What Is Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE)?
Do you remember when your computer used to take 3 minutes to load a page, and you thought that was fast? Well, it's not anymore. Now it takes three seconds. While that's fine for some things, it's not enough for other things—like watching videos or downloading files in the background at the same time. So what do we do? We use EDGE! EDGE is a wireless data service that delivers up to 384kbps using all GSM channels. It can handle multimedia like video and music streaming, applications like VoIP (Voice over IP), and peer-to-peer file sharing in real time, so you can get things done faster than ever. EDGE is the next step up from GPRS, so you can think of it as a faster, more efficient version of GPRS. It's also an evolutionary protocol to UMTS, a new mobile phone service standard. So what does EDGE do? Well, it's designed to allow phones to transmit data faster than they could with GPRS. It does this using differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM), which modulates the length of each bit in a digital signal according to its importance. When you use EDGE, your phone can send data faster than before because fewer bits represent each letter or number. If you want to send an email or text message on your phone and you're somewhere with poor reception, then EDGE will help get it through! So what's the deal with EDGE? It's a fun acronym: Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution—and it's a pretty good description of what this system does. EDGE is an upgrade to GPRS and the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). GSM is the most popular cellular system in the world, and EDGE is used by over two billion people worldwide.
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