A complete breakthrough: What is Baseband shows in android mobiles and its duty

Have you ever wondered that what is baseband version in your phone all about? Those who do not know that where this is located, can go to setting and then type about phone in the setting search box or type it directly. There you would find it. Hope you got right?

 

 

Now the question is, what is it? What is its duty/role in phone? What are its characteristic, function and what it can do? Everything I will discuss through this post so, stay tuned.

The term baseband version that you find in your mobile by going in setting, is written in some letters and numbers. It is a firmware version or you can say it as software which is responsible for your device wireless communication. 

It means, it takes control of wireless communication to establish a connection between a cell tower and a device to perform different tasks like calling, video calling, messaging, data and other wireless activity etc.

 

Let’s get in to it to grasp deep knowledge of the topic.

If we talk about the connectivity between a mobile device and cell tower then, several tasks are related like calling, data, messaging etc.  All these functions are done with the help of processor or baseband and it is a hardware component or modem that is found in your mobile phone. 

And all these activities are controlled by software or you can technically call it as a firmware or baseband version which you see in the mobile setting.

So, the baseband and baseband version are two different things but related with each other. The first one is a hardware component or processor or say it as a modem and the second one is a software or firmware that runs on baseband (processor).

Again the baseband version is also separated from the phone’s operating system and the baseband which is hardware, is also separate component from the phone’s main processor chip (cpu). 

But now a days many chips Manufacturers Company integrating baseband with cpu processor to make it more cost effective for users. It means, it integrates both functionality of cpu and modem together in a single chip which is called system on chip (SoC) or microchip. Though it is combined together, its function is different.

Both baseband with baseband version and main processor (CPU) with operating system (android, iOS) play essential role for a mobile to function but both deal in different tasks
The baseband version may vary according the manufacturers and phones model. 

 

See some examples of that you can find on phone and try to understand more about it.

 

 

Media tek- MOLY.LR12A.R2.SP.V2 and MOLY. LR11.W1533.MD

Sumsung: G950FXXS9DUCI

Qualcomn: MPSS.TH.2.0.c1.4-00015-M8974AAAAANAZM-1.x.x

 

For iOS

Apple-3.10.01

Intel-1.00.00

Here we can see the manufacturer and their versions which are designed for android. For knowing more let’s take Media tek- MOLY.LR12A.R2.SP.V2 as an example. 

The version MOLY.LR12A.R2.SP.V2 is manufactured by the semiconductor company Mediatek.  It manufactures and designs different chipsets for different electronic devices. And Moly is prefix to the version that is added by Mediatek, is an abbreviation to represent a specific version.

And LR12A.R2.SP.V2 which is mentioned here are model designation, version number, service pack, and release of the version respectively. This specific version is designed for specific baseband and model and may vary according to the devices.

To experience optimal performance in your phone, a firmware should be updated because updating a firmware sometime may resolve the communication problem like slower data rate, call drop etc. The updating process is mostly available on most devices which are provided by your manufacturer or sometimes by your carrier at the time of new release. 

In the case of carrier, you may get an updating notification to your phone for installation however you can check whether you have got an update option or not by going to system under setting option.

It is also to be noted that some devices may do not have the updating option especially in older version of phones. In this case you can also update it manually or even change it completely but the process will be difficult or may make your phone inoperative if you do not follow the right process.  

So, I would recommend keeping a backup your data, reading your manufacturers guidelines or contact your manufacturer before you opt for the process.

 
If you have made your mind or want to know about the updating process then I will give you in another post.

Now let’s decode the baseband. It is a hardware device inside a phone and plays a vital role regarding communication in between a cell tower and a device. It is specifically designed according to the device and even may vary device to device from the same manufacturer.

 
Now let’s see some of the characters baseband and function.

1. As I said earlier that it can be said as a modem, it performs same like a modem. It works like a modulator and demodulator. In simple word it converts digital information to analog and then demodulates/reconvert/ back analog signal to digital format to make it suitable for a device to perform.

2. It communicates to nearby cell tower to establish the connection. It also handles some necessary network protocols like network registration, cell tower handover and maintaining the data and voice transmission.

3. It also handles the function of carrier aggregation through which a device can get fast internet. This feature may not available in some phones. If you want to read more about carrier aggregation then you can read my previous post.




.