Specifications

2130006 Rev 1.0 Page 1
1. About this Guide
1.1. Introduction
The Sierra Wireless CDPD Primer is an overview of Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), a
standard for data transmission over wireless cellular telephone networks, such as those using the
analog AMPS system, and widely available in North America. Many Sierra Wireless products
support CDPD (see section 6). You can find more detailed information in the documents noted in
section 7 at the end of this guide, and in the technical documents available for download from the
Sierra Wireless Web site at www.sierrawireless.com
.
1.2. Document Structure
1.2.1. Format
This document was prepared for distribution in Adobe Systems’ Portable Document Format (PDF)
from the Sierra Wireless Web site at www.sierrawireless.com
. It includes bookmarks and
hyperlinks to allow you to jump to sections, follow references, and access the Sierra Wireless Web
site by clicking within the document. The PDF edition is designed for printing single-sided on
standard letter-size paper. If your computer cannot read or print PDF files, Adobe provides a free
reader at www.adobe.com/acrobat/readstep.html
.
1.2.2. Organization
This guide consists of seven sections, of which this introduction is the first.
Section 2 covers the traditional and wireless voice telephone systems, including the plain old
telephone system (POTS) and cellular telephones.
Section 3 discusses the background of the CDPD standard: its history, and its features in
comparison with other wireless data standards.
Section 4 details the architecture of a CDPD network: its technology, hardware, and protocols.
This section includes information about the physical components of the network, its protocol
layers and how they interact, and the services it provides.
Section 5 goes into some detail about the operation of a CDPD network, including: how CDPD
devices register with the network, how data moves through it, how radio resources are managed,
how users share bandwidth, and how CDPD modems save power using sleep mode.
Section 6 discusses Sierra Wireless products that support CDPD, and section 7 lists resources
for further reading, study, and reference.
1.3. References
1.3.1. Terminology and Acronyms
This document makes wide use of acronyms that are in common use in data communications. For
our Glossary of acronyms and terms used in Sierra Wireless documentation (document 2110032),
please consult the document downloads on our Web site at www.sierrawireless.com
, as well as
section 7 of this document.