How Does a Mobile Phone Work?

A mobile phone, popularly known as a cell phone, is a mobile device used for voice and data communication over the network of base stations, sites where antennas and electronic communication equipment together create a cell in a mobile phone network. As we all know, the mobile phones of today are used for many other purposes than the standard voice function, which is the primary purpose of a mobile phone. Today, mobile phones are used for text messaging by means of SMS, for sending and receiving videos and photographs by means of MMS and for email and Internet services by means of GPRS. The mobile phones of the modern times also support technologies like infrared and bluetooth, thus enabling inexpensive ways of communication. For most of us, our mobile phone is one technological devise that we cannot do without. We need it with us everywhere!

How does a mobile phone work?

A mobile phone is a two-way radio, as it sends and receives radio signals with cell site base stations. When a person talks on a cellular phone, the voice message gets converted into radio waves. The radio waves travel through air until they reach a base station close by. The base station sends the call across the communication network after which the call reaches the intended receiver of the call. The base station in the vicinity of the mobile phone being called sends the radio waves for the receiver's devise to detect them. The mobile phone of the receiver converts the signals into voice and the phone call takes place.

Base stations that form the telephone network for mobile phones are fitted with microwave antennas and are usually mounted on high structures such as a pole or a tower. They have low powered radio transmitters, which relay communications between the mobile phones and the switch. The switch connects the call to the other subscribers of the same service provider.

Cellular technology has evolved through generations. The first generation mobile phones used analog networks and evolved in Japan in 1979. The second-generation systems began in Finland in 1991 and made use of digital technologies such as GSM and CDMA. The third generation systems began in Japan in 2001. They support high-speed data and voice services.

Mobile phones obtain power from batteries, which can be recharged from mains power. Nickel metal-hydride batteries or lithium ion batteries are used for mobile phones. Many mobile phones have recently shifted to using lithium-polymer batteries as they are light in weight and offer flexibility in their shapes. Under the mobile phone battery lies a small microchip known as the Subscriber Identification Module, which all of us know as the SIM card. This small chip stores the mobile phone's configuration details and the information about the phone.

When a mobile phone is turned on, it registers with the switch that can then alert the mobile phone of incoming calls. The mobile device listens to the signals being sent by the surrounding base stations and switches smoothly between sites. A device can switch between networks without disturbing an ongoing call by transferring a call from one channel to another. This process is known as a handoff.

While you conveniently roam about carrying your mobile phone, the telecommunication network across the world is at work, making and maintaining your calls and helping you stay 'connected'!