Multiplexing

Multiplexing (also known as muxing) is a method by which multiple analog message

signals or digital data streams are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The
multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a
physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level
communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message
signal or data stream to be transferred. A reverse process, known as de-multiplexing, can
extract the original channels on the receiver side. A device that performs the multiplexing
is called a multiplexer (MUX), and a device that performs the reverse process is called a
de-multiplexer (DEMUX). Inverse multiplexing (IMUX) has the opposite aim as
multiplexing, namely to break one data stream into several streams, transfer them
simultaneously over several communication channels, and recreate the original data
stream.

Types of Multiplexing
There are 4 major multiplexing types in use today in the Wireless Industry:

Space Division Multiplexing (SDM)

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
Code Division Multiplexing (CDM)

1. Space Division Multiplexing (SDM)

In wireless communication, space-division multiplexing is achieved by multiple antenna
elements forming a phased array antenna. Examples are multiple-input and multipleoutput (MIMO), single-input and multiple-output (SIMO) and multiple-input and singleoutput (MISO) multiplexing. For example, a IEEE 802.11n wireless router with N
antennas makes it possible to communicate with N multiplexed channels, each with a
peak bit rate of 54 Mbit/s, thus increasing the total peak bit rate with a factor N. Different

antennas would give different multi-path propagation (echo) signatures, making it

possible for digital signal processing techniques to separate different signals from each
other. These techniques may also be utilized for space diversity (improved robustness to
fading) or beam forming (improved selectivity) rather than multiplexing.
In traditional mobile cellular network systems, the base station has no information on the
position of the mobile units within the cell and radiates the signal in all directions within
the cell in order to provide radio coverage. This results in wasting power on transmissions
when there are no mobile units to reach, in addition to causing interference for adjacent
cells using the same frequency, so called co-channel cells. Likewise, in reception, the
antenna receives signals coming from all directions including noise and interference
signals. By using smart antenna technology and by leveraging the spatial location of
mobile units within the cell, space-division multiple access techniques offer attractive
performance enhancements. The radiation pattern of the base station, both in transmission
and reception is adapted to each user to obtain highest gain in the direction of that user.
This is often done using phased array techniques.
In GSM cellular networks, the base station is aware of the mobile phone's position by use
of a technique called Timing Advance (TA). The Base Transceiver Station (BTS) can
determine how distant the Mobile Station (MS) is by interpreting the reported TA. This
information, along with other parameters, can then be used to power down the BTS or
MS, if a power control feature is implemented in the network. The power control in either
BTS or MS is implemented in most modern networks, especially on the MS, as this
ensures a better battery life for the MS and thus a better user experience (in that the need
to charge the battery becomes less frequent). This is why it may actually be safer to have
a BTS close to you as your MS will be powered down as much as possible. For example,
there is more power being transmitted from the MS than what you would receive from
the BTS even if you are 6 m away from a mast. However, this estimation might not
consider all the MS's that a particular BTS is supporting with EM radiation at any given
time.

2. Frequency Division Multiplexing

Frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) is inherently an analog technology. FDM
achieves the combining of several digital signals into one medium by sending signals in
several distinct frequency ranges over that medium. One of FDM's most common
applications is cable television. Only one cable reaches a customer's home but the service
provider can send multiple television channels or signals simultaneously over that cable
to all subscribers. Receivers must tune to the appropriate frequency (channel) to access
the desired signal.

Frequency division multiplexing involves simultaneously transmitting multiple signals on

different frequencies. These different frequencies, called channels, share non-overlapping
portions of the total frequency band being used. Signals from different data sources are
fed into a multiplexer that modulates each signal and transmits them at different
frequencies. These signals are then transmitted over the wire or through wireless
communication and are separated at the destination into individual data signals using a
de-multiplexer.
3. Time Division Multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a digital technology. TDM involves sequencing
groups of a few bits or bytes from each individual input stream, one after the other, and in
such a way that they can be associated with the appropriate receiver. If done sufficiently
and quickly, the receiving devices will not detect that some of the circuit time was used to
serve another logical communication path. Consider an application requiring four
terminals at an airport to reach a central computer. Each terminal communicated at 2400
bps, so rather than acquire four individual circuits to carry such a low-speed transmission;
the airline has installed a pair of multiplexers. A pair of 9600 bps modems and one
dedicated analog communications circuit from the airport ticket desk back to the airline
data center are also installed.

TDM uses pre-allocated and fixed time slot. Each time slot will be allocated even there is
no data transfer. Statistical TDM, also known as asynchronous TDM dynamically allocate
time slots on demand. The statistical multiplexer does not send empty slots if there are
any other data to send.

4. Code Division Multiplexing

Code division multiplexing (CDM) is a technique in which each channel transmits its bits
as a coded channel-specific sequence of pulses. This coded transmission typically is
accomplished by transmitting a unique time-dependent series of short pulses, which are
placed within chip times within the larger bit time. All channels, each with a different
code, can be transmitted on the same fiber and asynchronously de-multiplexed. Other
widely used multiple access techniques are Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA). Code Division Multiplex techniques are
used as an access technology, namely Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), in
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) standard for the third generation
(3G) mobile communication identified by the ITU. Another important application of the
CDMA is the Global Positioning System (GPS). The key principle of CDM is spread
spectrum. Spread spectrum is a means of communication with the following features:
a. Each information-bearing signal is transmitted with a bandwidth in excess of
the minimum bandwidth necessary to send the information.
b. The bandwidth is increased by using a spreading code that is independent of
the information.
c. The receiver has advance knowledge of the spreading code and uses this
knowledge to recover the information from the received, spread-out signal.