(Wideband CDMA) A 3G high-speed digital data service provided by cellular carriers that use the TDMA or GSM technology worldwide, including AT&T (formerly Cingular) and T-Mobile in the U.S. WCDMA works on WCDMA cellphones as well as laptops and portable devices with WCDMA modems. Users have typically experienced downstream data rates up to 400 Kbps.
Although TDMA and GSM carriers both use TDMA modulation, WCDMA stems from CDMA. Part of the 3GPP initiative, the ITU refers to WCDMA as the Direct Sequence (DS) interface within the IMT-2000 global 3G standards. See cellular generations, cellular vs. Wi-Fi, GSM, TDMA, CDMA, UMTS, IMT-2000, 3GPP and AMR.
Although TDMA and GSM carriers both use TDMA modulation, WCDMA stems from CDMA. Part of the 3GPP initiative, the ITU refers to WCDMA as the Direct Sequence (DS) interface within the IMT-2000 global 3G standards. See cellular generations, cellular vs. Wi-Fi, GSM, TDMA, CDMA, UMTS, IMT-2000, 3GPP and AMR.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
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