The following is a comparison of various wireless data access standards and their performance by several different measures. Mobile radio telephone systems preceded modern cellular mobile telephony technology. ... Push-to-Talk (PTT), also known as Press-to-Transmit, is a method of conversing on half-duplex communication lines, including two-way radio, using a momentary button to switch from voice reception mode to transmit mode. ... The Mobile Telephone System (MTS) was one of the earliest mobile telephone standards. ... The Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) is a pre-cellular VHF/UHF radio system that links to the PSTN. IMTS was the radiotelephone equivalent of land dial phone service. ... The Advanced Mobile Telephone System was a 0G method of radio communication, mainly used in Japanese portable radio systems. ... OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, Public Land Mobile Telephony), was the first land mobile telephone network in Norway. ... MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobilelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D) was a manual mobile phone system for the 450 MHz frequency band. ... Autotel (also called PALM, or Public Automated Land Mobile) is a radiotelephone service which was the missing link between earlier MTS/IMTS and later cellular telephone services. ... ARP (Autoradiopuhelin, Car Radio Phone in English) was the first commercially operated public mobile phone network in Finland. ... 1G (or 1-G) is short for first-generation wireless telephone technology, cellphones. ... For other meanings of the abbreviation, see: NMT. NMT (Nordisk MobilTelefoni or Nordiska MobilTelefoni-gruppen, Nordic Mobile Telephone in English) is a mobile phone system that was specified by the Nordic telecommunications administrations (PTTs) starting in 1970, and opened for service in 1981 as a response to the increasing congestion... Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) is the analog mobile phone system standard developed by Bell Labs, and officially introduced in the Americas in 1983[1][2] It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America (and other locales) through the 1980s and into the 2000s, and is still... hicap is a mobile techonology which has a consumer interface with a wide variety of industry references. ... Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) uses unused bandwidth normally used by AMPS mobile phones between 800 and 900 MHz to transfer data. ... Cingular Interactive Truck at Ground Zero on 9/11/2001 Mobitex Network Design Mobitex is an OSI based open standard, national public access wireless data network first introduced in 1991 by carriers RAM Mobile Data and in Canada 1990 by Rogers Cantel. ... DataTac is a wireless data network technology originally developed by Motorola and deployed in the United States as the ARDIS network. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Global System for Mobile communications (GSM: originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. ... Iden is also a village in East sussex, England iDEN Base Radio at a Cell Site Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is a mobile telecommunications technology, it is known to eat little children, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone. ... IS-54 and IS-136 are second-generation (2G) mobile phone systems, known as Digital AMPS (D-AMPS). ... Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), is the first CDMA-based digital cellular standard pioneered by Qualcomm. ... Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) is a 2G mobile phone standard developed and used exclusively in Japan. ... Circuit Switched Data, often known as CSD, is the original form of data transmission developed for the GSM mobile phone system. ... The Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), also marketed as the Personal Access System (PAS), is a mobile network system operating in the 1880-1930 MHz frequency band. ... General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to users of GSM and IS-136 mobile phones. ... High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), is a development of Circuit Switched Data, the original data transmission mechanism of the GSM mobile phone system. ... Wideband Integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network, or WiDEN, is a software upgrade developed by Motorola for its iDEN enhanced specialized mobile radio (or ESMR) wireless telephony protocol. ... CDMA2000 is a family of third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications standards that use CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data, and signalling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), is a digital mobile phone technology that allows it to increase data transmission rate and improve data transmission reliability. ... W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... FOMA, officially short for Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access, is the brand name for the 3G services being offered by Japanese mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo. ... UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ... Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data only, abbreviated as EV-DO or EVDO and often EV, is one telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. ... TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) is a 3G mobile telecommunications standard, being pursued in the Peoples Republic of China by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT), Datang and Siemens AG, in an attempt to develop home-grown technology and not be dependent on Western... The Generic Access Network (GAN) was formerly known as Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), until it was adopted by the 3GPP in April 2005. ... High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing UMTS protocols. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) (Sometimes known as High-Speed Downlink Protocol Access) is a 3G mobile telephony protocol in the HSPA family, which provides a roadmap for UMTS-based networks to increase their data transfer speeds and capacity. ... High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) is a 3G mobile telephony protocol in the HSPA family with up-link speeds up to 5. ... HSPA+ (or HSPA Evolution) is a 3G mobile telephony protocol defined in 3GPP release 7 (expected in 2007). ... High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA) is a proposed part of 3GPPs Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for UMTS systems. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... Ultra Mobile Broadband is the brand name to describe the advanced technologies and services that will be supported by the CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision C (Rev. ... 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future requirements. ... WiMAX is defined as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access by the WiMAX Forum, formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the IEEE 802. ... WiBro (Wireless Broadband, Korean: 와이브로) is a wireless broadband Internet technology being developed by the Korean telecoms industry. ... Cellular frequencies - the general term which unites radio frequencies utilized by cellular networks to provide service to their subscribers. ... The Specialized Mobile Radio system (SMR) is a conventional two-way radio system, or trunked radio system, operated by a service in the 800 or 900 Mhz bands. ... Cellular frequencies - the general term which unites radio frequencies utilized by cellular networks to provide service to their subscribers. ... Personal Communications Service or PCS is the name for the 1900-MHz radio band used for digital mobile phone services in Canada and the United States. ...

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. Ultra-wideband (also UWB, and ultra-wide-band, ultra-wide band, etc. ... Bluetooth logo Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Wireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless extension to USB that combines the speed and ease-of-use of USB 2. ... A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer devices (including telephones and personal digital assistants) close to one person. ...

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. Wi-Fi (or Wi-fi, WiFi, Wifi, wifi), short for Wireless Fidelity, is a set of standards for wireless local area networks (WLAN) currently based on the IEEE 802. ... It has been suggested that wireless network interface cards be merged into this article or section. ... LOCAL AREA NETWORK Local area network scheme A local area network is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings. ... Microcell Telecommunications is a Canadian wireless PCS telecommunications service provider. ... Hotspots are venues that offer Wi-Fi access. ... See http://en. ... HIPERLAN (HIgh PErformance Radio LAN) is a Wireless LAN standard. ...

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. CDMA2000 is a family of third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications standards that use CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data, and signalling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Cellular redirects here. ... IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000) is the global standard for third generation (3G) wireless communications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union. ... Evolution Data Only,Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Japan, Korea, the United States and Canada, as part of the CDMA2000 standard. ... W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ... WAP is an open international standard for applications that use wireless communication. ...

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. Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) or near-line-of-sight is a term used to describe radio transmission across a path that is partially obstructed, usually by a physical object in the Fresnel zone. ... Motorola Canopy is a point-to-multipoint wireless networking system designed for WISPs (wireless internet service providers) based on a star network topology. ...

Some systems are designed for point-to-point line-of-sight communications, such as RONJA and IrDA; once 2 such nodes get too far apart to directly communicate, they can no longer communicate. Other systems are designed to form a wireless mesh network using one of a variety of list of ad-hoc routing protocols. In a mesh network, when 2 nodes get too far apart to directly communicate, they can still indirectly communicate through intermediate nodes. Ronja device installed on a balcony. ... The initials IRDA can refer to various things: In Information Technology and Communications, IrDA refers to Infrared Data Association, a standard for communication between devices (such as computers, PDAs and mobile phones) over short distances using infrared signals. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... An Ad hoc routing protocol is a convention or standard that controls how nodes come to agree which way to route packets between computing devices in a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET). ...

Standards

The following standards are included in this comparison.

Wide Area

• WiMAX: 802.16e standard (also known as Mobile WiMAX)
• UMTS over W-CDMA
• UMTS-TDD
• EV-DO x1 Rev 0, Rev A, Rev B and x3 standards.
• HSPA D and U standards.
• RTT
• GPRS
• EDGE

WiMAX is defined as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access by the WiMAX Forum, formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the IEEE 802. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ... UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ... Evolution Data Only,Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Japan, Korea, the United States and Canada, as part of the CDMA2000 standard. ... The High School Proficiency Assessment (abbreviated HSPA and pronounced hes-pah or sometimes just H-S-P-A) is a standardized test adminstered by the New Jersey Department of Education to all New Jersey high school students in March of their 11th grade year. ... CDMA2000 is a family of third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications standards that use CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data, and signalling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites. ... General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to users of GSM mobile phones. ... Look up Edge in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Local Area

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

Wi-Fi (or Wi-fi, WiFi, Wifi, wifi), short for Wireless Fidelity, is a set of standards for wireless local area networks (WLAN) currently based on the IEEE 802. ...

Personal Area

• Bluetooth
• Wibree
• ZigBee
• Wireless USB
• UWB
• EnOcean
• 6loWPAN

Bluetooth logo Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). ... Wibree is a digital radio technology (intended to become an open standard of wireless communications) designed for ultra low power consumption (button cell batteries) within a short range (10 meters / 30 feet) based around low-cost transceiver microchips in each device. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Wireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless extension to USB that combines the speed and ease-of-use of USB 2. ... UWB may stand for the following: in telecommunications, ultra wideband the University of Wales, Bangor, a university in Wales, UK This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... EnOcean GmbH is a spin-off company of Siemens AG founded in 2001. ... 6lowpan is an acronym of IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks. ...

overview

Notes: All speeds are theoretical maximums and will vary by a number of factors, including the use of external antennae, distance from the tower and the ground speed (i.e. communications on a train may be poorer than when standing still.) Usually the bandwidth is shared between several terminals. The performance of each technology is determined by a number of constraints, including the spectral efficiency of the technology, the cell sizes used, and the amount of spectrum available. For more information, see Comparison of wireless data standards. The IEEE 802. ... WiMAX is defined as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access by the WiMAX Forum, formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the IEEE 802. ... HIPERMAN stands for High Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network and is a standard created by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Broadband Radio Access Networks (BRAN) group to provide a wireless network communication in the 2 - 11 GHz bands across Europe and other countries which follow the ETSI standard. ... Orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM, also called orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) is a technique for the modulation of digital information onto an analog carrier electromagnetic (e. ... WiBro (Wireless Broadband, Korean: 와이브로) is a wireless broadband Internet technology being developed by the Korean telecoms industry. ... Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) is a multi-user version of the popular OFDM digital modulation scheme. ... iBurst (or HC-SDMA, High Capacity Spatial Division Multiple Access) is a wireless broadband technology developed by ArrayComm. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA is a mobile telephony protocol. ... HSUPA, High-Speed Uplink Packet Access, is a data access protocol for mobile phone networks with extremely high upload speeds up to 5. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a form of multiplexing and a method of multiple access that divides up a radio channel not by time (as in time division multiple access), nor by frequency (as in frequency-division multiple access), but instead by using different pseudo-random code sequences for... Duplex is the having of two principal elements or parts. ... Australia: Telstra has replaced their CDMA-EVDO network with an HSDPA network, known as Next G, which commenced operation on 6 October 2006. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA is a mobile telephony protocol. ... UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ... Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a form of multiplexing and a method of multiple access that divides up a radio channel not by time (as in time division multiple access), nor by frequency (as in frequency-division multiple access), but instead by using different pseudo-random code sequences for... Duplex is the having of two principal elements or parts. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA is a mobile telephony protocol. ... HSUPA, High-Speed Uplink Packet Access, is a data access protocol for mobile phone networks with extremely high upload speeds up to 5. ... 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future requirements. ... Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) is a multi-user version of the popular OFDM digital modulation scheme. ... See also systems analysis. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA) is a proposed part of 3GPPs Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for UMTS systems. ... CDMA2000 is a 3G mobile telecommunications standard, one of the approved radio interfaces for the ITUs IMT-2000 standard, and a successor to 2G CDMA (IS-95, branded cdmaOne). ... CDMA2000 is a family of third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications standards that use CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data, and signalling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites. ... Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a form of multiplexing and a method of multiple access that divides up a radio channel not by time (as in time division multiple access), nor by frequency (as in frequency-division multiple access), but instead by using different pseudo-random code sequences for... Evolution Data Only,Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Japan, Korea, the United States and Canada, as part of the CDMA2000 standard. ... Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a form of multiplexing and a method of multiple access that divides up a radio channel not by time (as in time division multiple access), nor by frequency (as in frequency-division multiple access), but instead by using different pseudo-random code sequences for... Duplex is the having of two principal elements or parts. ... Spectral efficiency or spectrum efficiency refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific digital communication system. ...

Throughput

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

• Downlink is the throughput from the base station to the user handset or computer.
• Uplink is the throughput 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 20 MHz for 100 Mbit/s rate, 40 Mbit/s is available with 5 MHz

CDMA2000 is a family of third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications standards that use CDMA, a multiple access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data, and signalling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites. ... Evolution Data Only,Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Japan, Korea, the United States and Canada, as part of the CDMA2000 standard. ... Evolution Data Only,Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Japan, Korea, the United States and Canada, as part of the CDMA2000 standard. ... Evolution Data Only,Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Japan, Korea, the United States and Canada, as part of the CDMA2000 standard. ... The Global System for Mobile communications (GSM: originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. ... General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to users of GSM and IS-136 mobile phones. ... Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) or Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), is a digital mobile phone technology that allows it to increase data transmission rate and improve data transmission reliability. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA is a mobile telephony protocol. ... HSUPA, High-Speed Uplink Packet Access, is a data access protocol for mobile phone networks with extremely high upload speeds up to 5. ... UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ... High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA) is a proposed part of 3GPPs Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for UMTS systems. ... WiMAX is defined as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access by the WiMAX Forum, formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the IEEE 802. ... IEEE 802. ... IEEE 802. ... IEEE 802. ... IEEE 802. ...

Latency

The latency is the time taken for the smallest packet to travel between the user terminal and base station.

Spectral use and efficiency

Frequency

Notes:

• Where X/YxHz is used (eg 1.7/2.1 GHz), 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 5-6 GHz. A portion of the 2010 MHz 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 2.4 GHz 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 2 GHz 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 850 MHz band as 800 MHz, whereas 850 MHz is closer and is used by the GSM/UMTS community. For consistency, it is referred to here as 850 MHz.

UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ...

Deployment size

Spectral efficiency or spectrum efficiency refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific digital communication system. ...

Technology

Air interface

Modulation

 Modulation refers to the process of changing a parameter (such as frequency, phase and amplitude) of the carrier wave in accordance with the changes in the baseband signal. 

Encoding

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.

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.

References

1. ^ IPWireless
2. ^ Researchers demo 100 Mbit/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

Reference list

• Mobile WiMAX - Part I: A Technical Overview and Performance Evaluation
• Mobile WiMAX – Part II: A Comparative Analysis
• 802.11b/a - A physical medium comparison
• Bluetooth: How Bluetooth technology works
• Bluetooth: Compare with other technologies
• Bluetooth: Specification Documents
• A Comparison of Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11
• IEEE 802.11 Standard Overview
• The Next Generation of Wireless LAN Emerges with 802.11n
• Mobile Broadband: The Global Evolution of UMTS/HSPA – 3GPP Release 7 and Beyond (Registration screen can be skipped)
• Mobile Broadband: EDGE, HSPA and LTE (Registration screen can be skipped)
• Edge: Enhanced data rates for GSM and TDMA 136 evolution
• The Challenges of Using MIMO
• Using Advanced Signal Analysis to Identify Sources of WLAN Transmitter Degradations