What is WCDMA

Code Separation

WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is the radio access method used in WCDMA RAN. The radio access method separates users in a cell by codes, rather than frequency and timeslot as in GSM.

Wideband CDMA

Wideband is achieved by spreading over 5 MHz channels. This method is different from the TDMA method used in GSM, as this separates users/speech channels with codes, rather than with timeslots. What makes it Wideband as opposed to just CDMA is the channel bandwidth, which is 5 MHz.