Mobile GPRS & WAP.

WAP & GPRS uplinking explained.
GPRS technology is only just starting to impact mobile users in the UK as the appetite for mobile data grows and those who make money from this market begin to discover what we are willing to pay for, but what is GPRS, how does it work and what can it be used for? This document is here to help you understand the General Packet Radio Service.

Historically data speeds on mobile phones have been very very slow, in fact when modems were @ 56kbps (dial up) the mobile was still at 9.6kbps and it stayed there for quite some time, if you don't have GPRS or a high speed data service and use wap you'll be using a 9,6k dial up connection.

The arrival of GSM technology gave the chance for a different type of data connection, one where data is moved in packets, IP data is already packetised and bytes of info are sent around the world in this form everyday.

GSM networks are made up of a number of transmitters or cells each of these can have a range of a few kilometers or just a few hundred meters depending on their proximity to each other. The range of frequencies used by each transmitter cannot overlap with its neighbour. In the UK two main GSM frequency sets are used, GSM 900 and 1800 (1900) is used in the USA. A transmitter will work within a 200mhz band and split this up into a number of radio channels or time slots.

For a better understanding of GSM & GPRS click here.