Analog cell phones preceded the digital ones that we use today but most don’t really understand the difference between the two.
Being in the present and all, let’s discuss what digital cell phones actually are and how they work. When something is dubbed “digital” it really means that the product or service uses digital technology. Digital cell phones are the 2nd generation (2G) of cellular technology. Whereas analog technology uses a continuous range of values to represent information, digital technology uses discontinuous values which help fully utilize the signal between phones and cellular networks.
Digital cellular signals are characterized by their ability to be easily compressed and manipulated. A given bandwidth can hold more with digital systems. Digital systems today are also supported by the binary system. These phones convert our voices into binary information and then compress it allowing for much room. Because of the amount of conversion being done during usage, digital cell phones typically contain strong processors.
Basically, digital cell phones offer better quality of sound while increasing overall efficiency. Operators get the most out of their networks and can usually offer customers the newest services on the market as soon as possible. Because of the compressive abilities of digital cell phones, a large amount of people can use their phones within one coverage area. A greater amount of data can be sent between phones and these transmissions are usually resistant to static and signal fading.
Although 3G and 4G technologies have become wildly popular, some parts of the world still use 2G due to its positive impact on health concerns and prevention of fraud. This technology implemented within cell phones truly catalyzed the growth and advancement of better network systems and brought about data services we heavily rely on today such as SMS and email.