invention of modern cell phone

by Tamu April 6th 2009, 12:07 pm

Doctor Martin Cooper invented the modern cell phone. He invented the technology responsible for the cell phone when was the Director of Research and Development at Motorola. Cooper is also known as the first person to make a call on a cell phone. His groundbreaking call took place in April of 1973 in New York. He is currently the CEO of an antenna corporation.

The cell phone's precursors
The modern cell phone originated with Cooper; however, in order to completely understand the invention of the cell phone, you actually have to go back to the year 1947. It was then that the underlying technology that makes cell phones possible was invented. Known as hexagonal cells for mobile phone base stations, cell phones were invented through a joint effort between AT&T and Bell Labs. They were not actually used until the late 1950s.

Before the invention of hexagonal cells, the military (and some wealthy individuals and businesses) relied on radiophones. These phones required a large backpack device to transmit the phone's signal to a nearby station. With the invention of hexagonal cells in the late 1940s, radiophones were rendered almost completely useless.

The cell phone's competitors
There was another network competing for the title of "portable handset". The 0G network devised a "phone for the road", but this phone never became a true mobile phone because it was limited to a single cell. It was not until the hexagonal cells and a feature called handover was invented in 1970 that a mobile phone could be employed on long trips that required moving in and out of cells.

Mobile cell phones
Once the handover feature was implemented, it was only a matter of time before the cell phone was miniaturized sufficiently to be mobile. Yes, there were mobile phones before Martin Cooper's invention in 1973, but they all required some sort of backpack or car-mounted unit to be used effectively. It was not until Cooper came along that the mobile phone phone was turned into something that was actually mobile.

After 1973, cell phones took off slowly, partly due to their large size, highly cost, and relative uselessness for most individuals. The mid 1980s brought about fully automated cellular networks which mildly decreased the price and increased the amount of people using cell phones in their cars. It was not until the early to mid 1990s that cell phones were made small enough and cheap enough to appeal to the average consumer.