Doc Searls‘ (et al) “vendor relationship management” (VRM) concept can be useful. Walmart is as it is because it serves a base of passive, faceless consumers – as is the case with “mass” business in general. VRM redefines the relationship of business to consumer by giving the consumer an active role – balancing power in the relationship of business to consumer. Participatory medicine, which is another of my areas of focus, does that with the patient, and is a great working example of VRM thinking. Project VRM hopes to drive the development of tools, and is connected to identity and data portability movements.
When Nokia announced that it will drop Symbian for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, many in the industry were taken by surprise. Now, according to industry insiders, the strategy is becoming clear: Nokia will use Microsoft’s patented “white spaces” radio, enabling wireless devices to use television frequencies.
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The two firms have apparently been working on a software defined radio platform for several years. Now the companies are preparing a world-wide rollout of a system that may short circuit the world’s largest carriers.
Microsoft and Nokia are expected to utilize small, WiFi-like access points, expected to cost $250-$500 dollars, rather than cell towers that can cost $250,000. Local access points, using unused television frequencies, penetrate indoors better and can have a range similar to PCS cellular radios – approximately 1-3 miles.
Multiple 6 MHz wide channels will be automatically ganged together in this new system, delivering an effective 2-12 Mbps for end users. Using TD-based LTE or WiMAX radios, with a software defined front end, the Nokia/Microsoft access points connect to the internet directly — like WiFi access points. The phones use VoIP software, similar to Skype, jointly developed by Nokia and Microsoft.
According to some industry observers, the impact of white space phones on today’s two trillion dollar telecommunications industry may be significant. White space phones will not need today’s infrastructure and licensed spectrum. They will not be dependent on phone companies.
The initial thrust for the whitespace phone system is expected to be in the developing world. The joint venture is expected to announce several test markets, including the Seattle area this summer and will test a Visa-enabled SIM card, enabling contactless payments.
OpenBSC is the current name for a software program that started with the name bs11-abis.
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What is OpenBSC
It is a BSC (Base Station Controller) side implementation of the A-bis protocol, as implemented in the GSM Technical Specification 08.5x and 12.21. It implements a minimal subset of the BSC, MSC and HLR. It does not implement ant of the interfaces (like the A and B interfaces) between the higher-order GSM network components.
The goal of the project is to
provide a basis for experimentation and security research with GSM from the network side
document, publicized and point out any security related issues that we find as part of that
learn more about GSM networks on a lower level, particularly the practical aspects with real-world equipment
We are not primarily interested in
building a stable/reliable BSC/MSC for deployment in networks requiring high-9 (99.999….) availability
building something that follows the GSM spec to the last detail
Phi Beta Iota: We have learned that the OpenBTS pioneers are working with and admire OpenBSC–the latter has different goals and the architecture is traditional.
One of , if not, the greatest threats to our future society and economy is global warming. Governments around the world are wrestling with the challenge of how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The current preferred approaches are to impose “carbon” taxes and/or implement various forms of cap and trade systems. However another approach to help reduce carbon emission is to “reward” those who reduce their carbon footprint rather than imposing draconian taxes or dubious cap and trade systems. Consumers will generally respond more positively to voluntary reward mechanisms as opposed to mandatory solutions imposed by government or other authorities. For more details on carbon rewards see http://green-broadband.blogspot.com/
This paper discusses one possible reward system where consumers are provided with free true high speed Internet if they reduce their overall energy consumption. Not only does the consumer benefit, but this business model also provides new revenue opportunities for network operators and builders.
The Mesh networks research group is formed by research and developer teams throughout all the world which are involved in active wireless mesh networks projects.
The Mesh Networks Research Group is focused in the mesh networks field and cover aspects like privacy, security, routing protocols, mobile mesh networks and roaming. All the members of this group are concerned about the importance of open source projects when sharing and spreading knowledge. The open source concept applies to use open routing protocols for ensuring interoperability among networks and open monitoring and test platforms.
Microsoft and Nokia are expected to utilize small, WiFi-like access points, expected to cost $250-$500 dollars, rather than cell towers that can cost $250,000. Local access points, using unused television frequencies, penetrate indoors better and can have a range similar to PCS cellular radios – approximately 1-3 miles.
