kaztm
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Registered: Feb 2001
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Posts: 3 |
quote: Originally posted by Eug
What is the PHS-network in a nutshell?
PHS stands for Personal Handyphone System.
It went in service in...well, somewhere around 1995?
The biggest technical difference compared to regular cell phone network we know is that PHS's antenna power is very low (less than 100mW.) Each relay station, which corresponds to a "cell" in the regular cell phone network, has the range of only 1,000 to 2,000 feet, however, because low power relay stations are incomparably cheaper than constructing hi-power towers, they placed dictionary-size relay stations on every several power poles, phone booth, building roof, etc. and came up with a coverage equivalent to that of regular cell phone, in well populated areas.
The concept began as "we use cordless phones at home, so let's make it work even outside our home." This is why PHS phones function both as a cell phone and as a house cordless phone simultaneously. When ringing, you can tell by sound and display whether the incoming call is for the house phone or for the cell phone. PHS phones can also function as mini transceivers, meaning they can call up each other without the help of the network or relay station.
Thanks to the low antenna power, PHS phones are extremely compact, as evident in compact flash size PHS devices. Because each relay stations are connected to ISDN, PHS has been offering 32kbps data rate for more than 5 years. They became capable of doing 64kbps years ago, and now packets and 128kbps is on the way. Pretty impressive speed for a cheap wireless solution, but Japan is now launching 384kbps service with next-generation cell phones.
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