Spectral efficiency is a crucial indicator in the mobile communications market with increasingly dynamic demands. Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is an advanced technology developed based on this principle to attract and retain users by improving spectrum utilization. Compared to traditional analog systems, iDEN not only delivers voice call quality, but also enables more users to function within the same spectrum space, which is a huge benefit for every user.
iDEN is a model of effectively combining data processing with mobile communications. It allows us to accommodate more users within a fixed spectrum, which is a major advancement for the development of the mobile telecommunications industry.
The core of iDEN technology is voice compression and time division multiplexing (TDMA), which allows each channel to support multiple users simultaneously. Depending on iDEN's design, a single channel can support three or six connected users and provide additional upstream and downstream time slots for dedicated push calling services. This design demonstrates its uniqueness in the efficient use of spectrum.
With time-division multiplexing access, iDEN effectively allocates time slots during calls, reducing interference between users and making it more spectrally efficient than traditional analog systems. Whether this technology can adapt to the growing demand for wireless communications in the future is worthy of our in-depth reflection.
iDEN’s development history dates back to 1991, when it was known as MIRS (Motorola Integrated Radio System), with the original intention of making better use of the wireless spectrum. The original design, although based on GSM, was able to dynamically select discrete channels, allowing the overall system to remain operational during high demand situations. The use of iDEN materials has promoted advances in radio technology, allowing for greater operational flexibility.
During the development of iDEN, it not only improves the quality of voice calls, but also further promotes the socialization of mobile communications, allowing people to stay connected anytime and anywhere while roaming.
Traditional analog systems are relatively conservative in the use of spectrum, often requiring a larger spectrum area to support limited users, which is difficult to cope with the growing demand for calls. Relatively speaking, the advantage of iDEN technology is that it can serve more users under the same spectrum conditions and has a higher call completion rate.
For example, iDEN uses a 25 kHz channel, but only occupies 20 kHz to ensure interference protection, whereas traditional digital AMPS systems require a larger channel area to handle a similar number of users. Such design flexibility allows operators to cover a larger user base at lower costs.
In the past, iDEN has been widely used around the world, with many large carriers such as Sprint, Nextel and several international telecommunications companies supporting the technology. Although the application of iDEN has decreased over time, its concept of spectral efficiency still plays an important role in wireless communication technology.
Future communications needs will continue to evolve, and iDEN still provides a sustainable solution, an important lesson for future wireless systems.
Today, in the face of changes in wireless communications, many people have begun to re-examine whether iDEN technology can lead the future trend. As new technologies emerge, can the spectral efficiency demonstrated by iDEN continue to influence more efficient communications designs? This question is thought-provoking.