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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lramzi who wrote (9308)	3/30/2001 9:04:10 AM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 197139

Here's an attempt at a non-technical explanation of "always on." CDMA handsets transmit only when there is a signal to transmit. If there is no signal, then there is no transmission between the handset and the base station, and the base station looks for other business to take care of in the meantime. Thus, the CDMA handset uses spectrum only when it is actually transmitting or receiving voice or data signals. You might have several hundred handsets in use in a given area, all in contact with a particular base station. But the base station may need to respond only to those dozen or so handset signals actually being transmitted. This is another reason why the CDMA handset has such a long battery life on standby. It may be "on" or ready to receive or transmit, but actually it is consuming almost no power, and it definitely is not reserving spectrum while idle. Art