"Cellular connectivity is provided by the SM5100B GSM Module...". Meh. No way a DYI. It's like you assemble your desktop PC from pieces like motherboard and power supply and say that you built a DYI PC.
DIY cellphone
51–60 of 60 posts
Re: DIY cellphone
#52"Cellular connectivity is provided by the SM5100B GSM Module...". Meh. No way a DYI. It's like you assemble your desktop PC from pieces like motherboard and power supply and say that you built a DYI PC.
Since it seems to be backed by MIT, I also kinda hoped to see an independent GSM stack and not just some COTS baseband attached to a COTS MCU.
Re: DIY cellphone
#53My grandmother has pretty bad arthritis. No major carrier sells a handset that is easy for my grandmother to manage. It may be time to put one together for her.
(http://www.matobmobile.co.uk/) EDIT: This website is bafflingly awful considering they're aiming at customers with accessibility needs.
But putting one together is a great idea, especially with 3d printing.
Re: DIY cellphone
#54Can anyone share any details about one of those laser wood cutters? Costs/Materials/Brands/Issues etc. for a hobbyist?
Disclaimer: I'm an employee.
Re: DIY cellphone
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the UK they sell a range of mobile phones with big buttons, particularly for the elderly. Basic features on it only of course, but that's probably all they will use anyway. http://easiphone.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
Basic features on it only of course, but that's probably all they will use anyway. That's a rather self-fulfilling attitude, and I hope that we as an industry try harder really soon. My parents are in their late 60s, and are quite good with computers. I'm working on a side project with a woman in her eighties who started programming during the Eisenhower administration. And I know a number of tech folks in their 40s…
With a phone like this, there has to be a compromise somewhere. By basic features I meant by today's smartphone standard, you are never going to get that to that level with an LCD screen and button taking up all the phone real estate. It is really only going to be possible for calls and SMS messages.
Of course, if they need a smartphone with big "buttons" and a big screen then you could always buy them the Samsung Galaxy Fucking Note
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/26/behold-the-best-samsung-gal...
Re: DIY cellphone
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Since it seems to be backed by MIT, I also kinda hoped to see an independent GSM stack and not just some COTS baseband attached to a COTS MCU.
Fortunately, someone stopped them from re-inventing wheels, axles, GSM stacks, etc.
Re: DIY cellphone
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
As the person who made the phone, I think this is an interesting question. Do we say that Apple doesn't build computers themselves because they buy the CPU from Intel? Or because they use Qualcomm transceivers (and lots of other off-the-shelf components) in their phones? On the other hand, we probably wouldn't say someone made a phone if they just put it into a different enclosure. I can say that I spent a lot of tim…
Don't listen to these people. This argument is old, and tired. It's the same as: "I don't code python, that isn't a real language, it does everything for you, unlike C!" Really? Does everything for you? Good to know that you built your own transistors from scratch via materials that you mined out of the ground, while naked, using only tools that you scavenged out of the forest, and that you came up with the entire pr…
Re: DIY cellphone
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
+5. You can run the whole stack on a router. It's basically doing call control for a couple of channels. The heavy lifting is done in USRP.
The host part of OpenBTS is not just call control(Freeswitch or Asterisk provides most of the call control part). OpenBTS is a software defined radio and really does most of the processing in software. The USRP provides the radio interface, up/down conversion between baseband and carrier frequencies and the analog/digital conversion. The USRP just sends/receives those samples without caring or knowing about GSM. Samp…
As far as I was aware, the GSM processing isn't much more intensive than equivalent: Ethernet packet assembly + TCP/IP + HTTPS?
I thought all the DSP happened in USRP. So out of that, you get a bit stream, that is sliced into frames, and then processed like any network stack?
Re: DIY cellphone
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
The host part of OpenBTS is not just call control(Freeswitch or Asterisk provides most of the call control part). OpenBTS is a software defined radio and really does most of the processing in software. The USRP provides the radio interface, up/down conversion between baseband and carrier frequencies and the analog/digital conversion. The USRP just sends/receives those samples without caring or knowing about GSM. Samp…
Right, call control with asterisk, and GSM stack in software. As far as I was aware, the GSM processing isn't much more intensive than equivalent: Ethernet packet assembly + TCP/IP + HTTPS? I thought all the DSP happened in USRP. So out of that, you get a bit stream, that is sliced into frames, and then processed like any network stack?
Note that the lower layers of GSM is very different from e.g. ethernet. Once you get past all the very gory stuff up to layer 2, the concepts are pretty much the same though.
Re: DIY cellphone
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
The host part of OpenBTS is not just call control(Freeswitch or Asterisk provides most of the call control part). OpenBTS is a software defined radio and really does most of the processing in software. The USRP provides the radio interface, up/down conversion between baseband and carrier frequencies and the analog/digital conversion. The USRP just sends/receives those samples without caring or knowing about GSM. Samp…
Right, call control with asterisk, and GSM stack in software. As far as I was aware, the GSM processing isn't much more intensive than equivalent: Ethernet packet assembly + TCP/IP + HTTPS? I thought all the DSP happened in USRP. So out of that, you get a bit stream, that is sliced into frames, and then processed like any network stack?