Straight Talk With Nick is a monthly column where I write about things that are on my mind.
This month?
It’s about cell towers and how they work.
And how, by making sure the signals are processed more efficiently = faster download times for you (that’s how technology impacts the entertainment world. Faster download times = you can watch/read/communicate with each other faster. With no lag time)
What you want to focus on?
@vfiorese_ thoughts that follows my thread (his LinkedIn profile is here: Virgilio Fiorese (VICO)
Why?
A) Virgilio is a network engineer = expert in the field
B) after you read Virgilio’s explanation, you’ll understand the relationship between your smartphone and cell phone towers and
C) follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.
I can guarantee you’ll learn a lot from him. I always do.
Mistakes are mine
—–
Good afternoon Twitter!
Tech’s impact on the entertainment 🌎?
(a thread)
1/n background: when you walk/travel with your smartphone, it’s searching for a signal from your cell phone provider
2/n most of the times, it’s from a cell phone tower/site pic.twitter.com/f9UnUEiIcu
— Nick Tang (@nickhtang) June 30, 2020
3/n keep in mind that your cell phone provider doesn’t own these.
It’s outsourced to third parties (this article from @SeekingAlpha explains it all: https://t.co/H4Cu09j8G4)
— Nick Tang (@nickhtang) June 30, 2020
4/n and since your smartphone signals are competing with your wi-fi ones (@vfiorese_ can explain this much better than I) = traffic jam in the air (that’s my understanding of it).
P.S. That’s your smartphone trying to get a signal pic.twitter.com/JUgCO3ClAq
— Nick Tang (@nickhtang) June 30, 2020
5/5 One solution?
Why not use #ArtificialIntelligence #Machine #language?
So it can predict and map out the predict path = no interference from wifi and other bands = stronger, clearer signal = you win (faster download time) @NIST is working on it:https://t.co/XXzj3uhmQh
— Nick Tang (@nickhtang) June 30, 2020
WOW! Step by step to get into the formula, I talked about this formula on @LinkedIn and with support from math #AI/ML experts, like my friend @farismismar! You pointed good concepts that people need to understand, and I will try to explain here at a high level.
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
1 – There is something called the last mile, when using Mobile Handsets it is always Wireless communication, either via #WiFi or based on #3GPP modems, in both cases those are defined by entities that help to create standards between your devices and the access points.
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
2 – There is something called a spectrum, the frequency to be used in the air interface between your device and the access points, WiFi or Mobile antennas, this needs to be coordinate by regulatory agencies, and again needs to be a standard between devices and access points.
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
3 – I will split the scenarios, let’s talk about Mobile, when your devices connect to an antenna, in the US, until now these antennas are provided by the Mobile carrier, together with radio units and computing power to process the signals, BUT they physically rely on 3PP
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
4 – the 3PP are real state companies, like Crown Castle, American Tower, SBA, Vertical Bridge, etc. they rent/own land, they build sites, containers and towers and they lease this space for Mobile Carrier to install the Antennas, Radios, computing, and transport.
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
5 – The focus on that formula you mentioned is to help in the optimization of critical resources, and the spectrum is a critical resource, the spectrum can be a bottleneck for the last mile, likewise your WiFi router, if can’t keep adding devices to a tower indefinitely
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
6 – So in the Mobile tech industry, to solve the problem of last-mile we have some alternatives: 1 – To add more spectrum, not easy, it requires FCC coordination/licensing, 2 – to create antennas that can build more beams in the same spectrum, 3 – reduce the coverage of the site
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
adding more sites, so we have fewer users per site, 4 – optimizing the protocol between device and antennas so we can transfer data with fewer bits, 5 – to use tilting techniques to change coverage patterns, now all these examples requires automation and formulas are needed.
— Vico! #Telecom 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇺🇸🇦🇷 (@vfiorese_) June 30, 2020
