Preface
The wireless communications industry has been undergoing tremendous changes in the last few years. With the auction of personal communication services (PCS) licenses in the United States, most incumbent service providers found themselves competing with not just one, but several other service providers who offered comparable services at competitive prices. At the same time, the wireless subscriber base has been increasing as well, with some projecting the total number of worldwide wireless subscribers reaching over 360 million by year 2000.

The tremendous market growth coupled with fierce competition implies that each service provider must differentiate itself from the competitors by offering a high-quality service at a competitive price. From an engineering perspective, the first goal may be attained by optimally designing and maintaining the network such that the customer’s calling experience nearly replicates that of a landline phone. The second goal may be achieved by effectively and efficiently planning, managing, and operating network resources. For many service providers, code division multiple access (CDMA) manifested in the form of a IS-95 wideband spread-spectrum system has played a key role in achieving both goals. Many technical features of CDMA, which this book describes in detail, enable the network to offer high-quality on-demand voice services to customers. At the same time, CDMA’s ability to provide high capacity allows a service provider to better utilize its invested network assets, lower its cost structure, and thus lower its service pricing.