What is a mobile phone?
The answer to what is a mobile phone may be answered by the first ever documented cellphone use in history happened in 1946 by the Swedish police in Sweden. Used like a two way radio, the cellphone was connected to a telephone network and was far from being perfect or even practical - the phone's batteries died after only 6 calls. Mobile phone technology was first developed in the 1960's and by 1967, calls from and to mobile phones could be made.
A new technology
The user could not leave a prescribed area to complete the call though. It wasn't until 1970 when Amos Edward Joel, from the Bell Labs came up with the call handoff technology. The system allowed the user to move from one area to another without having to drop the call and answered the question what is a mobile phone?
In 1971, AT&T requested a cellular service request from the FCC. The request took 10 years to approve until the FCC finally gave frequencies to the AMPS or Advance Mobile Phone Service giving roots to the question what is mobile phone? AMPS started off as analog service until 1990 when it went digital. Through the following decades, more technology was developed to answer the question what is a mobile phone and to make it more available.
Mobile car phone
The earlier models required the use of a vehicle in order to house their enormous batteries. A mobile that was developed by Eriksson and made available in Sweden in 1950 weighed over 80 pounds. Advances were made to the model in the later years, reducing its total weight to around 20 pounds. A size and a weight that is nowhere near the portability of the handsets available today.
All generations
Cellular phones have evolved greatly from when it was first developed. The first generation mobile phones were said to have evolved from Japan in 1979. 1n 1991, the second generation began its wave in Finland with the use of digital technologies like CDMA and GSM. Japan once again makes cellular history by spearheading the 3rd generation systems. The 3rd gen cell phones support voice services and speedy data.
Your phone is a radio
So what is a mobile phone and how does it work? The first thing you must know is that it's actually a two-way radio. It is able to send and receive signals with cell sites or base stations, much like how a radio transmits its signals. So what is a mobile phone can actually be answered by asking what a radio is? A person's voice talking on the cellphone turns into radio waves, which travel through the air until a base site is reached. The base station then sends these radio waves through the communication network until it reaches the receiver the caller intends it for. The base station nearest to the receiver of the call picks up the radio waves until his handset detects them. The mobile phone then converts the waves into voice, which enables the call to take place. This procedure answers the "what is a mobile phone" question.
On top of things
Microwave antennas are fitted onto the base station of telephone networks. These stations are usually found on top of towers or other high structures. These base stations feature low powered radio transmitters, which keeps the communications flowing between the switch and the mobile phones. The switch is responsible for connecting the call to other mobile phones with the same service provider. Hopefully this article satisfied your curiosity and answered your "what is a mobile phone" question.