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Advanced Mobile Phone System

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Motorola DynaTAC 8000X TACS mobile phone

Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) was an analog mobile phone system standard originally developed by Bell Labs and later modified in a cooperative effort between Bell Labs and Motorola. It was officially introduced in the Americas on October 13, 1983,[1][2][3] and was deployed in many other countries too, including Israel in 1986, Australia in 1987, Singapore in 1988, and Pakistan in 1990.[4] It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America (and other locales) through the 1980s and into the 2000s. As of February 18, 2008, carriers in the United States were no longer required to support AMPS and companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications have discontinued this service permanently. AMPS was discontinued in Australia in September 2000, in India by October 2004,[4][5] in Israel by January 2010, and Brazil by 2010.[6]

History

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Main article: History of mobile phones
External videos
video icon Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) (YouTube: AT&T Archives) 1978 Bell Labs film explaining the technology behind AMPS.

The first cellular network efforts began at Bell Labs and with research conducted at Motorola. In 1960, John F. Mitchell[7][8][9] became Motorola's chief engineer for its mobile-communication products, and oversaw the development and marketing of the first pager to use transistors.

Motorola had long produced mobile telephones for automobiles, but these large and heavy models consumed too much power to allow their use without the automobile's engine running. Mitchell's team, which included Dr. Martin Cooper, developed portable cellular telephony. Cooper and Mitchell were among the Motorola employees granted a patent for this work in 1973. The first call on the prototype connected, reportedly, to a wrong number.[10][11]

While Motorola was developing a cellular phone, from 1968 to 1983 Bell Labs worked out a system called Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), which became the first cellular network standard in the United States. The first system was successfully deployed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1979. Motorola and others designed and built the cellular phones for this and other cellular systems. Louis M. Weinberg, a marketing director at AT&T, was named the first president of the AMPS corporation. He served in this position during the startup of the AMPS subsidiary of AT&T.

Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, led a team that produced the first cellular handset in 1973 and made the first phone call from it. In 1983 Motorola introduced the DynaTAC 8000x, the first commercially available cellular phone small enough to be easily carried. He later introduced the so-called Bag Phone.

In 1992, the first smartphone, called IBM Simon, used AMPS. Frank Canova led its design at IBM and it was demonstrated that year at the COMDEX computer-industry trade-show. A refined version of the product was marketed to consumers in 1994 by BellSouth under the name Simon Personal Communicator. The Simon was the first device that can be properly referred to as a "smartphone", even though that term was not yet coined.[12][13]

Technology

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AMPS is a first-generation cellular technology that uses separate frequencies, or "channels", for each conversation. It therefore required considerable bandwidth for a large number of users. In general terms, AMPS was very similar to the older "0G" Improved Mobile Telephone Service it replaced, but used considerably more computing power to select frequencies, hand off conversations to land lines, and handle billing and call setup.

What really separated AMPS from older systems is the "back end" call setup functionality. In AMPS, the cell centers could flexibly assign channels to handsets based on signal strength, allowing the same frequency to be re-used, without interference, if locations were separated enough. The channels were grouped so a specific set was different of the one used on the cell nearby. This allowed a larger number of phones to be supported over a geographical area. AMPS pioneers coined the term "cellular" because of its use of small hexagonal "cells" within a system.[14][15]

AMPS suffered from many weaknesses compared to today's digital technologies. As an analog standard, it was susceptible to static and noise, and there was no protection from 'eavesdropping' using a scanner or an older TV set that could tune into channels 70–83.[16]

Cloning

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Martin Cooper of Motorola in 2007, reenacting the first private handheld mobile-phone call on a larger prototype model in 1973.

In the 1990s, an epidemic of "cloning" cost the cellular carriers millions of dollars.[17] An eavesdropper with specialized equipment could intercept a handset's ESN (Electronic Serial Number) and MDN or CTN (Mobile Directory Number or Cellular Telephone Number). The Electronic Serial Number, a 12-digit number sent by the handset to the cellular system for billing purposes, uniquely identified that phone on the network. The system then allowed or disallowed calls and/or features based on its customer file. A person intercepting an ESN/MDN pair could clone the combination onto a different phone and use it in other areas for making calls without paying.

Cellular phone cloning became possible with off-the-shelf technology in the 1990s. Would-be cloners required three key items :

  1. A radio receiver, such as the Icom PCR-1000, that could tune into the Reverse Channel (the frequency on which AMPS phones transmit data to the tower)
  2. A PC with a sound card and a software program called Banpaia
  3. A phone that could easily be used for cloning, such as the Oki 900

The radio, when tuned to the proper frequency, would receive the signal transmitted by the cell phone to be cloned, containing the phone's ESN/MDN pair. This signal would feed into the sound-card audio-input of the PC, and Banpaia would decode the ESN/MDN pair from this signal and display it on the screen. The hacker could then copy that data into the Oki 900 phone and reboot it, after which the phone network could not distinguish the Oki from the original phone whose signal had been received. This gave the cloner, through the Oki phone, the ability to use the mobile-phone service of the legitimate subscriber whose phone was cloned – just as if that phone had been physically stolen, except that the subscriber retained his or her phone, unaware that the phone had been cloned—at least until that subscriber received his or her next bill.

The problem became so large that some carriers required the use of a PIN before making calls. Eventually, the cellular companies initiated a system called RF Fingerprinting, whereby it could determine subtle differences in the signal of one phone from another and shut down some cloned phones. Some legitimate customers had problems with this though if they made certain changes to their own phone, such as replacing the battery and/or antenna.

The Oki 900 could listen in to AMPS phone-calls right out-of-the-box with no hardware modifications.[18]

Standards

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AMPS was originally standardized by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as EIA/TIA/IS-3. EIA/TIA/IS-3 was superseded by EIA/TIA-553 and TIA interim standard with digital technologies, the cost of wireless service is so low that the problem of cloning has virtually disappeared.

Frequency bands

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AMPS cellular service operated in the 850 MHz Cellular band. For each market area, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allowed two licensees (networks) known as "A" and "B" carriers. Each carrier within a market used a specified "block" of frequencies consisting of 21 control channels and 395 voice channels. Originally, the B (wireline) side license was usually owned by the local phone company, and the A (non-wireline) license was given to wireless telephone providers.

At the inception of cellular in 1983, the FCC had granted each carrier within a market 333 channel pairs (666 channels total). By the late 1980s, the cellular industry's subscriber base had grown into the millions across America and it became necessary to add channels for additional capacity. In 1989, the FCC granted carriers an expansion from the previous 666 channels to the final 832 (416 pairs per carrier). The additional frequencies were from the band held in reserve for future (inevitable) expansion. These frequencies were immediately adjacent to the existing cellular band. These bands had previously been allocated to UHF TV channels 70–83.

Each duplex channel was composed of 2 frequencies. 416 of these were in the 824–849 MHz range for transmissions from mobile stations to the base stations, paired with 416 frequencies in the 869–894 MHz range for transmissions from base stations to the mobile stations. Each cell site used a different subset of these channels than its neighbors to avoid interference. This significantly reduced the number of channels available at each site in real-world systems. Each AMPS channel had a one way bandwidth of 30 kHz, for a total of 60 kHz for each duplex channel.

Laws were passed in the US which prohibited the FCC type acceptance and sale of any receiver which could tune the frequency ranges occupied by analog AMPS cellular services.[why?] Though the service is no longer offered, these laws remain in force (although they may no longer be enforced).[19][20]

Narrowband AMPS

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In 1991, Motorola proposed an AMPS enhancement known as narrowband AMPS (NAMPS or N-AMPS).[21]

Digital AMPS

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Main article: Digital AMPS

Later, many AMPS networks were partially converted to D-AMPS, often referred to as TDMA (though TDMA is a generic term that applies to many 2G cellular systems). D-AMPS, commercially deployed since 1993,[22] was a digital, 2G standard used mainly by AT&T Mobility and U.S. Cellular in the United States, Rogers Wireless in Canada, Telcel in Mexico, Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) in Brazil, VimpelCom in Russia, Movilnet in Venezuela, and Cellcom in Israel. In most areas, D-AMPS is no longer offered and has been replaced by more advanced digital wireless networks.

Successor technologies

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AMPS and D-AMPS have now been phased out in favor of either CDMA2000 or GSM, which allow for higher capacity data transfers for services such as WAP, Multimedia Messaging System (MMS), and wireless Internet access. There are some phones capable of supporting AMPS, D-AMPS and GSM all in one phone (using the GAIT standard).

Analog AMPS being replaced by digital

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In 2002, the FCC decided to no longer require A and B carriers to support AMPS service as of February 18, 2008. All AMPS carriers have converted to a digital standard such as CDMA2000 or GSM. Digital technologies such as GSM and CDMA2000 support multiple voice calls on the same channel and offer enhanced features such as two-way text messaging and data services.

Unlike in the United States, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and Industry Canada have not set any requirement for maintaining AMPS service in Canada. Rogers Wireless has dismantled their AMPS (along with IS-136) network; the networks were shut down May 31, 2007. Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility, who operated AMPS networks in Canada, announced that they would observe the same timetable as outlined by the FCC in the United States, and as a result would not begin to dismantle their AMPS networks until after February 2008.[23]

OnStar relied heavily on North American AMPS service for its subscribers because, when the system was developed, AMPS offered the most comprehensive wireless coverage in the US. In 2006, ADT asked the FCC to extend the AMPS deadline due to many of their alarm systems still using analog technology to communicate with the control centers.[24] Cellular companies who own an A or B license (such as Verizon and Alltel) were required to provide analog service until February 18, 2008. After that point, however, most cellular companies were eager to shut down AMPS and use the remaining channels for digital services. OnStar transitioned to digital service with the help of data transport technology developed by Airbiquity, but warned customers who could not be upgraded to digital service that their service would permanently expire on January 1, 2008.[25]

Commercial deployments of AMPS by country

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Country Main Cellular Operator Launch date End of service Notes
 United States 1983 2008 [26]
  • Verizon Wireless—Formerly operated an AMPS network. On February 18, 2008, Verizon discontinued all AMPS service. Initially migrated to CDMA2000, but now operates on LTE and 5G.
  • U.S. Cellular—Formerly operated an AMPS & D-AMPS network. On February 10, 2009, U.S. Cellular discontinued all AMPS & D-AMPS service. Initially migrated to CDMA2000, but now operates on LTE and 5G.
  • Alltel—In 2005 disclosed that only 15% of their total customer base are still using the existing analog network. The company has posted a three-phase turn down schedule,[27] which was completed in September 2008. With the acquisition of Western Wireless, Alltel now took the claim of the "largest network in America." The claim was true, oddly enough because of wide analog coverage in rural areas. All Alltel AMPS and D-AMPS service was discontinued in September 2008
  • Coastel Offshore Cellular—Operated an AMPS network in the Gulf of Mexico that stretched from south of Corpus Christi, TX to south of Gulf Shores, AL. In 2006 Coastel was the only carrier in the US whose entire customer base was still 100% analog based. In 2007 Coastel was merged with Petrocom and SOLA Communications to form Broadpoint Inc. and the network was converted to GSM.[28]
  • AT&T Mobility – In areas where AT&T Mobility previously had D-AMPS operating on 1900 MHz frequencies, no analog AMPS network existed, and the D-AMPS network on the 1900 MHz frequency was shut down on July 15, 2007.[29] Service on the remaining 850 MHz AMPS markets was discontinued along with 850 MHz D-AMPS service on February 18, 2008, except in areas where service was provided by Dobson Communications. The Dobson AMPS and TDMA networks were shut down on March 1, 2008.
 Canada 1984 [26]
  • Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility operated AMPS networks in Canada, though they have since been overlaid with digital services. Both Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility had announced that they would observe the same shutdown guidelines as in the United States, and decommissioned their AMPS networks in 2008.[23]
  • Rogers Wireless—operated an AMPS network in Canada, though it has since been overlaid with digital services. Rogers discontinued its AMPS network on May 31, 2007.[30]
  • SaskTel – operated an AMPS network in Saskatchewan, Canada. It was the third-largest AMPS network, by subscribers, in the world at the time of its turndown.[31] It was officially shutdown site by site starting at 00:00 on January 2, 2010, after twenty-one years of service. SaskTel continues to run UMTS networks.
 South Korea 1984 [26]
 Indonesia 1984[32] [33]
 Costa Rica 1989 [33]
 Australia 1986 2000 [34] [26]

Telstra (formerly Telecom Australia) – operated an AMPS network in Australia from February 1987 until the end of 2000. As part of the introduction of mobile phone competition in Australia, the Australian government mandated GSM as the new standard for mobile networks, and required that Telstra close the AMPS network by 2000. However, GSM base stations could only serve a limited area. While this was OK for Europe, it meant that GSM could not cover large, sparsely populated rural areas of Australia cost effectively. Telstra deployed a CDMA network, which did not suffer this limitation, and while the AMPS network was closed down at the end of 1999 in the major cities, the closure deadline was extended until the end of 2000 in rural areas to ease the transition to CDMA. The CDMA network has since been replaced by an 850 MHz UMTS network, Next G.

 U.S. Virgin Islands 1986 [26]
 Israel 1986 [26]Pelephone – began offering nationwide AMPS service in Israel in 1986. In the mid-1990s it converted to CDMA (IS-95 and later EV-DO) and in the mid-2000s converted to UMTS.
 Bolivia 1991-1992 [33]
 Cayman Islands 1987 [26]
 Bermuda 1987 [26]
 Dominican Republic 1987 [26]
 Singapore 1987 [26]Singtel (previously known as Telecommunications Equipment) – operated an AMPS network, marketed as a Cellular Mobile Radio System (CMRS), in Singapore from 1988 until 1994. In 1989, Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) became the first rapid transit system in the world to have full mobile phone coverage inside underground stations and tunnels using AMPS technology.[35] Singtel decommissioned its AMPS network in 1994 after GSM was implemented.[36]
 New Zealand 1987 2007 [26] Telecom New Zealand (now Spark New Zealand) – operated an AMPS/TDMA network in New Zealand from 1987 until 2007 throughout the whole country and the network was renowned for its superb coverage, In 2000 Telecom announced that they would discontinue the AMPS network within 5 years (2005) to give customers an opportunity to transition to the CDMA2000 and later 1XRTT technologies that replaced it. They later extended that deadline until 6 pm March 31, 2007. At approximately 7:15 on March 31, 2007, the AMPS/TDMA network ceased to function.
 Thailand 1987 [26]
 Bahrain 1987 [26]
 Hong Kong 1987 [33]
 Bahamas 1988 [33]
 Venezuela 1988 [26]
 Zaire 1988 [26]
 Barbados 1988 [33]
 Trinidad and Tobago 1991 2006 [37]
 Chile 1989 [26]
 Curaçao 1989 [26]
 Argentina 1989 [26]
 Antigua and Barbuda 1989 [26]
 St. Kitts and Nevis 1989 [26]
 Mexico 1989 [26]
 Netherlands Antilles 1989 [26]
 Brunei 1989 [26]
 Taiwan 1989 [26]
 Uruguay 1989 [33]
 Bangladesh 1989 [33]
 Peru 1989 [33]
 Pakistan Paktel 1990 2004 [33]Paktel was granted an AMPS licence in early 1990 to operate a cellular telephone network throughout Pakistan. It was the first company granted a free license to carry out cellular phone services in Pakistan. It carried out AMPS services until 2004, after which it switched to GSM.
 American Samoa 1990 [33]
 Brazil 1990 2010 [33]
 Philippines 1991 [33]
 Jamaica 1991 [33]
 Malaysia Mobikom Jan 1994 Named Mobifon.[38]
 Kazakhstan 1994 [39]
 Uzbekistan Uzdunrobita 1994 [40]

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ AT&T Tech Channel (June 13, 2011). "AT&T Archives : Testing the First Public Cell Phone Network". Techchannel.att.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  2. ^ Private Line Archived June 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ MilestonesPast Archived October 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b "Ten years of GSM in Australia". AMTA. Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association. 2003. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved August 16, 2008.
  5. ^ "Home | PTA". pta.gov.pk.
  6. ^ Estado, Agencia (July 16, 2010). "Celulares analógicos estão extintos no Brasil, diz Anatel". Tecnologia e Games.
  7. ^ "John F. Mitchell Biography". Brophy.net. August 7, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  8. ^ "The Top Giants in Telephony". Historyofthecellphone.com. June 11, 2009. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  9. ^ "Who invented the cell phone?". Brophy.net. August 7, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  10. ^ Motorola Executive Helped Spur Cellular Revolution, Oversaw Ill-fated Iridium Project, The Wall Street Journal, Remembrances, June 20–21, 2009, p. A10
  11. ^ Lane, Clare (June 17, 2009). "John F. Mitchell, 1928–2009: Was president of Motorola from 1980 to '95". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
  12. ^ Sager, Ira (June 29, 2012). "Before IPhone and Android Came Simon, the First Smartphone". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2012. Simon was the first smartphone. Twenty years ago, it envisioned our app-happy mobile lives, squeezing the features of a cell phone, pager, fax machine, and computer into an 18-ounce black brick.
  13. ^ Schneidawind, John (November 23, 1992). "Poindexter putting finger on PC bugs; Big Blue unveiling". USA Today. p. 2B.
  14. ^ W. Rae Young, "AMPS: Introduction, Background, and Objectives", Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 58, 1, pages 1–14, January 1979. (Note: Young was the Bell Labs engineer who invented the hexagonal cell concept.)
  15. ^ Z. C. Fluhr and Philip T. Porter, "AMPS: Control Architecture", Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 58, 1, pages 1–14, January 1979. (Note: Porter was the Bell Labs engineer who proposed that the cell towers be at the corners of the hexagons rather than the centers and have directional antennas that would transmit/receive in 3 directions into 3 adjacent hexagon cells.)
  16. ^ "Analog Cellphone Calls on UHF Channels of a TV". YouTube.
  17. ^ O'Malley, Kathy (March 19, 1995). "COSTLY CELLULAR PHONE FRAUD RISES WITH NUMBER 'CLONING'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  18. ^ Takedown, ISBN 0786862106, Tsutomu Shimomura John Markoff – Shimomura describes demonstrating a shrink-wrapped the Oki 900 during courtroom testimony
  19. ^ "Why are cellular bands blocked on receivers?". Forum-General discussion about technology and policy. Arrl.org. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  20. ^ 47cfr15.121 http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2010/octqtr/47cfr15.121.htm and http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=service_home&id=cellular Archived October 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Mobile telephone Encyclopædia Britannica.
  22. ^ Anton A. Huurdeman, The Worldwide History of Telecommunications, John Wiley & Sons, 31 juli 2003, page 533
  23. ^ a b "SP&T News". Sptnews.ca. September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  24. ^ ITWorld Archived October 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Helpful Info | Analog-to-Digital Transition". OnStar. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "To open or not to open a technological system: insights from the history of mobile phones and their application to 5G" (PDF). media.crai.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  27. ^ "Analog Sunset Archived December 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine" alltel.com
  28. ^ "Broadpoint". www.broadpointinc.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007.
  29. ^ "AT&T shutting down TDMA network". June 22, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  30. ^ "Majority of Rogers' Remaining TDMA and Analogue Subscribers Already Moved to GSM". Rogers. May 3, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  31. ^ GSMA Intelligence (May 16, 2013). "GSMA Intelligence". Wirelessintelligence.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  32. ^ "CELLULAR TELEPHONE BUSINESS SLUMPING; MARKET COMPETITION UP. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Global Competitiveness of U.S. Advanced-Technology Industries: Cellular Communications" (PDF). United States International Trade Commission. June 1, 1993. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  34. ^ Dickerson, Mathew. "Australia's mobile phone network has come a long way". Canberra Times. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  35. ^ "Supercharging Singapore". The Straits Times. October 10, 2015.
  36. ^ Janice Lim (June 15, 2015). "How mobile services in Singapore have evolved". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  37. ^ "TDMA switch-off delayed". TeleGeography. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  38. ^ "Down Memory Lane: Malaysia's Telco Past". Enterprise IT News. May 7, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  39. ^ LLP, Profit Online. "Мобильная связь в Казахстане". Profit.kz — ИТ в Казахстане (in Russian). Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  40. ^ "Cellular companies of Uzbekistan" (PDF). January 25, 2006.

References

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