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To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (113312)	2/14/2002 8:47:35 PM
From: Jill	Respond to of 152472

Piece on cellphones, CDMA vs 3G etc, in NY Times Circuits today: nytimes.com Excerpt: The introduction of digital technology in the early 1990's allowed carriers to boost capacity by squeezing more out of the available radio spectrum. Two competing digital systems emerged. One, time division multiple access, or T.D.M.A., allows multiple users to gain access to a common channel without interference by allocating unique time slots to each caller in a round-robin fashion. The other, code division multiple access, or C.D.M.A., tags each conversation with a code and instructs the cellphone to extract that code from the others being broadcast in the air. The differences between the two systems can be compared to modes of conversation in a crowded room. With T.D.M.A., everyone takes turns talking in sequence; with C.D.M.A., everyone is speaking in a different language at the same time, and you listen for the one person speaking your language. Debates continue over which system is more efficient. Early on, C.D.M.A. promised to carry 27 digital conversations for every analog conversation, but technical obstacles have reduced that ratio to something like 10 to 1 today. By comparison, T.D.M.A. carries about 7 calls for every analog conversation. Rather than adopt T.D.M.A. or C.D.M.A. as a national digital standard, however, the federal government allowed manufacturers and carriers to choose between the systems. That is the main reason that a phone bought from AT&T, for example, won't work on the Sprint PCS network. AT&T and Cingular use T.D.M.A., and Sprint PCS and Verizon use C.D.M.A. The adoption of one standard in Europe — G.S.M., an advanced version of the digital technology available in the United States — has helped spur the relatively smooth expansion of the cellphone industry there, said Roberta Wiggins, director of wireless mobile services at the Yankee Group, a consulting firm. G.S.M. has been adopted by a few wireless companies in the United States, notably VoiceStream, and AT&T and Cingular are planning such a shift as well. "Europe had the advantage because they basically had one standard," Ms. Wiggins said. "As a result, they're further along in technology and coverage."