system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does cellular data work?

Ok I get it sends a signal to my device, but how does it know the specific data I want? Also, how does it find my specific phone when I receive calls?
gpt
The cell tower doesn't know what specific data you want, any more than the post office knows what's inside your mail...it just knows it's got a "packet" addressed to you and it delivers it. Your phone is the one making the requests and processing the receipts.

As far as knowing where your phone is, as long as you're connected to your network, you've got an active radio connection to the "nearest" cell tower ("nearest" because it's really the one with the strongest signal, not necessarily physically closest). When someone calls you that request goes into your phone company's network. The network says "Right, which tower is talking to number XYZ?". If you're on the network, one of the towers will say, "Me!" and the cell network routes the call to that tower. Then the tower sends a radio signal to your phone saying, "Call for you." The tower already knows where you are (in a "which antenna" sense) because your phone is always maintaining a connection.