Samsung Galaxy S3

[markjcc]

For those who are whining that they are getting poor reception from it its because the Radio is under powered when not using data and when idle thats battery conservation at work

 

Once you start using data it revs up the Radio power

just like the processor when its not in use it drops to a lower clock speed when its inuse it revs up to the clockspeed that its made to go.

 

you can see this go to about phone then look at the signal dbm

then download something from the Play store over cellular then head back to the signal dbm

you will see a change in signal strength.

[chamb]

For those who are whining that they are getting poor reception from it its because the Radio is under powered when not using data and when idle thats battery conservation at work

 

Once you start using data it revs up the Radio power

just like the processor when its not in use it drops to a lower clock speed when its inuse it revs up to the clockspeed that its made to go.

 

you can see this go to about phone then look at the signal dbm

then download something from the Play store over cellular then head back to the signal dbm

you will see a change in signal strength.

 

Correct. And the difference is dramatic. My Galaxy S3 will idle with a 98 receive level. This allows it to stay connected and be ready for an incoming call. As soon as the phone detects any incoming activity (Or any outgoing activity), it suddenly shows the receive level going 5-7 db higher. Happens every time. I have seen this for several months and at first did not believe what I saw. Not sure how it does this, but it works well. It may differ if you are much closer to the cell site than I am.

I suspect it must talk to the cell site and agree on power levels or something. I do not understand how it is done.

I have a second Galaxy S3 and it does the same thing. I am connected to a upgraded NV Cell site.

[cs300823]

Correct. And the difference is dramatic. My Galaxy S3 will idle with a 98 receive level. This allows it to stay connected and be ready for an incoming call. As soon as the phone detects any incoming activity (Or any outgoing activity), it suddenly shows the receive level going 5-7 db higher. Happens every time. I have seen this for several months and at first did not believe what I saw. Not sure how it does this, but it works well. It may differ if you are much closer to the cell site than I am.

I suspect it must talk to the cell site and agree on power levels or something. I do not understand how it is done.

I have a second Galaxy S3 and it does the same thing. I am connected to a upgraded NV Cell site.

Which cell site are you connected too... it's not in Las Vegas is it ? ;0)

[chamb]

Which cell site are you connected too... it's not in Las Vegas is it ? ;0)

No, I am in Pennsylvania and connected to a Lucent NV site. I can not explain what is happening, but it does it every time.

[boomerbubba]

For those who are whining that they are getting poor reception from it its because the Radio is under powered when not using data and when idle thats battery conservation at work

 

Once you start using data it revs up the Radio power

just like the processor when its not in use it drops to a lower clock speed when its inuse it revs up to the clockspeed that its made to go.

 

you can see this go to about phone then look at the signal dbm

then download something from the Play store over cellular then head back to the signal dbm

you will see a change in signal strength.

Correct. And the difference is dramatic. My Galaxy S3 will idle with a 98 receive level. This allows it to stay connected and be ready for an incoming call. As soon as the phone detects any incoming activity (Or any outgoing activity), it suddenly shows the receive level going 5-7 db higher. Happens every time. I have seen this for several months and at first did not believe what I saw. Not sure how it does this, but it works well. It may differ if you are much closer to the cell site than I am.

I suspect it must talk to the cell site and agree on power levels or something. I do not understand how it is done.

I have a second Galaxy S3 and it does the same thing. I am connected to a upgraded NV Cell site.

 

Do these observations refer to CDMA data connections, to LTE connections or both?

[chamb]

Do these observations refer to CDMA data connections, to LTE connections or both?

 

CDMA 1X for sure. It is much easier to see it there. If you are setting in DEBUG, 1X engineering screen, I see about a 98. When a call comes in, it will jump to about a 92 and the CDMA 1X bars at the top of the screen go from 2 to 3 or even 4 bars.

Does this every time. When the call is dropped, the -92 level will remain for quite awhile sometimes, maybe 15 minutes.

Then it will eventually go back to the old -98 level. Seeing this in the DATA area, either 3 or 4G is harder to do and prove.

[markjcc]

 

 

Correct. And the difference is dramatic. My Galaxy S3 will idle with a 98 receive level. This allows it to stay connected and be ready for an incoming call. As soon as the phone detects any incoming activity (Or any outgoing activity), it suddenly shows the receive level going 5-7 db higher. Happens every time. I have seen this for several months and at first did not believe what I saw. Not sure how it does this, but it works well. It may differ if you are much closer to the cell site than I am.

I suspect it must talk to the cell site and agree on power levels or something. I do not understand how it is done.

I have a second Galaxy S3 and it does the same thing. I am connected to a upgraded NV Cell site.

It's not based on the equipment on the cell site to control the power I suspect it's the chip controlling the TX power

[boomerbubba]

It's not based on the equipment on the cell site to control the power I suspect it's the chip controlling the TX power

 

That would not affect the RX power, which is what you are reporting is changed. The RX signal level is supposed to be what is detected by the antenna, before any amplification.

[markjcc]

That would not affect the RX power, which is what you are reporting is changed. The RX signal level is supposed to be what is detected by the antenna, before any amplification.

Still though the Transmit power from the tower is the same its just the radio underpowering itself when idle/not used.

[boomerbubba]

Still though the Transmit power from the tower is the same its just the radio underpowering itself when idle/not used.

 

Sorry, but that makes no sense. The RX dBm is measured at the antenna's input to "the radio," before "the radio's" circuitry amplifies anything. The only factors affecting measured RX signal strength are the actual strength of the signal in the particular environment, and the efficiency of the antenna.

 

BTW, I just tried to replicate this experiment on my GS3, and my results do not confirm your original claim.

• Changed the phone's settings to CDMA only and rebooted.
  
• Placed the phone flat and stationary on a desk.
  
• Opened the 1x Engineering Protocol screen and noted the BSID I was connected to.
  
• Opened the 1x Engineering RF screen and recorded the RSSI signal strength: -95 dBm.
  
• Opened the Google Maps app and browsed to download fresh data for map tiles.
  
• Rechecked the two engineering screens. The source BSID was the same, and so was the signal strength: -95 dBm
  

[chamb]

Sorry, but that makes no sense. The RX dBm is measured at the antenna's input to "the radio," before "the radio's" circuitry amplifies anything. The only factors affecting measured RX signal strength are the actual strength of the signal in the particular environment, and the efficiency of the antenna.

 

BTW, I just tried to replicate this experiment on my GS3, and my results do not confirm your original claim.

• Changed the phone's settings to CDMA only and rebooted.
  
• Placed the phone flat and stationary on a desk.
  
• Opened the 1x Engineering Protocol screen and noted the BSID I was connected to.
  
• Opened the 1x Engineering RF screen and recorded the RSSI signal strength: -95 dBm.
  
• Opened the Google Maps app and browsed to download fresh data for map tiles.
  
• Rechecked the two engineering screens. The source BSID was the same, and so was the signal strength: -95 dBm
  

 

 

Like I said earlier, much harder to see on Data type connections probably because of little spurts of data moving because of e-mail checks,etc. If you check e-mail on a regular schedule, the phone never really gets much of a chance to go into any type of sleep or low power.

Try looking at the receive level and simply call your number. You should see the receive level jump sometimes even before the phone rings and you should see the amount of bars at the top jump up too.

i have no idea if Samsung is doing this to give the appearance of a better connection of it the receive level is actually getting better. This all does not make sense to me. Could it be the Lucent Base station doing this??

I am not switching base stations in any manner where I am at. Only one cell site is near me. The PN never changes during this process and it stays on 1900 since 800 is not active yet.

Be careful and make sure your phone is reporting the worst receive level. After I see this receive level jump on a 1X call, the level quite often will stay at the higher level for quite some time before it eventually falls back to the worse level.

[boomerbubba]

I have no informed opinion on the effects of an inbound call or any other event that occurs on the site base station radio, which is responsible for its own transmitted signal. But this is an entirely different set of facts than the OP described. His theory was that just opening a data connection on the handset would cause "the radio" to make the inbound signal stronger. Unless this involves some interaction with the base station transmitter that triggers a stronger signal there, which would affect the received signal strength on the handset, that theory makes no sense.

[markjcc]

I have no informed opinion on the effects of an inbound call or any other event that occurs on the site base station radio, which is responsible for its own transmitted signal. But this is an entirely different set of facts than the OP described. His theory was that just opening a data connection on the handset would cause "the radio" to make the inbound signal stronger. Unless this involves some interaction with the base station transmitter that triggers a stronger signal there, which would affect the received signal strength on the handset, that theory makes no sense.

Then how would you explain that other Devices such as the new EVO LTE does not experience this problem only the Galaxy S3

[boomerbubba]

Then how would you explain that other Devices such as the new EVO LTE does not experience this problem only the Galaxy S3

 

I don't.

 

There may be some unexplained artifact or anomaly on the GS3 that you have experienced and I cannot replicate. But whatever that is, I do not believe it is caused by "the radio" changing the received signal strength at the antenna.

[pyroscott]

I don't.

 

There may be some unexplained artifact or anomaly on the GS3 that you have experienced and I cannot replicate. But whatever that is, I do not believe it is caused by "the radio" changing the received signal strength at the antenna.

 

I just sat and watched my phone for a half hour. I set the screen timeout to a half hour and watched the signal the whole time. It bounced around varying about +- 6dBm from the average. Then when the screen hit the 30 minute mark and timed out, I unlocked it and started a data session. Then after a minute or so of using data, I checked the signal and it was on the bad side of the average signal from the half hour.

 

I was not able to replicate it either...

[markjcc]

I just sat and watched my phone for a half hour. I set the screen timeout to a half hour and watched the signal the whole time. It bounced around varying about +- 6dBm from the average. Then when the screen hit the 30 minute mark and timed out, I unlocked it and started a data session. Then after a minute or so of using data, I checked the signal and it was on the bad side of the average signal from the half hour.

 

I was not able to replicate it either...

Well then i guess this is a 50 50 thing time to call the ghost busters.