TDMA is for Digital Signals

• In TDMA systems, it is assumed that the signal can be stored until the transmitter's turn comes up.
• Analog signals cannot be stored very effectively (magnetic tapes or disks)
• Digital signals are easily stored (or buffered) on memory chips.
• To hide that transmission is actually interrupted in TDMA systems, information is actually transmitted at a faster rate than it is generated.
• Example: In digital telephony, a conversation generates 64,000 bits every second.
  Between exchanges, 24 conversations are carried on a single wire pair carrying 1,544 thousand bits per second (24*64,000+8,000=1,544,000).

  

Figure 2.6: In TDMA systems signals are transmitted at a faster rate than their original rate.