Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

    FDMA                           

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

Frequency Division Multiple Access or FDMA is a channel access method used in multiple-access protocols as a channelization protocol. FDMA gives users an individual allocation of one or several frequency bands, or channels. It is particularly commonplace in satellite communication. FDMA, like other Multiple Access systems, coordinates access between multiple users.

Each FDMA subscriber is assigned a specific frequency channel. No one else in the same cell or a neighboring cell can use the frequency channel while it is assigned to a user. This reduces interference, but severely limits the number of users.

    Advantage of FDMA                         
 
* FDMA technique doesn't need any base-control station.
* Data that transfeered between each station to another during the transmission process will not be lost.
* After the transmission of data,the effect ot the delay distortion will be so small and it can be ignored.
* There is no need for network timing.
* The channel operations in FDMA are simple.
* In FDMA,the reduction of the information bit rate has a good effect on the capacity.
* No need for any equalization.
* Because of the transmission is continuous,there is almost no need for bits that are responsible for synchronization.
* Simplicity in FDMA algorithms.

    Disadvantages of FDMA                   

* In the FDMA technique,it is impossible for the stations to receive data from more than one transmission source.
* One of most important thing in communication systems is the maximum data rate which is small and fixed for every channel in FDMA.
* Because of the guard bands,the capacity of the FDMA will be decreased.
* Increasing the cost of FDMA,since the band filters are narrow that can't be recognized by VLSI.
* FDMA requires special filters to avoid any interference between the narrow channels.


    TDMA                        
    CDMA                       
    SDMA                        

Reference:

    * Wikipedia
    * CDMA University
    * WEBOPEDIA
    * How Stuff Works   

" Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) " !

Multiple Access Systems

    Why Multiple Access?  
 
Multiple Access systems coordinates access between multiple users.Wireless telecommunications has dramatically increased in popularity, resulting in the need for technologies that allow multiple users to share the same Bandwidth.
The following Multiple Access Systems have very different approaches to the bandwidth problem. 

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

     TDMA                       

Short for Time Division Multiple Access, a technology for delivering digital wireless service using time-division multiplexing (TDM). TDMA works by dividing a radio frequency into time slots and then allocating slots to multiple calls. In this way, a single frequency can support multiple, simultaneous data channels.
The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using its own time slot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium (e.g. radio frequency channel) while using only a part of its channel capacity. TDMA is used in the digital 2G cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), IS-136, Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and iDEN, and in the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard for portable phones. It is also used extensively in satellite systems, combat-net radio systems, and PON networks for upstream traffic from premises to the operator.
TDMA is a type of Time-division multiplexing, with the special point that instead of having one transmitter connected to one receiver, there are multiple transmitters. In the case of the uplink from a mobile phone to a base station this becomes particularly difficult because the mobile phone can move around and vary the timing advance required to make its transmission match the gap in transmission from its peers.
 
    Advantages of TDMA                       

The radio part of the mobile only needs to listen and broadcast for its own time slot. For the rest of the time, the mobile can carry out measurements on the network, detecting surrounding transmitters on different frequencies. This allows safe inter frequency handovers, something which is difficult in CDMA systems, not supported at all in IS-95 and supported through complex system additions in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). This in turn allows for co-existence of microcell layers with macrocell layers.


    Disadvantages of TDMA                 

TDMA systems create interference at a frequency which is directly connected to the time slot length. This is the buzz which can sometimes be heard if a TDMA phone is left next to a radio or speakers.Another disadvantage is that the "dead time" between time slots limits the potential bandwidth of a TDMA channel. These are implemented in part because of the difficulty in ensuring that different terminals transmit at exactly the times required. Handsets that are moving will need to constantly adjust their timings to ensure their transmission is received at precisely the right time, because as they move further from the base station, their signal will take longer to arrive. This also means that the major TDMA systems have hard limits on cell sizes in terms of range, though in practice the power levels required to receive and transmit over distances greater than the supported range would be mostly impractical anyway.


    FDMA                        
    CDMA                       
    SDMA                        

Reference:
    
    * Wikipedia 
    * CDMA University
    * WEBOPEDIA
    * How Stuff Works


" Multiple Access Systems " !