P800/P802

White Paper, January 2003

GPRS, HSCSD and CSD Connections

The introduction of GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) is one of the key steps in the evolution of today’s GSM networks for enhancing the capabilities of data communication. Data traffic is increasing enormously (over both wired and wireless networks), with the growth in demand for Internet access and services paralleling that for mobile communications. Users want access to the Internet while they are away from their offices and homes, and surveys have found that the vast majority of business professionals want the ability to send and receive E-Mail, browse the Web and transmit text and graphics on a portable device. That is why the main applications driving Mobile Internet development are E-Mail clients and Web browsers.

The demand for high-speed Internet access will be the key driver for coming generations of wireless services, and GPRS can deliver the necessary speed. GPRS allows innovative services to be created, enabling new and previously inaccessible market segments to be addressed and increasing customer loyalty.

GPRS applications can be developed as both horizontal and vertical. Vertical applications are specific, including those for operations such as reaching police and emergency, taxi, delivery or automated services (vending machines, supervision, vehicle tracking). Horizontal applications are more generic and include those for Internet access, E-Mail, messaging, e-commerce and entertainment.

GPRS is able to take advantage of the global coverage of existing GSM networks. Applications developed for GPRS can be deployed on a large scale and can reap the associated benefits. GPRS also provides a secure medium for connections to private networks, banking and financial services.

The P800 supports connection to the internet, company intranets and mobile operator WAP services over GPRS, HSCSD and CSD. These will be explained in more detail later in this paper. A typical configuration will be to use GPRS for a continuous connection to the net. With GPRS, the P800 sends data in “packets” at a very high speed. The P800 remains connected to the network at all times, using transmission capacity only when data are sent or received. This enables E-Mail to be automatically fetched, whilst the browser is always available for immediate use. Third Party applications such as instant messaging clients will also benefit from a GPRS ‘always on’ connection.

Using the P800 as a Modem

The P800 contains a complete GSM/GPRS modem enabling it to be used to connect external devices such as laptop PCs to the internet or corporate intranet. The P800 is connected to the laptop using infrared, Bluetooth or cable, and will connect over the air using GPRS, HSCSD or CSD. Set Infrared status to Modem in the Control Panel to use this facility over infrared.

The P800 appears to the laptop like a normal modem, having an AT command set compatible with industry de facto extensions and ETSI 07.07. Note that SMS and SMSCB are not supported over this channel. A Windows modem driver file is supplied on the PC Suite CD-ROM.

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