How cell phones work

By
M.Junus
Staf Pengajar
Politeknik Negeri Malang
 Cellular Phones: The Facts

• 400 million cell users in the world

• 60% of Europeans

• 40% of Americans

• 20% of US teenagers (more girls than boys)

 Cell Phone = Radio?

• Combination of telephone and radio ideas

• First mobile communications: “radio

telephone”

• Requires powerful transmitter; minimal

channels
Millions of Users, Millions of Frequencies?

• Typical analog carrier has 832 frequencies

• Division of coverage area into “cells”

• Each cell about 10 miles (26 km)

• Frequency reuse in each cell allows millions

of simultaneous users
 Inside the Cell Phone
One of the most intricate devices used daily

Components:
I. Circuit board
II. Antenna
III. Liquid Crystal
Display
IV. Keyboard
V. Microphone
VI. Speaker
VII. Battery
Copyright © 1998-2002 Howstuffworks, Inc.
 Circuit Board

1. Analog-to-Digital, Digital-to-
Analog converters
2. Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
3. Radio Frequency (RF) Control
4. RF Amplifiers
5. Power Control
6. ROM and Flash memory
7. Microprocessor
Front Back
Circuit Board: Flash memory,
Microprocessor

Flash Memory

Microprocessor
 LCD Display

Keypad

Cell-phone speaker, microphone and battery backup

 Cellular Access Technologies
• The 3 most common cell-phone network
technologies for transmitting information
are:
– Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
– Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
– Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
• Allows for multiple access by splitting calls
 FDMA
• FDMA puts each call on a separate
frequency
– Separates spectrum into distinct channels by
splitting it into uniform bands of bandwidth
• Mainly used for analog transmission
• Capable of carrying digital information, but
not an efficient method for that type of
transmission
FDMA Diagram
 TDMA
• With TDMA, a narrow band that has a bandwidth of 30
kHz and is 6.7 ms long is split time-wise into three time
slots
– Each conversation gets to transmit for 1/3 of the time
– Possible because voice data converted into digital
information that is compressed allowing for less
transmission time
• Electronics Industry Alliance and Telecommunications
Industry Association, IS-54 and IS-136
• 3x capacity of analog system with same no. Channels
• Operates at 800 MHz (IS-54) or 1900 MHz (IS-136)
frequency bands
TDMA Diagram
 TDMA/GSM
• TDMA is used as access technology for GSM
– Implemented in a different and incompatible way from IS-
136
– Uses encryption for more secure calls
– 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in Europe and Asia
– 1900 MHz in United States
– International standard for Europe, Australia, most of Asia
and Africa.
– SIM cards used to store connection data and identification
no.’s required to access provider
 CDMA
• After data is digitized, CDMA spreads it out over bandwidth
(spread spectrum)
– Each call assigned unique sequence code, used to spread over
bandwidth, and to recover signal at receiver
– Multiple calls are put on top of each other
– CDMA systems require an accurate time-stamp on each piece of
signal to recover signal, so it references the GPS for information
• 8 to 10 calls can be carried on same channel space as an
analog AMPS call
• Basis for IS-95, operates in 800 MHz and 1900 MHz
frequency bands
CDMA Diagram
 AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System)

• Analog cell phone standard, established in 1983

• First used in Chicago
• Uses range of frequencies between 824Mhz and
894 MHz
• Pair of frequencies, one for transmit and one for
receive create one channel
• Standard analog voice channel - 30kHz,
comparable to a wired telephone
 AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System)

• Transmit and receive frequencies are separated by

45 MHz
• Only operate in the 800 MHz band; therefore, not
many features (like email, web browsing) offered
 Analog vs. Digital
Analog
• Thomas Edison – phonograph
•
sound collecting diaphragm-> needle-> rotating aluminum cyli
nder
• Eventually modified to become the “modern” phonograph,
signals are amplified electronically
• Analog wave is vibration created by sound
• Storage and playback of an analog wave – simple but fidelity
is not very good
• Fidelity – the similarity between the original signal and the
reproduced signal
 Analog vs. Digital
Digital
• Goal was to create a recording with very high fidelity
and perfect reproduction
• Converts analog wave into a stream of numbers and
records the numbers and not the wave
• Analog to digital converter (ADC)
• Digital to analog converter (DAC)
• Sampling rate, sampling precision
• Amount of digital data goes up significantly
 Analog vs. Digital

LOW sample rate and sampling precision HIGH sample rate and sampling precision
 Digital technology
• Same radio technology as analog but different way
of compressing the voice
• Easier to compress and manipulate to fit more
channels within a given bandwidth, more efficient
• Converts voice signal into binary information(1s
and 0s) and then compression of it allows
between 3 to 10 digital cell phone calls to occupy
the space of a 1 analog call
 Digital Technology
• Frequency-shift keying (FSK)
- uses two frequencies (one for 1s & the other for
0s)
- alternates between the two frequencies
• modulation and encoding schemes
- convert the analog ->digital, compress it->analog
- acceptable level of voice quality maintained
• Cell phones need a lot of processing power
 Cellular vs. PCS
• “digital cellular”,
paging, caller ID and
Cellular PCS
email
Frequency 824MHz- 1850 MHz-
894 MHz 1990 MHz
• PCS has smaller cells Channel
spacing 30 KHz 200 KHz
and larger number of
antennas. Time slots 3 8
 Dual band, Dual mode
Triband, Trimode
• What is Dual band?
– CDMA digital cellular (800 MHz) or CDMA digital PCS
(1900 MHz).
• What is Triband?
– GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 (MHz)
• Dual Mode
– AMPS and TDMA
– Analog and digital
• Trimode
– Two digital (CDMA and TDMA) and analog
– Two bands in digital and analog
Cell phone towers
 Cell phone towers cont.

The box houses the radio transmitters and receivers that let the tower
communicate with phones. The radios connects with the antennae on the
tower through thick cables.
 Cell phone disposal
• 135 million registered cell phones today.
• By 2005, there will be at least 200 million cell
phones in use and another 500 million older
phones to be disposed.
• Toxins that accumulate in the environment
– arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper,
lead, nickel and zinc  cancer and neurological
disorders
• Recycling Program
 Risks
• Brain Tumors?
• The brain cancer patients did not report
more cellular phone use overall than the
controls.
• Side of the head on which the brain cancer
occurred and the side on which the cellular
phone was used – no link.
 Future of Cellular Technology
• GAIT
• General Packet Radio
Services
– 2.5G
– 3G
• Java-Enabled Phones
• Bluetooth
• More than Phones
 Sources

• http://www.cancer.org/eprise/main/docroot/PUB/c
ontent/PUB_3_8X_Environmental_Carcinogens-
Cellular_Phones_and_Risk_of_Brain_Tumors
• http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/05/
07/cell-phone-pollution.htm
• http://www.howstuffworks.com/