Asterisk Software PBX 學習筆記

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/25/googles-end-run-around-the-wireless-carriers/

簡而言之，Google 這個 patent 的原意是使用戶可以何時何地自由選擇一個合適的網路。希望可以做到開放的無線通訊環境。

其實有網友提到，用 Fon (http://www.fon.com) 做一個基礎連網，每一個Fon router 分配到不同的地方，然後用Asterisk 當電話交換機，我們也可以做到一個地區性無線通訊連網。只要我有一部 有 WiFi 功能的手機或裝置，我便可以連線到這地區網”煲電話粥”。不過，我不清楚香港的電信條例有沒有監管這類連網，我只知道只要在這連網內的通訊不會直接轉駁到固網便可。所以，建網前首先需要參考本地的電信條例，以防觸犯法律。

Google’s End Run Around the Wireless Carriers

by Mark Hendrickson on September 25, 2008

In a recently published patent, Google describes a vision for an open wireless world, one in which mobile devices (and smartphones in particular) are no longer married to particular cellular service providers.

When you buy a phone in the United States today, you typical have to sign a contract that prevents you from using that phone with more than one provider for a predetermined amount of time. You’ll encounter no such requirement when purchasing a laptop, which can be used to connect to the internet through any service provider at any time.

The Google patent for “Flexible Communication Systems and Methods” contends that cellphone users should also have the freedom to connect through various networks and methods, and that the communication service they choose at any particular time and location should be determined by competitive market forces.

The idea is that you could, for example, make phone calls and browse the internet on your smartphone via WiFi when at home, Verizon when downtown, and perhaps AT&T when out in the countryside. You’d base your decision on both pricing and quality of service, with the quality of coverage in your current location playing a major role.

In a way, the iPhone has already given us a taste of what this would be like. When near a WiFi hotspot, you can decide on the fly whether to surf the internet using 3G/EDGE or WiFi. Most people choose WiFi because it’s faster (and probably free, unless you’re at an airport or cafe). But you may go with 3G/EDGE instead because it’s more secure (no worrying about the traffic sniffing that occurs on open WiFi networks). With VoIP applications now available for the iPhone, you can make this decision for your phone calls as well.

Now imagine that this choice was available when on-the-go, and that you had five service providers to choose from instead of just two. It’s not hard to imagine that the competition would lead to lower costs and better service. Not to mention, you wouldn’t get stuck with a crummy carrier after moving or traveling to a place that has poor coverage.

As Unwired View emphasizes, and the patent outlines explicitly, such a system would require “a transparent auction marketplace with wireless providers bidding in real time to provide the communication services to users.” Google may be well-suited to establish such a marketplace because of its experience with AdWords and AdSense. The carriers themselves would resist such a scenario with tooth and nail because they’d become dumb pipe providers that couldn’t lock users into contracts any longer.

The patent is part of Google’s broader agenda to get as many people online as possible with as many devices as possible. Hence the gPhone, its pressure on the FCC, and Larry Page’s bristling in support of open white spaces. The opening of white spaces in particular could lead to more connection points for mobile devices, ones that form an attractive alternative to those provided by wireless carriers. And Android-powered phones could be among the first to take advantage of a flexible connections system.