Lime Microsystems has launched an open-source RF initiative to support the wireless design community.
Dubbed Myriad-RF, the non-profit initiative, aims to attract the interest of hobbyists and design engineers with low-cost RF boards and free design files that will be available for general use.
The boards will use field programmable RF (FP-RF) transceivers to operate on all mobile broadband standards - LTE, HSPA+, CDMA, 2G - including all regional variants; and any wireless communications frequency between 0.3 and 3.8GHz.
This includes the regulated, licensed bands and unlicensed / whitespace spectra."By going open-source we can slash the hardware costs and open RF innovation up to as many people as possible," said Ebrahim Busherhi, Lime CEO and Myriad-RF creator.
"We're trying to create an Arduino for the RF sector; a board that's low cost, powerful, exceptionally flexible and easy to use. And, most importantly, we're trying to let the community determine what's required, letting them add the functionality they need," said Busherhi.
Azio Electronics is first
The first such board, the Myriad-RF 1 is designed by Taiwanese distributor Azio Electronics.
Azio's Myriad-RF 1 board measure approximately 5x5cm, uses a 5V power supply and is software configurable to operate from 300MHz to 3.8GHz and on 2G, 3G and 4G communication networks. Pre-built boards will initially retail for $299 or less.
A distribution network is already in place for pre-built boards and components with Azio Electronics and Eastel already on board. Links to all available pre-built boards can be found on the Myriad-RF board pages.
A community website will house the board design files and example projects with how-to guides and the ability for users to contribute extra content.
Designs hosted on myriadrf.org will initially come from Lime and close partners, but Lime seeks to increase involvement and design contribution from the general RF design community - both hobbyists and professional system designers.
