WGU C844 FINAL PAPER 2026 EXAM FULL
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
ALREADY PASSED.
⫸ What is cellular design? Answer: The idea of using hexagonal
(six-sided) cells.
⫸ What is a base transceiver station (BTS)? Answer: An antenna
array that communicates directly with the subscriber phones within its
coverage area.
⫸ What are cell towers? Answer: Antenna arrays that are usually
perched on a tall metal structure.
⫸ What are T1/E1 trunks? Answer: They are the standard digital
carrier signals that transmit both voice and data.
⫸ What are base controller stations (BCS)? Answer: Point-to-point
microwave links which connects to the core network.
⫸ What is fequency reuse? Answer: Patterns that use the practice of
assigning multiple users to the same frequency channel, achieved by
the physical separation of power management of the transmission
streams.
,⫸ What are macrocells? Answer: cells within a mobile system for
large coverage areas that are needed for rural areas.
⫸ What are microcells? Answer: Cells within a mobile system for
small coverage areas that are needed for urban areas.
⫸ What are picocells? Answer: Small hotspot cells offering Wi-Fi
connectivity via a mobile carrier that are needed for dense urban
areas.
⫸ What are some characteristics of Frequnecy Division Multiple
Access? Answer: It is the foundation of cellular coverage maps, but in
this case, each channel is split up further so that multiple users can
share a common channel without interference.
FDMA frequencies are assigned for the length of the communication,
the downside being that unused channels sit idle. FDMA is a 1G
technology, and is still common in satellite communications.
⫸ What are characteristics of Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA)? Answer: It allows multiple users on the same frequency
channel. each with its own sliver of time. This works will in a voice
conversation because a phone conversation between two people is
mostly silince. That means there's a lot of "empty space" on a channel
even when it's in use.
TDMA does not require high-performance filtering as FDMA does,
but it does require very tight timing synchronization. TDMA helped
,bridge 1G technology to 2G and allowed for rapid subscriber
expansion from the original analog cell systems to digitial without
expensive upgrades to the system itself.
⫸ What is Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)? Answer: A 3G
technology, it makes it possible for several users to share multiple
frequency bands at the same time by spreading the signal out over the
frequencies. This spread-spectrum technique uses codes to distinguish
between connections. The wide bandwidths and improve power usage
greatly reduce interfernce, and the coding allows multiple users to
occupy the same channel at the same time.
⫸ What is the handoff process? Answer: It occurs at the point when
both neighbor frequency signals are at their lowest, usually at the
border between two cells.
⫸ What is the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS)? Answer: It
was deployed in North America in 1993. AMPS used analog signals
to connect to cell towers, using FDMA for channel assignment.
AMPS succeeded where previous attempts to create a commercial
cellular service failed because of its ability to reuse frequencies
(FDMA) and to hand off calls between cells in a relatively seamless
way that did not involve the user.
⫸ What is the Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS)?
Answer: 2G cellular phones and networks used TDMA, which greatly
improved bandwidth efficiency and subscriber capacity. Unlike
AMPS, which was essentially the same wywhere it was deployed, two
distinct systems emerged for D-AMPS which were GSM and CDMA.
, ⫸ What is the Global System for Mobile (GSM)? Answer: The use
of GSM was mandated throughout Europe to ensure continent-wide
compatibility between countries.
⫸ What is the Short Message Service (SMS)? Answer: It was
introduced to the world as texting. SMS did not seem like a
compelling feature. But its use exploded with teens and young adults
to the point where many used their phones only for texting.
⫸ What is the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card? Answer: It is
a small, detachable smart card that fits into a standardized card slot on
the phone. It contains all the subscriber's information, as well as their
contacts list. Not only did SIM cards help to address the 1G system's
cloning vulnerability, they also allowed users to switch phones
without carrier involvement. This led to the emergence of third-party
phone retailers who could (and did) sell phones directly to consumers.
⫸ What is the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)? Answer: It
was the first packet-switching technology method that allowed data
sharing over mobile networks. Still considered a 2G technology but
often called 2G+ or 2.5G, GPRS allowed access to some websites—
although data rates proved to be too slow for what was becoming a
growing need and expectation.
⫸ What is EDGE? Answer: It was an AT&T rolled out service in
2003, and which other carriers quickly offered, represented an
enhancement over GPRS. It offered high data rates through better data
encoding and (at that time) viable data access to many websites.
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
ALREADY PASSED.
⫸ What is cellular design? Answer: The idea of using hexagonal
(six-sided) cells.
⫸ What is a base transceiver station (BTS)? Answer: An antenna
array that communicates directly with the subscriber phones within its
coverage area.
⫸ What are cell towers? Answer: Antenna arrays that are usually
perched on a tall metal structure.
⫸ What are T1/E1 trunks? Answer: They are the standard digital
carrier signals that transmit both voice and data.
⫸ What are base controller stations (BCS)? Answer: Point-to-point
microwave links which connects to the core network.
⫸ What is fequency reuse? Answer: Patterns that use the practice of
assigning multiple users to the same frequency channel, achieved by
the physical separation of power management of the transmission
streams.
,⫸ What are macrocells? Answer: cells within a mobile system for
large coverage areas that are needed for rural areas.
⫸ What are microcells? Answer: Cells within a mobile system for
small coverage areas that are needed for urban areas.
⫸ What are picocells? Answer: Small hotspot cells offering Wi-Fi
connectivity via a mobile carrier that are needed for dense urban
areas.
⫸ What are some characteristics of Frequnecy Division Multiple
Access? Answer: It is the foundation of cellular coverage maps, but in
this case, each channel is split up further so that multiple users can
share a common channel without interference.
FDMA frequencies are assigned for the length of the communication,
the downside being that unused channels sit idle. FDMA is a 1G
technology, and is still common in satellite communications.
⫸ What are characteristics of Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA)? Answer: It allows multiple users on the same frequency
channel. each with its own sliver of time. This works will in a voice
conversation because a phone conversation between two people is
mostly silince. That means there's a lot of "empty space" on a channel
even when it's in use.
TDMA does not require high-performance filtering as FDMA does,
but it does require very tight timing synchronization. TDMA helped
,bridge 1G technology to 2G and allowed for rapid subscriber
expansion from the original analog cell systems to digitial without
expensive upgrades to the system itself.
⫸ What is Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)? Answer: A 3G
technology, it makes it possible for several users to share multiple
frequency bands at the same time by spreading the signal out over the
frequencies. This spread-spectrum technique uses codes to distinguish
between connections. The wide bandwidths and improve power usage
greatly reduce interfernce, and the coding allows multiple users to
occupy the same channel at the same time.
⫸ What is the handoff process? Answer: It occurs at the point when
both neighbor frequency signals are at their lowest, usually at the
border between two cells.
⫸ What is the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS)? Answer: It
was deployed in North America in 1993. AMPS used analog signals
to connect to cell towers, using FDMA for channel assignment.
AMPS succeeded where previous attempts to create a commercial
cellular service failed because of its ability to reuse frequencies
(FDMA) and to hand off calls between cells in a relatively seamless
way that did not involve the user.
⫸ What is the Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS)?
Answer: 2G cellular phones and networks used TDMA, which greatly
improved bandwidth efficiency and subscriber capacity. Unlike
AMPS, which was essentially the same wywhere it was deployed, two
distinct systems emerged for D-AMPS which were GSM and CDMA.
, ⫸ What is the Global System for Mobile (GSM)? Answer: The use
of GSM was mandated throughout Europe to ensure continent-wide
compatibility between countries.
⫸ What is the Short Message Service (SMS)? Answer: It was
introduced to the world as texting. SMS did not seem like a
compelling feature. But its use exploded with teens and young adults
to the point where many used their phones only for texting.
⫸ What is the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card? Answer: It is
a small, detachable smart card that fits into a standardized card slot on
the phone. It contains all the subscriber's information, as well as their
contacts list. Not only did SIM cards help to address the 1G system's
cloning vulnerability, they also allowed users to switch phones
without carrier involvement. This led to the emergence of third-party
phone retailers who could (and did) sell phones directly to consumers.
⫸ What is the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)? Answer: It
was the first packet-switching technology method that allowed data
sharing over mobile networks. Still considered a 2G technology but
often called 2G+ or 2.5G, GPRS allowed access to some websites—
although data rates proved to be too slow for what was becoming a
growing need and expectation.
⫸ What is EDGE? Answer: It was an AT&T rolled out service in
2003, and which other carriers quickly offered, represented an
enhancement over GPRS. It offered high data rates through better data
encoding and (at that time) viable data access to many websites.
