Mobile phone
A mobile phone (also known as a wireless phone, cell phone, or cellular telephone[1]) is a little portable radio telephone.
The mobile phone can be used to communicate over long distances without wires. It works by communicating with a nearby base station (sometimes called a "cell") which connects it to the main phone network. As the mobile phone moves around, if the mobile phone gets too far away from the cell it is connected to, that cell sends a message to another cell to tell the new cell to take over the call. This is called a "hand off," and the call continues with the new cell the phone is connected to. The hand-off is done so well and carefully that the user will usually never even know that the call was transferred to another cell.
As mobile phones became more popular, they began to cost less money, and more people could afford them. Monthly plans allowing people available for rates as low as US$30 or $40 a month. Cell phones have become so cheap to own that they have mostly replaced pay phones and phone booths except for areas with a lot of people.
As well as making voice calls, mobile phones can be used for other things:
- Sending and receiving emails, text and multimedia messages
- Registering contacts
- Using calculator, currency, alarm, etc. functions
- Internet
- Playing games
- Taking photos and videos
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[change] History
People have wanted to make mobile phones for a long time, but it took until the late 20th century for technology to make them possible.
Although Dr. Martin Cooper from Motorola made the first call using a mobile phone in 1973, this was not on a cellular mobile phone network as we use today.
The first mobile phone networks were created in the late 1970s in Japan. Now almost all urban areas, and many country areas, are covered by mobile phone networks.
The mobile phone was created in Germany by Dennis Petro Mulakuliano Vogel.
[change] Technology
A cell phone has combined two technologies: telephone (invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876) and radio (invention of Nikola Tesla in the 1880s).
Cell phones work as two-way radios. They send electromagnetic microwaves from base station to base station. The waves are sent through antennas. This is called wireless communication.
There are two types of cell telephone networks:
- Analogue networks
- Digital networks
Most of the older cell phones use analog networks. All modern phones use digital networks.
Digital networks are also known as second generation, or 2G, technologies. They differ either by technology or by speed. The most used digital network is GSM (Global System for Mobile communication). It is used mainly in Europe and Asia, while CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) networks are mainly used in North America. Other countries like Japan have different 2G technologies.
The radio waves that the mobile phone networks use are split into different frequencies. The frequency is measured in Hz. Low frequencies can send the signal farther. Higher frequencies provide better connections and the voice communications are generally clearer. Four main frequencies are used around the world: 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz. Europe uses 900 and 1800 MHz and North America uses 850 and 1900 MHz.
Today there are mobile phones that work on two, three or four frequencies. The most advanced phones work on all frequencies. They are called 'world' phones and can be used everywhere.
[change] Kinds
There are different kinds of phones. A flip phone flips open, and is best for calling. A bar phone is shaped like a candybar, and the keys and screen are on one face. A slate phone is a phone that has almost no buttons, and uses a touchscreen. A slider phone slides on rails. It can slide out number keys or a mini keyboard, but some do both. A swivel spins on an axle.
[change] How mobile phones work
When a mobile phone is switched on, it connects to the nearest mobile phone base station. Electronics in the base station check that the phone is allowed to use the network. The base station covers what is called a cell and a phone can move between different cells, but will only ever communicate with one cell at a time. This is why mobile communications are sometimes called cellular communications.
Once connected to a cell, the mobile phone can make calls. As the network knows that the phone is connected to that particular cell, it can also route calls to the mobile phone. Sometimes the connection to the cell is lost, for example when using the subway. This means the phone cannot make or receive calls until the connection is made again.
[change] Networks and payment
The network is the company that provides the phone service. In most areas there will be more than one mobile network. Customers choose networks based on how well the different networks work in their area, or by price.
There are two main ways to pay for mobile phone calls:
- Contract
- If you pay by contract you will pay the network money every month so that you can make calls. Usually you can talk for a lot of time for the monthly fee, but if you do not use the phone a lot you still pay the same money.
- Pay as you use
- If you pay as you use, you will pay for a fixed amount of call time credit which you then use up when phoning people. Once the credit is used up you must buy some more to use the phone. This can be cheaper if you do not use the phone a lot.
Some digital mobile phones need a separate microchip, called a Subscriber Identity Module or SIM, to work. The SIM has information like the phone number and payment account and this is needed to make or receive calls. The SIM may be supplied by the same company as the phone, or a different one. Sometimes you can change the network by using a SIM from another network, but some companies do not want this to happen and they lock the phone so that you have to use their SIM. This type of phone uses GSM signals.
The others have a special radio inside them that only makes phone calls when the phone is activated. When someone buys a contract, the network gives them a code, that if they enter it into the phone, the phone will then make calls. It is almost always impossible to switch to a different network's code on this type of phone. This type of phone is called CDMA.
[change] Smartphones
The latest mobile phones are commonly referred to as smart phones. These phones can be used for email, browsing the internet, playing music and games, and many other functions that computers can perform. This is because they basically are small computers. Older phones also used computer technology, but lacked many of the parts of a computer that were too big to fit into a phone. Modern phone makers have been able to make computer parts small enough to fit inside a phone.
Advancements have also been made in the field of data communication. Smart phones can send and receive data much faster than older phones. The industry uses different standards to label the data transmission rates. 2G was introduced in 1991. 2G means 2nd Generation. 2G phones transmit data at about the same speed as a 56kbps (kilabits per second) dial-up modem would get. 3G was introduced in 2002. 3G phones vary in speed, but range from about 200kbps to 14mbps (megabits per second). This is comparable to a DSL or low end Cable Modem's speed. Most smart phones use 3G technology because 2G is not fast enough to practically use e-mail, internet, and other data features. A new Generation of technology is being introduced now called 4G. 4G speeds are estimated to be as fast as 100mbps to 1gbps (gigabit per second). This would be as fast as some computer networks that use ethernet. The newest smart phones use 4G technology.
[change] References
- ↑ Ulyseas, Mark (2008-01-18). "Of Cigarettes and Cellphones". The Bali Times. http://www.thebalitimes.com/2008/01/18/of-cigarettes-and-cellphones/. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
