Mobile News



What is in a cell phone?

Inside a Cell Phone  March 2, 2023 – 12:27 am
What is a cellphone made of?

On a "complexity per cubic inch" scale, cell phones are some of the most intricate devices people use on a daily basis. Modern cell phones can process millions of calculations per second in order to compress and decompress the voice stream. If you have read How Cell Phones Work, you know that they can transmit and receive on hundreds of FM channels, switching channels in sync with base stations as the phone moves between cells.

If you ever take a cell phone apart you will find that it contains just a few individual parts:

  • A microscopic microphone
  • An antenna
  • An amazing circuit board containing the guts of the phone

In this picture several of the components are identified. Starting from the left you the see the Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog conversion chips. You can learn more about A-to-D and D-to-A conversion and its importance to digital audio in How CDs Work. The DSP is a "Digital Signal Processor" - a highly customized processor designed to perform signal manipulation calculations at high speed. This DSP is rated at about 40 MIPS (Millions of Instructions per Second) and handles all the signal compression and decompression. The microprocessor (Ericsson phones use an ASIC version of the Z-80) and memory handle all of the housekeeping chores for the keyboard and display, deal with command and control signaling with the base station and also coordinate the rest of the functions on the board. The RF and power section handles power management and recharging and also deals with the hundreds of FM channels. Finally the RF (Radio Frequency) amplifiers handle signals in and out of the antenna.

What is amazing is that all of that functionality - which only 30 years ago would have filled the entire floor of an office building - now fits into a package that sits comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Source: electronics.howstuffworks.com

Sandisk SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSDXC UHS-I Card with Adapter, Grey/Red, Standard Packaging (SDSQUNC-064G-GN6MA)
Personal Computer (Sandisk)
  • Ideal for premium Android based smartphones and tablets
  • Up to 80 MB/s transfer speed
  • Class 10 for Full HD video recording and playback
  • Water proof, temperature proof, shock proof, X-ray proof and magnet proof
  • Memory Zone app lets you auto-manage media and memory for peak phone performance
  • Comes with SD adapter for use in cameras
  • Ten-year limited warranty

Related posts:

  1. Which cell phone?
  2. Latest Apple cell phone
  3. What is an Apple iPhone?
  4. Whats new iPhone 6s
  5. Samsung LG Cell phones