Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–67 of 67 posts

Re: SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

#61

Post by rusk »

pgorczak wrote: post #47
rusk wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you suggest could be accomplished with mesh networking. GP is correct in saying the reasons are orthogonal to functional reasons. Phone systems have always been centralised like this. Billing is one aspect, but lawful surveillance is another.

They are not entirely orthogonal. You need a central base station with scheduling, high dynamic range and power control to maximize performance in an OFDM system. In addition, most cells used to use frequency division multiplexing meaning that the base station and phones send and receive on different frequencies. So lack of point to point capabilities can at least in part be explained by the design goal of optimizing…

You do if you want to route across a broader area which is a different use case to what we are talking about. Two phones right next to each other are routes through the BTS even though they could easily route directly to one another and that is for non functional reasons.

Re: SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

#62

Post by rusk »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #46
rusk wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you suggest could be accomplished with mesh networking. GP is correct in saying the reasons are orthogonal to functional reasons. Phone systems have always been centralised like this. Billing is one aspect, but lawful surveillance is another.

With respect, if you think that mesh networking would have worked considering the scale and capacity needed, and relevant type of devices then I am afraid this is a case of not knowing what you don't know...

I was using Mesh networking as an example. Obviously it can’t handle heavy load or longer distances well, however it is much more efficient for local point to point.

If you like, you can consider just plain old VOIP where the central entity is used for discovery but the actual call may then be routed p2p though not in VoLTE and its successors of course because the media plane is also centrally routed.

Re: SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

#63

Post by rusk »

throw5959 wrote: post #57
mytailorisrich wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With respect, if you think that mesh networking would have worked considering the scale and capacity needed, and relevant type of devices then I am afraid this is a case of not knowing what you don't know...

How do you solve cross talk in congested areas? Made worse by the fact that mesh networks have a significant communication overhead.

Cross talk takes place on PHY and by the time you get up to routing it’s all been eliminated

Re: SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

#64

Post by pgorczak »

rusk wrote: post #61
pgorczak wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are not entirely orthogonal. You need a central base station with scheduling, high dynamic range and power control to maximize performance in an OFDM system. In addition, most cells used to use frequency division multiplexing meaning that the base station and phones send and receive on different frequencies. So lack of point to point capabilities can at least in part be explained by the design goal of optimizing…

You do if you want to route across a broader area which is a different use case to what we are talking about. Two phones right next to each other are routes through the BTS even though they could easily route directly to one another and that is for non functional reasons.

No, they could literally not send on the frequencies they listen on in case of FDD. Enabling this would require extra radio hardware. Also there would need to be a some kind of encryption key exchange between devices which is not needed in the centralized setup. They could not easily route to one another without adding extra stuff.

Re: SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

#65

Post by rusk »

pgorczak wrote: post #64
rusk wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do if you want to route across a broader area which is a different use case to what we are talking about. Two phones right next to each other are routes through the BTS even though they could easily route directly to one another and that is for non functional reasons.

No, they could literally not send on the frequencies they listen on in case of FDD. Enabling this would require extra radio hardware. Also there would need to be a some kind of encryption key exchange between devices which is not needed in the centralized setup. They could not easily route to one another without adding extra stuff.

You’re talking nonsense we have an abundance of radio devices capable of point to point routing.

Re: SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

#66

Post by markus-k »

mateuszbuda wrote: post #56
markus-k wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and yes, although in most parts of the world it won't be legal when done via antennas. You can buy blank SIM cards from vendors like Sysmocom, which are preprogrammed but "writable" SIM cards. The important part is knowing the private key that is used to authenticate end user devices. Then you'll just need a decent SDR and it actually works fairly well for small test setups.

Do you have an idea what would be my external IP address? On my phone connected to a mobile network, I get assigned mobile IP address which is my external IP address. It's not attached to the SIM card because it changes when I reconnected. Is it handles by the BTS software? Do I get assigned an IP address and BTS communicates on my behalf using that address which comes from the mobile network operators pool?

The LTE core assigns an IP address to your SIM card/UE. In the case of srsRAN, there's a simple CSV file mapping the IMSI to an IP address, but there are no limits on how complicated it can get.

Re: SrsRAN: Open-Source 4G/5G

#67

Post by whydoineedthis »

O-Ran, the closed source that begins with O for open naturally, is really terrifying in terms of spying on users and sharing data.

My personal tinfoil hat says the corporations started the 5G cancer rumors themselves to distract the public from the real terror of 5G that is ORan data sharing.

The tl;dr is any participant in Oran can put software directly on the antena and access your data directly with no need for it to go through a 3rd party like your cell provider. The cell providers charge for access to the antenna. This sidestep any potentially conflict with selling your data - by choosing a 5g cell phone, you have already opted in to your data being accessed. Creepy.

Post reply on HN