Discovering How Cell Phones Work

A cell phone is one of the best and most functional technological advancement we have today that allows people to communicate with each other except, wirelessly. How cell phones work is something of a marvel in the world of technology. Here is a brief and simple overview at how cell phones work.

It’s a Radio

The most interesting thing to note about how cell phones work is that they are very sophisticated radios. Do you remember radio phones that were used in cars about 3 decades ago? In those days, the technology required one central antenna that could handle about 25 channels and a very powerful transmitter that could transmit a signal up to 40 miles away.

It Works Within “Cells”

The difference about how cell phones work is that they do so within cells. An area is divided into small cells which allow the frequency to be re-used across the city. This means that cell sites are needed to transmit and receive the frequencies. How cell phones work depends on the size of the cell. A typical cell is about 10 square miles. An antenna can be found within those 10 square miles to allow the signal to hop onto the next ten square miles and that’s how cell phones work with signals.

It Uses Low Power

How cell phones work can also be seen in the way with how its frequencies flow. Cell phones and base stations (or cell sites) use low-power transmitters. So the same frequencies can be reused by base stations that are not adjacent. Each cell has a base station that has a tower and a building that has all the radio equipment inside. A cell phone uses two frequencies and that’s how cell phones work with calls. This is how cell phones work for both transmitting and receiving voice calls.