The OpenBTS Project
OpenBTS is an open-source Unix application that uses the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) to present a GSM air interface ("Um") to standard GSM handset and uses the Asterisk software PBX to connect calls.
The combination of the ubiquitous GSM air interface with VoIP backhaul could form the basis of a new type of cellular network that could be deployed and operated at substantially lower cost than existing technologies in greenfields in the developing world.
In plain language, we are working on a new kind of cellular network that can be installed and operated at about 1/10 the cost of current technologies, but that will still be compatible with most of the handsets that are already in the market.
This technology can also be used in private network applications (wireless PBX, rapid deployment, etc.) at much lower cost and complexity than conventional cellular.
(Typical OpenBTS development kit: USRP, laptop and handsets. This particular example has a range of just a few meters, but can connect inbound and outbound PSTN calls through a VoIP gateway. Network in a small box.)
(Rapid deployment prototypes in field test, September 2009. Each box is self-contained BTS unit, runs on a 12-16 VCD supply, has a service radius of about 10 miles in rural conditions and backhauls through any IP connection to a VoIP carrier. Robust, simple, inexpensive network in a box.)
Project Links
- The official OpenBTS project wiki is hosted by the FSF at GNU Radio. This just got moved from trac to redmine, so there are probably some formatting bugs to be fixed.
- The free support mailing list, openbts-discuss (at) sourceforge.net, is publicly available. As are the archives.
- There is now an online store for ordering OpenBTS development hardware.
- The project blog continues.
- Kestrel Signal Processing, Inc. provides commercial support and customizations for OpenBTS. More details here.
Project News (Last Updated 3 February 2010)
- Project cofounder David Burgess will present a workshop on OpenBTS deployment in Germany in June 2010. Details and online registration are here.
- Once the GNU Radio server changeover is complete, OpenBTS will no longer distribute tarball packages through Sourceforge. The Free Software Foundation, through the GNU Radio project, will be the only source for public distributions of OpenBTS source code.
- EComm released the video of David Burgess' presentation at eCcomm America 2009, the first conference demo of OpenBTS, from March 2009. (There have been others since, but they are not on the web yet.)
- Project co-founder David Burgess and OpenBSC project founder Harald Welte presented a workshop on GSM air interface security at the Deepsec conference in Vienna, November 17-18. The slides will be released whenever Harald gets around to it.
- Our Burning Man 2009 test was a success. The results are described in the project blog (linked from that page) and were presented at Astricon 2009.
We also got a write-up in CNet.
Unlike the desktop testing kit, the Burning Man rig had a range of a few miles.
- If you are looking for the old Burning Man 2008 write-up, it's back at sf.net.
OpenBTS Distribution Status
OpenBTS released OpenBTS 2.5 ("Lacassine") at the end of November. This is the first public release to include the smqueue RFC-3428 messaging server.
That source code is normally available from GNU Radio, and will be again just as soon as we get settled in to their new "git" respository.
- The latest bug-fix release is 2.5.3, released in a tar.gz on Sourceforge on 3 February 2010.
- The 2.5 source code is browsable at GNU Radio, but it is lacking a few bug fixes that you will find in 2.5.3. This is about to get moved. You can probably check it out, but you won't be able to update later.
- The Doxygen-generated source code guide is browsable, too.
- Release 2.6 ("Mamou") will include limited RRLP functions and will probably be the last public release until 3.0.
- Release 3.0 (yet to be named) will include load-management features and multi-ARFCN support.
Show Us Your OpenBTS
Did you get OpenBTS up and running? Did you write it up on the web somewhere? We'd like to know!
Copyright 2008, 2009, 2010 Kestrel Signal Processing, Inc.
OpenBTS is a registered trademark of Kestrel Signal Processing, Inc.