Last night I was having a little trouble drifting off to sleep and it occurred to me that I do not know how mobile ‘phones work….

The first thing that came mind was that they must have analogue to digital converters (ADC). These must change voice into digital and digital into sound. Then I wondered if the carrier frequency of the ‘phone signal is amplitude or frequency modulated. Which means that there must be demodulators.

The precision or resolution in terms of bit per volt need not be overly high for sound given that the loudspeakers or headphones are not audiophile quality. High resolution at 32 or 64 bit would make for big files and large data.

But the business IS data. People want to flog you ever more data so whilst there is a speed – dollar trade off, they must be pushing towards more data throughput – more dollars.

The big bucks are in images and video which need giga-dollars to send and vast increases in the global carbon budget to store.

Who needs more selfies, vacuous influencer posts and cat videos?

The purveyors of data…you can find one on each street corner {man}.

I learned today that some ‘phones have microphones to sample background noise for noise cancelling…

If it is possible to receive a mobile phone call or SMS message it must be possible to intercept it. There is no copper or fibre optic. The message floats freely. It must be possible to clone a ‘phone. Two ‘phones receiving the same signal do not weaken it. How can you detect an intercept. You probably can’t from the intercept alone; subsequent actions might give a hint…

So how does a ‘phone uniquely identify itself as the recipient of a message / call?  Has it a unique identity? In principle yes, but these must also not be clone proof…If you can set up digital identity on one ‘phone its should be possible to copy it.

When a call comes does it open a gate which allows the ‘phone company to allow the message to flow? There must be some “switch” flicked.

“Hey, I am ready for your call..”

People talk of end to end encryption? How does that work? Is there a sender’s key and a receiver’s key. How easily copied are these keys?

Which caused the ancillary question how does this encryption work?

I suspect that calls and data fly around willy nilly without people worrying about intercepts.

As an aside we have recently watched a number of “spy” dramas in which people are using their mobile ‘phones to chat, text and take pictures of evidence. It seems markedly non clandestine to me. Is this real life or transference of ‘phone junkie thinking into drama? Surely you would not take a traceable device into a sneaky meeting with your favourite mole on a Berlin bridge?

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“Quantum communication has seen some big announcements in 2024, with smartphone markets and data centers turning to the technology for secure and robust data security that can be trusted. IDTechEx’s report, “Quantum Communication Market 2024-2034: Technology, Trends, Players, Forecasts”, details the many national and international benefits and uses for quantum communication alongside some of the main challenges of implementation.

Safer smartphone security

 Smartphones today contain an abundance of personal data, including passwords to banking and email accounts and online purchase histories. 2024 saw the announcement of the Galaxy Quantum 5, with Samsung literally alluding to the smartphone’s quantum capabilities with its name. The smallest quantum random number generator available has been installed within the device to provide users with the highest levels of authentication and encryption, ensuring that communications and authentication features are safe and can be trusted. As smartphones today are relied upon as small computers that can access and store any information, quantum technology will enable them to do their job reliably and securely.

{https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-article/quantum-communication-satellites-and-smart-phone-security/32332}

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As usual there is a hyper large amount of hype.

The Q word has cropped up already…

It kind of suggests that ownership of the quantum key is the route to secure call and answer communication. The pitfall of any QKD has to be trust. If you do not trust the locksmith… who assures you that the key is unique – you are buggered. That is unless you yourself supply the key. {possible idea here?}

 One could imagine a quantum spam blocker…

Basically the best assurance against being spied upon is introversion. If you don’t say anything it can’t be heard.

Maybe I need to get a “Mobile ‘Phone Communications for Dummies” book…

Clearly I don’t know how the devil spawned devices work…