Like the Internet World Maps, this picture illustrates the popularity of various social networks across different countries of the world. Credit: lemonde.fr.
This world map shows the popularity of social networking websites in different countries. Orkut sweeps Brazil and India, LiveJournal is in Russia while MySpace is all over Australia. Credit: ValleyWag
The above visualizations show the density of Internet connections worldwide and how international cities are connected. Credit: Chris
The Internet Black Hole world map depict countries where Internet Filtering is common and freedom of online expression is a rare commodity. China, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and other countries where Internet access is restricted are included in the Black Hole world map. Credit: RSF
The map shows regions where blogging and Web 2.0 is popular. The bulk of is concentrated in North America, Europe, Australia and South Asia. Countries Where Web 2.0 Is Popular
This poster of online communities shows the various social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Orkut, etc represented as islands and continents in the style of a “treasure map.” The relative size of the land roughly represents the size of that community on the web. Credit: xkcd
And finally, this real image of the world from NASA shows what our planet Earth looks like at night. The bright portions are due to the city lights.
These days, cell phones provide an incredible array of functions, and new ones are being added at a breakneck pace. Depending on the cell-phone model, you can:
But have you ever wondered how a cell phone works? What makes it different from a regular phone? What do all those terms like PCS, GSM, CDMA and TDMA mean? In this article, we will discuss the technology behind cell phones so that you can see how amazing they really are. If you are thinking about buying a cell phone, be sure to check out How Buying a Cell Phone Works to learn what you should know before making a purchase.
To start with, one of the most interesting things about a cell phone is that it is actually a radio -- an extremely sophisticated radio, but a radio nonetheless. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, and wireless communication can trace its roots to the invention of the radio by Nikolai Tesla in the 1880s (formally presented in 1894 by a young Italian named Guglielmo Marconi). It was only natural that these two great technologies would eventually be combined.
Cell-phone Frequencies
In the dark ages before cell phones, people who really needed mobile-communications ability installed radio telephones in their cars. In the radio-telephone system, there was one central antenna tower per city, and perhaps 25 channels available on that tower. This central antenna meant that the phone in your car needed a powerful transmitter -- big enough to transmit 40 or 50 miles (about 70 km). It also meant that not many people could use radio telephones -- there just were not enough channels.
The genius of the cellular system is the division of a city into small cells. This allows extensive frequency reuse across a city, so that millions of people can use cell phones simultaneously.
A good way to understand the sophistication of a cell phone is to compare it to a CB radio or a walkie-talkie.
Full-duplex vs. half-duplex - Both walkie-talkies and CB radios are half-duplex devices. That is, two people communicating on a CB radio use the same frequency, so only one person can talk at a time. A cell phone is a full-duplex device. That means that you use one frequency for talking and a second, separate frequency for listening. Both people on the call can talk at once.
Channels - A walkie-talkie typically has one channel, and a CB radio has 40 channels. A typical cell phone can communicate on 1,664 channels or more!
Range - A walkie-talkie can transmit about 1 mile (1.6 km) using a 0.25-watt transmitter. A CB radio, because it has much higher power, can transmit about 5 miles (8 km) using a 5-watt transmitter. Cell phones operate within cells, and they can switch cells as they move around. Cells give cell phones incredible range. Someone using a cell phone can drive hundreds of miles and maintain a conversation the entire time because of the cellular approach.
In half-duplex radio, both transmitters use the same frequency. Only one party can talk at a time.
In full-duplex radio, the two transmitters use different frequencies, so both parties can talk at the same time.
Cell phones are full-duplex.
In a typical analog cell-phone system in the United States, the cell-phone carrier receives about 800 frequencies to use across the city. The carrier chops up the city into cells. Each cell is typically sized at about 10 square miles (26 square kilometers). Cells are normally thought of as hexagons on a big hexagonal grid, like this:
Because cell phones and base stations use low-power transmitters, the same frequencies can be reused in non-adjacent cells. The two purple cells can reuse the same frequencies.
Each cell has a base station that consists of a tower and a small building containing the radio equipment. We'll get into base stations later. First, let's examine the "cells" that make up a cellular system.
CELL PHONE CHANNELS
A single cell in an analog cell-phone system uses one-seventh of the available duplex voice channels. That is, each cell (of the seven on a hexagonal grid) is using one-seventh of the available channels so it has a unique set of frequencies and there are no collisions:
A cell-phone carrier typically gets 832 radio frequencies to use in a city.
Each cell phone uses two frequencies per call -- a duplex channel -- so there are typically 395 voice channels per carrier. (The other 42 frequencies are used for control channels -- more on this later.)
Therefore, each cell has about 56 voice channels available. In other words, in any cell, 56 people can be talking on their cell phone at one time. Analog cellular systems are considered first-generation mobile technology, or 1G. With digital transmission methods (2G), the number of available channels increases. For example, a TDMA-based digital system (more on TDMA later) can carry three times as many calls as an analog system, so each cell has about 168 channels available.
Cell phones have low-power transmitters in them. Many cell phones have two signal strengths: 0.6 watts and 3 watts (for comparison, most CB radios transmit at 4 watts). The base station is also transmitting at low power. Low-power transmitters have two advantages:
The transmissions of a base station and the phones within its cell do not make it very far outside that cell. Therefore, in the figure above, both of the purple cells can reuse the same 56 frequencies. The same frequencies can be reused extensively across the city.
The power consumption of the cell phone, which is normally battery-operated, is relatively low. Low power means small batteries, and this is what has made handheld cellular phones possible.
The cellular approach requires a large number of base stations in a city of any size. A typical large city can have hundreds of towers. But because so many people are using cell phones, costs remain low per user. Each carrier in each city also runs one central office called the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO). This office handles all of the phone connections to the normal land-based phone system, and controls all of the base stations in the region.
CELL PHONE CODES
All cell phones have special codes associated with them. These codes are used to identify the phone, the phone's owner and the service provider.
Let's say you have a cell phone, you turn it on and someone tries to call you. Here is what happens to the call:
When you first power up the phone, it listens for an SID (see sidebar) on the control channel. The control channel is a special frequency that the phone and base station use to talk to one another about things like call set-up and channel changing. If the phone cannot find any control channels to listen to, it knows it is out of range and displays a "no service" message.
When it receives the SID, the phone compares it to the SID programmed into the phone. If the SIDs match, the phone knows that the cell it is communicating with is part of its home system.
Along with the SID, the phone also transmits a registration request, and the MTSO keeps track of your phone's location in a database -- this way, the MTSO knows which cell you are in when it wants to ring your phone.
The MTSO gets the call, and it tries to find you. It looks in its database to see which cell you are in.
The MTSO picks a frequency pair that your phone will use in that cell to take the call.
The MTSO communicates with your phone over the control channel to tell it which frequencies to use, and once your phone and the tower switch on those frequencies, the call is connected. Now, you are talking by two-way radio to a friend.
As you move toward the edge of your cell, your cell's base station notes that your signal strength is diminishing. Meanwhile, the base station in the cell you are moving toward (which is listening and measuring signal strength on all frequencies, not just its own one-seventh) sees your phone's signal strength increasing. The two base stations coordinate with each other through the MTSO, and at some point, your phone gets a signal on a control channel telling it to change frequencies. This hand off switches your phone to the new cell.
As you travel, the signal is passed from cell to cell.
Let's say you're on the phone and you move from one cell to another -- but the cell you move into is covered by another service provider, not yours. Instead of dropping the call, it'll actually be handed off to the other service provider.
If the SID on the control channel does not match the SID programmed into your phone, then the phone knows it is roaming. The MTSO of the cell that you are roaming in contacts the MTSO of your home system, which then checks its database to confirm that the SID of the phone you are using is valid. Your home system verifies your phone to the local MTSO, which then tracks your phone as you move through its cells. And the amazing thing is that all of this happens within seconds.
The less amazing thing is that you may be charged insane rates for your roaming call. On most phones, the word "roam" will come up on your phone's screen when you leave your provider's coverage area and enter another's. If not, you'd better study your coverage maps carefully -- more than one person has been unpleasantly surprised by the cost of roaming. Check your service contract carefully to find out how much you're paying when you roam.
Note that if you want to roam internationally, you'll need a phone that will work both at home and abroad. Different countries use different cellular access technologies. More on those technologies later. First, let's get some background on analog cell-phone technology so we can understand how the industry has developed.
To change the direction that the orbiter is pointed (attitude), you must use the reaction control system (RCS) located on the nose and OMS pods of the aft fuselage.
Photo courtesy NASAOMS firing
The RCS has 14 jets that can move the orbiter along each axis of rotation (pitch, roll, yaw). The RCS thrusters burn monomethyl hydrazine fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer just like the OMS engines described previously. Attitude changes are required for deploying satellites or for pointing (mapping instruments, telescopes) at the Earth or stars.
To change orbits (e.g., rendezvous, docking maneuvers), you must fire the OMS engines. As described above, these engines change the velocity of the orbiter to place it in a higher or lower orbit (see How Satellites Work for details on orbits).
Tracking and Communication
You must be able to talk with flight controllers on the ground daily for the routine operation of the mission. In addition, you must be able to communicate with each other inside the orbiter or its payload modules and when conducting spacewalks outside.
NASA's Mission Control in Houston will send signals to a 60 ft radio antenna at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. White Sands will relay the signals to a pair of Tracking and Data Relay satellites in orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. The satellites will relay the signals to the space shuttle. The system works in reverse as well.
The orbiter has two systems for communicating with the ground:
S-band - voice, commands, telemetry and data files
Ku-band (high bandwidth) - video and transferring two-way data files
The orbiter has several intercom plug-in audio terminal units located throughout the crew compartment. You will wear a personal communications control with a headset. The communications control is battery-powered and can be switched from intercom to transmit functions. You can either push to talk and release to listen or have a continuously open communication line. To talk with spacewalkers, the system uses a UHF frequency, which is picked up in the astronaut's spacesuit.
The orbiter also has a series of internal and external video cameras to see inside and outside.
Navigation, Power and Computers
The orbiter must be able to know precisely where it is in space, where other objects are and how to change orbit. To know where it is and how fast it is moving, the orbiter uses global positioning systems (GPS). To know which way it is pointing (attitude), the orbiter has several gyroscopes. All of this information is fed into the flight computers for rendezvous and docking maneuvers, which are controlled in the aft station of the flight deck.
All of the on-board systems of the orbiter require electrical power. Three fuel cells make electricity; they are located in the mid fuselage under the payload bay. These fuel cells combine oxygen and hydrogen from pressurized tanks in the mid fuselage to make electricity and water. Like a power grid on Earth, the orbiter has a distribution system to supply electrical power to various instrument bays and areas of the ship. The water is used by the crew and for cooling.
The orbiter has five on-board computers that handle data processing and control critical flight systems. The computers monitor equipment and talk to each other and vote to settle arguments. Computers control critical adjustments especially during launch and landing:
operations of the orbiter (housekeeping functions, payload operations, rendezvous/docking)
interface with the crew
caution and warning systems
data acquisition and processing from experiments
flight maneuvers
Pilots essentially fly the computers, which fly the shuttle. To make this easier, the shuttles have a Multifunctional Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS), which is a new, full color, flat, 11-panel display system. The MEDS, also known as the "glass cockpit", provides graphic portrayals of key light indicators (attitude, altitude, speed). The MEDS panels are easy to read and make it easier for shuttle pilots to interact with the orbiter.
See larger image ThinkGeek introduces a cool new black t-shirt with a useful functionality. The Wi-Fi Detector T-shirt as the name already implies shows the signal strength of available Wi-Fi hotspots near you.
The Wi-Fi Detector T-Shirt can detect 802.11b and 802.11g networks. The rings around the tower on the T-shirt logo light-up depending on the signal strength.
The Wi-Fi T-Shirt will sell for $29.99 when it begins shipping later this month from ThinkGeek.
You can use the "Email me when available link" on ThinkGeek to remind you about this great new black T-Shirt.
The Wi-Fi Detector T-Shirt is powered by 3 AAA batteries.
IF THIS IS POSIBLE WHY DON'T YOU DESIGN ON
The MC1 is really a joint project between two companies: MotorCity Europe and C2P Automotive. C2P handled development of the MC1 and will likely be responsible for building it, while MCE coordinated its design. Mechanically speaking, all we know is that the MC1 is powered by a 600bhp V10 and features an all-carbon fiber monocoque chassis. Its wheels are enormous at 20-inches up front and 21-inches in the rear. In terms of size, CAR states that the MC1 is “slightly shorter and narrower than a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, and a mere 15mm higher.”
The MCE MC1 is still not necessarily destined for production, as this “concept” needs funding to get flying. But MCE has obviously done a lot of heavy lifting so far, including track testing and nailing the car’s overall aesthetic, which, as you can see in the gallery, is every bit as ostentatious as a supercar should be.
