wlan and voip

Gabriel Ambuehl gabriel_ambuehl at buz.ch
Thu Nov 16 17:48:47 CET 2006


On Thursday 16 November 2006 16:59, you wrote:

> I believe what he means by a completely open platform for the Wi-fi
> would include the firmware.  These drivers might be open source but the
> firmware on the hardware itself is not open.  To fit in with the mold of
> the rest of this project it would need to be completely open end-end.

Both the GSM and GPS module have proprietary firmware inside from what I 
understand and some would even argue that the microcode in many ICs is 
firmware as well...

I'm not sure if it is just FUD by the WiFi manufacturers, but there have been 
claims that RF chipsets (not even just WiFi) with open *firmware* would not 
be certified by the FCC and related bodies for fear of people (ab)using other 
frequencies than those allocated for general use.

I guess it comes down to how you view the WiFi chip: it could be either an 
appliance you use to connect to WLANs (like the GSM chip is one to talk to 
the GSM tower) or it might be a more generally useable RF chip whose use for 
other things than WiFi may or may not legal depending on your jurisdiction. 
Personally I'd be very content with an appliance though more freedom 
obviously never hurts.




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