Terminology » Mobile Communication » IS-136 vs IS-95: 2G Cellular Technology Comparison

IS-136 vs IS-95: 2G Cellular Technology Comparison

cellular technology 2g is-136 is-95 mobile communication

This article compares IS-136 and IS-95, exploring the similarities and differences between these two 2nd generation cellular systems.

Similarities Between IS-136 and IS-95

Both IS-136 and IS-95 are second-generation (2G) cellular technologies designed to facilitate mobile-to-mobile communication. Key similarities include:

  • 2G Systems: Both belong to the 2G era of mobile technology.
  • Time of Introduction: Both were introduced in the 19th century.
  • Frequency Spectrum: They operate within the same frequency spectrum: 869 MHz to 894 MHz for the downlink (base station to mobile) and 824 MHz to 849 MHz for the uplink (mobile to base station).

Differences Between IS-136 and IS-95

While they share some common ground, IS-136 and IS-95 differ significantly in their underlying technologies and implementations.

FeatureIS-136IS-95
Multiple AccessTDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
Channel Bandwidth~30 KHz~1250 KHz
Modulationpi/4 (DQPSK)QPSK
Speech CodingVSELPQCELP
Frame Duration~40ms~20ms
Duplex Channels Supported83220

In summary:

  • Multiple Access: IS-136 employs TDMA, dividing the channel into time slots, whereas IS-95 uses CDMA, where multiple users share the same channel simultaneously, differentiated by unique codes.
  • Bandwidth: IS-95 utilizes a much wider channel bandwidth compared to IS-136.
  • Modulation: They use different modulation schemes for transmitting data.
  • Speech Coding: They also differ in the speech coding techniques employed to compress and transmit voice data.
  • Frame Duration: IS-136 has a longer frame duration compared to IS-95.
  • Channel capacity: IS-136 supports more channels than IS-95.