GSM
Osmocom or OpenBTS software can be used to create a GSM base station.
Osmocom
Osmocom allows integration with traditional architectures via the A and A-bis interfaces, and VoIP networks through use with a softswitch. Together with UmTRX it provides a solution that is open from the hardware design, all the way up the stack.
This is our preferred solution for GSM networks.
OpenBTS
OpenBTS is used with a softswitch such as Asterisk and turns GSM handsets into SIP endpoints. It dispenses with the need for a base station controller (BSC) and uses a VoIP switch in place of a mobile switching centre (MSC).
There are public (fully open source) and commercial (open source plus proprietary) releases of OpenBTS, with the latter including features that are not in the public release.
LTE
At present there are only partial open source LTE baseband implementations. However, a proprietary eNodeB, complete with EPC, can be licensed through Fairwaves.
GNU Radio
GNU Radio is an open source toolkit for building software-defined radios. It provides a comprehensive collection of signal processing blocks, which allow applications to be created by assembling them into flow graphs using Python scripts.
Open source applications that have been implemented using GNU Radio include:
- IEEE 802.x family transmitters and receivers
- Bluetooth, DECT and RFID receivers
- AIS and Mode S receivers for ship and aircraft tracking
- Radio astronomy receiver
- Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver
Tried and tested API
UmTRX uses its own version of the UHD firmware/driver platform and thanks to a tried and tested API will work with many existing SDR applications without modification.
