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INTRODUCTION

MULTIPLE-ACCESS TECHNIQUES
Cellular systems divide a geographic region into cells where a mobile unit in each cell communicates with a base station. The goal in the design of cellular systems is to be able to handle as many calls as possible (this is called capacity in cellular terminology) in a given bandwidth with some reliability. There are several different ways to allow access to the channel. These include the following.

frequency division multiple-access (FDMA) time division multiple-access (TDMA) Spread Spectrum Multiple Access Space Division Multiple Access Packet Radio

These methods can be combined e.g.: SDMA/FDMA/TDMA in GSM

In wireless communications systems, it is often desirable to allow the subscriber to send simultaneously information to the base station while receiving information from the base station. For example, in conventional telephone systems, it is possible to talk and listen simultaneously, and this effect, called duplexing, is generally required in wireless telephone systems. Duplexing may be done using frequency or time domain techniques. Frequency division duplexing (FDD) provides two distinct bands of frequencies for every user. The forward band provides traffic from the base station to the mobile, and the reverse band provides traffic from the mobile to the base station. In FDD, any duplex channel actually consists of two simplex channels (a forward and reverse), and a device called a duplexer is used inside each subscriber unit and base station to allow simultaneous bidirectional radio transmission and reception for both the subscriber unit and the base station on the duplex channel pair. The frequency separation between each forward and reverse channel is constant throughout the system, regardless of the particular channel being used. Time division duplexing (TDD) uses time instead of frequency to provide both a forward and reverse link. In TDD, multiple users share a single radio channel by taking turns in the time domain. Individual users are allowed to access the channel in assigned time slots, and each duplex channel has both a forward time slot and a reverse time slot to facilitate bidirectional communication. If the time separation between the forward and reverse time slot is small, then the transmission and reception of data appears simultaneous to the users at both the subscriber unit and on the base station side. Figure -1- illustrates FDD and TDD techniques. TDD allows communication on a single channel (as opposed to requiring two separate simplex or

dedicated channels) and simplifies the subscriber equipment since a duplexer is not required.

Figure-1- (a) FDD provides two simplex channels at the same time; (b) TDD provides two simplex time slots on the same frequency. There are several tradeoffs between FDD and TDD approaches. FDD is geared toward radio communications systems that allocate individual radio frequencies for each user. Because each transceiver simultaneously transmits and receives radio signals which can vary by more than 100 dB, the frequency allocation used for the forward and reverse channels must be carefully coordinated within its own system and with out-of-band users that occupy spectrum between these two bands. Furthermore, the frequency separation must be coordinated to permit the use of inexpensive RF and oscillator technology. TDD enables each transceiver to operate as either a transmitter or receiver on the same frequency, and eliminates the need for separate forward and reverse frequency bands. However, there is a time latency created by TDD due to the fact that communications is not full duplex in the truest sense, and this latency creates inherent sensitivities to propagation delays of individual users. Because of the rigid timing required for time slotting, TDD generally is limited to cordless phone or short range portable access. TDD is effective for fixed wireless access when all users are stationary so that propagation delays do not vary in time among the users.

DUPLEXING
In short ! In wireless communication systems, it is often desirable to allow the mobile to send simultaneously information to the BTS while receiving information from the BTS: this is called Duplexing. ! Duplexing may be done using frequency or time domain techniques: ! Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD): provides 2 distinct frequency bands per user: one for emission, one for reception. ! A duplex channel actually consists of two simplex channels and a duplexer is used to receive and send on 2 different frequency bands. ! The frequency split between the forward and reverse channel is constant for the whole system. ! Time Division Duplexing (TDD): uses time instead of frequency to provide both a forward and reverse link. ! Introduces some delay between emission and reception ! simpler than FDD. Before we start with multiple access technique we should know about duplexing. A duplex communication system is a point-to-point system composed of two connected parties or devices that can communicate with one another in both directions simultaneously. An example of a duplex device is a telephone. The people at both ends of a telephone call can speak at the same time, the earphone can

reproduce the speech of the other person as the microphone transmits the speech of the local person, because there is a two-way communication channel between them.

Half-duplex

A half-duplex (HDX) system provides communication in both directions, but only one direction at a time (not simultaneously). Typically, once a party begins receiving a signal, it must wait for the transmitter to stop transmitting, before replying (antennas are of trans-receiver type in these devices, so as to transmit and receive the signal as well).

Full-duplex

. A full-duplex (FDX), or sometimes double-duplex system, allows communication in both directions, and, unlike half-duplex, allows this to happen simultaneously. Landline telephone networks are full-duplex, since they allow both callers to speak and be heard at the same time. A good analogy for a full-duplex system would be a twolane road with one lane for each direction.

FDMA
Also known as: Frequency Division Multiple Access In short ! The radio spectrum is divided into narrowband (~30 kHz) frequency channels ! Each user is allocated a unique channel

! FDMA channel carries only one connection at a time: if the channel is not used, because the mobile does not have any data to send or receive, the capacity is lost (note: this is also the case with TDMA). Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) is an analogue transmission technique used for mobile phone communications, in which the frequency band allocated to a network is divided into sub-bands or channels. Each frequency channel can carry either a voice conversation or digital data, and one channel will be assigned to each subscriber for the duration of a call. Using FDMA in this way, multiple users can share the available band without the risk of interference between the simultaneous calls. FDMA is one of the three main multiplexing techniques that enable users to share the radio spectrum, and in the case of FDMA the receiver will discriminate between the signals by tuning to the particular frequency channel that carries the desired signal. Alternative multiple access techniques are TDMA and CDMA, in which the receivers discriminate between signals by using, respectively, different time slots or different codes. However, in practice TDMA and CDMA are always found in combination with FDMA, i.e. TDMA or CDMA are used to increase capacity on a channel within an FDMA system. The term FDMA has also been used to describe the cellular technology used in the 1G (first-generation) analogue systems, such as NMT, AMPS, and TACS, because FDMA was the predominant transmission technique used in these 1G networks. The main advantage of FDMA is its simplicity--it does not require any coordination or synchronization among the users since each can use its own frequency band without interference. This, however, is also the cause of waste especially when the load is momentarily uneven, since when one user is idle his share of the bandwidth cannot be used by other users. It should be noted that if the users have uneven long term demands, it is possible to divide the frequency range unevenly, i.e., proportional to the demands. FDMA is also not flexible; adding a new user to the network requires equipment modification (such as additional filters) in every other user.

Main features of FDMA

Advantages:
1. Using well established technology. 2. No need for network timing. 3. No restriction regarding the type of baseband or the type of modulation.

Disadvantages:
1. Inter-modulation noise in the transponder leads to interference with other links satellite capacity reduction. 2. Lack of flexibility in channel allocation. 3. Requires up-link power control to maintain quality. 4. Weak carrier tend to be suppressed.

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TDMA
Also known as: Time Division Multiple Access In short ! The radio spectrum is divided into time frames that are divided into time slots ! One user is allowed to either transmit or receive on specific time slots ! TDMA transmit data in a buffer-and-burst method, thus the transmission is noncontinuous: ! this results in low battery consumption since the subscriber transmitter can be turned off when not in use ! handoff process is much simpler for a mobile unit, since it is ableto listen for other base stations during idle time slot Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is a digital transmission technique used for mobile phone communications, in which a frequency channel is divided into a sequence of time slots, and each user is allocated a unique time slot within the sequence. The callers are assigned time slots as they are needed, and their signals are interleaved within the one channel as the sequence is transmitted. For example, with GSM each channel is divided into 8 time slots, so that eight different subscribers can potentially use it simultaneously. Because the time slots are being switched very rapidly, the participants in a conversation are not aware of the fact that the signal has been chopped into short pieces. The original call is re-assembled by selecting the correct time slots at the receiving end. Using TDMA in this way, multiple users can share the available channels without the risk of any interference between the simultaneous calls. There is actually an improvement in security, as it is unlikely that a third party will be able to tune into the time slots being used by a particular subscriber. TDMA also improves the network capacity, and therefore the efficiency, because more users can share the same frequency channels. In the time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme the time axis is divided into time slots, preassigned to the different users. Every user is allowed to transmit freely during the slot assigned to it, that is, during the assigned slot the entire system resources are devoted to that user. The slot assignments follow a predetermined pattern that repeats itself periodically; each such period is called a cycle or a frame. In the most basic TDMA scheme every user has exactly one slot in every frame.

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Time Division Multiple Access is one of the three main multiplexing techniques that enable users to share the radio spectrum, and in the case of TDMA the receiver will discriminate between the signals by selecting the particular time slot that carries the desired signal. Alternative multiple access techniques are FDMA and CDMA, in which the receivers discriminate between signals by using, respectively, different frequency channels or different codes. However, in practice TDMA and CDMA are always found in combination with FDMA, i.e. TDMA or CDMA are used to increase capacity on a channel within an FDMA system. TDMA is the principal technology used in 2G (second generation) digital cellular networks, and different versions of it are used by D-AMPS (USA, IS-136), GSM (Europe), PDC (Japan) and the DECT cordless phone system. In fact, in regions such as the USA, the second generation phone network is often referred to as 'TDMA'. TDMA systems can also be enhanced by EDGE, to provide higher data transmission rates.

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Features of TDMA (Cont.)

TDMA systems divide the radio spectrum into time slots. Each user occupies a cyclically repeating time slot. Transmit data in a buffer-and-burst method, thus the transmission for any user is not continuous. TDMA has TDD and FDD mod

FDMA vs. TDMA advantages/disadvantages

(1) FDMA causes intermodulation IM nonlinear data, TDMA doesnt. To avoid IM, you reduce the power available (thus, number of users) (2) FDMA has simpler sync and timing. However, the amount of equipment (amps, etc) grows with the number of frequency users. Information increase killed FDMA (3) TDMA equipment is more sophisticated; there is no big growth in equipment as the number of users increases. Thus TDMA wins on $ (given advanced DSP, VLSI, clocks, etc) (4) Multi-beam (each user has to be able to communicate with all other users) is more convenient with TDMA (make connections sequentially and only for duration

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of some time slot) than with FDMA (you need a filter and amp, etc for each frequency)

SDMA
Also known as: SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS In short ! each user is assigned a unique code sequence (spreading code) ! the various codes are orthogonal to each other (code1.code2 = 0) ! the data signal is encoded using this code ! all encoded signals share the same frequency band and therefore interfere ! yet a receiver knowing the senders code can decode the signal and Recover data There are two basic spread spectrum techniques: ! Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS): ! the signal is multiplied by a spreading code in the time domain ! the spreading code is a pseudo random sequence that looks like noise ! Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) ! the signal changes of carrier frequency ! sequence of frequency changes is determined via a pseudo random sequence Spread spectrum multiple access (SSMA) uses signals which have a transmission bandwidth that is several orders of magnitude greater than the minimum required RF bandwidth. A pseudo noise (PN) sequence converts a narrow band signal to a wideband noise like signal before transmission. SSMA also provides immunity to multipath interference and robust multiple access capability. Spread spectrum multiple access is not very bandwidth efficient when used by a single user. However, since many users can share the same spread spectrum bandwidth without interfering with one another, Spread spectrum systems become bandwidth efficient in multiple user environment. It is exactly this situation which is of interest to wireless system designers. There are two main types of spread spectrum SDMA utilizes the spatial separation of the users in order to optimize the use of the frequency spectrum. A primitive form of SDMA is when the same frequency is reused in different cells in a cellular wireless network. However for limited co-channel interference it is required that the cells be sufficiently separated. This limits the number of cells a region can be divided into and hence limits the frequency re-use factor. A more advanced approach can further increase the capacity of the network. This technique would enable frequency re-use within the cell. It uses a Smart Antenna technique that employs antenna arrays backed by some intelligent signal processing to steer the antenna pattern in the direction of the desired user and places nulls in the direction of the interfering signals. Since these arrays can produce narrow spot beams, the frequency can be re-used within the cell as long as the spatial separation between the users is sufficient. Figure 2.4 shows three users served by SDMA using the same channel within the cell. In a practical cellular

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environment it is improbable to have just one transmitter fall within the receiver beam width. Therefore it becomes imperative to use other multiple access techniques in conjunction with SDMA. When different areas are covered by the antenna beam, frequency can be re-used, in which case TDMA or CDMA is employed, for different frequencies FDMA can be used. Multiple access techniques;

1) Frequency hopped multiple Access. 2) Direct sequence multiple Access (DS). The direct sequence multiple access is also called Code Division multiple access (CDMA).

CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS (CDMA)

In CDMA systems, the narrow band message signal is multiplied with a very large bandwidth signal called the spreading signal. The spreading signal is a pseudo-noise code sequence that has a chip rate which is orders of magnitudes greater than the data rate of the message. All users in a CDMA system, as seen from fig (1) use the same carrier frequency and may transmit simultaneously. Each user has his own pseudo random code word which is approximately orthogonal to all other codewords. The receiver performs a time correlation operation to detect only the specified desired codeword. All the other codewords will appear as noise due to decorrelation. For detection of the message signal, the receiver needs to know the code word used by the transmitter. Each use operates independently with no knowledge of the other users. In CDMA, the power of multiple users at the receiver determines the noise floor after decorrelation. If the power of each user within a cell is not controlled such that

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they do not appear equal to the base station receiver, then the near-far problem occurs. The near-far problem occurs when many mobile users share the same channel. In general, the strongest received mobile signal will capture the demodulator at the base station. In CDMA, stronger received signal levels raise the noise floor at the base station demodulators for weaker signals, thereby decreasing the probability that weaker signals will be received. To combat the near-far problem, power control is used in most CDMA implementations. Power control is provided by each base station in a cellular system and assures that each mobile within the base station coverage area provides the same signal to the base station receiver. This solves the problem of a nearby subscriber overpowering the base station receiver and drowning out the signals of far away subscribers. Power control is implemented at the base station by rapidly sampling the radio signal strength indicator (RSSI) levels of each mobile and then sending a power change command over the forward radio link. Despite the use of power control within each cell, out-of-cell mobiles provide interference which is not under the control of the receiving base station.

The features of CDMA including the following: .Many users of a CDMA system share the same frequency. Either TDD or FDD may be used. Unlike TDMA or FDMA, CDMA has a soft capacity limit. Increasing dc number of ers in a CDMA system raises the noise floor in a linear manner. Thus, there is no absolute limit on the number of users in CDMA. Rather, the system performance gradually degrades for all users as the number of users is increased, and improves as the number of users is decreased. Multipath fading may be substantially reduced because the signal is spread over a large spectrum. If the spread spectrum bandwidth is greater than the coherence bandwidth of the channel, the inherent frequency diversity will mitigate the effects of small-scale fading. Channel data rates are very high in CDMA

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systems. Consequently, the symbol (chip) duration is very short and usually much less than the channel delay spread. Since PN sequences have low autocorrelation, multipath which is delayed by more than a chip will appear as noise. A RAKE receiver can be used to improve reception by collecting time delayed versions of the required signal. Since CDMA uses cochannel cells, it can use macroscopic, spatial diversity to provide soft handoff. Soft handoff is performed by the MSC, which can simultaneously monitor a particular user from two or more base stations. The MSC may chose the best version of the signal at any time without switching frequencies. Self-jamming is a problem in CDMA system. Self-jamming arises from the fact that the spreading sequences of different users are not exactly orthogonal, hence in the despreading of a particular PN code, non-zero contributions to the receiver decision statistic for a desired user arise from the transmissions of other users in the system. The nearfar problem occurs at a CDMA receiver if an undesired user has a high detected power as compared to the desired user.

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FHMA
Frequency hopping is one of two basic modulation techniques used in spread spectrum signal transmission. It is the repeated switching of frequencies during radio transmission, often to minimize the effectiveness of "electronic warfare" - that is, the unauthorized interception or jamming of telecommunications. It also is known as frequency- hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA). Spread spectrum modulation techniques have become more common in recent years. Spread spectrum enables a signal to be transmitted across a frequency band that is much wider than the minimum bandwidth required by the information signal. The transmitter "spreads" the energy, originally concentrated in narrowband, across a number of frequency band channels on a wider electromagnetic spectrum. Benefits include improved privacy, decreased narrowband interference, and increased signal capacity. In an FH-CDMA system, a transmitter "hops" between available frequencies according to a specified algorithm, which can be either random or preplanned. The transmitter operates in synchronization with a receiver, which remains tuned to the

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same center frequency as the transmitter. A short burst of data is transmitted on a narrowband. Then, the transmitter tunes to another frequency and transmits again. The receiver thus is capable of hopping its frequency over a given bandwidth several times a second, transmitting on one frequency for a certain period of time, then hopping to another frequency and transmitting again. Frequency hopping requires a much wider bandwidth than is needed to transmit the same information using only one carrier frequency. (FHMA) is a digital multiple access system in which the carrier frequencies of the individual users are varied in a pseudorandom fashion within a wideband channel. Figure - 2- illustrates how FHMA allows multiple users to simultaneously occupy the same spectrum at the same, time, where each user dwells at a specific narrowband channel at a particular instance of time, based on the particular PN code of the user. The digital data of each user is broken into uniform sized bursts which are transmitted on different channels within the allocated spectrum band. The instantaneous bandwidth of any one transmission burst is much smaller than the total spread bandwidth. The pseudorandom change of the channel frequencies of the user randomizes the occupancy of a specific channel at any given time, thereby allowing for multiple access over a wide range of frequencies. In the FH receiver, a locally generated PN code is used to synchronize the receivers instantaneous frequency with that of the transmitter. At any given point in time, a frequency hopped signal only occupies a single, relatively narrow channel since narrowband FM or FSK is used. The difference between FHMA and a traditional FDMA system is that the frequency hopped signal changes channels at rapid intervals. If the rate of change of the carrier frequency is greater than the symbol rate, then the system is referred to as a fast frequency hopping system. If the channel changes at a rate less than or equal to the symbol rate, it is called slow frequency hopping. A fast frequency hopper may thus be thought of as an FDMA system which employs frequency diversity. FHMA systems often employ energy efficient constant envelope modulation. Inexpensive receivers may be built to provide noncoherent detection of FHMA. This implies that linearity, is not an issue, and the power of multiple users at the receiver does not degrade FHMA performance. A frequency hopped system provides a level of security, especially when a large number of channels are used, since an unintended (or an intercepting) receiver that does not know the pseudo- random sequence of frequency slots must retune rapidly to search for the signal it wishes to intercept. In addition, the FH signal is somewhat immune to fading, since error control coding and interleaving can be used to protect the frequency hopped signal against deep fades which may occasionally occur during the hopping sequence. Error control coding and interleaving can also be combined to guard against erasures which can occur when two or more users transmit on the same channel at the sante time. Bluetooth and HomeRF wireless technologies have adopted FHMA for power efficiency and low cost implementation.

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SDMA
SDMA (Space-Division Multiple Access or Spatial Division Multiple Access) is a MIMO (Mutiple-Input and Multiple-Output, a multiple antenna schematic architecture)-based wireless communication network architecture, primarily suitable for mobile ad-hoc networks, which enables access to a communication channel by identifying the user location and etablishing a one-to-one mapping between the network bandwidth division and the identified spatial location. SDMA architecture can be configured and deployed for most of the well-known mobile communication architectures such as CDMA (Code division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) Space division multiple access (SDMA) controls the radiated energy for each user in space. It can be seen from Figure 9.8 that SDMA serves different users by using spot beam antennas. These different areas covered by the antenna beam may be served by the same frequency (in a TDMA or CDMA system) or different frequencies (in an FDMA system). Sectorized antennas may be thought of as a primitive application of SDMA. In the future, adaptive antennas will likely be used to simultaneously steer energy in the direction of many users at once and appear to be best suited for TDMA and CDMA base station architectures.

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The reverse link presents the most difficulty in cellular systems for several reasons [Lib94b}. First, the base station has complete control over the power of all the transmitted signals on the forward link. However, because of different radio propagation paths between each user and the base station, the transmitted power from each subscriber unit must be dynamically controlled to prevent any single user from driving up the interference level for all other users. Second, transmit power is limited by battery consumption at the subscriber unit, therefore there are limits on the degree to which power may be controlled on the reverse link. If the base station antenna is made to spatially filter each desired user so that more energy is detected from each subscriber, then the reverse link for each user is improved and less power is required. Adaptive antennas used at the base station (and eventually at the subscriber units) promise to mitigate some of the problems on the reverse link. In the limiting case of infinitesimal beamwidth and infinitely far tracking ability, adaptive antennas implement optimal SDMA, thereby providing a unique channel that is free from the interference of all other users in the cell. With SDMA. all users within the system would be able to communicate at the same time using the same channel. In addition, a perfect adaptive antenna system would be able to track individual multipath components for each user and combine them in an optimal manner to collect all of the available signal energy from each user. The perfect adaptive antenna system is not feasible since it requires infinitely large antennas. However, illustrates what gains might be achieved using reasonably sized arrays with moderate directivities.

This figure shows a satellite system that uses spatial division multiple access (SDMA) technology. In this example, a single satellite contains several directional antennas. Some of these antennas use the same frequency. This allows a single satellite to simultaneously communicate to two different satellite receivers that operate on the same frequency. Usually beams that are separated by more than two or three half-power beamwidths can use the same frequencies, as shown in the figure.

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PACKET RADIO

Terminal Node Controller 2400 packet radio modem In short ! In Packet Radio access techniques, many hosts attempt to access a single channel in an uncoordinated manner. ! Transmission is done on a per-packet basis

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! Collisions from simultaneous transmissions of multiple transmitters are detected at a receiver that broadcasts: ! ACK (acknowledgement) if the packet is successfully received ! NACK (Negative ack) if the packet is not received correctly ! nothing is the packet is not been received at all ! A wireless host uses the CSMA-CA (Contention Avoidance) technique ! derived from Ethernet's CSMA-CD ! cf. cours rseaux de capteurs Packet radio is a form of packet switching technology used to transmit digital data via radio or wireless communications links. It uses the same concepts of data transmission via Datagram that are fundamental to communications via the Internet, as opposed to the older techniques used by dedicated or switched circuits. Packet radio is the fourth major digital radio communications mode. Earlier modes were telegraphy (Morse Code), teleprinter (Baudot) and facsimile. Like those earlier modes, packet was intended as a way to reliably transmit written information. The primary advantage was initially expected to be increased speed, but as the protocol developed, other capabilities surfaced. By the early 1990s, packet radio was not only recognized as a way to send text, but also to send files (including small computer programs), handle repetitive transmissions, control remote systems, etc. The technology itself was a leap forward, making it possible for nearly any packet station to act as a digipeater, linking distant stations with each other through ad hoc networks. This makes packet especially useful for emergency communications. In addition, mobile packet radio stations can automatically transmit their location, and check in periodically with the network to show that they are still operating. In packet radio (PR) access techniques, many subscribers attempt to access a single channel in an uncoordinated (or minimally coordinated) manner. Transmission is done by using bursts of data. Collisions from the simultaneous transmissions of multiple transmitters are detected at the base station receiver, in which case an ACK or NACK signal is broadcast by the base station to alert the desired user (and all other users) of received transmission. The ACK signal indicates an acknowledgment of a received burst from a particular user by the base station, and a NACK (negative acknowledgment) indicates that the previous burst was not received correctly by the base station. By using ACK and NACK signals, a PR system employs perfect feedback, even though traffic delay due to collisions may be high. Packet radio multiple access is very easy to implement, but has low spectral efficiency and may induce delays. The subscribers use a contention technique to transmit on a common channel. AlOHA protocols, developed for early satellite systems, are the best examples of contention techniques. ALOHA allows each subscriber to transmit whenever they have data to send. The transmitting subscribers listen to the acknowledgment feedback to determine if transmission has been successful or not. If a collision occurs, the subscriber waits a random amount of time, and then

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retransmits the packet. The advantage of packet contention techniques is the ability to serve a large number of subscribers with virtually no overhead. The performance of contention techniques can be evaluated by the throughput (T), which is defined as the average number of messages successfully transmitted per unit time, and the average delay (D) experienced by a typical message burst.

Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)

Protocols ALOHA protocols do not listen to the channel before transmission, and therefore do not exploit information about the other users. By listening to the channel before engaging in transmission, greater efficiencies may be achieved. CSMA protocols are based on the fact that each terminal on the network is able to monitor the status of the channel before transmitting information. If the channel is idle (i.e., no carrier is detected), then the user is allowed to transmit a packet based on a particular algorithm which is common to all transmitters on the network. In CSMA protocols, detection delay and propagation delay are two important parameters. Detection delay is a function of the receiver hardware and is the time required for a terminal to sense whether or not the channel is idle. Propagation delay is a relative measure of how fast it takes for a packet to travel from a base station to a mobile terminal. With a small detection time, a terminal detects a free channel quite rapidly, and small propagation delay means that a packet is transmitted through the channel in a small interval of time relative to the packet duration. Propagation delay is important, since just after a user begins sending a packet, another user may be ready to send and may be sensing the channel at the same time. If the transmitting packet has not reached the user who is poised to send, the latter user will sense an idle channel and will also send its packet, resulting in a collision between the two packets.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. www.wtec.org/loyola/wireless/02_04.htm 2. http://hadimajzoub.tech.officelive.com/Documents/TDMA%20FDMA

%20TECHNIQUES.pdf
3. http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/yry/readings/wireless/wireless_readings/articl

e1.pdf
4. http://www.mendeley.com/research/sdma-techniques-wireless-atm-12/ 5. http://www.ca.csse.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/IWSDA05/abstract_DrAdachi.pdf