The Inside Deal on iPhone 2.0.2 and Dropped Calls

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Posted August 28, 2008 at 10:40am by iClarified

The iPhone 2.0.2 update fixed "power control on the mobile phone", according to a RoughlyDrafted report.

Their source has explained in detail why users were experiencing 3G problems on the AT&T network.

Why the iPhone 3G dropped calls
“In UMTS,” the source said, “power control is key to the mobile and network success. If the UE requires too much downlink power then the base station or Node B can run out of transmitter power and this is what was happening. As you get more UEs on the cell, the noise floor rises and the cell has to compensate by ramping up its power to the UEs.”

“If the UE power control algorithm is faulty then they will demand more power from the cell than is necessary and with multiple users this can cause the cell transmitter to run out of power. The net result is that some UEs will drop their call. I have seen the dropped call graphs that correspond to the iPhone launch and when the 2.0.2 firmware was released. The increase in dropped calls,” the source said, were the result of “dropped calls due to a lack of downlink power.”

Why the iPhone 3G suffered poor data throughput
“The power control issue will also have an effect on the data throughput, because the higher the data rate the more power the Node B transmitter requires to transmit. If the UEs have poor power control and are taking more power than is necessary then it will sap the network’s ability to deliver high speed data.”

“This is one of the reasons why AT&T has been sending text messages to users to persuade them to upgrade to the 2.0.2 software. In a mixed environment where users are running 2.0, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2, the power control problems of 2.0 and 2.0.1 will affect the 2.0.2 users.”

“It is not the network that is fault but the interaction of the bad power control algorithm in 2.0 and 2.0.1 software and the network that is at fault. The sooner everybody is running 2.0.2 software the better things will be. Having seen the graphs the 2.0.2 software has already started to make difference.”

The Inside Deal on iPhone 2.0.2 and Dropped Calls

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Entaum - August 28, 2008 at 3:32pm

Wait a second.... what about al those users complaining that ONLY the Iphone had these shortcomings while other 3G phones right beside them didn't?? If the case was power distribution than all 3G phones would have had experienced the same problems (assuming they are all At&t)... Seems to me like another excuse...

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Mes - August 28, 2008 at 11:16am

Sounds like VooDoo mumbo-jumbo political corporate double-talk to me. Either the network was designed to handle the traffic ----- or it wasn't !!

Nicolas - August 28, 2008 at 11:10am

"This is not the fault..."? Whoever fault it is, it is NOT the end user's fault. Telecoms are plagged with "problems" and a lot of these problems - like slowish connections - are giving more money to the providers...