Simon Anderson
2004-Mar-31 00:18 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] Asterisk and picoCell GSM Base Stations
picoCell/microCell/nanoCell Base stations are low powered GSM nodes designed for indoor or small area GSM coverage. Their transmission power is low enough to meet the legal restrictions of many countries. Here are two examples; http://www.rivanetworks.com/nano/nano.htm http://www.ipaccess.com/ipaccess_pages2/bts2.html Both of these Base Stations have an RJ-45 in order to do Ethernet on the back end; GSM in, IP out. I wonder if anyone has experience interfacing one of these or a similar product with Asterisk? I also wonder if Digium has any plans to supply PCI cards which provide similar functionality? The prospect of recycling old cell phones for use as Asterisk extensions is extremely attractive. Cellular phone ---GSM---> picoCell ---IP---> Asterisk Regards, Simon.
At 7:18 PM +1200 3/31/04, Simon Anderson wrote:> >picoCell/microCell/nanoCell Base stations are low powered GSM nodes >designed for indoor or small area GSM coverage. Their transmission power >is low enough to meet the legal restrictions of many countries. > >Here are two examples; > >http://www.rivanetworks.com/nano/nano.htm >http://www.ipaccess.com/ipaccess_pages2/bts2.html > >Both of these Base Stations have an RJ-45 in order to do Ethernet on the >back end; GSM in, IP out. > >I wonder if anyone has experience interfacing one of these or a similar >product with Asterisk? > >I also wonder if Digium has any plans to supply PCI cards which provide >similar functionality? > >The prospect of recycling old cell phones for use as Asterisk extensions >is extremely attractive. > >Cellular phone ---GSM---> picoCell ---IP---> Asterisk > >Regards, >Simon.This looks interesting, but can you explain this a bit more? The term "IP out" is incredibly vague, and on neither of the websites (after a 30 second review) did they say exactly what they mean with "IP out". Does this turn GSM calls into SIP transactions? Does it need another similar device somewhere else on the IP network that then turns the calls back into TDM via an FXS interface? What _does_ IP mean in this context? JT
The UK is currently not legally set up to allow the use of these devices as there is currently no unlicensed bandwidth in the GSM space. If you want to use one you have to approach the Cellular networks and ask them to install it and connect it directly to their network. You may be able to pay them enough to let you use their space within your building. So using old cell phones is out for the UK until OfCom does something about it, which I hear may be in the pipe line. These things go for about ?2000, this is based on an order of 100, and is probably not available through the Cellular network for this price. Regards Chris. Simon Anderson wrote:> picoCell/microCell/nanoCell Base stations are low powered GSM nodes > designed for indoor or small area GSM coverage. Their transmission power > is low enough to meet the legal restrictions of many countries. > > Here are two examples; > > http://www.rivanetworks.com/nano/nano.htm > http://www.ipaccess.com/ipaccess_pages2/bts2.html > > Both of these Base Stations have an RJ-45 in order to do Ethernet on the > back end; GSM in, IP out. > > I wonder if anyone has experience interfacing one of these or a similar > product with Asterisk? > > I also wonder if Digium has any plans to supply PCI cards which provide > similar functionality? > > The prospect of recycling old cell phones for use as Asterisk extensions > is extremely attractive. > > Cellular phone ---GSM---> picoCell ---IP---> Asterisk > > Regards, > Simon. > > _______________________________________________ > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > >