Reliable Wireless Phone Service

A cell phone (also called a mobile phone or wireless phone) is a short-range, portable device used for mobile voice or data communication over a network of specialized base stations called cell sites.

In today’s world, cell phones are the size of palm, weigh a few ounces and offer amazing features that are owed a lot to the fast-evolving wireless phone services. They have made it possible for us to receive faxes, browse the internet, access GPS, send and receive email or play video games – all on our cell phones.

At the time of the launch of wireless phone services, phones and calls were very expensive and early mobile operators used to charge for all air time consumed by the user. Next follows the concept of “Receiving Party Pays” model in which both outbound and received calls are charged. With falling costs of wireless phone services, this concept has diminished very rapidly.
 
Wireless phone services adopt two popular modes of payment. A subscriber can opt for ‘pre-pay’ (or ‘pay-as-you-go’) model where conversation time is purchased and added to a phone unit using a sales point or electronic recharge method. The other system is the more traditional one where bills are paid by regular intervals.

Since wireless providers use individual radio frequencies multiple times by dividing a service are into separate geographic zones (called cell), each zone requires its own antenna to transfer the wireless call from the limits of the present zone to the neighboring one. One zone can cover from a few city blocks up to 250 square miles.

In each zone, there is a base station that has radio equipment including a wireless antenna that links the user with any network or the internet. A wireless tower varies in height from 15 to 48 meters and consists of an equipment cabinet placed with it on a concrete foundation and connected to a power source.

The signals received by the cell phone are low-energy radio signals transmitted from the closest antenna site, which then connects with the local telephone network. As we move from the range of one zone to another, the network senses the weakening of signals and hands off the call to a nearer antenna with a stronger signal.

Wireless phone services can be based on GSM, PCS, CDMA, TDMA, AMPS standards or standards that are derived from these. These services can be analog or digital. Analog systems modulate audio directly onto a carrier similar to FM Radio. Digital systems convert audio to digitized samples at about 8000 samples per second which are then transmitted in binary form. Upon reception, these signals are converted back to voltage levels after rectification to get the same audio signal.

The fast evolving wireless industry is now adopting newer standards and moving from 0G (zero generation) now to 3.5 and 4G. As the networks convert to packet-based setups, utilizing a bit of the same technology as the internet, wireless data services continue to expand. Today wireless networks operate at data speeds five to ten times greater than dial-up telephone or earlier wireless networks and offering more potential to convert a standard cell phone in to a full-fledged mobile office. You can have more information by using the internet.