User's Manual Part 1
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Chapter 1: Product
Overview
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a digital, packet-switched, data
extension to the GSM voice and circuit-switched data network. GPRS
substitutes binary data for the voice data which is subsequently routed to a data
network (internet) rather than the public switched telephone network. This
routing features enables high-speed data communication on a global wireless
network, using the same frequency bands as the underlying GSM network.
GPRS provides single band 1900 MHz support within North America and dual
band support (900/1800 MHz) elsewhere in the world. Novatel Wireless products
provide fast and reliable wireless data communications at speeds up to
53.6 kbps in GPRS coverage areas, and circuit switched data to 14.4 kbps in
GSM coverage areas. (Where a network is set up for Multi-slot class 10 (MS-10)
and Coding Scheme 2 (CS-2), the maximum data rates with GPRS service are
53.6 kbps for uploading data and 26.8 kbps for downloading data.)
Adopted by 149 countries around the world, GSM is the most widely used digital
wireless standard in the world, with more than 330 million subscribers world
wide. The GSM association predicts that the number of subscribers will more
than triple by the year 2003.
Novatel Wireless GPRS/GSM products consist of the following.
• Merlin G100 PC Card (1900 MHz band) for North America.
• Merlin G200 PC Card (900/1800 MHz bands) for Europe and Asia.
• Merlin G201 PC Card, same as the G200 with a voice jack to make GSM
voice calls.
• Merlin G301 PC Card (900/1800/1900 MHz bands) for worldwide access
to GSM/GPRS networks.
• Expedite G301 OEM Module (900/1800/1900 MHz bands) for embedding
into wireless products for global GSM/GPRS access. The Expedite G301
is a triband OEM module that can be used in either the North American or
European markets.
Topics Included in this Chapter
Introduction to GSM and GPRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Operational Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7