FAMILY5 - Dear Uncle Doug
Dear Uncle Doug, I want to update you on the development of mobile cellular telephones, the rapid advancements in capability, and the fantastic growth of mobile telephone users and coverage networks since you first introduced the cellular concept in an internal memo at AT&T’s Bell Labs in 1947. In your memo, titled “Mobile Telephony - Wide Area Coverage,” you outlined a standard high-capacity land mobile radio telephone system that could provide wide area coverage with a modest allocation of frequencies, using low power transmitters for small-area “cells,” and permitting significant frequency reuse within the service area. You identified the ideal cellular hexagonal layout; identified the concept of dividing cells into even smaller areas (cell splitting) to increase capacity when demand increased; and identified the need for automatic "handoff" techniques as callers moved from Point A to Point B . Finally, you noted that base stations could control the transmitt