Mini base station makes smart phones


A British company has unveiled the hitherto smallest transceiver device for GSM devices.

Cambridge Consultants Limited has developed a compact base station for mobile networks that fits in your palm. The Sidewinder-called system allows the connection of up to eight GSM mobile phones and can be used for different applications of the telephone are also used to pay services.



The idea: users with older devices are currently able to use smartphones and other UMTS devices promotions reserved. At least one billion of these relatively "dumb" handsets are currently estimated world still in operation.

The Sidewinder can be switched into a mode in which the band is only one meter. Then one can use the device as a replacement for example, near-field communication chip (NFC): An application on the SIM card, the customer takes up direct contact with the base station at short and handles transactions. A detour to the other mobile network is not required, which increases data security.

"We can see if those older phones are located in the area and then play various services secure to them," says Cambridge Consultants Manager Monty Barlow. "We have an entire GSM network on a single motherboard."

The base station can also manage and lead through regular calls, in a demonstration that was at the same time with three talks. The available wireless standards and features are thereby largely controlled by software - this could be the Sidewinder with an update, for example, be a UMTS module, when Cambridge Consultants has developed a code.

The built-in radio chip can be used for frequencies between 475 MHz and 4 GHz, and should contain a large part of the art, the previously inserted into the cabinet usually large regular base stations. The output power is only at a maximum of 6 watts. In a first version of the software to the bands 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz are supported, in addition, also the UMTS band used by 2.1 GHz.

In mass production, the Sidewinder is not responsible for more than $ 200 in material costs, the company announced a final price not initially. Femtocells, like the Cambridge Consultants is a device will be sold for some time - for example, to improve mobile phone coverage indoors. As small as the Sidewinder was until now it has none of them and also not adapted to new services.

The manufacturer offers a set played on devices Linux environment, which enables the development to their own applications. The system runs with an ARM11 processor with a clock frequency of 400 MHz. It is designed for continuous operation.

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