PREFACE

TIA/EIA-136 is a multi-part standard that when taken in total, defines the requirements for a PCS/Cellular system and mobile stations using Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology while also maintaining compatibility with AMPS analog technology.

These technical requirements form a compatibility standard for PCS/cellular mobile telecommunications systems. Their purpose is to ensure that a mobile station can obtain service in any PCS/cellular system manufactured according to this standard. These requirements do not address the quality or reliability of that service.

To ensure compatibility, it is essential that both radio-system parameters and call-processing procedures be specified. The sequence of call processing steps that the mobile stations and base stations execute to establish calls has been specified along with the digital control messages and analog signals that are exchanged between the two stations.

The base station is subject to fewer compatibility requirements than the mobile station. Radiated power levels, both desired and undesired, are fully specified for mobile stations to control the RF interference that one mobile station can cause another. Base stations are fixed in location and their interference is controlled by proper layout and operation of the system in which the station operates. Detailed call-processing procedures are specified for mobile stations to ensure a uniform response to all base stations. Base station call procedures, like power levels, are not specified in detail because they are a part of the overall design of the individual land system. This approach to writing the compatibility specification provides the land system designer with sufficient flexibility to respond to local service needs and to account for local topography and propagation conditions.

The basic radio-system parameters and call-processing procedures for analog mode of operation embodied in the compatibility specification were derived from EIA/TIA-553. The basic radio system parameters and call-processing procedures for digital and dual mode operation embodied in the compatibility specification were derived by due process within TIA TR45.

As commercial systems evolve there may be a need for additional capabilities primarily in the area of call-processing procedures and new system features. It is important that evolutionary changes be readily accommodated. To that end, these technical requirements have been organized into subject groups and independent parts within these groups. Each part is subject to revision independent of all other parts.