| Property | CDMA | OFDMA |
| 1. Channel bandwidth | Full system bandwidth | Variable system bandwidth to accommodate users with different data rates, 1.25, 2.50, 5.00, 10.00, 15.00 and 20.00 MHz, actual transmission bandwidth is a bit lower than this |
| 2. Frequency-selective scheduling | Not possible | A key advantage of OFDMA, although it requires accurate real-time feedback of channel conditions from receiver to transmitter |
| 3. Symbol period | Very short—inverse of the system bandwidth | Very long—defined by subcarrier spacing and independent of system bandwidth |
| 4. Equalization | Complicated time domain equalization | Simple frequency domain equalization |
| 5. Resistance to mulitpath | Rake receiver can combine various multipath components | Highly resistant to multipath due to insertion of cyclic prefix (CP) |
| 6. Suitability for MIMO | MIMO is not suited to a wideband frequency selective channel | MIMO is suited to the independent narrowband flat fading channels that the subcarriers provide |
| 7. Resistance to narrowband interference | Resistant to narrow band interference | Some subcarriers to be affected by narrowband interference |
| 8. Separation of users | Scrambling and orthogonal spreading codes | Frequency and time although scrambling and spreading can be added as well |
Reference: Agilent 3GPP Long Term Evolution System Overview, Product Development and Test Challenges Application Note.