Code Division Multiple Access A coding scheme, used as a modulation technique, in which multiple channels are independently coded for transmission. In CDMA, each conversation is digitized and then tagged with a code. The mobile phone is then instructed to decipher only a particular code to pluck the right conversation off the air. The process can be compared in some ways to an English-speaking person picking out the only other person in a room of foreigners who is speaking English (code). A CDMA channel has a larger bandwidth than a TDMA channel; but all the users would be using the same channel. See also TDMA.