Technology Platform
Flexible. Scalable. Cost-Effective.
Leveraging a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) platform, MOTOTRBO reduces overall equipment costs while
supporting more users and more information in the same area and frequency. The performance and flexibility of
TDMA make it the only serious choice for professional two-way digital radio.
- Increased spectral efficiency in existing 12.5kHz channels. TDMA enables 6.25 kHz equivalent efficiency
in licensed 12.5 kHz repeater channels. This doubles per-channel capacity, while satisfying future
regulatory requirements for 6.25 kHz equivalent efficiency. And unlike 6.25 kHz transmission methods built
on Frequency-Division Multiple Access (FDMA) technology, TDMA fits seamlessly into existing licensed
channel structures in UHF and VHF—increasing performance, eliminating the need for rebanding or
re-licensing, and reducing the risk of new forms of radio channel interference.
- Lower equipment costs. With TDMA, one repeater can do the work of two analog repeaters—lowering
acquisition and operating costs. TDMA allows you to achieve 6.25 kHz equivalent efficiency while minimizing
investments in repeaters and combining equipment. Unlike analog or FDMA technology that requires a
dedicated repeater for each channel plus expensive combining equipment, two-slot TDMA achieves two-channel
equivalency using single-channel equipment.
- Advanced features and flexibility. At the repeater, the second slot in a TDMA technology platform can
be used to deliver advanced features—such as IP-based dispatch data enhanced signaling—in parallel with a
call on the other slot.
- Increased battery life. TDMA delivers up to a 40 percent improvement in battery life compared with
analog radios, because any given radio is transmitting only during every other slot. Effectively, this
means the radio is only transmitting approximately half of the time.
- Standards-based. TDMA is the globally-recognized European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) tier two standard for professional mobile radio. TDMA also meets existing United
States regulatory requirements for 12.5 kHz efficiency in both analog and digital mode.
Two-slot 12.5 kHz TDMA-based systems, providing 6.25 kHz equivalency, is the right choice for most mobile
professionals. Professional radio standards based on TDMA technology are already widely used around the world,
and future requirements for even greater spectral efficiency are almost certain to be based on TDMA as well.
Today and tomorrow, TDMA technology provides advantages of feature flexibility, lower equipment costs, longer
battery life, future-readiness and the proven ability to increase spectral efficiency without risking increased
congestion or radio channel interference.
TDMA: How It Works
TDMA stands for "Time-Division Multiple Access." Like FDMA, or "Frequency-Division Multiple Access," TDMA is
a technology that allows multiple conversations to share the same radio channel. Although the goal is the same,
the two technologies work very differently.
6.25 kHz FDMA
In FDMA, a channel frequency is split into smaller subdivisions — for example, splitting a 25 kHz band into
two narrower "sub-channels" that transmit side-by-side to achieve 12.5 kHz equivalent spectral efficiency. The
same technique can be used to achieve 6.25 kHz equivalent efficiency in a 12.5 kHz channel — although how well
this technique will perform hasn't yet been established in real-world implementations on a large scale. As the
subdivisions of a licensed channel become narrower, there's a growing likelihood of problems due to congestion
and interference in an FDMA-based 6.25 kHz-equivalent system, as shown in the illustration.
When you try to squeeze two 6.25 kHz signals into one 12.5 kHz channel, you still have to meet the channel's
regulatory emissions mask. In order to do so, the signal deviation (represented by the height and width of the
lobes in the illustration) must necessarily be smaller than what can be achieved with a single 12.5 kHz signal.
This smaller deviation means reduced sensitivity, which in turn reduces effective signal range in real world
conditions. At the same time, there is very little tolerance for errors introduced by oscillator aging, and the
6.25 kHz signal contains more energy near the edges of the mask — making it more prone to adjacent channel
interference and near/far interference problems. This results in reduced quality of service in real world
conditions.
Two-slot TDMA
By comparison, TDMA offers a proven method for achieving 6.25 kHz equivalency in 12.5 kHz repeater channels
— a major benefit for users of increasingly crowded licensed bands. Instead of dividing the channel into two
smaller slices, TDMA uses the full channel width, dividing it into two alternating time slots. As a result,
TDMA essentially doubles repeater capacity while preserving the well-known RF performance characteristics of
the 12.5 kHz signal. From the perspective of RF physics — that is, actual transmitted power and radiated
emissions — the 12.5 kHz signal of two-slot TDMA occupies the channel, propagates, and performs essentially the
same as today's 12.5 kHz analog signals. with the added advantages of digital technology, TDMA-based radios can
work within a single repeater channel to provide roughly twice the capacity of analog while offering RF
performance equivalent to, or better than, today's analog radio.
The clear advantages of digital radio - along with increasing regulatory pressures to use RF spectrum more
efficiently - will drive widespread adoption of professional two-way digital radio solutions in the coming
years. If you're using analog today, you'll almost certainly be migrating to digital tomorrow. Now is the time
to research the available technologies so that, when you're ready to make the move, you'll choose systems that
provide the greatest benefit over the long term.
Multiple Access and Spectral Efficiency
The primary goal of any multiple-access RF technology is to achieve greater spectral efficiency, allowing
more users to share a given channel in the licensed RF spectrum. Historically, the licensed airwaves were
divided into relatively large 25 kHz channels. There was plenty of room for the broadcasters using these
channels to exist side-by-side, without significant interference problems. Over the years, however, the
airwaves have become increasingly crowded, creating a need for new standards and technologies that allow more
radio users to share the available spectrum in any given area.
The demand for greater spectral efficiency is being driven, in part, by regulatory agencies. In the U.S.,
for example, the FCC is requiring manufacturers to offer only devices that operate within 12.5 kHz VHF and UHF
channels by 2011. By the year 2013, all VHF and UHF users will be required to operate in 12.5 kHz - making it
possible for roughly twice as many users to share the airwaves as compared with today's 25 kHz licenses.
The next logical step is to further improve the effective capacity of 12.5 kHz channels. while there's no
current mandate requiring a move to 6.25 kHz, discussions are continuing at the FCC and other agencies, and
it's only a matter of time before the ability to carry two voice paths in a single12.5 kHz channel, also known
as 6.25 kHz equivalent efficiency, becomes a requirement in VHF and UHF bands. In the meantime, two-slot TDMA
offers a way to divide a 12.5 kHz channel into two independent time slots, achieving 6.25 kHz-equivalent
efficiency today.
With two-slot TDMA-based devices, there's no reason to wait for a government mandate to achieve more
capacity on existing licensed channels. Business can take the initiative to achieve greater spectral efficiency
well ahead of the inevitable regulations - and ahead of the competition. And even without a regulatory mandate,
greater spectral efficiency offers many operational benefits.
