Re: FCDEV3B V2 boards are here

[Pičugins Arsenijs]

Congratulations on finally fixing the sleep bug!

Cheers!
Arsenijs

13.01.2019, 00:00, "Mychaela Falconia" :
> Hello FreeCalypso community,
>
> I am overjoyed to announce that our FCDEV3B V2 boards are finally here:
> last night I have tested the first batch of 8 boards which I picked up
> from Technotronix on Thursday. Here are the findings:
>
> Yield: out of the total of 8 boards in this batch, 5 are good and 3
> have defects. Out of the 3 defective boards, one has perfectly working
> RF but is unable to talk to the SIM in the socket, while the other two
> have RF defects: one has totally dead RF (both Rx and Tx, all 3 bands),
> the other exhibits a bad Rx path for the low band, but the rest works.
> In the case of the board on which only the SIM interface doesn't work,
> we have previously encountered the same symptoms in one of our earlier
> FCDEV3B V1 batches, and replacing the SIM socket made it work, hence I
> am going to try the same on this board. In the case of the two boards
> with different RF defects, I will have a discussion with Technotronix
> about failure analysis. But even if we are not able to fix any of
> those 3 defective boards, we still have 5 perfectly good ones from
> this batch.
>
> V2 changes: unlike our previous FCDEV3B V1 boards, these new V2 boards
> have perfectly working sleep while keeping our high-capacity Spansion
> S71PL129NC0HFW4B flash+pSRAM chip! Thus we now have proof that my
> innovative (not from TI, not from OM, not from Pirelli) flash reset
> circuit change is working as I intended. With my recent changes to
> the firmware we have regained flash chip type autodetection, thus we
> can now populate either this big Spansion flash+pSRAM chip or the
> smaller Samsung flash+RAM chip that was used by Openmoko and have the
> same fw build work with both, but for our development boards we are
> keeping the big version for the obvious reason: large flash and RAM
> capacity is very handy for development. If anyone ever pays for the
> development of a commercial FreeCalypso modem module in a small SMT
> form factor, that version can use the smaller memory capacity more
> appropriate for a production modem.
>
> Out of the 5 defect-free boards in this batch, the availability is as
> follows: one board I need to keep for myself, one more board is
> earmarked for Rafael (Rhizomatica), and the other 3 are now available
> for commercial users at the regular price of $500 USD each. If the
> latter 3 boards are not bought quickly by the people I have in mind,
> at least one of them will be reallocated to FreeCalypso marketing
> outreach purposes: I would like to offer a free board to anyone from
> the ofono developer community who would be willing to get our FC modem
> product family properly supported in ofono. Aside from the 3 defective
> boards which may or may not be repairable, I still have 3 unpopulated
> PCB panels, enough for 12 more boards before needing another PCB fab
> run - but I will need to do a thorough round of failure analysis with
> Technotronix before we assemble that next batch.
>
> The next steps for me are:
>
> * I need to add the new sleep mode configuration I mentioned before,
> the one that enables big and small sleep, but not deep sleep, for
> those users who would rather not be burdened with making their host
> interface software sleep-aware, and who are willing to live with
> greater power draw in return for interface simplicity - engineering is
> all about trade-offs and compromises.
>
> * I need to test one of those 8 ohm 0.5 W speakers I bought from
> SparkFun and see if they perform as well as the similar-looking
> unknown-origin speaker that was donated to me by a member of my local
> LUG. If these SparkFun speakers work well, I'll be able to recommend
> them as an official choice for FCDEV3B lab bench setups, otherwise I
> will have to go back on the hunt for a suitable speaker.
>
> * I will need to write a sleep-aware userspace implementation of the
> GSM 07.10 MUX (which our FC modem supports) to serve as an exerciser
> for this feature of our modems, and add it to our FC host tools suite.
>
> * Once all of the above are done, I will need to make an updated
> version of the user's manual for the FCDEV3B, and only then the
> current iteration of our modem product development will be considered
> complete.
>
> * After all of the above, I will need to get back to the project of
> bringing up my BeagleBoard-xM and interfacing it to our FCDEV3B, for
> the purpose of exercising digital voice over MCSI and making it work.
> If anyone else has a need for this digital voice interface and has
> something else (othen than BB-xM) to connect to it for testing, feel
> free to beat me to it!
>
> Hasta la Victoria, Siempre,
> Mychaela aka The Mother
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Re: FreeCalypso plans and direction update

[Pičugins Arsenijs]

Hey! Sorry for the delayed response - I'm still here and still reading
the posts, and I want to give this a proper response.

> I also need to address some misconceptions I have found out there on
> the Internet regarding our work:

> https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroPhone/comments/9rsukp/how_can_the_zerophone_owners_take_advantage_of/

> specifically this paragraph:

>>  In the future, it's possible they will have an "embedded" modem offering -
>>  I did read that idea on their mailing list some time ago, though it seems
>>  to died down in the last half a year (IIRC there was an old chipset-
>>  compatible Benq modem that could've been a target, but it turned out to
>>  not be compatible enough).
> Here is the situation with those BenQ M32 modems: taking the existing
> historical hw that was made by BenQ over a decade ago and trying to
> run FreeCalypso on it would be a non-starter, as they use a non-TI
> (looks like Silabs maybe) RF section behind our familiar Calypso+Iota
> baseband chipset.  Instead my idea was different from the beginning:
> my idea is to produce our own newly-made modem modules in the same or
> similar form factor, but using our choice of chipset including memory
> and RF, i.e., take *our* modem as implemented on the FCDEV3B and
> repackage it into a form factor copied from that old BenQ modem.

Yep, that's what I remember from the ML, so I tried to condense it down
into a short answer - sorry if it misrepresents the project in any way,
let me know if you want me to make any edits to the message

> Right now we have an awesome libre GSM+GPRS modem solution in the form
> of our FCDEV3B running fully source-enabled firmware, but the problem
> is its size: a whopping 90x50 mm.  Meanwhile, our proprietary
> competitors very successfully seduce the public into accepting locked-
> down and backdoored proprietary solutions with their sleek small
> packages: for example, the popular SIM800 module is only 24x24 mm.

Even smaller - the SIM800L we use is 16x18mm.

> I don't think we can ever make our FreeCalypso solution as small as
> 24x24 mm: [...explanation...possible solutions...]

> As the situation stands presently, I believe that the
> shortest way to put a FreeCalypso phone into the hands of an end user
> would be to make a hacked-up version of the ZeroPhone with our current
> 90x50 mm modem board (FCDEV3B) hacked in.

That's what I think, too. the 30mm*30mm project you've described is
quite an undertaking, and 2G is running away at the speed of, well,
planned obsolescence.

> As I understand it, the main "sandwich" structure of the ZP has 4x10 cm
> overall dimensions and is very tightly packed.  Trying to squeeze our
> FCDEV3B somewhere in there would involve two problems: our board is a
> centimeter wider than the main ZP sandwich, and there is no designated
> place in that structure to fit an "alien" board like ours.

> But here
> is what I am thinking: if you are going to use your ZeroPhone as an
> actual carry-around phone, you will need to make some custom case for
> it, right?  You are not going to try to carry a complete bare board
> stack of the ZP in your pocket, are you?

Yes and yes.

> If a custom case is required,
> perhaps someone who desires a Libre Phone badly enough would be willing
> to build a custom case that accommodates both the regular ZP sandwich
> and an FCDEV3B underneath?

That's what I was thinking, too. For example, it's not unimaginable
that someone could start with this: http://meetthebrick.com/eu/

> In order to increase the chance of someone stepping up to do what I
> just suggested above, I plan on doing the following: if the first
> batch of 8 FCDEV3B V2 boards which is supposed to be done in January
> turns out good, with all 8 boards (or least most of them) working, I
> am going to offer one fully subsidized board completely free of cost
> to the recipient (with the actual production cost of about $500
> covered by me) to anyone who steps forth to couple it with a ZeroPhone,
> and who would be willing to commit to aggressively promoting the
> resulting solution in various "free my phone" communities, spreading
> awareness of the existence, availability and viability of this
> solution.

From my side, I offer a fully-assembled ZeroPhone, with any hardware
addons that could aid in the development of such a project.

> Hasta la Victoria, Siempre,
> Mychaela aka The Mother

Cheers,
Arsenijs

10.12.2018, 02:05, "Mychaela Falconia" :
> Hello FreeCalypso community,
>
> This is a periodic update to keep everyone in the loop as to what I am
> doing with regard to our family of projects and what my planned
> upcoming steps are.
>
> 1) The first development which is expected to happen before all others
> is that about a month from now, in early to mid-January, we should be
> getting our first assembled FCDEV3B V2 boards from Technotronix, and
> it will be a moment of truth: will they work as expected? If the
> boards work as expected, I am going to make a few 

Re: LCD evaluation and other preparations for FC handset

[Pičugins Arsenijs]

> [...] this idea will NOT work for our FreeCalypso handset. Our PCB will
> have 8 layers with lots of traces on every layer (intricate 2+4+2 HDI
> structure with inner buried vias and two levels of staggered microvias
> on each side), and the width of the PCB will extend only slightly past
> the width of the LCD module. If we had to cut a slot the width of the
> LCD's FPC tail in the middle of our PCB, it would cut through all of
> our layers and present an obstacle for signal routing, completely
> crippling our PCB layout. In short, just no - totally not suitable
> for a PCB of our complexity.

Then, another idea is rotating the LCD 180 degrees, then using
some kind of LCD command that would allow to rotate the image
accordingly - or rewrite the framebuffer output routines accordingly.
I assume that, if you're not going through the center of the PCB,
but making a slot on the top, the PCB routing shouldn't be as much
of a pain. 

I understand that you've already picked this path, but I do think
it's necessary to point out other options, since I know it might
not be as obvious =)

Cheers!
Arsenijs
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Re: FCDEV3B loudspeaker and microphone

[Pičugins Arsenijs]

> I am also thinking about putting together a mechanically rigid FCDEV3B
> setup that would consist of the FCDEV3B itself, the FT2232D adapter
> for it, the to-be-figured-out loudspeaker and a Li-ion battery that
> can be easily taken out for external charging and put back in, all
> rigidly mounted on a substrate such as plexiglas, so that the complete
> setup with all of its interconnections can be transported as a unit,
> without having to dismantle and reconnect everything. Such portable-
> as-a-unit setup will be absolutely needed in order to test truly
> mobile operation with cell reselection, location updates and handovers
> - I would need to be able to get into a car with this portable FCDEV3B
> setup and a laptop, and exercise mobile functionality while my partner
> drives the car around. But creating this mechanical setup will be a
> lot of work, so it'll be a while before we have it.

What I'd suggest is having a lasercut plate, with the FCDEV3B board 
on standoffs, some 18650 batteries in holders (it's much easier to 
source 18650, they're very stable and don't require any special 
precautions) and a charger board for the 18650 right on the same 
plate, also, loudspeaker and whatever else is desired on that plate.
It's a common setup that we do from time to time to test devices 
at our hackerspace, it's relatively lightweight, cheap (though acrylic
is not as cheap as wood) and easy to design, so definitely 
doesn't count as "a lot of work"  - you can design that in Inkscape and 
produce at the nearest friendly lasercutter-equipped hackerspace.

-Arsenijs

15.10.2017, 02:15, "Mychaela Falconia" :
> Hello FreeCalypso community,
>
> I have just performed the experiment I've been meaning to do since a
> couple of weeks ago: I managed to connect the loudspeaker and
> microphone that are contained in the handset part of TI's D-Sample kit
> to the loudspeaker driver and microphone input circuits on our own
> FCDEV3B, and tested the resulting operation. The results are:
>
> * When making a test call from this setup, the call downlink audio is
>   heard loud and clear, just like when the speaker is driven by the
>   original D-Sample board, quite unlike the little Soberton SP-1510
>   speaker which was quiet as a mouse. Thus we know that the
>   loudspeaker driver circuit on our boards is fine, no worse than
>   whatever TI implemented on the D-Sample, and the speaker loudness
>   problem was because of a poor choice of the physical speaker part or
>   some acoustical/mechanical issues around that speaker which I am
>   ignorant of.
>
> * I then made a test call to a voice mail system, made a test recording
>   through the microphone, and it sounded just fine when I played it
>   back. This result proves that the microphone input circuit on our
>   boards (which has never been tested before) is also fine.
>
> * In the next test with a real person on the other end of the test
>   call, she told me that my voice sounded fine through this call setup,
>   but there is a strong delayed echo present from the microphone on my
>   end picking up the sound from the loudspeaker. This effect is a
>   very well-known problem with all hands-free call setups, and the
>   Calypso DSP includes an Acoustic Echo Cancellation feature
>   specifically for dealing with this problem. But this AEC is not
>   enabled automatically, and it has a bunch of configuration settings
>   which we have yet to tune.
>
> * As a final test, I uploaded the ringtone melodies in TI's Melody E1
>   format which we've extracted from the TSM30 source to the FCDEV3B
>   and played them through this loudspeaker setup. They played
>   perfectly, confirming once and for all that yes, we can play nice-
>   sounding melodies through a loudspeaker driven by the Calypso DSP,
>   without using an external ringtone generator chip or a piezoelectic
>   buzzer like Motorola and Pirelli phones do.
>
> These results confirm that the loudspeaker driver and microphone input
> circuits on our FCDEV3B are good and not in need of any further
> revision. Thus if anyone buys an FCDEV3B and wishes to have the board
> drive a speaker that is loud enough to be comfortably heard while
> resting on a lab bench, they can be assured that the loudspeaker
> driver circuit on the board is fit to do the job, but they will need
> to acquire the actual loudspeaker part themselves, as I lack the
> necessary expertise to make that speaker part selection. The same
> goes for the microphone input circuit: you'll need to acquire the
> actual microphone part on your own (and use your own expertise to
> select that part), and wire it up to J313 on the board. I am going to
> update Appendix A in the FCDEV3B User's Manual accordingly.
>
> At some point we'll need to find our own loudspeaker part that is no
> worse than the one in TI's D-Sample handset in terms of its acoustic
> output, and figure out what kind of special acoustic/mechanical
> arrangement is