CDMA2000

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CDMA2000 is a 3G mobile telecommunications standard, one of the approved radio interfaces for the ITU's IMT-2000 standard, and a successor to 2G CDMA (IS-95, branded cdmaOne). The underlying signalling standard is known as IS-2000. CDMA2000 is an incompatible competitor of the other major 3G standard W-CDMA.

CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of Qualcomm, not a generic term like CDMA. Qualcomm has branded their CDMA standard (aka IS-95) as cdmaOne, which might help in reducing the ongoing confusion between CDMA and W-CDMA.

There are many different types of CDMA2000. In order of increasing complexity:

Table of contents

1 CDMA2000 1x
2 CDMA2000 1xRTT
3 CDMA2000 1xEV

3.1 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
3.2 CDMA2000 1xEV-DV

4 CDMA2000 3x

CDMA2000 1x

CDMA2000 1x, also known as CDMA2000 1xMC (Multi-Carrier), is the core 3G CDMA2000 technology. The designation Multi-Carrier refers to the possibility of using up to three separate 1.25 MHz carriers for data transmission, and is used to distinguish this from W-CDMA, which is a direct spread protocol using a wide 5 MHz carrier. However, as the 1x protocol only uses a single carrier, the term 1xMC is slightly oxymoronic and the simpler term CDMA2000 1x is recommended instead.

Confusingly, Japanese operator KDDI uses the brand "CDMA 1X WIN" for their CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network.

CDMA2000 1xRTT

CDMA2000 1xRTT (Radio Transmission Technology) is the basic layer of CDMA2000, which supports up to 144 Kbps packet data speeds. While CDMA2000 officially qualifies as 3G technology, 1xRTT is considered by most to be a 2.5G technology as it is several times slower than other 3G technologies. It also doubles voice capacity over previous CDMA networks.

CDMA2000 1xEV

CDMA2000 1xEV (Evolution) is CDMA2000 1x with High Data Rate (HDR) capability added. 1xEV is commonly separated into two phases:

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO

Phase 1 of CDMA2000 1xEV, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (Evolution-Data Only) supports data rates up to 2.4 Mbps. It can only be deployed separately from voice networks - in its own spectrum - although devices can be made to access both networks. Among others, Japan's KDDI, South Korea's SK Telecom, and USA Verizon Wireless have launched commercial CDMA 1xEV-DO networks. Some expect Verizon's 1xEV-DO network to become widespread in every major USA metropolitan area by the end of 2005.

CDMA2000 1xEV-DV

Phase 2 of CDMA2000 1xEV, CDMA2000 1xEV-DV (Evolution-Data and Voice), supports circuit and packet data rates up to 3-5 Mbps. It fully integrates with 1xRTT voice networks.

As of April 2004, there are no commercial deployments of 1xEV-DV, although many carriers are carrying out testing and limited trials. American carrier Sprint PCS plans on deploying a 1xEV-DV network on top of their existing CDMA network.

CDMA2000 3x

CDMA2000 3x uses three separate 1.25 MHz carriers. This provides three times the capacity but also requires three times more bandwidth, and remains under development.