The orthogonal-random waveform dichotomy for digital mobile personal communication

The conversion of terrestrial wireless telephony to digital transmission technology is just beginning. However, with more than four years of experimental laboratory and field testing, one has already learned numerous practical lessons, both positive and negative, relative to the art and science of multiple-access communication by large user populations. Europe, Japan, and North America have each developed digital cellular standards. The North American experience has been the most contentious and diverse. Only here have two alternative and rival approaches been carried through to the development of detailed standards leading to imminent large-scale commercial deployments. In this article, the two alternatives are denoted as orthogonal and random waveform multiple access, and are described and discussed successively.<>