Multi-mode/multi-carrier resource management in CDMA/AMPS deployment

The promise of PCS (Personal Communication Service) is to bring affordable wireless communication service to maximum number of users at any time, any where. To materialize: this goal, service providers need to identify the most optimum migration plan for the existing technology with the best technology and cost structure. In North America, analog cellular service, or AMPS, had been in existence since 1982. The installed base of AMPS subscribers is in the tens of millions. Not only all the AMPS networks had been very well optimized, most of the AMPS operators are profiting from their original investment. Nevertheless, due to the capacity limitation of AMPS technology, many, if not all of the AMPS operators are planning to digitialize their networks. Some operators choose to migrate their networks to TDMA, or the IS-136, while more operators choose to migrate their networks to CDMA, or the IS-95. This paper will focus on the migration from AMPS to CDMA. From the subscriber unit side, there are dual-mode (1900 CDMA, AMPS) and tri-mode (1900 CDMA, 800 CDMA, AMPS) terminals commercially available. From the infrastructure side, this multi-mode, multi-carrier CDMA/AMPS deployment provides an invaluable opportunity to maximize the trunking efficiency across this pool of traffic-carrying capacity. The "grey zone" issue arisen from the imbalance of the forward and reverse links in CDMA at the border areas of the;verlaying carrier in the same and/or different modes. There will be an IS-95B solution to address the "grey zone" issue. Nonetheless, there are already millions of IS-95A phones already deployed. An alternative solution will be discussed which will work with the existing IS-95A phones. Once this grey zone issue is resolved, operators will be able to flawlessly deploy the multi-mode (CDMA/AMPS) terminals in the network The investigation will analyze the expected gain in statistical multiplier effect (or the trucking efficiency) for the different mix of phones.