Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Mobile phone and data
standards
0G
1G
2G
3G
4G
Frequency bands

Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), is a digital mobile phone technology that allows for increased data transmission rate and improved data transmission reliability. It is generally classified as a 2.75G network technology. EDGE has been introduced into GSM networks around the world since 2003, initially in North America.

It can be used for any packet switched applications such as an Internet connection. High-speed data applications such as video services and other multimedia benefit from EGPRS' increased data capacity. EDGE Circuit Switched is a possible future development.

Contents

[edit] Technology

EDGE/EGPRS is implemented as a bolt-on enhancement to 2G and 2.5G GSM and GPRS networks, making it easier for existing GSM carriers to upgrade to it. EDGE/EGPRS is a superset to GPRS and can function on any network with GPRS deployed on it, provided the carrier implements the necessary upgrades.

Although EDGE requires no hardware changes to be made in GSM core networks, base stations must be modified. EDGE compatible transceiver units must be installed and the base station subsystem (BSS) needs to be upgraded to support EDGE. New mobile terminal hardware and software is also required to decode/encode the new modulation and coding schemes and carry the higher user data rates to implement new services.

[edit] Transmission techniques

In addition to Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK), EDGE uses 8 phase shift keying (8PSK) for the upper five of its nine modulation and coding schemes. EDGE produces a 3-bit word for every change in carrier phase. This effectively triples the gross data rate offered by GSM. EDGE, like GPRS, uses a rate adaptation algorithm that adapts the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) according to the quality of the radio channel, and thus the bit rate and robustness of data transmission. It introduces a new technology not found in GPRS, Incremental Redundancy, which, instead of retransmitting disturbed packets, sends more redundancy information to be combined in the receiver. This increases the probability of correct decoding.

EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbit/s for 4 timeslots (theoretical maximum is 473.6 kbit/s for 8 timeslots) in packet mode and will therefore meet the International Telecommunications Union's requirement for a 3G network, and has been accepted by the ITU as part of the IMT-2000 family of 3G standards. It also enhances the circuit data mode called HSCSD, increasing the data rate of this service.

[edit] Classification

Whether EDGE is 2G or 3G depends on implementation. While Class 3 and below EDGE devices clearly are not 3G, class 4 and above devices perform at a higher bandwidth than other technologies conventionally considered as 3G (such as 1xRTT). Because of the variability, EDGE is generally classified as 2.75G network technology.

[edit] EDGE networks

This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since November 2006. (help, talk)

EDGE is actively supported by GSM operators in North America. Some GSM operators elsewhere view UMTS as the ultimate upgrade path and either plan to skip EDGE altogether or use it outside the UMTS coverage area. However, the high cost and slow uptake of UMTS have resulted in fairly common support for EDGE in the global GSM/GPRS market.

The following companies have EDGE networks in production:

Americas
  • Cingular and T-Mobile have EDGE networks in the United States.
  • Rogers (as well as subsidiaries Fido and Vidéotron) in Canada has EDGE technology.
  • Telcel and movistar both operate independent EDGE networks in Mexico. Telcel's covers Mexico City, Guadalajara, Hermosillo and Monterrey and has expansions scheduled.
  • TIM and Claro has EDGE coverage in most cities in Brazil.
  • Telemig Celular has EDGE coverage in all of its GSM region, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Europe
  • Mobilkom Austria provides an EDGE network in Austria [1].
  • Azercell has EDGE network in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
  • Velcom is constructing EDGE network and has partly opened it in Belarus [2].
  • Orange has EDGE networks in Belgium, France, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, UK and has recently launched EDGE in the Dominican Republic.
  • T-Mobile has EDGE 50% coverage of Croatia.
  • VIPnet has full EDGE coverage in Croatia [3].
  • T-Mobile Czech Republic has large EDGE coverage in Czech Republic including all the main cities, O2 Czech Republic uses EDGE at new cells.
  • Telia Denmark has EDGE coverage in 98,7 % of the country.
  • TeliaSonera has large EDGE coverage in Finland including all the main cities.
  • Elisa Oyj has large EDGE coverage in Finland including all the main cities.
  • Dna Finland is constructing lare EDGE/UMTS network and has partly opened it in Finland.
  • Bouygues Telecom has now an EDGE Network in France that covers 95 % of the population; it is the largest EDGE implementation in France [4].
  • Geocell has EDGE networks in Georgia [5].
  • T-Mobile and Pannon GSM have a wide coverage of EDGE in Hungary, even in some rural areas in addition to major cities and motorways.
  • Meteor Mobile Communications, is upgrading its existing 2.5G Network to EDGE throughout Ireland in 2006/07.
  • TIM in Italy supports EDGE wherever GPRS is already supported.
  • Wind in Italy is upgrading the existing network to EDGE, while it is already available in several cities.
  • Moldcell has EDGE networks in large cities of Moldova [6].
  • Telfort has full EDGE coverage in The Netherlands.
  • Telenor and Netcom both operate separate, nation-wide networks in Norway. Both have complete EDGE coverage.
  • Si.Mobil-Vodaphone has EDGE 70% coverage of Slovenia, all major settlements are covered [7].
  • Telia/TeliaSonera has EDGE coverage in Sweden.
  • Swisscom thru Swisscom Mobile's EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) network has EDGE networks that cover all of Switzerland.
  • Orange has a GSM / EDGE network in Switzerland (covering 99% of the population), which has been operating since 1998, with 1 million subscribers.
  • Bitė Lietuva has a nationwide EDGE network in Lithuania and was one of the first to lauch it in Europe (December 2003)
Africa
  • Mobinil in Egypt has EDGE technology.
  • Safaricom Kenya has introduced this service to enhance the Mobile Internet speeds that subscribers currently experience on their GPRS network.
  • Celtel Kenya has launched EDGE in Nairobi and GPRS countrywide.
  • Cell C has EDGE coverage in South Africa.
  • MTN has EDGE coverage for large areas of South Africa.
  • Vodacom has EDGE coverage for large areas of South Africa and Mozambique.
Asia
South Asia
  • Grameen Phone has EDGE coverage in all parts of Bangladesh where Grameen network is available.
  • AirTel, !dea and Hutch provide EDGE coverage in large parts of India [8] [9] [10].
  • Spice Nepal "Mero Mobile" has EDGE coverage in major cities of Nepal.
  • Telenor Pakistan has launched EDGE in Pakistan. Telenor Pakistan has the largest GPRS/EDGE coverage in Pakistan.
  • Mobilink has also started EDGE coverage in Pakistan. However, this service has spotty coverage and is limited to a few sectors in Islamabad.
Asia Pacific
  • Telstra in Australia has begun offering EDGE starting in October 2006.
  • DiGi has reasonable EDGE coverage in Malaysia, particularly in West Malaysia. Coverage in East Malaysia is currently limited to Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and several main town centres. DiGi streams its MobileTV service over its EDGE network.
  • Maxis Mobile provides an EDGE network in Malaysia.
  • SMART in the Philippines has a wide EDGE coverage over the Philippine archipelago. PLDT, the mother company of SMART, also offers the PLDT WeRoam GPRS/EDGE wireless internet service.
  • DTAC is running an EDGE implementation in Bangkok/Thailand [11].

The full list of EDGE Operators previously maintained by GSM World was discontinued in May 2005, but they say "virtually all new GSM infrastructure deployments are also EDGE capable".

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../e/n/h/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution_99ad.html"