Repeat Audio

Liabilities of EDGE

In a radio environment, the greater the distance between the sender and the receiver, the greater the probability of interference. The distance between sender and receiver makes up the effective cell size in a cellular mobile network. Applying EDGE with 8-PSK-modulation to such a network implies shrinking the effective cell size. This is due to the fact that 8-PSK is more vulnerable to interference which in turn increases with distance. As illustrated in the figure below, the price of the impressive transmission rate of EDGE is a smaller cell radius. In an existing mobile network, this will limit the feasibility of the implementation of EDGE to urban environments with their high concentration of users and base stations.

Repeat Audio EDGE Requires a Major Hardware Upgrade

EDGE is mainly concerned with the modulation scheme on the Air-Interface. Adding 8-PSK as a new modulation scheme requires all base stations to receive a hardware upgrade of their RF-parts to support the EDGE technology. This is a major undertaking which is full of risk and, most importantly, is extremely costly to the operator.

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