Why does a cell tower need to be massive to transmit data to a smartphone but the phone’s extremely small antenna can transmit data back over the same distance?

Question

Why does a cell tower need to be massive to transmit data to a smartphone but the phone’s extremely small antenna can transmit data back over the same distance?

In: 52

Answer 1

For good signal, either the receiver or the transmitter needs to be big.

Now consider the sending and receiving as two different data streams.

When the phone is sending, it’s antenna is small, while the base station is big, hence good signal.

When the phone is receiving, the base station is big and the phone antenna is small, hence good signal.