[Tfug] Smart phone/tablet PC connectivity

[erich]

Well,
         What I have now is a server,(two actually),with a USB port with 
a cellular
modem. It's 3G, kinda slow, and 3G is slowly becoming obsolete
I could buy a tablet wireless (Think Samsung/Apple), but that
would render the rest of my little computer empire useless/obsolete.
I'm willing to pay for one cell network subscription, not two, or three.
         Remember when there were just wireline  phones? My grand-
mother had one for at least 30 years. Now not only do cell phones
become obsolete in the blink of an eye. Even connectivity formats
change 3G  4G LTE CDMA TDMA etc. If I don't keep on top of
it, my Linux machines will become doorstops/paperweights.

Erich

Bexley Hall wrote:
> Hi Erich,
>
> On 5/2/2014 8:33 PM, erich wrote:
>> What appeals to me,
>> Is the size & efficiency. It looks like Intel has realized that
>> you can make a fast processor that isn't an energy guzzler. Looks
>> like ARM gave them a run for their money :)
>
> Yes, Intel blew it.  They effectively *owned* the "embedded
> systems" market *before* they embraced the Dark Side (80x86).
> Then, others stole it from them (e.g., Zilog, Motogorilla
> and even General Instrument/Microchip).  Then, ARM stole it
> from *everyone*.
>
> [Amusingly, ARM is just an IP house!  AFAIK, they have no foundry!
> Even Intel has licensed some of their cores -- e.g., StrongARM]
>
> I'm using ARM's throughout my recent designs.  It's tough picking
> a particular chip as each vendor adorns a particular core with
> different peripherals so no two products are really the same.
> But, OTOH, I can more readily move to another vendor's product
> *if* I am careful not to "get pregnant" with some feature that
> is only offered by *one* vendor!
>
> ARM, however, is getting dragged into the "high performance"
> market with designs like the A15 (e.g., multicore plus integrated
> GPU).  So, they are already paying the "inefficiency" price
> (several smaller devices -- like the A7 -- will outperform the
> fancier product at a lower power consumption *and* die size!).
>
> This makes the design of systems with multiple processors much
> more interesting!  E.g., instead of a couple of *really* powerful
> nodes (for example, to run my DBMS service), you can instead have
> lots of "capable" nodes and end up with greater performance at
> a lower power level!
>
>> I can conceive this as a server/router with cellular
>> broadband on one side and iptables on the other side for my
>> legacy system of boxes. (It would have to be docked
>> with to its accessory for this).
>
> Why the cell phone connectivity?  That seems like an expensive
> way (cost per byte) to talk to the outside world?
>
>> There are cell phone carriers that refuse to service broad-
>> band cell modems. This would be a way around that. Their ads
>> don't mention any specific cell network provider. So the internal
>> chipset will accept all bands/all carriers. (I think)
>> What I'm trying to do is maximize my options: to
>> get the best internet service for the best price.
>
> Cable and PSTN options don't work?  Seems like either of those
> would be cheaper by far?
>
> --don
>
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