Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:12:51 -0600 From: "Michael C . Wu" <keichii@iteration.net> To: Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be> Cc: Kris Kennaway <kris@FreeBSD.ORG>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: VCD (was Re: cvs commit: src/sys/dev/ata atapi-cd.c) Message-ID: <20010121181251.B44819@peorth.iteration.net> In-Reply-To: <v04220821b691222656eb@[10.0.1.2]>; from brad.knowles@skynet.be on Mon, Jan 22, 2001 at 12:46:38AM %2B0100 References: <200101211447.f0LElEk04073@mobile.wemm.org> <KAECKEJJOLGHAFGGNIKMAELICAAA.res02jw5@gte.net> <20010121145018.A73989@citusc17.usc.edu> <20010121165422.A44505@peorth.iteration.net> <v04220821b691222656eb@[10.0.1.2]>
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On Mon, Jan 22, 2001 at 12:46:38AM +0100, Brad Knowles scribbled: | At 4:54 PM -0600 2001/1/21, Michael C . Wu wrote: | | > I ask the same questions about why Americans not using | > GSM but PCS cell phones. (FYI, the reason for using PCS in the U.S. | > was a pure political reason, none other than America wanting | > to "lead" the industry. :) ) | | Qualcomm invented Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), the | superior digital cell phone technology that is the basis for all 3G | projects around the world. CDMA is supplanting TDMA in the US, | because it allows you to carry more calls in the same amount of | frequency bandwidth than TDMA, the previous digital technology. Brad, Hug W-CDMA (Wideband-CDMA) K PLZ THX. :) | Anybody that has to replace TDMA technology with CDMA technology | winds up pretty much completely replacing the entire network they | built, which is why it's still taking time to make this conversion in | the US. However, Europe made the "leap" to TDMA technology in GSM, | before CDMA existed -- standard AMPS/NAMPS style analog cell phone | technology had been stretched beyond its limits, and they had no | choice but to go digital. Everyone would agree that CDMA is superior to TDMA. But that still does not make PCS portable across different phones. | Therefore, pretty much all European companies will end up ripping | out their entire set of existing TDMA-based GSM networks and | replacing them with brand-new CDMA-based 3G equipment. | | The same will happen in the US, as 3G takes over from existing | TDMA, CDMA, AMPS/NAMPS networks, but at least many of those companies | will have relatively less money thrown down the TDMA hole which they | then have to completely write off. Yes, Go Go Go Third Generation Mobile Phones. | > But since the rest of the world uses SI units and GSM phones, | > there is not much "leading" there. | | At least if you're in the US and you're in an area supposedly | served by your carrier but their signal is too weak, you can roam on | the networks in that same area that are operated by their competitors | -- you can't do that over here. Hmm? I can do that in Asia. But then there is no need to do so, since Asian countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan cover every inch of their territories. (Benefit of a small country.) | If you are in Belgium and a Proximus customer, and you're in an | area where Proximus doesn't have coverage but Mobistar or KPN Orange | do, you are screwed. If you're a Belgian customer of Proximus and Switch a SIM card? | you're roaming outside the country, that's no problem -- so long as | you're not on a "Pay and go" prepaid card (they never work outside | the country of their issue). | | Of course, US phones also have the concept of "multiple NAMs" | (Number Assignment Modules, i.e., account numbers), so that you can | actually have accounts on multiple different carriers, and switch | between them at your leisure. Many allow up to 99 NAMs on a single | phone. Just try that with a GSM. The US carriers identify via the EIN of the phone. But in reality, you really have no roaming between two carriers much. e.g. AT&T phones will not work with Sprint networks. Bottom line, I like GSM for being the lesser evil. -- +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | keichii@peorth.iteration.net | keichii@bsdconspiracy.net | | http://peorth.iteration.net/~keichii | Yes, BSD is a conspiracy. | +------------------------------------------------------------------+ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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