Is there a charge for satellite news? Can I make a phone call and ask some key questions about Huawei Mate50?

At 2: 30 pm on September 6th, with the gradual ringing of "Make it possible", Huawei released a new generation of Mate series-Huawei Mate50 series. At this time, 684 days have passed since the previous generation of Mate40 series, and the once suspended Mate product line began to be updated again, bringing a new feature highlight of smart phones-Beidou Satellite News.

After the press conference, this function quickly became one of the focuses of consumer discussion, mostly focusing on "Can satellite communication replace 5G?" "Mate50 is not the first to support Beidou satellite news", "Mate50 can make satellite phone calls" and "Is Beidou satellite communication free?" And so on. If you happen to have doubts about this, then this article will definitely solve your doubts.

Is Huawei the first player?

According to the official statement, Huawei Mate50 series is the world's first popular smart phone supporting Beidou satellite messages, which is also commonly known as Beidou short message system. But after the press conference, the following picture appeared on the Internet.

This picture was taken at the 20 19 Lenovo Z6 Youth Edition conference. At that time, one of the selling points of this machine was the integration of the autonomous navigation chip of Huada Beidou HD8040, which supported Beidou tri-band positioning and could send text and positioning information without carrier network.

Lenovo Z6 Youth Edition itself does not have a built-in Beidou transmitter, which leads to the embarrassing situation that chips support but mobile phones do not, not to mention the technical differences between the two. Use a simple example to illustrate that the TV you bought supports 4K video decoding, but the resolution of the TV screen is less than 4K, and this function becomes a decoration. At that time, Lenovo only introduced that Beidou satellite had a short message system, which had nothing to do with the mobile phone itself.

From beginning to end, the Beidou short message system has nothing to do with Lenovo Z6 Youth Edition. In addition, HD8040 is a receiving chip and does not have the function of sending short messages.

In terms of time, on July 30th this year, Beidou.com published an article about the official release of the results of Beidou-3 short message communication service, which contained a passage:

China Ordnance Industry Corporation, together with China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., China Electronics Technology Group Co., Ltd. and domestic mobile phone manufacturers, has overcome a number of key core technologies, completed the development of the first Beidou short message communication RF baseband integrated chip in China, innovatively realized the design of "one number and two networks" for mass mobile phones, and realized the satellite communication capability of mass smart phones for the first time in the world. In the Asia-Pacific region, mass users will enjoy the short message communication service of Beidou-3, and the trouble of "you are not in the service area" will no longer appear, and the ability of "a mobile phone in hand, always online" will become a reality.

Now it seems that the "domestic mobile phone manufacturer" mentioned here refers to Huawei, so it is naturally impossible to talk about who will come first. Since Mate50, short message service has been open to the public and can be commercialized for public use.

Afterwards, Bruce Lee, vice president of Huawei's mobile phone product line, also specifically responded to this matter at the Weibo. He was very sure at that time. The PPT on this page said that Beidou system has the ability to send short messages, which has nothing to do with his mobile phone. It can be guaranteed that Huawei had no civil mobile phone to support sending Beidou short messages before.

Huawei Mate50 series is indeed the only popular smartphone that supports Beidou satellite news.

Can Mate50 make satellite phone calls?

I can't.

Huawei Mate50 series supports Beidou satellite short message system, which is equivalent to sending a short message to others via satellite, so don't fantasize about replacing the current telephone communication with satellite phone. To say the least, the satellite phone charges 1.8 yuan per minute. Although this is a bit inappropriate, it is obviously not as affordable as the daily call package.

In addition, the realization of satellite calls requires the mobile phone itself to be equipped with high power to connect with satellites, which leads to the need for large batteries and antennas for satellite phones, which is also the reason why satellite phones are bulky. However, there is no doubt about the advanced nature of Huawei Mate50 series Beidou satellite short message system.

As long as users have Huawei Mate50 series, they can realize satellite communication without changing cards, adding additional antennas, buying satellite cards and downloading apps. As long as it is activated in Huawei Changlian APP, it can be used in Chinese mainland. This function sounds very simple, and even has nothing to do with me, but it needs to break through a series of technical problems behind the realization, and it needs to get through Huawei, satellite RF chip suppliers and Beidou, as well as solve the high power consumption problem of satellite communication, the integration of base station signals and satellite signals, and communication frequency bands.

Most importantly, the Beidou short message system appears on retail mobile phones, which means that its business model has been finalized.

Does this function have practical value?

After the press conference, some netizens said that Beidou satellite news is very good, but it seems to be far from daily life. It's hard not to doubt the practicality of this function on weekdays.

Indeed, living in an area where mobile phone signals are normally covered, although this function can be used, the significance may not be as great as that of OTA where mobile phone manufacturers strengthen signals. However, it should also be noted that some people need to cross the mountains and rivers of this country in their work and life, which may be in endless peaks, in hot and humid forests, or in barren fields. In areas where these signals cannot be guaranteed, the significance of Beidou satellite news plays an important role.

The Beidou satellite message of Huawei Mate50 series can send text and location information to the outside world through the long-linked APP without ground network coverage, and send it to a synchronous orbit satellite 36,000 kilometers away, which can be completed under a normal-sized smartphone. The technical difficulty can be seen.

The information sent by the satellite will be forwarded to the ground station, and the ground station will convert the satellite message into an ordinary short message, so that it can be received even if the other party uses an ordinary smart phone. In addition, you can also generate a trajectory map according to your information location, so as to keep in touch with the outside world and let rescuers know your action trajectory.

It is worth noting that it takes only a few seconds to receive a Beidou satellite message from Huawei Mate50 series to ordinary mobile phones. In order to ensure the smooth transmission of information, users need to use it in open areas. In Changlian APP, users can also choose the contact person * * * to enjoy your location information.

Another point about the Beidou satellite message of Huawei Mate50 series is that this series of mobile phones only support sending messages and cannot receive them. Because the Beidou satellite connected in this series is a near-earth satellite, it has certain restrictions and can only transmit information in one direction; Secondly, the current hardware of the mobile phone terminal does not have the ability to compile and decode again; The Beidou short message communication RF baseband integrated chip used by Huawei Mate50 series is Huawei's exclusive chip, which needs the equipment of China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. as a transit.

After that, I am afraid that a similar situation will occur in mobile phones that also support Beidou satellite news. As for the solution, we can only wait for further breakthroughs in communication technology and related hardware.

Do I have to pay?

As for the cost, there is no charge for the Beidou satellite message function of Huawei Mate50 series at present. During the experience period, 30 free quotas will be provided every month, and the free quotas will be automatically refreshed next month if they exceed the charging quota. The charging standard after the experience period will be notified separately.

The technical director of a manufacturer said that the cost of manufacturing a satellite is about 1 billion yuan, and the annual operation and maintenance will be 1 billion yuan. According to the service life of 10 year, that is to say, a satellite needs to send 200 million short messages every year, each of which needs 1 yuan, so as not to lose money. At present, when mobile phone manufacturers do this, they need to make clear the division of interests with all parties when opening the test.

Beidou satellite news

Generally speaking, the Beidou satellite news of Huawei Mate50 series is like a luxurious version of SOS, which can help a lot or even save lives when it is not used on weekdays, and it has more reason to become the standard function of future smart phones. But one thing, Beidou satellite communication is a serious function, and it is best to use it only in special scenes such as outdoor distress, emergency rescue and function test. Don't look at it from the perspective of entertainment and banter.

Huawei Mate50 series still can't support 5G, but the addition of Beidou satellite news this time has given people an unnecessary idea-replacing 5G with satellites.

In fact, satellite communication and 5G can be understood as two sets of communication systems. Whether the smartphone has satellite communication function or not will not affect the use of 5G, and the two are not substitutes for each other. Realizing the 5G function by independent means is still a problem for Huawei to solve, but in some people, it has become a profit-making rhetoric.

Typically, as shown in the above figure, satellite communication has surpassed 5G, and this rhetoric is used to promote Huawei Mate50 series. This series of Beidou satellite message function is indeed leading and advanced, but it cannot be used to avoid the objective fact that mobile phones only support 4G. "4G/5G doesn't matter" or "don't buy without 5G", consumers have a steelyard in their hearts.

Write it at the end

Huawei Mate50 series is the first in the world to support Beidou satellite news, which is an innovation of mobile phone function and truly realizes communication without dead ends.

At present, there are still many dead spots and blind spots in the global cellular network. Mate50 series relies on Beidou short message communication RF baseband integrated chip to realize communication without dead ends, realize the civil scale of satellite communication technology, and make the mobile phone truly become an all-weather and all-weather communication terminal. To put it simply: you can communicate with electricity. This is of great significance, because it is precisely the goal to be achieved in the 6G era, to achieve the full connection of terrestrial wireless and satellite communication integration.

The Beidou satellite news of Huawei Mate50 series is not dispensable, but an important function that can save lives when necessary. However, due to technical limitations or interest-related, many online words are biased, so don't be biased or even misunderstood about this function. In addition, after the release of Mate50 series, more and more mobile phone manufacturers will inevitably join, which will greatly promote the large-scale civilian use of Beidou as a big country.

The Huawei Mate50 series in your hand may be the starting point of another revolution in the smart phone industry.