Mobitex vs. ReFLEX/Slide9.png
ROUND 8: RELIABILITY
For users who come to depend on an interactive messaging service, reliability is a key issue. Corrupt messages might be acceptable, however annoying, for pure text messaging, but for binary messages used in session based data communication like wireless Personal Information Management (PIM), e-commerce and Intranet / Internet access, lost or corrupt characters are devastating.
In a ReFLEX™ network, all messages are transmitted several times (a common default is five retransmissions) ( News to me ??!!?? No wonder they have better capacity numbers (sic)) and the device uses the different corrupted fragments to create a correct message. As message length increases, risk for corrupt data increases along with number of retransmissions of entire messages. Consequently, session based transactions, involving binary data, creates additional delays and consumes a lot of precious radio resources.
High reliability also means being able to respond to incoming messages at all times regardless of position within the coverage area. Being an unbalanced network, the ReFLEX™ up-link and the FLEX™ down-link coverage areas do not automatically match. In a Mobitex™ network however, communication is always two-way within coverage. In addition, seamless roaming between adjacent cells, featured in a Mobitex™ network, make Mobitex™ a great choice for mobile applications.