CDMA Systems

How does CDMA work?

 Each bit (zero or one) is spread into N

smaller pulses/chips (a series of zeros and
ones). See Fig. 3.22, p.116
 The receiver which knows the spread
pattern (code) will be able to recover the
original bits.
 Other receivers which do not know the
code will only get small ripples (noise).
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Advantages of CDMA over TDMA

 Can easily handle both voice and data.

 Has larger capacity.
 More robust against multipath fading.
 Uses soft handoff that improves quality.
 Uses elaborated power control that saves
battery life for MS.
 Provides better privacy.

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Disadvantages of CDMA
 DSSS is more complex than techniques used in
TDMA/FDMA.
 Power control in CDMA is more complicated.
 The bandwidth obtained by each user is limited
due to spread spectrum. (The signal will occupy
a large bandwidth but the actual spectrum is
only a fraction of it. It is fine for voice and low
data speed applications but not for 4G.)

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Handle both voice and data
 More flexible format. Multimedia applications require
both voice and data support, but data and voice
communications have very different characteristics.
Voice can tolerate errors, but not delays nor
interruptions, and data are the opposite.
 TDMA/FDMA systems were designed for voice, each
user is given a fixed channel, which is good for voice, but
not efficient for data.
 With CDMA users are separated by codes. Data
transmission does not occupy a fixed bandwidth, as in
TDMA/FDMA. Both voice and data can be transmitted
efficiently.

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Larger capacity
 Potentially larger capacity (more users can communicate
simultaneously)
 In TDMA/FDMA, each user needs a separate channel. Thus the capacity is
determined by the number of channels, i.e., the number of frequencies and
time slots available.
 In CDMA, users are separated by different codes. The number of available
codes in CDMA far exceeds the number of cannels in TDMA/FDMA. Thus it
has a potential to handle a large number of users.
 In reality the capacity is restricted by the interference (noise)
generated by users. Increasing the number of users will gradually
reduce the quality (larger noise). (You can compare CDMA with
802.11).
 If users don’t use the medium all the time (e.g., they are just reading
e-mail), CDMA will allow much more users to communicate
simultaneously. In other words, CDMA will use the resource (the
radio spectrum) more efficiently.

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Robust against fading
 Provides larger spread spectrum, thus
more robust against noise bursts and
multipath frequency selective fading
GSM bandwidth = 200 kHz
IS-95 bandwidth = 1.25 MHz
W-CDMA (3G) bandwidth = 10MHz
 RAKE receiver in CDMA makes use of
multipath signals. .(Fig. 3.25, p.122, Fig.
3.26, p.124)
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Soft handoff
 In TDMA when a MS moves from the coverage
area of one BS to that of another, handoff takes
place, and the user may experience bad
reception and hear several clicks.
 In CDMA, since two adjacent cells may use the
same frequency, a MS at the edge of the
coverage area of one BS may communicate
simultaneously with two or more BSs. It selects
the BS that provides the best signal. The
transition from one BS to another (handoff) is not
abrupt, as in TDMA, and provides better quality.
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Better power control
 CDMA’s capacity is determined by the total noise
generated by users.
 Power control is essential because if there were no
power control the MS that were very close to the BS
would generate very strong signal and thus very large
interference.
 Good power control reduces the power emitted by an
MS that is close to the BS. Thus the noise levels
generated by all MSs will be comparable.
 This in turn reduces power consumption of an MS, and
low power consumption is an important feature for
mobile devices.