The Lost Phone Signal at Music Festivals在音樂節(jié)“走丟”的手機(jī)信號(hào)

If you have ever attended any of the big summer festivals， chances are that you may have， at one point or another， struggled to get in touch with other people due to poor mobile reception. This universal experience， common across festival goers across the world， persists despite growing advancements in mobile technology.

如果你曾經(jīng)參加過(guò)大型夏季音樂節(jié)，那么你很可能曾因?yàn)槭謾C(jī)信號(hào)太差而無(wú)法與其他人取得聯(lián)系。盡管移動(dòng)技術(shù)日益進(jìn)步，但世界各地的音樂節(jié)的觀眾都有過(guò)類似經(jīng)歷。

“The reason is simply cellular capacity，” says Izzat Darwazeh， a professor of communications engineering at UCL. “People are demanding more of their phones now and want these things to be immediate. So the demand on bandwidth or capacity becomes much higher.”

倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院通信工程教授伊扎特·達(dá)爾瓦澤表示：“原因很簡(jiǎn)單，就是蜂窩容量。人們現(xiàn)在越來(lái)越依賴于手機(jī)，并希望能及時(shí)瀏覽手機(jī)。因此對(duì)帶寬和容量的需求也變得更高?！?/p>

Darwazeh explains that limited cellular capacity is the primary reason behind these frequent communication breakdowns at music festivals. Mobile networks work on a series of cells that cover specific areas， and each cell operates on a different frequency， and while the capacity per cell can be doubled or tripled， there is a finite limit to how much more they can be increased. He further explains that phone connection becomes much weaker the more people gather in one cell due to their bodies absorbing mobile signals. While temporary solutions involve building additional masts to high-demand areas， these decisions are often dependent on cost considerations.

達(dá)爾瓦澤解釋說(shuō)，有限的蜂窩容量是音樂節(jié)上頻繁出現(xiàn)通信中斷的主要原因。移動(dòng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)依賴多個(gè)覆蓋特定區(qū)域的蜂窩運(yùn)行，每個(gè)蜂窩都有特定的頻率，雖然每個(gè)蜂窩的容量可以增加一倍或兩倍，但容量增加的幅度是有限的。他進(jìn)一步解釋說(shuō)，由于人們的身體吸收了移動(dòng)信號(hào)，因此蜂窩覆蓋的區(qū)域中聚集的人越多，電話信號(hào)就越弱。雖然可以在需求量大的地方臨時(shí)增設(shè)信號(hào)塔，但這往往要考慮成本問題。

To solve the issue， extra masts can be temporarily positioned where there is greatest demand. Topography and not being in the sightline of permanent masts， for example at a festival site surrounded by mountains， can also severely limit service.

為了解決這個(gè)問題，可以在需求量最大的地方臨時(shí)設(shè)置別的信號(hào)塔。地形和日常難以看到但長(zhǎng)期存在的信號(hào)塔（例如在群山環(huán)繞的音樂節(jié)場(chǎng)地）也會(huì)嚴(yán)重限制信號(hào)服務(wù)。

While higher-profile festivals like Glastonbury have partnered with official network providers to address this issue， Professor Darwazeh comments： “A little bit of investment from these organisers can guarantee that there is good coverage， but I don’t think there’s much incentive for the mobile operators to do this.”

雖然像格拉斯頓伯里這樣的知名度高的音樂節(jié)已經(jīng)與官方的網(wǎng)絡(luò)提供商合作來(lái)解決這一問題，但達(dá)爾瓦澤教授解釋道：“這些組織者投入少量的錢就可以保證良好的信號(hào)覆蓋，但我認(rèn)為移動(dòng)運(yùn)營(yíng)商不會(huì)有太大的動(dòng)力去做這件事。”

As 5G technology becomes more widely integrated， Darwazeh remarks that cellular densification， where more cells in an area are covered by one network， may relieve some of the network strain. The overarching aim lies in dedicating one cell per user， eliminating this issue altogether， but there is still a long way to go before this can be implemented.

隨著5G技術(shù)的廣泛整合，達(dá)爾瓦澤指出，蜂窩密集化（即一個(gè)區(qū)域內(nèi)更多的蜂窩被一個(gè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)覆蓋）可能會(huì)緩解部分網(wǎng)絡(luò)信號(hào)差的情況。首要目標(biāo)是為每個(gè)用戶提供一個(gè)蜂窩，從而徹底解決這個(gè)問題，但要實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)還有很長(zhǎng)的路要走。

Word Bank

finite /'fa?na?t/ adj. 有限的；有限制的

incentive /?n'sent?v/ n. 激勵(lì)；鼓勵(lì)

eliminate /?'l?m?ne?t/ v. 清除；消除

implement /'?mpl?ment/ v. 使生效；貫徹；執(zhí)行