Do you ever come across stuff on the web that makes you want to share it with all your geekiest friends as soon as possible? Yesterday was one of those days for me, as I stumbled across OpenBTS, the ultimate mobile phone hack. At the risk of causing my beautiful wife Jaime to throw her arms up in despair because of my own geekiness, I must admit that discovering OpenBTS triggered the same thrill of possibility that I used to get when reading 2600 as a college kid.
In a nutshell, OpenBTS allows anyone to create a micro GSM base station that can talk to any standard GSM handset, and then convert the session to VoIP using an Asterisk server. Essentially, it performs the same function as a femtocell, which is a new class of device that is being used by cellco's such as T-Mobile to extend mobile phone coverage into homes and other areas where their wireless signal might be weak. The practical benefit is that users can access a VoIP network wirelessly, using a GSM handset instead of purpose built devices such as a DECT VoIP adapter (like Ooma's Telo), WiFi VoIP, or a UMA enabled handset.
In technical terms, the OpenBTS Project is an effort to construct an open-source Unix application that uses the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) to present a GSM air interface ("Um") to standard GSM handsets. Put another way, its an open source implementation of the GSM protocol stack paired with a software radio. According to the Wikipedia entry, the project was started by Harvind Samra and David A. Burgess to reduce the cost of GSM service provision, in rural areas and the developing world, to below $1 per month per subscribe. The commercially supported version of OpenBTS is provided by Kestrel. David Burgess provides more background on the genesis of the project, as well as some interesting facts about the cost of building a GSM network, on his blog.
It is worth noting that OpenBTS is just one example of a quiet revolution that is occurring in the wireless industry. All radios will be software-based in the not-too-distant future. This means that the same piece of silicon will be used to make a call on a mobile network, listen to the radio (FM and satellite), control your bluetooth devices, and open your garage door. When paired with open wireless spectrum, the opportunity for innovation and new services will be immense. Until that happens, however, it is nice to see projects like OpenBTS making headway.
With the right commercial roaming agreement, and a dollop of ingenuity, it could be used to build the killer home communications hub.
Before you go out and purchase the components (which are available here) to setup your own micro cellphone service however, be aware that it could be illegal to operate such a device in areas where the GSM band frequencies have been licensed. In addition, while the OpenBTS implementation is open source, the intellectual property for the GSM protocol itself is owned, and closely guarded, by companies such as Ericsson, AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent. At least in the United States, OpenBTS can be legally used for testing purposes and to satisfy your intellectual curiosity only.
In a nutshell, OpenBTS allows anyone to create a micro GSM base station that can talk to any standard GSM handset, and then convert the session to VoIP using an Asterisk server. Essentially, it performs the same function as a femtocell, which is a new class of device that is being used by cellco's such as T-Mobile to extend mobile phone coverage into homes and other areas where their wireless signal might be weak. The practical benefit is that users can access a VoIP network wirelessly, using a GSM handset instead of purpose built devices such as a DECT VoIP adapter (like Ooma's Telo), WiFi VoIP, or a UMA enabled handset.
In technical terms, the OpenBTS Project is an effort to construct an open-source Unix application that uses the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) to present a GSM air interface ("Um") to standard GSM handsets. Put another way, its an open source implementation of the GSM protocol stack paired with a software radio. According to the Wikipedia entry, the project was started by Harvind Samra and David A. Burgess to reduce the cost of GSM service provision, in rural areas and the developing world, to below $1 per month per subscribe. The commercially supported version of OpenBTS is provided by Kestrel. David Burgess provides more background on the genesis of the project, as well as some interesting facts about the cost of building a GSM network, on his blog.
It is worth noting that OpenBTS is just one example of a quiet revolution that is occurring in the wireless industry. All radios will be software-based in the not-too-distant future. This means that the same piece of silicon will be used to make a call on a mobile network, listen to the radio (FM and satellite), control your bluetooth devices, and open your garage door. When paired with open wireless spectrum, the opportunity for innovation and new services will be immense. Until that happens, however, it is nice to see projects like OpenBTS making headway.
With the right commercial roaming agreement, and a dollop of ingenuity, it could be used to build the killer home communications hub.
Before you go out and purchase the components (which are available here) to setup your own micro cellphone service however, be aware that it could be illegal to operate such a device in areas where the GSM band frequencies have been licensed. In addition, while the OpenBTS implementation is open source, the intellectual property for the GSM protocol itself is owned, and closely guarded, by companies such as Ericsson, AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent. At least in the United States, OpenBTS can be legally used for testing purposes and to satisfy your intellectual curiosity only.
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