QoS augmentation in GPRS via adaptive half-rate speech coding

Half-rate speech coding in GSM opens up channels for dedication to GPRS. Adaptive half-rate speech coding by the ETSI AMR standard ensures superior quality compared to fixed half-rate systems. Furthermore, adaptive half-rate speech subscribers do not perceive significant loss of call quality compared to the existing enhanced full-rate system. As mobile Internet traffic increases over GSM networks, it makes sense to dedicate channels specifically for use by the general packet radio service (GPRS). In this paper, we show that the use of dedicated channels improves GPRS service quality significantly. GPRS delay and throughput under several adaptive half-rate speech scenarios are presented. We furthermore discuss the effect of such introduction on the frequency re-use rate for the entire system.