astronomy

Philip Thomas Porter

Philip Thomas Porter is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Philip Thomas Porter rather than just read about it. In short: Philip Thomas Porter (March 18, 1930 – March 30, 2011) was an American electrical engineer, one of the pioneers of cellular telephone networks. Education Porter was born in rural Clinton, Kentucky, USA.

Key takeaways

Philip Thomas Porter belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Philip Thomas Porter to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Philip Thomas Porter from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Philip Thomas Porter (March 18, 1930 – March 30, 2011) was an American electrical engineer, one of the pioneers of cellular telephone networks.

Education

Porter was born in rural Clinton, Kentucky, USA. He received a BA in physics (1952), MA in physics (1953), and a PhD (1955?) from Vanderbilt University, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

Career

Porter was an engineer at Bell Laboratories during the years of transition from radio telephones to modern cellular mobile communications. Porter was the Bell Labs engineer who proposed that cell towers be at the corners of the hexagon cells rather than the centers and have directional antennas that would transmit and receive in 3 directions into 3 adjacent hexagon cells. In Porter's design, the cell sites can flexibly assign channels to handheld phones based on signal strength, allowing the same frequency to be re-used in various locations without interference. This allowed a larger number of phones to be supported over a geographical area. His work in preorigination dialing (entering the number, then hitting the Send key), improved efficiency of placing cell phone calls. During the 1960s and 1970s, Porter was a key partner in the international negotiation of bandwidths and international standards involving systems, signaling, and controlling implications of cellular service. These activities led to cellular service becoming commercial viable. He was the recipient of several awards for his work, notably from the IEEE (engineering society). As of January 1, 1990, Porter was elected an IEEE Fellow "for contributions to the planning, definition, and design of mobile cellular radio communications and services." After spending much of his adult life in New Jersey near the Bell Laboratories headquarters where he worked, Porter retired to WellSpring in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2000. Porter was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2016 as a recognition for his role in the cellular industry. He and his wife Louise (Jett) Porter had a daughter Sara Shelby Taylor, a son Philip C. Porter, and three grandchildren.

Publications Li Fung Chang and Philip T. Porter, "Data Services in a TDMA Digital Portable Radio System", Global Telecommunications Conf., GLOBECOM '90, 1990. Li Fung Chang and Philip T. Porter, "Performance comparison of antenna diversity and slow frequency hopping for the TDMA portable radio channel", IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, pages 222-229, vol 38, issue 4, 1989. Philip T. Porter, "Relationships for Three-dimensional Modeling of Co-channel Reuse", IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, Pages 6–11, vol 35, 1985. Verne H. MacDonald, Philip T. Porter, W. Rae Young, "Cellular high capacity mobile radiotelephone system with fleet-calling arrangement for dispatch service", U.S. patent 4,399,555, filed April 28, 1980, issued August 16, 1983. Z. C. Fluhr and Philip T. Porter, "AMPS: Control Architecture", Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 58, 1, pages 1–14, January 1979, Advanced Mobile Phone System. Richard H. Frenkiel, Joel S. Engle, and Philip T. Porter, "High Capacity Mobile Telephone System Feasibility Studies and System Plan", proposal filed with the FCC in 1971.

See also History of mobile phones#Cellular concepts Richard H. Frenkiel Joel S. Engel W. Rae Young Li Fung Chang

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Philip Thomas Porter

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Philip Thomas Porter claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Philip Thomas Porter before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Philip Thomas Porter ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Philip Thomas Porter

In research: Philip Thomas Porter appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Philip Thomas Porter in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Philip Thomas Porter is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1930 births, 2011 deaths, American electrical engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Philip Thomas Porter outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Philip Thomas Porter in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Philip Thomas Porter means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Philip Thomas Porter out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Philip Thomas Porter in simple terms?

Philip Thomas Porter (March 18, 1930 – March 30, 2011) was an American electrical engineer, one of the pioneers of cellular telephone networks. Education Porter was born in rural Clinton, Kentucky, USA.

Why does Philip Thomas Porter matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Philip Thomas Porter?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Philip Thomas Porter.