33 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
33 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
Free Software for the GSM protocol side
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As we see an increased use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in mobile
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devices, some of them with GSM or UMTS cellular network connection, this FOSS
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adoption exclusively happens on the "Application Processor" side. To the
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contrary, the GSM protocol stack on the 'digital baseband' CPU is typically
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treated like if it was the biggest invention since sliced bread, and a most
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valuable and proprietary one.
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In fact, the entire GSM and UMTS protocol are specified in public documents,
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available free of cost to anyone from the ETSI (European Telecommunications
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Standardization Institute) or the 3GPP.
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So there is no lacking information preventing any FOSS implementation of
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those protocols. It is merely the fact how the cellular industry is currently
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structured. It's an oligopol, with very few players in the market, and
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artificial entry barriers for anyone who would want to compete with any part
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of the stack.
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In 2007, the THC GSM project developed tools called gsm-tvoid, gssm and gsmsp
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as first humble attempts of an Open Source implementation of a GSM protocol
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analyzer, based on the USRP and gnuradio software defined radio (SDR) platform.
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In 2008, two independent Free Software projects for the GSM network side have
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been release: OpenBTS and OpenBSC.
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In 2009, Harald has been starting to work on the detailed hardware and software
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architecture of an open source GSM development board, capable of running both
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the MS (cellphone) and BTS (cell tower) side.
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This presentation will give an overview about the existing FOSS efforts on the GSM
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protocol side, their current status and future directions.
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