Sorry for the bandwidth.. just noticed that the original post did refer to a
cell phone chipset, which makes my previous msg look a bit silly. Don't you
just hate it when you notice a mistake 10 seconds after sending an email?

Roland

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert Rolf <Robert.Rolf@UALBERTA.CA>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2000 7:54 PM
Subject: Re: [OT] Cell Phone Chipset - Interfacing


> Jim,
>
> I think you'd be far better off buying a popular cellular phone and
> interfacing it. You have the BIG cost advantage of "It already works".
> You won't have to deal with the cost and difficulty of
> designing/debugging a finicky RF section and meeting ALL the
> regulatory specs. Buying a mass market product ensures that
> you will have a much lower unit cost AND and an ongoing supply of
> used phones to draw upon should your supplier discontinue the model.
> Try replacing a chip set 3 years from now. 486/66 anyone?
>
> By going with a mainstream supplier like Nokia (DO NOT USE ERICSSON!
> I have had 3 bad KF788 phones from them, and they hose you on accessory
> pricing) you may also find a uniformity of interface protocol across the
> various phone technologies
> (GSM, TDMA, CDMA). IOW all 61xx series -seem- to have the same interface
> connector pin out and respond to the same subset of serial port
> commands. Clearly if you can control the phone to send a fax,
> you can just as easily control it for voice data (not considering
> the all-digital mode).
>
> What is your time worth to build/debug/get regulatory approval of
> a phone module
>  VS
> buy the phone, buy the cable, connect the leads, and start programming
> the -project-?
> Some things just aren't worth reinventing, or were you also looking
> at designing your own microcontroller and development tools?
>
> And if you're not fussy, you can pick up used Motorola bricks for
> about a dollar at garage sales, and there is LOTS of info on the web
> on controlling/hacking them.
>
> You might also want to contact your local TV station if it uses
> one of those electronic maps that show you temperatures from all
> over your state in real-time. I don't recall the name of the company,
> but the system uses cell phones at the remote locations, and it
> calls the remotes to collect the live data during the weathercast.
> Their technical people might be willing to discuss the 'gotcha's'
> of their interfacing experience.
>
> Jim Dolson wrote:
> >
> > Has anyone incorporated a cell-phone chipset into a project?  I would
> > like to give one of my projects the ability to place a cell-phone call
> > (to play recorded audio - not data), but I don't have the foggiest idea
> > where to start.
> >
> > I thought of simply buying an interface cable and plugging into an
> > existing cell phone, but I'd rather use whatever chipset a cell-phone
> > uses instead of buying an existing cell-phone.
> >
> > Has anyone done this before?  Anyone recall a magazine article?  Thanks!
> >
> > Jim
> > wb8zbd
>
> --
> Robert.Rolf-AT-UAlberta.ca
>