GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)

• Introduction:

GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service. It is a network standard based on a packet data-switching technology. In general, GPRS is a packet oriented mobile data services for 2G communication system i.e. GSM as well as 3G communication system. It operates similarly to the wire-line networking protocols like Ethernet by switching packets of data across its route on a wireless network. Today most of the mobiles are Wi-Fi enabled, but before all the users used GPRS to get access to the internet through their mobile phones.
Actually the main theory of its mechanism is that it uses the unused portion of GSM bandwidth so as to sent or receive packets. It is somewhat similar to those conventional connections, but it doesn’t guarantee a certain level of QoS (Quality of service) to the users which the conventional connection does guarantee. GPRS data speed ranges from 56 kbps being the average to about 114 kbps being the highest offering a continuous connection to the mobiles and computer users. “It was originally standardized by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), but now by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).”
GPRS provides services as much as other network operators like CDMA, GSM etc offer. But the thing is that it gives the users an increased bandwidth in an effective cost so as the user can remain connected constantly and get acess to internet. It uses packet data transmission to connect with Internet Protocol (IP) based services which enables the use of radio spectrum resulting in high data speed. Using GPRS gives instantaneous connection set-up and it does not need to dial up as in home or office network. Since it effectively utilizes the available radio bandwidth, its services costs much less thn that of the circuit switched services.
GPRS offers provides a lot of services to the users , some of which are :

1. Internet is accessible anytime
2. Multimedia messaging service (MMS)
3. Push to talk over cellular (PoC/PTT)
4. Instant messaging and presence—wireless village
5. Internet applications through wireless application protocol (WAP)
6. Point-to-point (P2P) service

In most cases, we get confused between GSM and GPRS. GPRS is just a packet based service that is delivered as a network overlay for GSM. Hence, the following key features provides an idea of how GPRS is different from GSM.

1. GPRS has high bandwidth and hence high data speed.
2. It supports both Internet Protocol and X.25.
3. It provides continuous acess to the internet i.e. “Always On”
4. It prefers packets-basesd switching rather than circuit switching which means that bandwidth and network resourses area used only at the time of transmission.
5. Provides additional components to the GSM network.

The download speed and upload speed measures in GPRS depends upon the factors like no. of BTS (Base transceiver Station) TDMA (Time Division multiple Access) time slots assigned by operators itself. The side table shows the various speed limits with its respective coding schemes.

Coding Speed
scheme

(kbps)
CS-1 8.0
CS-2 12.0
CS-3 14.4
CS-4 20.0

• Applications of GPRS:

GPRS provides unique services to its subscriber. These services have unique characteristics valuing its customer which include,

1. Mobility- for constant flow of data communication
2. Immediacy- allows getting connectivity when needed, anytime.
3. Localization- allows getting information regarding the current location.

With such characteristics, a wide range of applications can be provided to the mobile subscribers which are enlisted below:

1. For various means of communications like email, intranet/internet access, fax etc.
2. In the field of E-commerce like ticket purchasing, banking transactions etc.
3. For vertical application i.e. for fleet management, freight delivery etc.
4. For advertisement purposes.
5. For location based application i.e. to find specific locations, schedules etc.
6. GPRS can also be used to send Short Message Service (SMS).

• Advantages & Disadvantages:

GPRS is the technology that brought mobile users out of the world of WAP and introduced internet services in mobiles. With the help of this huge amount of data could send and received through the internet. Hence, listing some of its advantages we have,

1. GPRS enabled mobiles can be a medium of portable internet connection. Places where internet is not accessible, GPRS can be of very importance. These mobiles can be used as a modem and connect to the laptops.
2. Another advantage of it is its great backup option and portability.

Well there are some drawbacks as well in GPRS technology which we cannot deny. Summarizing the disadvantages we have:

1. Since cellular network GSM’s band is used to transmit data, any other activities like making a call is not possible while data transfer.
2. GPRS downloads are done in Megabytes and kilobytes. So the users do have to pay the download charges resulting in the huge fee to be paid every month.

Therefore, GPRS in near future will promote more integrated services to connect wireless networks with public or corporate networks. It is also paving its way towards 3G which enables very high speed compared to the present.