On the marriage of cottage phone and Android "8" DIY XP phone

January 20, 2010, ViewSonic in Beijing released a real meaning of computer mobile phone VCP08. [1] According to the merchant's propaganda, VCP08 was able to be called a real computer phone because "the machine did embed the real windowsxp operating system into the phone".

Figure 8.1 ViewSonic VCP08 ' s shape and size.
Courtesy Http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4309204242_024371d466_o.png

ViewSonic VCP08 computer phone's plane size is slightly larger than the ordinary phone, but the thickness is far more than ordinary mobile phone, see Figure 8.1. The extraordinary thickness, and not only because the VCP08 mobile phone using clamshell design, in fact, VCP08 computer phone, is XP netbook and MTK mobile phone, two independent operating system simple merger.

Figure 8.2 ViewSonic VCP08 is a combination of a XP Netbook, plus MTK feature phone.
Courtesy Http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4309206228_4f04c3be75_o.png

VCP08 's external screen to the MTK mobile phone system, is a self-running closed systems. and the internal screen is the Windows XP system, the configuration of the Intel Atom Z500 dual-core CPU,CPU speed is 800MHz, memory space 512MB, hard disk space 8GB, the screen is 4.3 inches, the resolution of up to 800x480 pixels, is a no-compromise netbook [2]. However, the VCP08 battery can only support 2 hours of computer operation [1].

Word, VCP08 equivalent to a MTK Feature Phone on an XP computer.

Figure 8.3 faked picture, a laptop bundled a MTK phone.
Courtesy Http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4308553311_a01df766d6_o.png

Is it possible to make a computer phone, that is, a computer that can make a mobile phone? Figure 8.3 is an imaginary diagram. Below, we do it ourselves and make a computer phone.

The first step is to prepare 4 hardware first.

1. A PC running the Windows XP operating system.

2. A SIM card.

Figure 8.4 SIM Card
Courtesy Http://image.tianjimedia.com/imagelist/2009/159/tve53lu1g25x.jpg

3. Headphones with microphone.

4. A Gsm/gprs modem (gsm/gprs,modem), such as Multitech's MTCBA-G-F4 product family, serial port MTCBA-G-F4 or USB mtcba-g-u-f4 are all available, The prices are $150 and $230, respectively [3]. If the Multitech modem price is too high, you can also choose the domestic production of GSM/GPRS modem, installation and commissioning steps may be slightly different, please refer to the relevant product specifications.

Figure 8.5 Gsm/gprs Modem, MultiModem MTCBA-G-F4 [4]
Courtesy Http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2756/4322381820_658a767031_o.jpg



Step two, connect the installation.

1. Insert the SIM card into the modem

Figure 8.6 Insert The SIM card into the modem [4]
Courtesy Http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4321689651_9e75eb95fb_o.png

2. Connect the antenna and power supply, then connect to the PC serial port or USB port. If voice calls are required, manufacturers can be required to provide a special cable, one end of the modem, the other end has two connectors, one PC serial port or USB port, and another headset with a microphone to receive and transmit voice.

Figure 8.7 Connect to power, antenna, and then the PC via RS232 or USB. [4]
Courtesy Http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4321691631_daaf69f667_o.png

3. In the XP operating system, click Add Hardware (Add Hardware), Control Panel, set (settings), Start (start).

If the modem you choose is MultiModem MTCBA-G-F4, the corresponding driver is included with the CD that came with the product.

Figure 8.8 Add modem driver.
Courtesy Http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2706/4321693937_b38dbaff05_o.png

The third step, debugging and use.

If all goes well, the DIY version of the computer phone can be used.

1. Monitor signal strength.

Open HyperTerminal, that is, click Start (Start), all Programs (program), Accessories (accessories), Communications (Communications), HyperTerminal (Super Terminal). If you do not have your own hyperteminal software in your PC operating system, you may want to download alternatives such as teraterm,http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/va002416/teraterm.html

In HyperTerminal (HyperTerminal), type AT+CSQ

2. Check GSM login and roaming.

In HyperTerminal (HyperTerminal), type At+creg?
Response: 0,0 indicates that it is not logged in and cannot be manipulated
Response: 0,1 indicates that the local network is logged on
Response: 0,5 indicates that a roaming network is logged in

3. Make a voice call.

In HyperTerminal (HyperTerminal), type ATD1234567;
Response: OK
Be careful not to forget to type a semicolon, which represents a voice call.
1234567 is a random example of a phone number, if you dial the number is 7654321, then this command is ATD7654321;

4. Hang up the machine.

In HyperTerminal (HyperTerminal), type ATH
Response: OK

5. Send a text message.

In HyperTerminal (HyperTerminal), type at+cmgs= "1234567" to send a text message to the mobile phone with the number "1234567".
Wait for ">" to appear.
Then type the text message body and press Ctrl-z to finish.

Response:
+cmgs:52
Ok

6. Receive SMS, this is slightly more complicated.

In HyperTerminal (HyperTerminal), type at+cmgf=1 to format the text.
Response: "OK".

Type At+csms=1 to set the SMS service to GSM 07.05 Phase for compatibility.
Response:
+csms:1,1,1. Refer to [4] for the meanings of each parameter.

Type at+cnmi=2,2,0,0,0 to set the SMS Receive mode for direct forwarding to our DIY version of the PC phone.
Response:
Ok
+CMT: "+17632273726", "06/03/17,09:06:11+00" (Sender phone number and time)
TEST SMS 3 (Received SMS content)

Type At+cnma to notify the network that SMS has been received.
Screen response:
Ok

7. Connect to an Internet network.

Establish an Internet connection by calling PPP. Detailed procedures are more complex, see [4].


To summarize, the production of a DIY version of the computer phone is not complicated. As mentioned earlier, the key component of a computer phone is the modem. Not only can multitech production of modem, in fact, any one GSM/GPRS modem are usable. Even, you can use a MTK feature phone to replace the modem, but installation and debugging a little trouble.

We make DIY version of the computer phone, not purely to entertain themselves, to satisfy curiosity. This example helps to identify a few questions.

1. The task of mobile communication, in fact, can be completed with a modem.

2. The so-called computer phone, essentially nothing more than the ordinary PC and operating system, connected to the modem. PC operating system, the modem can be controlled by the AT command, including dialing, calling, sending and receiving SMS and so on.

3. DIY version of the computer mobile phone interface is very not intuitive. To improve the user experience, you might want to do the following by developing an interface-friendly mobile app package. It is not difficult to imagine that the development of such an application package, although a certain degree of difficulty, but it is not unreachable.

-Make a call: initiate or accept a voice call.
-SMS Management: Edit SMS, send text messages, receive SMS, delete, reply or forward SMS, etc.
-Call History
-Phone book
-Phone settings

4. For other applications on the PC, such as calendars, notebooks, calculators and so on, can completely ignore the existence of the modem, or just as it is to provide a data connection to the network card.


Why do I need a computer phone? The root cause is the limited functionality of the feature phone, which is limited to calls, text messages, and some preinstalled multimedia applications. Mobile phone manufacturers pre-installed features, and can never meet all users, a variety of functional requirements. Therefore, a PC-like operating system is required to support the development of generic software by third parties and to enable users to download and install non-preloaded software independently.

So what's the difference between a computer phone we make and a smart phone on a platform like winmobile or Android? In fact, there is no essential difference between our computer phone and other smart phones, or the other smart phone is a more sophisticated computer phone. A printing technology made by Xpphone, is such a more sophisticated computer phone.

Figure 8.9 Xpphone Outlook [5].
Courtesy Http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2782/4323520907_edf2e0f14c_o.png

Figure 8.10 Xpphone applications [6].
Courtesy Http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4323493367_9c9d2f0fc2_o.png

Figure 8.11 Xpphone applications [6].
Courtesy Http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4324245812_5ef1aa6e1d_o.png

Although the xpphone appearance of a printing technology looks dazzling, the user experience is very good. But technically speaking, the structure and our DIY computer mobile phone expatiating, a printing technology focus on the appearance of optimization, as well as application development.

In fact, although the smart phones styles are numerous and dazzling, their internal hardware and software structures are mostly very similar. Starting with the next section, we begin dissecting the smart Phone.


Reference,

[1] XP+MTK dual system mobile phone. (http://tech.163.com/mobile/10/0120/22/5TGLC8MC0011179O.html)
[2] up VCP08 computer phone. (http://it.21cn.com/mobile/ts/2009/11/24/7099464.shtml)
[3] Multitech Modem product list. (http://www.multitech.com/en_US/products/families/multimodemgprs/)
[4] MultiModem GPRS Wireless Modem mtcba-g-f4 Manual. (http://www.multitech.com/en_us/documents/collateral/manuals/s000443b.pdf)
[5] Xpphone Introduction. (http://www.xpphone.com/product/configuration.html)
[6] xpphone applications. (http://www.xpphone.com/Product/phone.html)

On the marriage of cottage phone and Android "8" DIY XP phone