Comparison of wireless data standards

Introduction

A wide variety of different wireless data technologies exist, some in direct competition with one another, others designed for specific applications. Wireless technologies can be evaluated by a variety of different metrics described below.

Standards can be grouped as follows:

UWB

Ultra-wideband

Ultra-wideband is a radio technology that can be used at very low energy levels for short-range high-bandwidth communications by using a large portion of the radio spectrum. UWB has traditional applications in non-cooperative radar imaging...

, Bluetooth

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

, ZigBee

ZigBee

ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-home-displays, and other consumer and industrial...

, and Wireless USB

Wireless USB

Wireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol created by the . Wireless USB is sometimes abbreviated as "WUSB", although the USB Implementers Forum discourages this practice and instead prefers to call the technology "Certified Wireless USB" to distinguish it...

are intended for use as wireless personal area network

Personal area network

A personal area network is a computer network used for communication among computer devices, including telephones and personal digital assistants, in proximity to an individual's body. The devices may or may not belong to the person in question. The reach of a PAN is typically a few meters...

(PAN) systems. They are intended for short range communication between devices typically controlled by a single person. A keyboard might communicate with a computer, or a mobile phone with a handsfree kit, using any of these technologies.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...

is a product name for a system intended for a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). A WLAN is an implementation of a LAN

Local area network

A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...

over a microcell

Microcell

A microcell is a cell in a mobile phone network served by a low power cellular base station , covering a limited area such as a mall, a hotel, or a transportation hub. A microcell is usually larger than a picocell, though the distinction is not always clear...

ular wireless system. Such systems are used to provide wireless Internet access (and access to other systems on the local network such as other computers, shared printers, and other such devices) throughout a local area. Typically a WLAN offers much better rate and latency than the user's Internet access

Internet access

Many technologies and service plans for Internet access allow customers to connect to the Internet.Consumer use first became popular through dial-up connections in the 20th century....

, being designed for local communication. While Wi-Fi may be offered in many places as an Internet access system

Hotspot (Wi-Fi)

A hotspot is a site that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet service provider...

, access speeds are usually more limited by the shared Internet connection and number of users than the technology itself. Other systems that provide WLAN functionality include DECT and HIPERLAN

HIPERLAN

HiperLAN is a Wireless LAN standard. It is a European alternative for the IEEE 802.11 standards . It is defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute . In ETSI the standards are defined by the BRAN project...

.

GPRS, EDGE and 1xRTT evolved from 2G

2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991...

cellular

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

systems, providing Internet access to users of existing 2G networks. Both EDGE and 1xRTT are 3G standards, as defined by the ITU, but are generally deployed on existing networks. 3G systems such as EV-DO, W-CDMA

W-CDMA

W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...

(including HSDPA and HSUPA) provide combined circuit switched and packet switched data and voice services, usually at better data rates than the 2G extensions. All of these services can be used to provide combined mobile phone access and Internet access at remote locations. Typically GPRS and 1xRTT provide stripped down, mobile phone oriented, Internet access, such as WAP

Wireless Application Protocol

Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...

, multimedia messaging, and the downloading of ring-tones, whereas EV-DO and HSDPA's higher speeds make them suitable for use as a broadband replacement.

Pure packet-switched only systems can be created using 3G network technologies, and UMTS-TDD is one example of this. Alternatively, next generation systems such as WiMAX

WiMAX

WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...

also provide pure packet switched services with no need to support the circuit switching services required for voice systems. WiMAX is available in multiple configurations, including both NLOS and LOS

Non-line-of-sight propagation

Non-line-of-sight or near-line-of-sight is a term used to describe radio transmission across a path that is partially obstructed, usually by a physical object in the innermost Fresnel zone....

variants. UMTS-TDD, WiMAX, and proprietary systems such as Canopy

Canopy (wireless)

Motorola Canopy is a wireless networking system designed for wireless Internet service providers to provide Internet access.Product are available in point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. It includes both the original Motorola-designed products using the Canopy protocol and the PtP...

are used by Wireless ISPs to provide broadband access without the need for direct cable access to the end user.

Some systems are designed for point-to-point line-of-sight communications, once 2 such nodes get too far apart they can no longer communicate. Other systems are designed to form a wireless mesh network

Wireless mesh network

A wireless mesh network is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. Wireless mesh networks often consist of mesh clients, mesh routers and gateways.The mesh clients are often laptops, cell phones and other wireless devices while the mesh routers forward traffic...

using one of a variety of routing protocols. In a mesh network, when nodes get too far apart to communicate directly, they can still communicate indirectly through intermediate nodes.

Wide Area (WAN)

RTT
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
EDGE
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM...
EV-DO x1 Rev 0, Rev A, Rev B and x3 standards.
Flash-OFDM: FLASH(Fast Low-latency Access with Seamless Handoff)-OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)
GPRS
HSPA
High Speed Packet Access
High Speed Packet Access is an amalgamation of two mobile telephony protocols, High Speed Downlink Packet Access and High Speed Uplink Packet Access , that extends and improves the performance of existing WCDMA protocols...

D and U standards.
iBurst
IBurst
iBurst is a wireless broadband technology originally developed by ArrayComm. It optimizes the use of its bandwidth with the help of smart antennas...
LTE
3GPP Long Term Evolution
3GPP Long Term Evolution, usually referred to as LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using new modulation techniques...
UMTS over W-CDMA
W-CDMA
W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...
UMTS-TDD
UMTS-TDD
UMTS-TDD, an acronym for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System - time-division duplexing , is a 3GPP standardized version of UMTS networks that use UTRA-TDD. UTRA-TDD is a UTRA that uses time-division duplexing for duplexing. While a full implementation of UMTS, it is mainly used to provide...
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...

: 802.11 standard
WiMAX
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...

: 802.16 standard

Personal Area (WPAN)

Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

V4.0 with standard protocol and with low energy protocol
Wibree
IEEE 802.15.4-2006
Wireless USB
Wireless USB
Wireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol created by the . Wireless USB is sometimes abbreviated as "WUSB", although the USB Implementers Forum discourages this practice and instead prefers to call the technology "Certified Wireless USB" to distinguish it...
UWB
Ultra-wideband
Ultra-wideband is a radio technology that can be used at very low energy levels for short-range high-bandwidth communications by using a large portion of the radio spectrum. UWB has traditional applications in non-cooperative radar imaging...
6loWPAN
6loWPAN
6LoWPAN is an acronym of IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks. 6lowpan is the name of a working group in the internet area of the IETF....
ONE-NET
ONE-NET
ONE-NET is an open-source standard for wireless networking. ONE-NET was designed for low-cost, low-power control networks for applications such as home automation, security & monitoring, device control, and sensor networks...

Wireless Video Networks (WVAN-TV)

Currently no common nor standardised use of this term with IETF or IEEE. See WVAN-TV

WVAN-TV

WVAN-TV channel 9 is a non-commercial educational television station located in Savannah, Georgia, USA. WVAN-TV is part of the Georgia Public Broadcasting public television network and carries programming from PBS, GPB and other sources...

Vehicle Area (WVAN)

There is currently no common use of this term with IETF or IEEE. See

Peak bit rate and throughput

The peak bit rate of the standard is the net bit rate provided by the physical layer in the fastest transmission mode (using the fastest modulation scheme and error code), excluding forward error correction coding and other physical layer overhead. In practice, higher layer overhead causes the maximum throughput to be lower than the peak data rate. The typical throughput however is hard to measure, and depends on many protocol issues such as transmission schemes (slower schemes are used at longer distance from the access point), packet retransmissions and packet size. The real throughput

Throughput

In communication networks, such as Ethernet or packet radio, throughput or network throughput is the average rate of successful message delivery over a communication channel. This data may be delivered over a physical or logical link, or pass through a certain network node...

is even lower because of other traffic sharing the same network or cell, and other facts.

For PAN and LAN standards like WiFi these levels of performance are attainable under ideal radio conditions (that is, a complete lack of interference and at close range without obstacles). For WAN standards, though, these figures are often impractical to achieve (for instance they assume you are the only user in the cell) or are not implemented or provisioned by any providers in such a way.

The typical throughput is what users have experienced most of the time when well within the usable range to the base station. This value is not known for the newest experimental standards. Note that these figures cannot be used to predict the performance of any given standard in any given environment, but rather as benchmarks against which actual experience might be compared.

Bit rate (Mbit/s)
Standard	Peak Downlink	Peak Uplink	Range	Typical Downlink throughput
CDMA RTT 1x	0.3072	0.1536	~18 mi	0.125
CDMA EV-DO Rev. 0	2.4580	0.1536	~18 mi	0.75
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A	3.1000	1.8000	~18 mi
CDMA EV-DO Rev. B	4.9000	1.8000	~18 mi
GSM GPRS General Packet Radio Service General packet radio service is a packet oriented mobile data service on the 2G and 3G cellular communication system's global system for mobile communications . GPRS was originally standardized by European Telecommunications Standards Institute in response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode... Class 10	0.0856	0.0428	~16 mi	0.014
GSM EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM... type 2	0.4736	0.4736	~16 mi	0.034
GSM EDGE Evolution	1.8944	0.9472	~16 mi
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is a third generation mobile cellular technology for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed by the 3GPP , UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for... W-CDMA W-CDMA W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS... R99	0.3840	0.3840	~18 mi	0.195
UMTS W-CDMA HSDPA High-Speed Downlink Packet Access High-Speed Downlink Packet Access is an enhanced 3G mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access family, also dubbed 3.5G, 3G+ or turbo 3G, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity...	14.400	0.3840	up to 124 mi	4.1 (Tre 2007)
UMTS W-CDMA HSUPA High-Speed Uplink Packet Access High-Speed Uplink Packet Access is a 3G mobile telephony protocol in the HSPA family with up-link speeds up to 5.76 Mbit/s. The name HSUPA was created by Nokia...	14.400	5.7600	up to 124 mi
UMTS W-CDMA HSPA+ Evolved HSPA HSPA+, or Evolved High-Speed Packet Access, is a technical standard for wireless, broadband telecommunication. HSPA+ was first defined in the technical standard 3GPP release 7....	42.000	22.000	up to 124 mi
UMTS-TDD UMTS-TDD UMTS-TDD, an acronym for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System - time-division duplexing , is a 3GPP standardized version of UMTS networks that use UTRA-TDD. UTRA-TDD is a UTRA that uses time-division duplexing for duplexing. While a full implementation of UMTS, it is mainly used to provide...	16.000	16.000
LTE 3GPP Long Term Evolution 3GPP Long Term Evolution, usually referred to as LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using new modulation techniques...	326.4	86.4
iBurst IBurst iBurst is a wireless broadband technology originally developed by ArrayComm. It optimizes the use of its bandwidth with the help of smart antennas... : iBurst IBurst iBurst is a wireless broadband technology originally developed by ArrayComm. It optimizes the use of its bandwidth with the help of smart antennas...	24	8	~7.5 mi	>2
Flash-OFDM: Flash-OFDM	5.3	1.8	~18 mi	avg 2.5
WiMAX WiMAX WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations... : 802.16e	70.000	70.000	~4 mi	>10
WiFi Wi-Fi Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20... : 802.11a IEEE 802.11a-1999 IEEE 802.11a-1999 or 802.11a is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that added a higher data rate of up to 54 Mbit/s using the 5 GHz band. It has seen widespread worldwide implementation, particularly within the corporate workspace...	54.000	54.000
WiFi: 802.11b IEEE 802.11b-1999 IEEE 802.11b-1999 or 802.11b, is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that extended throughput up to 11 Mbit/s using the same 2.4 GHz band. This specification under the marketing name of Wi-Fi has been implemented all over the world...	11.000	11.000	~30 meters	2
WiFi: 802.11g IEEE 802.11g-2003 IEEE 802.11g-2003 or 802.11g is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11 specification that extended throughput to up to 54 Mbit/s using the same 2.4 GHz band as 802.11b. This specification under the marketing name of Wi-Fi has been implemented all over the world...	54.000	54.000	~30 meters	10
WiFi: 802.11n IEEE 802.11n IEEE 802.11n-2009 is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11-2007 wireless networking standard to improve network throughput over the two previous standards—802.11a and 802.11g—with a significant increase in the maximum net data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s with the use of four...	200.00	200.00	~50 meters	40

Downlink is the throughput from the base station to the user handset or computer.
Uplink is the throughput from the user handset or computer to the base station.
Range is the maximum range possible to receive data at 25% of the typical rate.

Latency

The latency is the time taken for the smallest packet to travel between the user terminal and base station including average time for checking, correcting and repetition.

Frequency

Allocated Frequencies
Standard	Frequencies	Spectrum Type
UMTS over W-CDMA	850 MHz, 1.9, 1.9/2.1, and 1.7/2.1 GHz	Licensed (Cellular/PCS/3G/AWS)
UMTS-TDD	450, 850 MHz, 1.9, 2, 2.5, and 3.5 GHz 2 GHz	Licensed (Cellular, 3G TDD, BRS/IMT-ext, FWA) Unlicensed (see note)
CDMA2000 (inc. EV-DO, 1xRTT)	450, 850, 900 MHz 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, and 2.1 GHz	Licensed (Cellular/PCS/3G/AWS)
EDGE/GPRS	850 MHz 900 MHz 1.8 GHz 1.9 GHz	Licensed (Cellular/PCS/PCN)
iBurst	1.8, 1.9 and 2.1 GHz	Licensed
Flash-OFDM	450 and 870 MHz	Licensed
802.16e	2.3, 2.5, 3.5, 3.7 and 5.8 GHz	Licensed
802.11a	5.25, 5.6 and 5.8 GHz	Unlicensed 802.11a and ISM ISM band The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
802.11b/g/n	2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM ISM band The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
Bluetooth	2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM ISM band The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
Wibree	2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM ISM band The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
802.15.4	868 MHz, 915 MHz, 2.4 GHz	Unlicensed ISM ISM band The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
Wireless USB, UWB	3.1 to 10.6 GHz	Unlicensed Ultrawideband
VEmesh*	868 MHz, 915 MHz, 953 MHz	Unlicensed ISM ISM band The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
EnOcean*	868.3 MHz	Unlicensed ISM ISM band The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....

Deployment size

Allocated Spectrum per Channel (MHz)
Standard	Spectrum
Standard	Total	Uplink	Downlink
iBurst	5
802.16e	10	Variable	Variable
802.11a	20
802.11b	20
802.11g	20
802.11n	20 or 40
EVDO 1x A	2.5	1.25	1.25
EVDO 3x B	10	5	5
UMTS (W-CDMA)	10	5	5
UMTS-TDD	5	5/TDD	5/TDD

Spectral efficiency
Spectral efficiency
Spectral efficiency, spectrum efficiency or bandwidth efficiency refers to the information rate that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific communication system...

(Bits per second per Hz)
Standard	Downlink	Uplink
iBurst	4.88	1.59
802.16e	1.91	0.84
EVDO 1x A	0.85	0.36
EVDO 3x B	0.93	0.28
HSDPA	0.78	0.14
HSUPA	0.78	0.30

External links

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