what about femtocells?

[tsaitgaist]

Hi Sébastien,

On 22.09.2011 15:25, Sébastien Lorquet wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Do you see any interest in the domain of femtocells?

Osmocom is actively working on a 2G femtocell (BTS).
3G femtocells (NodeB) uses an UMTS stack.
It is not a phone baseband. The openBSC list is more appropriate.
Also it's 3G, it's a bit different from GSM which osmocom is about
currently. There is no free implementation of a 3G stack yet.

> 
> this model, that will be sold in France, claims to be pluggable
> (probably via ethernet) into nearly any ISP provided home router
> (internet "box").
> 
> http://www.pcinpact.com/actu/news/65810-sfr-mobile-adsl-3g-femto.htm

This is the second version on the femtocell provided by this operator.
The first one was Ethernet only. This one mainly uses USB but also
provides an Ethernet port.
The limiting factor is that one needs a mobile phone subscription from
this operator to order the femtocell.
Getting such a device is not possible (hard) for everyone.

> 
> Is it in any way comparable to the nanoBTS and other stuff you're
> hacking nowadays ?

nanoBTS uses GSM while this femtocell uses 3G. The protocols are different.
Moreover, the architecture is also a bit different. Femtocell are more
then just transceivers.
But if you are interested, this femtocell (the first version) has
already been abused.
More information on http://femto.sec.t-labs.tu-berlin.de/ , or just ask
the involved team.

Good luck,
Kevin