oFp - Open FON platform

Virtual Enterprise

We all know the successful "open software" approach to develop new software applications. There is a solid theoretical background supported with documents like “the cathedral and the bazaar” and successfully implementations like "sourceforge” which confirm the theory, nevertheless we can not say the same regarding "open hardware".

There are some key differences between "open hardware" and "open software" that makes we can not translate to hardware (HD) the same degree of openness we got in software (SW), furthermore, every one understand a different thing when referring to "open hardware". Despite all of this, I believe we can found a way to translate the spirit found at "open SW" community to the "open HD" world.

The aim of the “oFp - openFONplatform” initiative is, based on the broad acceptance of FON, to build a new approach to the "open HW” world by developing peripheral and devices compatibles with the FON hardware to complete and improve the existing FON infrastructures and services.

We encourage the FON users and the WiFi community to create an interdisciplinary team who address the challenge of find out the concept, design, develop, build and distribute new physical infrastructure elements that allows to improve the FON global wireless network, into a "virtual" framework. The "open related part" will be the common modules, the "building blocks" like antennas, power supplies, packages, etc. and the "business related part" could be, for instance, the new system architectures deployed using that building blocks, custom layouts to satisfy a required business niche, etc.