Hi Jean-Samuel,
On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 10:59 PM, Jean-Samuel Najnudel - BJT PARTNERS SARL jsn@bjtpartners.com wrote:
Hi Alexander,
Thank you very much for your e-mail.
1/ They did not started the PCB manufacturing yet. They are still waiting for my feedback on the questions I asked to Andrey.
Actually, if we need to replace the SRAM and/or the flash to use cheaper equivalent components, we may need to reroute the PCB. This is why I ask them to wait for the feedback from Andrey before starting the PCB production. They can start as soon as we let them know what we do about the SRAM and the flash (with or without PCB files update).
Anyway, I was not very worried about the delay. As discussed together last time in Paris, before deploying the UmTRX on the field, we would need OpenBTS to support handover. Even for tests, if I open the network without handover, because of the terrain in Mayotte, there will be so much call drops nobody in Mayotte will accept to use our network anymore in the future. Really, handover is very important in Mayotte.
As I understand OpenBTS is under development but it is quite hard work. It will probably not be ready before the end of this summer. This is why I did not feel very worried about the PCB production delay.
We really need to get prototypes ASAP for many reasons - we have to start certification process, we still need to find enclosures, we have other pilots pending, etc. And every week of delay is painful for us.
Anyway, I will do my best to get the UmTRX prototypes ready as soon as possible. I just need a feedback from Andrey because, if it does not lower the UmTRX board performances, we should really try to find an alternative solution to use cheaper SRAM and flash chips. This could improve a lot the cost structure of the UmTRX.
We should be fine with this chip: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/IS61NLP51236-200TQLI/706-1103-ND/15... (with no PCB changes).
2/ I did not contacted Lime yet but I will do this as soon as possible. I will do my best to get the LMS chips on time.
By the way, for both PCB assembly and LMS order, how many UmTRX board would you like the fab makes ? We discussed together about 5 or 10 units but we did not took the final decision yet. It can be any reasonable number between 5 and 10. Please let me know the quantity you would need. I will ask the fab and order the component quantities we need.
We have only 5 FPGAs left, so I think we should assembly 5 prototypes. I.e. we need 10 LMS chips.
But we could safely order more PCBs, because we're pretty sure PCB won't change.
By the way, the meeting with the fab this morning was fine and they are ready to start the production asap.
Please, start PCB manufacturing ASAP.