Technology

EDGE

What is EDGE?
Further enhancements to GSM networks are provided by Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, which provides up to three times the data capacity of GPRS.Using EDGE, operators can handle three times more subscribers than GPRS, triple their data rate per subscriber, or add extra capacity to their voice communications.EDGE allows the delivery of advanced mobile services such as the downloading of video and music clips, multimedia messaging, high-speed Internet access and e-mail on the move.EDGE uses the same structure, as today’s GSM networks, which allows it to be overlaid directly onto an existing GSM network. For many existing GSM/GPRS networks, EDGE is a simple software-upgrade.
Due to the very small incremental cost of including EDGE capability in GSM network deployment, virtually all new GSM infrastructure deployments are also EDGE capable and nearly all new mid- to high-level GSM devices also include EDGE radio technology.
    3G/WCDMA
    What is 3G/WCDMA ?
    Developed by the global GSM community as its chosen path for 3G evolution, WCDMA is the air interface for one of the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU’s) family of third-generation mobile communications systems.3G/WCDMA (Third Generation / Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) enables the continued support of voice, text and MMS services in addition to richer mobile multimedia services such as
  1. Music
  2. TV and video
  3. Entertainment content
  4. High speed Internet access
  5. HSDPA

    High-Speed Downlink Packet Access is an enhanced 3G  mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, also dubbed 3.5G, 3G+ or turbo 3G, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity. Current HSDPA deployments support down-link speeds of 1.8, 3.6, 7.2 and 14.0 Mbps. Further speed increases are available with HSPA+.HSPAStandardised by 3GPP, HSPA is the set of technologies that defines the migration path for 3G/WCDMA operators worldwide. HSPA, which uses the FDD transmission scheme, includes HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) and HSPA Evolved. These are also known as 3GPP Releases 5 through to 8.Unlike many other mobile broadband technologies, HSPA provides very efficient voice services in combination with mobile broadband data.In most HSPA networks, the end-user can expect to enjoy speeds of at least 1Mbps upwards, depending upon the peak speed of the network (anywhere from 1.8Mbps to 14.4 Mbps) with peak uplink speeds of up to 5.7Mbps.

    HSDPA vs HSUPA
    HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), commonly referred to as 3.5G, is an upgrade to WCDMA networks that allows for much higher data speeds for internet connectivity. There are two aspects to this technology and each is more or less independent of the other. HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is the one that improves the downlink of the data transmission while HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) is the one that improves the uplink or transmission from the mobile device to the network.
    Common practices that would be affected by having HSDPA include watching online videos, browsing sites, downloading files, and a lot more. If you usually send emails with large attachments, upload files to sites, or seed files in a file sharing network, then HSUPA would improve the speed at which you do your tasks.
    It is common practice for most mobile networks to deploy HSDPA first before doing HSUPA. Based on the usage patterns of majority of the population, internet bandwidth usage is asymmetrical. This means that we often download more compared to uploading. Telecoms know this and that is why they want to improve downlink as soon as it’s possible. There are areas in the world where only HSDPA is deployed while HSUPA is still pretty much absent. Mainly because telecoms want to allocate as much bandwidth to downlink as they can while spending as little as they could. Even when fully deployed HSDPA would still have much higher speeds compared to HSUPA. This is in keeping with the asymmetric use of the bandwidth. Allocating equal bandwidth to each would result in a huge waste for the bandwidth allocated to the uplink.
    Although most telecoms do not deploy HSDPA and HSUPA at the same time, it should not be an issue for users in buying mobile phones. Most of the recent mobile phones that support the HSPA technology already have both HSDPA and HSUPA. Getting one or the other would just then depend on when your network decides to deploy either technology in your area.

    Summary: 1. HSDPA is the side of the technology that brings information down to the user while HSUPA is the side of the technology that brings information up from the user 2. HSDPA affects downloading and browsing while HSUPA affects uploading files and sending emails 3. HSDPA is often deployed way ahead of HSUPA 4. HSDPA has much faster speeds compared to HSUPA.

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