A mobile phone, or cell phone,[a] is a portable telephone that allows users to make

and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated
telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones (landline phones). This radio
frequency link connects to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator,
providing access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile
telephony relies on a cellular network architecture, which is why mobile phones are
often referred to as 'cell phones' in North America.

Beyond traditional voice communication, digital mobile phones have evolved to

support a wide range of additional services. These include text messaging,
multimedia messaging, email, and internet access (via LTE, 5G NR or Wi-Fi), as well
as short-range wireless technologies like Bluetooth, infrared, and ultra-wideband
(UWB).

Mobile phones also support a variety of multimedia capabilities, such as digital

photography, video recording, and gaming. In addition, they enable multimedia
playback and streaming, including video content, as well as radio and television
streaming. Furthermore, mobile phones offer satellite-based services, such as
navigation and messaging, as well as business applications and payment solutions
(via near-field communication (NFC)).

Mobile phones offering only basic features are often referred to as feature phones
(slang: "dumbphones"), while those with advanced computing power are known as
smartphones.[1]

The first handheld mobile phone was demonstrated by Martin Cooper of Motorola in
New York City on 3 April 1973, using a handset weighing c. 2 kilograms (4.4 lbs).
[2] In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) launched the world's first
cellular network in Japan.[3] In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first commercially
available handheld mobile phone. From 1983 to 2014, worldwide mobile phone
subscriptions grew to over seven billion; enough to provide one for every person on
Earth.[4] In the first quarter of 2016, the top smartphone developers worldwide
were Samsung, Apple and Huawei; smartphone sales represented 78 percent of total
mobile phone sales.[5] For feature phones as of 2016, the top-selling brands were
Samsung, Nokia and Alcatel.[6]

Mobile phones are considered an important human invention as they have been one of
the most widely used and sold pieces of consumer technology.[7] The growth in
popularity has been rapid in some places, for example, in the UK, the total number
of mobile phones overtook the number of houses in 1999.[8] Today, mobile phones are
globally ubiquitous,[9] and in almost half the world's countries, over 90% of the
population owns at least one.[10]

History
Main article: History of mobile phones

Martin Cooper of Motorola, shown here in a 2007 reenactment, made the first
publicized handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC model on 3 April 1973.
A handheld mobile radio telephone service was envisioned in the early stages of
radio engineering. In 1917, Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt filed a patent for a
"pocket-size folding telephone with a very thin carbon microphone". Early
predecessors of cellular phones included analog radio communications from ships and
trains. The race to create truly portable telephone devices began after World War
II, with developments taking place in many countries. The advances in mobile
telephony have been traced in successive "generations", starting with the early
zeroth-generation (0G) services, such as Bell System's Mobile Telephone Service and
its successor, the Improved Mobile Telephone Service. These 0G systems were not
cellular, supported a few simultaneous calls, and were very expensive.
The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available
handheld cellular mobile phone.
The first handheld cellular mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell[11]
[12] and Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing 2 kilograms
(4.4 lb).[2] The first commercial automated cellular network (1G) analog was
launched in Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in 1979. This was followed in
1981 by the simultaneous launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system in
Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.[13] Several other countries then followed in
the early to mid-1980s. These first-generation (1G) systems could support far more
simultaneous calls but still used analog cellular technology. In 1983, the DynaTAC
8000x was the first commercially available handheld mobile phone.

In 1991, the second-generation (2G) digital cellular technology was launched in

Finland by Radiolinja on the GSM standard. This sparked competition in the sector
as the new operators challenged the incumbent 1G network operators. The GSM
standard is a European initiative expressed at the CEPT ("Conférence Européenne des
Postes et Telecommunications", European Postal and Telecommunications conference).
The Franco-German R&D cooperation demonstrated the technical feasibility, and in
1987, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between 13 European countries that
agreed to launch a commercial service by 1991. The first version of the GSM
standard had 6,000 pages. The IEEE and RSE awarded Thomas Haug and Philippe Dupuis
the 2018 James Clerk Maxwell medal for their contributions to the first digital
mobile telephone standard.[14] In 2018, the GSM was used by over 5 billion people
in over 220 countries. The GSM (2G) has evolved into 3G, 4G and 5G. The
standardization body for GSM started at the CEPT Working Group GSM (Group Special
Mobile) in 1982 under the umbrella of CEPT. In 1988, ETSI was established, and all
CEPT standardization activities were transferred to ETSI. Working Group GSM became
Technical Committee GSM. In 1991, it became Technical Committee SMG (Special Mobile
Group) when ETSI tasked the committee with UMTS (3G). In addition to transmitting
voice over digital signals, the 2G network introduced data services for mobile,
starting with SMS text messages, then expanding to Multimedia Messaging Service
(MMS), and mobile internet with a theoretical maximum transfer speed of 384 kbit/s
(48 kB/s).

Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992

Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003

In 2001, the third-generation (3G) was launched in Japan by NTT DoCoMo on the WCDMA
standard.[15] This was followed by 3.5G or 3G+ enhancements based on the high-speed
packet access (HSPA) family, allowing UMTS networks to have higher data transfer
speeds and capacity. 3G is able to provide mobile broadband access of several
Mbit/s to smartphones and mobile modems in laptop computers. This ensures it can be
applied to mobile Internet access, VoIP, video calls, and sending large e-mail
messages, as well as watching videos, typically in standard-definition quality.

By 2009, it had become clear that, at some point, 3G networks would be overwhelmed
by the growth of bandwidth-intensive applications, such as streaming media.[16]
Consequently, the industry began looking to data-optimized fourth-generation (4G)
technologies, with the promise of speed improvements up to tenfold over existing 3G
technologies. The first publicly available LTE service was launched in Scandinavia
by TeliaSonera in 2009. In the 2010s, 4G technology has found diverse applications
across various sectors, showcasing its versatility in delivering high-speed
wireless communication, such as mobile broadband, the internet of things (IoT),
fixed wireless access, and multimedia streaming (including music, video, radio, and
television).

Deployment of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks commenced worldwide in 2019.

The term "5G" was originally used in research papers and projects to denote the
next major phase in mobile telecommunication standards beyond the 4G/IMT-Advanced
standards. The 3GPP defines 5G as any system that adheres to the 5G NR (5G New
Radio) standard. 5G can be implemented in low-band, mid-band or high-band
millimeter-wave, with download speeds that can achieve gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s)
range, aiming for a network latency of 1 ms. This near-real-time responsiveness and
improved overall data performance are crucial for applications like online gaming,
augmented and virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, IoT, and critical communication
services.

Types

Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants[17]

Smartphone
Main article: Smartphone
Smartphones are defined by their advanced computing capabilities, which include
internet connectivity and access to a wide range of applications. The International
Telecommunication Union measures those with Internet connection, which it calls
Active Mobile-Broadband subscriptions (which includes tablets, etc.). In developed
countries, smartphones have largely replaced earlier mobile technologies, while in
developing regions, they account for around 50% of all mobile phone usage.

Feature phone
Main article: Feature phone
Feature phone is a term typically used as a retronym to describe mobile phones
which are limited in capabilities in contrast to a modern smartphone. Feature
phones typically provide voice calling and text messaging functionality, in
addition to basic multimedia and Internet capabilities, and other services offered
by the user's wireless service provider. A feature phone has additional functions
over and above a basic mobile phone, which is only capable of voice calling and
text messaging.[18][19] Feature phones and basic mobile phones tend to use a
proprietary, custom-designed software and user interface. By contrast, smartphones
generally use a mobile operating system that often shares common traits across
devices.

Infrastructure
Main articles: Cellular network and Wi-Fi

Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example
frequencies f1–f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference
The critical advantage that modern cellular networks have over predecessor systems
is the concept of frequency reuse allowing many simultaneous telephone
conversations in a given service area. This allows efficient use of the limited
radio spectrum allocated to mobile services, and lets thousands of subscribers
converse at the same time within a given geographic area.

Former systems would cover a service area with one or two powerful base stations
with a range of up to tens of kilometers' (miles), using only a few sets of radio
channels (frequencies). Once these few channels were in use by customers, no
further customers could be served until another user vacated a channel. It would be
impractical to give every customer a unique channel since there would not be enough
bandwidth allocated to the mobile service. As well, technical limitations such as
antenna efficiency and receiver design limit the range of frequencies a customer
unit could use.

A cellular network mobile phone system gets its name from dividing the service area
into many small cells, each with a base station with (for example) a useful range
on the order of a kilometer (mile). These systems have dozens or hundreds of
possible channels allocated to them. When a subscriber is using a given channel for
a telephone connection, that frequency is unavailable for other customers in the
local cell and in the adjacent cells. However, cells further away can re-use that
channel without interference as the subscriber's handset is too far away to be
detected. The transmitter power of each base station is coordinated to efficiently
service its own cell, but not to interfere with the cells further away.

Automation embedded in the customer's handset and in the base stations control all
phases of the call, from detecting the presence of a handset in a service area,
temporary assignment of a channel to a handset making a call, interface with the
land-line side of the network to connect to other subscribers, and collection of
billing information for the service. The automation systems can control the "hand
off" of a customer handset moving between one cell and another so that a call in
progress continues without interruption, changing channels if required. In the
earliest mobile phone systems by contrast, all control was done manually; the
customer would search for an unoccupied channel and speak to a mobile operator to
request connection of a call to a landline number or another mobile. At the
termination of the call the mobile operator would manually record the billing
information.

Mobile phones communicate with cell towers that are placed to give coverage across
a telephone service area, which is divided up into 'cells'. Each cell uses a
different set of frequencies from neighboring cells, and will typically be covered
by three towers placed at different locations. The cell towers are usually
interconnected to each other and the phone network and the internet by wired
connections. Due to bandwidth limitations each cell will have a maximum number of
cell phones it can handle at once. The cells are therefore sized depending on the
expected usage density, and may be much smaller in cities. In that case much lower
transmitter powers are used to avoid broadcasting beyond the cell.

In order to handle the high traffic, multiple towers can be set up in the same area
(using different frequencies). This can be done permanently or temporarily such as
at special events or in disasters. Cell phone companies will bring a truck with
equipment to host the abnormally high traffic.

Capacity was further increased when phone companies implemented digital networks.
With digital, one frequency can host multiple simultaneous calls.

Additionally, short-range Wi-Fi infrastructure is often used by smartphones as much

as possible as it offloads traffic from cell networks on to local area networks.

Hardware
Main article: Mobile phone features
The common components found on all mobile phones are:

A central processing unit (CPU), the processor of phones. The CPU is a

microprocessor fabricated on a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit
(IC) chip.
A battery, providing the power source for the phone functions. A modern handset
typically uses a lithium-ion battery (LIB), whereas older handsets used nickel–
metal hydride (Ni–MH) batteries.
An input mechanism to allow the user to interact with the phone. These are a keypad
for feature phones, and touch screens for most smartphones (typically with
capacitive sensing).
A display which echoes the user's typing, and displays text messages, contacts, and
more. The display is typically either a liquid-crystal display (LCD) or organic
light-emitting diode (OLED) display.
Speakers for sound.
Subscriber identity module (SIM) cards and removable user identity module (R-UIM)
cards.
A hardware notification LED on some phones
Low-end mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones and offer basic
telephony. Handsets with more advanced computing ability through the use of native
software applications are known as smartphones. The first GSM phones and many
feature phones had NOR flash memory, from which processor instructions could be
executed directly in an execute in place architecture and allowed for short boot
times. With smartphones, NAND flash memory was adopted as it has larger storage
capacities and lower costs, but causes longer boot times because instructions
cannot be executed from it directly, and must be copied to RAM memory first before
execution.[20]

Central processing unit

Mobile phones have central processing units (CPUs), similar to those in computers,
but optimised to operate in low power environments.

Mobile CPU performance depends not only on the clock rate (generally given in
multiples of hertz)[21] but also the memory hierarchy also greatly affects overall
performance. Because of these problems, the performance of mobile phone CPUs is
often more appropriately given by scores derived from various standardized tests to
measure the real effective performance in commonly used applications.

Display
Main article: Display device
One of the main characteristics of phones is the screen. Depending on the device's
type and design, the screen fills most or nearly all of the space on a device's
front surface. Many smartphone displays have an aspect ratio of 16:9, but taller
aspect ratios became more common in 2017.

Screen sizes are often measured in diagonal inches or millimeters; feature phones
generally have screen sizes below 90 millimetres (3.5 in). Phones with screens
larger than 130 millimetres (5.2 in) are often called "phablets." Smartphones with
screens over 115 millimetres (4.5 in) in size are commonly difficult to use with
only a single hand, since most thumbs cannot reach the entire screen surface; they
may need to be shifted around in the hand, held in one hand and manipulated by the
other, or used in place with both hands. Due to design advances, some modern
smartphones with large screen sizes and "edge-to-edge" designs have compact builds
that improve their ergonomics, while the shift to taller aspect ratios have
resulted in phones that have larger screen sizes whilst maintaining the ergonomics
associated with smaller 16:9 displays.[22][23][24]

Liquid-crystal displays are the most common; others are IPS, LED, OLED, and AMOLED
displays. Some displays are integrated with pressure-sensitive digitizers, such as
those developed by Wacom and Samsung,[25] and Apple's "3D Touch" system.

Sound
In sound, smartphones and feature phones vary little. Some audio-quality enhancing
features, such as Voice over LTE and HD Voice, have appeared and are often
available on newer smartphones. Sound quality can remain a problem due to the
design of the phone, the quality of the cellular network and compression algorithms
used in long-distance calls.[26][27] Audio quality can be improved using a VoIP
application over WiFi.[28] Cellphones have small speakers so that the user can use
a speakerphone feature and talk to a person on the phone without holding it to
their ear. The small speakers can also be used to listen to digital audio files of
music or speech or watch videos with an audio component, without holding the phone
close to the ear.

Battery
The typical lifespan of a mobile phone battery is approximately two to three years,
although this varies based on usage patterns, environmental conditions, and overall
care. Most modern mobile phones use lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which are
designed to endure between 500 and 2,500 charge cycles. The exact number of cycles
depends on factors such as charging habits, operating temperature, and battery
management systems.[29]

Li-ion batteries gradually degrade over time due to chemical aging, leading to
reduced capacity and performance, often noticeable after one or two years of
regular use. Unlike older battery types, such as nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH), Li-
ion batteries do not need to be fully discharged to maintain their longevity. In
fact, they perform best when kept between 30% and 80% of their full charge.[30]
While practices such as avoiding excessive heat and minimizing overcharging can
help preserve battery health, many modern devices include built-in safeguards.[31]
These safeguards, typically managed by the phone's internal battery management
system (BMS), prevent overcharging by cutting off power once the battery reaches
full capacity. Additionally, most contemporary chargers and devices are designed to
regulate charging to minimize stress on the battery. Therefore, while good charging
habits can positively impact battery longevity, most users benefit from these
integrated protections, making battery maintenance less of a concern in day-to-day
use.[32][33]

Future mobile phone batteries are expected to utilize advanced technologies such as
silicon-carbon (Si/C) batteries and solid-state batteries, which promise to offer
higher energy densities, longer lifespans, and improved safety compared to current
lithium-ion batteries.[34][35][36]

SIM card
Main articles: SIM card and Removable User Identity Module

Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card

Mobile phones require a small microchip called a Subscriber Identity Module or SIM
card, in order to function. The SIM card is approximately the size of a small
postage stamp and is usually placed underneath the battery in the rear of the unit.
The SIM securely stores the service-subscriber key (IMSI) and the Ki used to
identify and authenticate the user of the mobile phone. The SIM card allows users
to change phones by simply removing the SIM card from one mobile phone and
inserting it into another mobile phone or broadband telephony device, provided that
this is not prevented by a SIM lock. The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich
smart card maker Giesecke & Devrient for the Finnish wireless network operator
Radiolinja.[citation needed]

A hybrid mobile phone can hold up to four SIM cards, with a phone having a
different device identifier for each SIM Card. SIM and R-UIM cards may be mixed
together to allow both GSM and CDMA networks to be accessed. From 2010 onwards,
such phones became popular in emerging markets,[37] and this was attributed to the
desire to obtain the lowest calling costs.

When the removal of a SIM card is detected by the operating system, it may deny
further operation until a reboot.[38]