TABLE OF CONTENTS Frequency division multiple access is a process of allowing mobile radios to share radio frequency allocation by dividing up that allocation into separate radio channels where each radio device can communicate on a single radio channel during communication. Frequency division multiple access (FDMA) is the first access technology used for two-way radios.
Figure 1.10 shows how a frequency band can be divided into several communication channels using frequency division multiplexing (FDM). When a device is communicating on a FDM system using a frequency carrier signal, its carrier channel is completely occupied by the transmission of the device. For some FDM systems, after it has stopped transmitting, other transceivers may be assigned to that carrier channel frequency. When this process of assigning channels is organized, it is called frequency division multiple access (FDMA). Transceivers in an FDM system typically have the ability to tune to several different carrier channel frequencies.
