"CDMA networks closely monitor and regulate handset transmission power. The network has the option of shutting down rogue handsets that
don't comply."
'Babe' stations do control handset power, but I don't think they set a maximum power - they just balance the power within a cell so a distant handset is told to turn the power up more than one 5 metres from Babe. For example, you could have a super powerful handset 300 km from an Australian outback Babe, up on Ayers Rock so you have line of sight. Babe would just tell it to turn itself up until its power matched the cellsite decibel needs to maintain links. I don't think Babe cares how many watts are coming out of the handset, just how many are being received by Babe.
The limits are set by government spectrum police who don't want spectrum pollution. Also, the company, as JGoren says, doesn't want some handsets having advantage over others so I suppose sets maximum power outputs. As he says [next post], this excess power issue came up once before.
That's the story I'm making up anyway. Engineer?
With Globalstar handsets, there is an extreme example of this. When in terrestrial mode close to Babe, the handset will be whispering like all the other cdmaOne handsets in the cell. But when it switches to Globalstar mode, it will be decibeling its head off, sending a signal 3000 km out into space. In a different band of course so the terrestrial system doesn't hear it. Dual mode, dual band. Actually, I'm not sure how many watts the Globalstar handsets put out at peak output. Must be quite a bit since the batteries are big and talk time is small.
Mqurice |
