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GPRSHow Does It Work and How Good Is It?

Nikhil M. Deshpande, Ph.D. Technical Marketing Manager Emerging Platforms Lab Intel Corporation Jay Gilbert Sr. Technical Marketing Engineer Emerging Platforms Lab Intel Corporation

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GPRSHOW DOES IT WORK AND HOW GOOD IS IT? ..................................... 3

O V E R V I E W .......................................................................................................... 3 H O W D O E S I T W O R K ? ........................................................................................... 3 W H A T D O E S I T P R O M I S E ? ...................................................................................... 3 H O W I S I T U S E D ? ................................................................................................. 4 H O W G O O D I S G PRS? .......................................................................................... 4 S U M M A R Y ........................................................................................................... 5 M O R E I N F O ......................................................................................................... 5 A U T H O R B I O S ...................................................................................................... 5
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DeveloperUPDATEMagazine
GPRSHow Does It Work and How Good Is It?
Nikhil M. Deshpande, Ph.D. Technical Marketing Manager Emerging Platforms Lab Intel Corporation Jay Gilbert Sr. Technical Marketing Engineer Emerging Platforms Lab Intel Corporation

Intel

October 2002 Page 3

Overview
GPRS (general packet radio service) is a new nonvoice service that is being added to existing IS-136 TDMA (time division multiple access) networks in the United States and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks in the United States and Europe. It provides for the transmission of IP packets over existing cellular networks, bringing the Internet to the mobile phone. Anything the Internet offers, from Web browsing to chat and e-mail, will be available from GSM and TDMA service providers via GPRS-enabled devices.

How Does it Work?

GPRS is implemented as a 2.5G technology upgrade in the form of a network overlay to existing cellular networks. Without requiring the dedication of any new channels, GPRS takes advantage of the short bursty nature of IP packet transmission and effectively grabs short time slots allocated from channels dedicated to voice traffic. Network efficiency is thus improved, because existing channels already used for voice can be simultaneously used to send IP packets as well. In addition, most data sessions do not involve continuous data transmission. One user may be transmitting or receiving while another user is reading information just downloaded. This channel-sharing with other data and voice users is far more efficient than 2G circuit-switched data services, in which one user locks up an entire channel whether they are currently transmitting or not. Each dedicated channel is divided into eight time slots, with each time slot supporting a maximum data transmission speed of 13.4 Kbps**. In practice, one of these time slots is reserved for control. While it is possible that in special situations a service operator may choose to allocate the remaining seven time slots to GPRS traffic, the normal allocation reserves two of these time slots for voice traffic. Because Internet access is generally asymmetric (the user spends more time receiving data than transmitting data), the remaining five time slots available for GPRS traffic are allocated in an asymmetric manner as shown, depending on the type of mobile phones being supported: Type 2+1two time slots for download, one for upload Type 3+1three time slots for download, one for upload Type 4+1four time slots for download, one for upload In addition, GPRS phones are classified as to their ability to support simultaneous GSM voice calls and GPRS data transmission as follows: Class Acapable of simultaneous voice and data transmission Class Bautomatic switching (according to phone settings) between voice and data Class Chand-operated switching between voice and data

What Does it Promise?

The theoretical maximum GPRS data rate is 171.2 Kbps per channel. However, the user will not experience anything close to this because this data rate assumes no error correction and the use of all eight time slots. Normal data transmission utilizes error correction, which limits the data rate per time slot to 13.4 Kbps. In addition, because not all eight time slots are available for GPRS data, the maximum data rate which the user can expect from a service operator today is 53.6 Kbps (4 time slots x 13.4 Kbps), using a phone that supports Type 4+1 service.

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Data rates aside, it does promise an "always on" connection to the Internet, and that is a big upgrade for a network that previously only provided voice traffic.

How Is it Used?
There are two different ways to utilize GPRS to access the Internet (Figure 1). One is to use a GPRS device as a modem to allow a laptop running a browser to access HTML Web pages. Any Web page that can be accessed from a desktop browser can now be accessed with a laptop via a GPRS modem. The second method is to connect to the Internet directly with the mobile GPRS device and use a built-in microbrowser to access WAP (wireless application protocol)-enabled Web pages. WAP content is restricted to text only and thus requires far less bandwidth to load. Microbrowsers cannot read, and are prevented by the switching network from attempting to access any Web pages that do not contain WAP content. Because typing in URLs can be tedious on a mobile phone with limited space for a keyboard, service providers often allow the user to customize a WAP portal. This provides quick and easy access, with a minimum of button-pushing, to a small number of WAP-enabled sites selected by the user.
Internet

Bluetooth Link

Cellphone as GPRS Modem

GPRS Links

PCMCIA as GPRS modem

IrDA Link

Switching Network

Cellphone as GPRS Modem Serial Link Cellphone as GPRS Modem Cellphone as Stand-alone Microbrowser

WWAN Base Station

Figure 1. Different configurations for utilizing GPRS to access the Internet.

How Good Is GPRS?

Because some are making lofty claims for GPRS ease-of-use and bandwidth, the Intel Research and Development network set out to discover what users can actually expect from this new service. Experiments were conducted using a variety of equipment configurations, under different conditions, and in a number of cities. For specific information about the tests, including performance results and what we learned about roaming and billing, please read the white paper linked to in the More Info section.

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All in all, we found that GPRS performance is comparable to a 56-Kbps dial-up service. Depending on the user's expectations, this can be viewed as much more than was previously available or not what the user had hoped for. Certainly, rates over 100 Kbps are not realistic, but the advertised rate of 53.6 Kbps for 4+1 service is. Users used to dial-up speeds will be pleased to find they can get as good or better bandwidth by using their cell phone as a modem while on the road. It also bears remembering that the service is new. As more subscribers sign up for GPRS service, bandwidth will tend to drop. Service providers will add capacity to meet users' needs, either in the form of allocating more time slots per channel, building more capacity in the form of additional cell towers, or incorporating smart antenna technology to increase network efficiency.

Summary
As an interim step from 2G to 3G technology, GPRS goes a long way toward introducing the user to wireless data services. While the data rates do not approach those promised by future 3G technology, GPRS will nonetheless serve as a spawning and proving ground for new services and applications that take advantage of wireless data transmission. This, in turn, will help generate new revenue that is needed by service providers to help pay for 3G infrastructure and spectrum.

More Info
Read the full white paper from which this GPRS article is derived, which discusses the specifics of the tests more in depth. Or, you can find more information about how the Intel R&D network is Building the Wireless Tomorrow.

Author Bios
Dr. Nikhil Deshpande is technical marketing manager in the Mobile Service Technologies group of the Emerging Platforms Lab, part of the Corporate Technology Group. He is currently responsible for the technology marketing of various wireless technologies, enabling innovative services for mobile operators. Deshpande has been at Intel for two years. Prior to coming to Intel, he worked at Tektronix Inc. on a variety of wireless technologies. He has been awarded three patents, and has six patents pending on digital communications and wireless technologies, as well as eight patents pending in the field of communications systems. Deshpande holds a B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Poona, India, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from Portland State University. Jay Gilbert is a senior technical marketing engineer in Intel's Emerging Platforms Lab within the Corporate Technology Group (CTG). He is responsible for standards development and new form-factor mobile platform efforts within CTG, as well as technical evangelism within the communications industry for several multimedia products. Gilbert has been with Intel for more than 11 years. Prior to his current position, he worked at Development Tools Technical Marketing and as a product marketing engineer for ProShare Video conferencing products. Gilbert has a B.S.E.E. from the Oregon Institute of Technology, and an M.B.A. from Portland State University.
** "GPRS Technology", Intel Corporation, 2002.

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