So let me ask a couple of questions about OpenBSC to clarify things for myself.
What are the requirements for running OpenBSC ? a) a USRP2 b) some kind of computer with gigabit ethernet (recommended hardware? what kind of load would this be responsible for?) b) a broadband internet connection c) anything else? Some kind of VOIP account somewhere?
The reason I'm asking is that I've been doing quite a bit of work with the USRP2 at university, and have been considering buying one for myself for quite some time (although as a student, it's hard to justify the price). My professional / academic / hobby interests definitely involve hacking mobiles, investigating mobile radio, hacking various arm devices, even hardware design, etc, and I guess that OpenBSC would be ideal to for testing out osmocom baseband firmware (rather than having a commercial provider's black box for a BS).
I guess another question I could pose to the list would be:
Is the USRP2 hardware-capable of supporting something UMTS, EDGE, etc? I know that the spec sheets say that it's capable of 50 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, but I believe that the high data rate 3G (and further) protocols are using wideband OFDM. From my understanding, I would imagine that it would be necessary to support much more than 50 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, or somehow be able to load the transceiver buffers quickly and sequentially. then push a broad spectrum in parallel. Perhaps this can be achieved with a MIMO configuration, or with a specialized daughter card.
Any thoughts?
C
On Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:43:02 +0100 Christopher Friedt chrisfriedt@gmail.com wrote:
What are the requirements for running OpenBSC ? a) a USRP2
no.
b) some kind of computer with gigabit ethernet
no need for GigE.
b) a broadband internet connection
no.
c) anything else? Some kind of VOIP account somewhere?
no VoIP account needed.
You might want to start here: http://openbsc.gnumonks.org/trac/wiki/OpenBSC
which should answer most of your questions.
cheers, Michael
Christopher,
You seem to ask about OpenBTS actually. If you want to know about it, read official web-site: http://openbts.sourceforge.net/ and wki: http://gnuradio.org/redmine/wiki/gnuradio/OpenBTS There are plenty information there. You can ask on its mailing list too. And no, it doesn't work with USRP2. Currently only USRP1 is supported. But if you want to port it to USRP2, you're welcome.
On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 15:43, Christopher Friedt chrisfriedt@gmail.com wrote:
So let me ask a couple of questions about OpenBSC to clarify things for myself.
What are the requirements for running OpenBSC ? a) a USRP2 b) some kind of computer with gigabit ethernet (recommended hardware? what kind of load would this be responsible for?) b) a broadband internet connection c) anything else? Some kind of VOIP account somewhere?
The reason I'm asking is that I've been doing quite a bit of work with the USRP2 at university, and have been considering buying one for myself for quite some time (although as a student, it's hard to justify the price). My professional / academic / hobby interests definitely involve hacking mobiles, investigating mobile radio, hacking various arm devices, even hardware design, etc, and I guess that OpenBSC would be ideal to for testing out osmocom baseband firmware (rather than having a commercial provider's black box for a BS).
I guess another question I could pose to the list would be:
Is the USRP2 hardware-capable of supporting something UMTS, EDGE, etc? I know that the spec sheets say that it's capable of 50 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, but I believe that the high data rate 3G (and further) protocols are using wideband OFDM. From my understanding, I would imagine that it would be necessary to support much more than 50 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, or somehow be able to load the transceiver buffers quickly and sequentially. then push a broad spectrum in parallel. Perhaps this can be achieved with a MIMO configuration, or with a specialized daughter card.
Any thoughts?
C
On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 01:43:02PM +0100, Christopher Friedt wrote:
So let me ask a couple of questions about OpenBSC to clarify things for myself.
Sorry, you are wrong here in multiple ways:
1) The OpenBSC mailing list is openbsc@lists.gnumonks.org 2) OpenBSC is completely unrelated to the USRP.
On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 2:37 PM, Harald Welte laforge@gnumonks.org wrote:
On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 01:43:02PM +0100, Christopher Friedt wrote:
So let me ask a couple of questions about OpenBSC to clarify things for myself.
Sorry, you are wrong here in multiple ways:
Right, I had the OpenBTS and OpenBSC projects confused - the previous replies were informative.
Hey,
I think you're confusing the openbsc project with the openbts project. Openbsc uses existing BTS hardware to handle the RF and focuses on the backend of the BTS interface. OpenBTS uses the USRP (not the USRP2) for the RF and is writing a complete stack from the radio layer up. They are the project which connects directly with a VoIP PBX and handle GSM - SIP.
If you want to work on the OpenBTS project you'll need a USRP (not USRP2) and a couple of RF boards. The 900 band seems to best supported, so you'll be looking t an outlay of about 1400 USD. You'll also need to modify the RF boards before you can use them. It is documented across a number of websites. Google is your friend.
Check out the openbts website.
cheers,
--gq
On 20 Feb 2010, at 19:43, Christopher Friedt chrisfriedt@gmail.com wrote:
So let me ask a couple of questions about OpenBSC to clarify things for myself.
What are the requirements for running OpenBSC ? a) a USRP2 b) some kind of computer with gigabit ethernet (recommended hardware? what kind of load would this be responsible for?) b) a broadband internet connection c) anything else? Some kind of VOIP account somewhere?
The reason I'm asking is that I've been doing quite a bit of work with the USRP2 at university, and have been considering buying one for myself for quite some time (although as a student, it's hard to justify the price). My professional / academic / hobby interests definitely involve hacking mobiles, investigating mobile radio, hacking various arm devices, even hardware design, etc, and I guess that OpenBSC would be ideal to for testing out osmocom baseband firmware (rather than having a commercial provider's black box for a BS).
I guess another question I could pose to the list would be:
Is the USRP2 hardware-capable of supporting something UMTS, EDGE, etc? I know that the spec sheets say that it's capable of 50 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, but I believe that the high data rate 3G (and further) protocols are using wideband OFDM. From my understanding, I would imagine that it would be necessary to support much more than 50 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth, or somehow be able to load the transceiver buffers quickly and sequentially. then push a broad spectrum in parallel. Perhaps this can be achieved with a MIMO configuration, or with a specialized daughter card.
Any thoughts?
C
baseband-devel@lists.osmocom.org
-
Alexander Chemeris -
Christopher Friedt -
Harald Welte -
Michael Horn -
the grugq