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Open source cell phone projects.
Renegade:
The actual hardware would be very hard to get open sourced. That would be a problem. e.g. Are there any non-proprietary APs out there? I don't know of any.
40hz:
@SB - Related to what you're talking about. (If you can't join them - beat them?)
Building a GSM network with open source
by Andrew Back
Over the last few years open source technology has enabled mobile phone networks to be set up on a shoestring budget at hacker conferences, on a tiny Pacific island and at a festival in the Nevada desert. Andrew Back takes a look at how this has been made possible and at what's involved in building a GSM network using OpenBTS and OpenBSC.
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The origins of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) can be traced back to the early 1980s, and to agreements between European nations seeking network interoperability through a standards-based replacement for incompatible first generation networks. The initial GSM specifications were published in 1990 and networks were deployed soon after, with the GSM Association (GSMA) being set up in 1995 to drive standardisation and to promote the system.
The development of GSM has been led by incumbent telcos, large system integrators and multinational equipment providers, and its arcane terminology and formidable catalogue of specifications spread across more than 1,100 PDFs are not for the faint hearted. The comprehensive standards and recommendations produced cover everything from wireless protocols and voice codecs, to subscriber records and encryption. Many of these have been made freely available via the ETSI and 3GPP standards bodies, while some – for example, those detailing the encryption algorithms used for call privacy – are restricted to GSMA members.
The GSMA has been described as "one of the most powerful organisations in the world" – it boasts a membership of around 800 mobile operators across 220 countries, and entry to this prestigious club is a privilege and not a right, with subscriptions starting at an eye-watering £9,000 per year.
Fortunately, bewildering complexity and incomplete access to standards were not enough to dissuade a handful of determined open source developers, and thanks to them there are now two low cost routes to setting up a GSM network.
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Full article here.
:)
superboyac:
^^That's also good stuff.
Ugh, I'm annoyed that the US gets lamer phones than other countries. Feels like somehow Apple is the only company allowed to sell well made phones here?
Renegade:
^^That's also good stuff.
Ugh, I'm annoyed that the US gets lamer phones than other countries. Feels like somehow Apple is the only company allowed to sell well made phones here?
-superboyac (September 18, 2012, 10:14 AM)
--- End quote ---
Just goes to show that Apple has a good legal team. :P
@40hz - that was a cool article on the open systems there.
40hz:
^^That's also good stuff.
Ugh, I'm annoyed that the US gets lamer phones than other countries. Feels like somehow Apple is the only company allowed to sell well made phones here?
-superboyac (September 18, 2012, 10:14 AM)
--- End quote ---
Just goes to show that Apple has a good legal team. :P
@40hz - that was a cool article on the open systems there.
-Renegade (September 18, 2012, 10:38 AM)
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Agree. Way cool!
But I'm a child from the Watergate era who grew up on Tom Swift stories, Ham Radio, and Popular Electronics magazine articles - and saw the the birth of the personal computer (my first 'real' computer was a Kim-1!) so my counter-culture/street-techno/DIY/Whole Earth Catalog/science fetish roots are showing.
And now, my thanks goes to those responsible for the Arundino and Raspberry Pi. Those little gadgets (plus Linus Torvalds) are taking me right back to my roots. Woo-hoo! :up:
;D
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