Sat. Mar. 6, 2021 | By Marcia Wendorf – interestingengineering.com |
While cell phone tracking raises privacy concerns, it also provides vital information when investigating crimes.
Mobile phone tracking is a controversial subject. After the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, authorities were able to use cell phone records to determine who was present.
Whether we are actively using them or not, our cell phones are constantly pinging nearby cell towers, emitting a signal then receiving one back. Based on the strength of the emitted signal and the time it takes to reach the cell tower, the location of the phone can be determined.
You may have noticed that the antennas on a cell tower are always arranged in the shape of a triangle. Each antenna array covers a 120° pie-shaped slice of the surrounding area, as shown in the diagram below. By convention, the three sectors are designated alpha, beta, and gamma – α, β, γ. The following diagram…
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