There are many different types of CDMA2000. In order of increasing complexity:

Table of contents

1 CDMA2000 1x 2 CDMA2000 1xRTT 3 CDMA2000 1xEV 3.1 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO 3.2 CDMA2000 1xEV-DV 4 CDMA2000 3x

CDMA2000 1x

CDMA2000 1x, also known as CDMA2000 1xMC (Multi-Carrier), is the core 3G CDMA2000 technology. The designation Multi-Carrier refers to the possibility of using up to three separate 1.25 MHz carriers for data transmission, and is used to distinguish this from W-CDMA, which is a direct spread protocol using a wide 5 MHz carrier. However, as the 1x protocol only uses a single carrier, the term 1xMC is slightly oxymoronic and the simpler term CDMA2000 1x is recommended instead.

CDMA2000 1xRTT

CDMA2000 1xRTT (Radio Transmission Technology) is the basic layer of CDMA2000, which supports up to 144 Kbps packet data speeds. While CDMA2000 officially qualifies as 3G technology, 1xRTT is considered by most to be a 2.5G technology as it is several times slower than other 3G technologies. It also doubles voice capacity over previous CDMA networks.

CDMA2000 1xEV

CDMA2000 1xEV (Evolution) is CDMA2000 1x with High Data Rate (HDR) capability added. 1xEV is commonly separated into two phases:

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO

Phase 1 of CDMA2000 1xEV, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (Evolution-Data Only) supports data rates up to 2.4 Mbps. It can only be deployed separately from voice networks - in its own spectrum - although devices can be made to access both networks. Among others, Japan's KDDI, South Korea's SK Telecom, and USA Verizon Wireless have launched commercial CDMA 1xEV-DO networks.

CDMA2000 1xEV-DV

Phase 2 of CDMA2000 1xEV, CDMA2000 1xEV-DV (Evolution-Data and Voice), supports circuit and packet data rates up to 3-5 Mbps. It fully integrates with 1xRTT voice networks. There are currently no commercial 1xEV-DV deployments.

CDMA2000 3x

CDMA2000 3x uses three separate 1.25 MHz carriers. This provides three times the capacity but also also requires three times more bandwidth, and remains under development.