General Packet Radio Service

            General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a data network for GSM. It offers new data services for users but it has an equivalent price.  GPRS began appearing in 1999 through 2000. It uses the GSM infrastructure that was already in place. The main Focus of the GPRS was the business users. The residential users are the second choice of the operators.  With GPRS, a mass of users will pay high rates. This will make their investment cost lower and they can offer much more great services.

             GPRS is an actual packet radio service for GSM. It uses Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). It extends the packet data capabilities of the GSM networks from Packet Data on Signaling- channel Service (PDSS) to higher data rates and longer messages. GPRS is designed to coexist with the current GSM Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN).

Here is a network view of GPRA:

              GPRS PLNM has access to wired packet data networks.  GPRS provides standards to handle higher data speeds and the transition to 3G. With GPRS, users have access to faster data speeds and it suits the internet traffic. GPRS can handle voice and data calls at the same time. It can also provide connectivity to mobile internet. Users have access to emails with large file attachments, web surfing and access to corporate Local Area Networks (LAN).

                GPRS was developed because of the demand of wireless packet data service. Many users demand for wireless internet connection. With GPRS you can send data packets through the infrastructure of a GSM. GPRS also aims for a cost efficient market. They provided data service without replacing the entire infrastructure. The initial GPRS standards make use of standard GSM radio systems, GSM standard modulation schemes and TDMA framing structures. With this the cost implications are minimized in the cell equipment.

                  GPRS radio resources are only used when sending and receiving data, this is called the packet switching. The available radio resources are shared by several users instead of one mobile user using a single channel dedicated with a fixed amount of time. With this switching technique data traffic can be lessen. The number of users in a single channel depends on the application of the user while connected to the network.  With this the operator can maximize system usage and efficiency in a dynamic and flexible way. One problem is that when several users’ increases, collision can be present between the randomly arriving data packets. This can cause users mobile surfing to queuing delays on the downlink.

                    There are several applications in GPRS mode. Its features and application can be met with other technologies.  These applications are chat, textual and visual information, still images, moving images, web browsing, document sharing/collaborative working, audio, job dispatch, corporate e-mail, Internet E-mail, vehicle positioning, remote LAN access, file transfer and home automation.

                      Chat is a general information service. The user can send information with a chat protocol. The information intensity tends to be lower with chat.

                      Textual and visual information is an application that can deliver pictures, sports scores, weather, flight information, news headline, prayer reminders, lottery results, jokes, horoscopes, traffics and others. This information may be maps or other types of visual information.

                      Still images are photographs, pictures, postcards, greeting cards, presentations and static web pages. These information can be sent or received over the mobile network.

                      Moving Images are video messages, movie previews being downloaded and data streaming via mobile device. With this application you can download movies or streaming it online. 

                     Web browsing are viewing webpages. But users don’t like web browsing on mobile phones because of delay in download or viewing a page. It takes time to view a page that has lots of images.  

Sources: 

Broadband Telecommunications Handbook by Regis J. Bates