Overview of Mobile Radio Systems in North America

This page provides an overview of various mobile radio systems used in North America, including AMPS, NAMPS, USDC, CDPD, IS-95, GSC, POCSAG, FLEX, DCS-1900 (GSM), PACS, MIRS, and iDEN.

Mobile Radio System Overview

The following table summarizes the key characteristics of these systems:

TYPEYEARMULTIPLE ACCESSFREQUENCY BANDMODULATIONBW
AMPS1983FDMA824-894 MHzFM30 kHz
NAMPS1992FDMA824-894 MHzFM10 kHz
USDC1991TDMA824-894 MHzPi/4 DQPSK30 kHz
CDPD1993FH/ Packet824-894 MHzGMSK30 KHz
IS-951993CDMA824-894 MHz/ 1.8-2.0 GHzQPSK /BPSK1.25 MHz
GSC1970sSimplexManyFSK12.5 KHz
POCSAG1970sSimplexManyFSK12.5 KHz
FLEX1993SimplexMany4-FSK15 KHz
DCS-1900 (GSM)1994TDMA1.85-1.99 GHzGMSK200 KHz
PACS1994TDMA/ FDMA1.85 -1.99 GHzPi/4 DQPSK300 KHz
MIRS1994TDMAMany16QAM25 KHz
iDen1995TDMAMany16QAM25 KHz

Explanation of Terms:

  • TYPE: The name of the mobile radio system. This could be a cellular standard, a paging system, or a specialized mobile radio (SMR) system.
  • YEAR: The year the system was introduced or became commercially available.
  • MULTIPLE ACCESS: The method used to allow multiple users to share the same frequency band (FDMA, TDMA, CDMA).
  • FREQUENCY BAND: The range of radio frequencies used by the system.
  • MODULATION: The type of modulation used to encode information onto the radio signal (FM, GMSK, QPSK, etc.).
  • BW: The bandwidth or channel width occupied by a single communication channel.