how do the clocks in cars, stoves, phones (I guess?) know what time it is? Is it signals from satellites or something?
In: Technology
Most of the clocks in devices like cars and stoves have to be set manually. NIST’s atomic clocks *do* transmit a time signal over radio that the public can use, but most clock manufacturers don’t bother putting in the hardware that would be needed to read the signal.
Cell phones actually have a couple of different ways they could set the time. Most, I believe, set their time from signals transmitted by the carrier as part of the cellular network. They could set their time using Internet time servers, but that would require using data (this is what most PCs do nowadays). They could also take their time from GPS or similar services, which transmit time signals from satellites (this is what dedicated GPS devices typically do). Or they could use the NIST radio signal I mentioned above. But I think they typically use the wireless carrier’s signal if they can.
Latest Answers