMO configuration is implemented and the bandwidth is leveraged.
This unique report highlights key questions such as:
- What different forms of radio access are available and are competing to provide a significant contribution to 4G standards?
- Why is the transition to higher data rate radio access potentially so important to mobile multimedia and business services?
- When will MC-CDMA and competing technologies become a truly global mass market proposition?
- How successful can these service propositions become?
Most operators seem to prefer to see a transition to a new generation take place gradually. This is because, in addition to considerations of cost, operators prefer to reduce their risks, by rolling out new technologies and network architectures incrementally to gain a better understanding of the technology and the market response. It is believed that there will be many operators who will regard the HSPA+ and EV-DO Rev B path as an easier and safer way into higher data rates. Furthermore, an upgrade to HSPA+ is generally considered cheaper than a move to LTE since LTE is based on OFDM and a number of new components will be required.
The report linker report can be found here
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