[Voyage-linux] A Cheaper Motherboard

[Edwin Whitelaw]

I have an associate locally who is manufacturing a custom XScale 
platform running Linux.   He believes he could hit the cost bogey folks 
are looking for depending on memory requirements but wants to know what 
developer interest there is in porting Voyage to this platform.  He 
could provide some boards in a fairly short time for testing/development 
if the interest is there with an initial production run as early as 
sometime this summer.

Going back to the earlier discussion on this list, there probably should 
be a low-end board, ~$50-$70, for client use but a more expensive one, 
say $100-$130 range, could easily be justified if that's what it takes 
to get the additional functionality an AP/router/DNS/DHCP server 
requires.  After all, an AP with even 20 clients is going to pay for the 
additional one-time cost in a few days operation.

My personal choice is a single mini-PCI slot client and a three slot AP, 
two for 5.8GHz backhaul in and out and one with a 2.4GHz AP.

Does anyone know what processor PC Engines is going to use in their 
upcoming ARM9 product?  What success have any list members had in 
running on XScale?

Does anyone have a wish list of what features are needed in a low cost CPE?

I'm not expert at board manufacture but am intrigued by the possibly 
*very* low power consumption implied here for possible solar or 
wind-generated power source installations.  Being divorced from reliance 
on the local power company would be a great advantage for site selection.


Edwin

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Edwin Whitelaw, P.E.
New River Valley Unwired, LLC
2200 Lonesome Dove Dr
Christiansburg, VA 24073
540-239-0318