Chapter 3: Smartphones, Tablets & Other Mobile Devices, Part I

Question 1

There isn’t enough room inside a tablet to fit CPUs, SSDs, Storage and more, what technology does a tablet utilize to accommodate for the lack of space?

Answer 1

It uses a System on a Chip (SoC), which combines CPU, RAM, Storage and more on one single substrate

Question 2

What’s the most common microarchitecture used for SoC on a tablet?

Answer 2

The most common microarchitecture used is called ARM, which is a type of Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC)

Question 3

What is the benefit of an ARM-based CPU?

Answer 3

ARM-based CPUs use fewer transistors than a CPU found in a PC/Laptop, which makes it a great choice for portability and lower power consumption while still maintaining decent processing power

Question 4

A smartphone is IP68 compliant, what does that mean?

Answer 4

IP (ingress protection), the 6 means the device is dust tight and that no ingress of dust can occur, the 8 means the device can be immersed in water up to and beyond 1 meter

There are other compliant #’s, IP67, the 7 means only up to 1 meter, not beyond.

Question 5

You’re connecting your new android to the wall to charge it, what type of USB connection is used to plug-in to the outlet and what type of USB connection is used to plug-in to the bottom of the android?

Answer 5

USB-A is commonly used when plugging into a charging cube/PC

USB-C is commonly used on android devices, older devices may still use a Micro-USB

Question 6

How far can you distance yourself from the Bluetooth device you’re connected to before losing connection?

Answer 6

Class 2 Bluetooth devices are usually limited to about 33 feet (10 meters)