Comparison of wireless data standards

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

Contents

[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.

[edit] Standards

The following standards are included in this comparison.

[edit] Wide Area

[edit] Local Area

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

[edit] Personal Area

[edit] Bandwidth

The bandwidth is the data rate of the standard. The theoretical maximum bandwidth is the bandwidth 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 bandwidth 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.

Bandwidth (Mbps)
Standard Max Downlink Max Uplink Range Major Users Typical Downlink
CDMA RTT 1x 0.307 0.153 ~18 mi Sprint Nextel, Verizon 0.125
CDMA EV-DO Rev. 0 2.458 0.153 ~18 mi Sprint Nextel, Verizon 0.75
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A 3.100 1.800 ~18 mi Sprint Nextel, Verizon
CDMA EV-DO Rev. B 4.900 1.800 ~18 mi (experimental)
GSM GPRS 0.080 0.040 ~16 mi Cingular, T-Mobile 0.014
GSM EDGE 0.474 0.474 ~16 mi Cingular, T-Mobile 0.034
UMTS W-CDMA R99 0.384 0.384 ~18 mi Cingular, T-Mobile 0.195
UMTS W-CDMA HSDPA 14.400 0.384 ~18 mi Cingular, T-Mobile 0.75 (Cingular 2006)
UMTS W-CDMA HSUPA 14.400 5.760
UMTS-TDD 16[1] 16 Various
UMTS HSOPA 100[2] 50 (experimental)
WiMAX: 802.16e 70 70 ~4 mi Clearwire >10
WiFi: 802.11a 54 54
WiFi: 802.11b 11 11 ~30 meters 2
WiFi: 802.11g 54 54 ~30 meters 10
WiFi: 802.11n 200 200 ~50 meters 40
  • Downlink is the bandwidth from the base station to the user handset or computer.
  • Uplink is the bandwidth 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.
  • HSOPA requires 20MHz for 100Mbps rate, 40Mbps is available with 5MHz

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

Notes:

  • Where X/YxHz is used (eg 1.7/2.1GHz), 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 5-6GHz. A portion of the 2010MHz 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 2.4GHz 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 2GHz 3G TDD band is designated as unlicensed, but where available is restricted to UMTS TDD operation.[4]. 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 850MHz band as 800MHz, whereas 850MHz is closer and is used by the GSM/UMTS community. For consistency, it is referred to here as 850MHz.

[edit] Deployment size

Allocated Spectrum per Channel (MHz)
Standard Total Spectrum Uplink Spectrum Downlink Spectrum
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

[edit] Spectral Efficiency

Spectral Efficiency (Bits per second per Hz)
Standard Downlink Uplink
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

[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 single or multiple and as input or output and can be combined. For instance a standard might support single input and multiple output. Such a scheme would be referred to by the acronym SIMO.

[edit] Security

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

[edit] References

  1. ^ IPWireless
  2. ^ Researchers demo 100 Mb/s MIMO cellphone technology
  3. ^ UMTS-TDD developer's frequency notes
  4. ^ ERC/DEC/(99)25 EU Recommendation on UMTS TDD, Annex 1, points 5 and 6

[edit] Reference list

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