On Fri, Mar 09, 2018 at 08:34:57AM +0000, Bruckner Jan (ETAS-SEC/ECT-Mu) wrote:
> Hi Neels,
>
> >> Are there any alternatives I'm not aware of other than using
> >> non-Osmocom projects?
>
> >Could you rephrase that? :)
>
> Sure :)
> I looked into other 2G/3G projects, mainly OpenBTS and YateBTS and saw that
> OpenBTS-UMTS should support 3G with my SDR. But I'd very much prefer
> sticking to Osmocom, because OpenBTS seems not very active, at least towards
> the public. So I was wondering if someone might be working on another
> Osmocom project that I have not come across yet, that might provide an
> alternative to buying a nano3G.
> Actually, I just found [1], which also uses the nano3G. So nano3G seems like
> the way to go right now.

Hi Jan,

It is not trivial to find femto cells that provide a usable Iuh that is not
locked down to specific vendors / networks.

It is also not trivial to write a separate RNC that would allow operating Iu
proper instead of requiring Iuh, which would open up more possibilities for 3G
base station hardware. None of GSM is trivial, but we have no RNC yet :)

At Osmocom/sysmocom, we have the sysmoCell 5k series, and have also managed to
get the far cheaper nano3G plugged to our osmo-hnbgw; plus at sysmocom we have
a certain number of them available. So wherever you look in the Osmocom
ecosystem, you will see the nano3G popping up its head. The Accelerate3g5 was
specifically launched by sysmocom to get more people involved in Osmocom 3G
and, naturally, we gave away nano3G units to about a dozen projects.
http://osmocom.org/projects/cellular-infrastructure/wiki/Accelerate3g5

There is an ongoing process of finding more suitable femto cells, and it looks
promising, though it's not worth an announcement as of yet.

Anyone out there may join the effort and investigate femto cell models
available on the market and find ways to unlock them so they become generally
usable with Osmocom 3G.

If you want to get started, the nano3G indeed is your best bet with Osmocom at
the moment. Be aware that not all nano3G you can buy out there are ready to be
configured and talk Iuh to any host, so sysmocom is probably the safest source.

~N