Cellular network

A wireless communications system that divides a service area into cells, each served by a base station connected to the wider network. Devices communicate through nearby base stations, with connections handed between cells as they move.

Cellular base station: Radio equipment that connects mobile devices to a cellular network and links them to its core. Each cell depends on a base station to provide radio coverage and carry traffic onward.
Mobile telecommunications standards: Technical specifications that define how mobile devices and networks communicate. Cellular networks implement standards that determine radio behavior, services, and interoperability.
Mobile broadband: Internet access delivered to mobile devices over cellular radio networks. It is the principal way cellular networks carry general-purpose data to phones and other devices.
Wi-Fi: A family of wireless networking technologies that connects devices to local networks using radio. Wi-Fi offers local wireless access without the wide-area, operator-managed cell structure.
Cellular handover: The transfer of an active connection from one cell or base station to another. Handover keeps calls and data sessions active as devices cross cell boundaries.
Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access: A radio access method that assigns groups of orthogonal subcarriers to different users. Modern cellular systems use it to share radio resources among many devices.
Voice over LTE: A system for carrying voice calls as packet data over LTE networks. It replaces circuit-switched voice with calls carried through the cellular data system.
Satellite communications: Communication links that use satellites to relay signals between distant locations. Satellite links can cover places beyond terrestrial cellular infrastructure, with different latency and capacity.
Radio access network: The part of a mobile network that connects user devices to the operator’s core network over radio. It contains the base stations and radio links that serve the network’s cells.
SIM card: A subscriber identity module that stores credentials used to authenticate a mobile device on a network. Subscriber credentials let the network authorize access independently of the handset.

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