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Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

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Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#181

Post by b112 »

kzrdude wrote: post #167
b112 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also weird, as cash predates crypto, and is actually untraceable.

Which is also weird because every banknote has a unique number. So it's better traceable if we wanted to.

Sure. We could roll-out the infra, but can you imagine?

I give you $20, and I go to jail if I don't mark down the serial, and report it. Or, if I cannot account for where serial $x went to, after it was given to me.

All stores, etc have to do the same.

People would freak out if told to do this.

Yet this is precisely what is happening with debit/credit cards worldwide. This level of tracking is slowly begin kicked on everywhere.

For example, by law, the DHS in the US has access to all credit(and effectively debit, which uses the same clearing process) transactions.

The US just rolled over after 9/11, completely bizarre.

I literally don't get people.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#182

Post by kzrdude »

b112 wrote: post #181
kzrdude wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is also weird because every banknote has a unique number. So it's better traceable if we wanted to.

Sure. We could roll-out the infra, but can you imagine? I give you $20, and I go to jail if I don't mark down the serial, and report it. Or, if I cannot account for where serial $x went to, after it was given to me. All stores, etc have to do the same. People would freak out if told to do this. Yet this is precisely what is happening with debit/credit cards worldwide. This level of tracking is slowly begin kicked on…

Realistically, when such systems roll out they happen to easily regulatable entites (shops) and not to private people. So every costco or bank would have a machine to track the bills by number and it would go from there. Not that I want this to happen, but it's perfectly imaginable.

Yeah, the floodgates of information into surveillance, they are just completely open and people are way past caring. It's just too much to understand. And like Snowden says, of all that "metadata", you don't need much of it to do the meaningful tracking you need.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#183

Post by RyanHamilton »

rini17 wrote: post #175
thombat wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the streaming video will be of an empty chessboard in a room with unchanging lighting.

Or AI video generator text prompts.

You joke but nvidia is looking at AI compression: https://www.fiercevideo.com/tech/nvidia-swaps-codecs-for-ai-... Which would model the person and "generate" video.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#184

Post by jhoelzel »

im just left wondering what will happen if i use a phone like that in the basement. I really have no use for the satelite feature, but i recon, not being able to connect is the same as a phone trying to find coverage. read: very battery intensive.

I recon its like gps, not available in a tunnel and not very well indoors

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#185

Post by jokoon »

I wish it was possible to do direct phone to phone data communication, a bit like CB but for data.

Of course the range would be limited because of phone batteries, but at least you would not require a large, expensive network of antennas.

I have asked SDR folks about it but they're not convinced.

Just imagine not having to rely on network operators for tiny amounts of data. Only a phone would be required, without paid subscription.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#186

Post by acd »

Wonders what kind of change this will have to society as a whole? Global internet from space that is big! What will happen if a sub $50 mobile can receive wikipedia globaly? What payment systems will be built? The whole africa continent will be connected.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#187

Post by jillesvangurp »

roywiggins wrote: post #98
BurningFrog wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phones do receive data from GPS satellites.

I've run into the reverse misconception, people think they need cell service for GPS to work.

A phone connection does help for downloading all the data you need to interpret the GPS signals. It's called assisted GPS. Without a connection, it can take upto a few minutes for a GPS receiver to figure out where it is.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#188

Post by mschuster91 »

kortilla wrote: post #139
hughes wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mentioned in the article. > Splashy announcements of satellite-cellular connectivity from Apple, Starlink, and T-Mobile in the third quarter of 2022 promoted the idea of anywhere, any-kind connectivity.

But the one from Apple is a joke compared to general sms and mms coverage. Or is apple’s system capable of much more and the first beta is just “SOS”?

Apple's stuff is probably orders of magnitude more reliable, the system they use has been battle-tested for decades.

Both Starlink's sat-cells and Apple's Globalstar link will be a real benefit for people who get stuck in a bad situation unprepared, but if I were a serious rock climber or similar, I'd still prefer a full-scale Globalstar, Iridium terminal or EPIRB device, then an iPhone with Globalstar, and only then Starlink's offer.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#189

Post by m4rtink »

zerohp wrote: post #80
m00dy wrote: post #69

Usually, these satellites fly over 500km altitude, and as far as I know, none of the nation-states can take them down due to the limited rocket science capacity.

The U.S. successfully shot down a satellite at that altitude in 1985 with an F-15 and a specially designed missile. Are they all 35 years behind? I don't think that's a good assumption.

Well, the thing is that Starlink satellites are launched in 50+ piece batches about every other week. This makes them uneconomical to attack, not to mention the horrendous debris issues it would cause, destroying likely also your own satellites.

Re: Existing smartphones will connect with new satellite constellations in 2023

#190

Post by shenberg »

snovv_crash wrote: post #169
sgtnoodle wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cell phones can supposedly connect to towers up to 25 miles away (presumably at the slowest supported data rate.) Starlink is about 350 miles up. Let's round up to 400 to allow for satellites not being directly overhead. That's 2^4 times farther away, or 24dB of signal difference. It seems like a sufficiently fancy phased antenna array on the satellite could compensate for that. Also, the atmosphere is 99% gone at 20…

I didn't realise that 4G/5G could connect to receivers that far away. From memory, the maximum Timing Advance in 2G corresponded to ~25km. After that the phones won't get ACKs fast enough due to speed of light and will assume that the response isn't for them. WiFi has similar limits, but much shorter. I know some usecases of WiFi transceivers with longer distances (~5km) which required tweaked firmware that wasn't te…

Even in 2G you have special cells that allocate two+ adjacent time-slots for a channel and so can effectively double the max range at the cost of serving less concurrent clients. This is used in sparsely populated regions (think remote highways etc). It's not a physical, the-signal-can't-reach issue.
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