Radio Frequency (RF) Jammers
The Basics of Cell Phone Jamming
Cell phones work by communicating with a service network through the utilization of cellular towers or base stations. Individual towers partition cities into small sections called cells. As a cell phone user traverses the cells in an area, the signal is passed from tower to tower.
Jamming devices take advantage of this fact by transmitting on the spectrum of radio frequencies used by cellular devices. Through its concurrent transmission, the jamming device is able to disrupt the two-way communication between the phone and the base station. This form of a denial-of-service attack inhibits all cellular communication within range of the device.
How It's Done
Through the transmission of a high power signal on the same frequency of a cell phone, the jamming device creates a competing signal that collides with, and, in effect, cancels out the cellular signal. Cell phones, which are designed to increase power in the case of low levels of interference, react to this interference. Consequently, jamming devices must be aware of any increases in power by the cellular device and match that power level accordingly.