[email protected] wrote:
> You can buy Ralink 802.11g USB wifi sticks for $5. The drivers are in
> the Linux kernel.

The device we're currently targetting is the Ben NanoNote made by
Sharism at Work Ltd. It runs Linux well enough, but has no USB host.
This is what prototypes of the IEEE 802.15.4 boards look like:

http://downloads.qi-hardware.com/people/werner/wpan/tmp/2boards-20110305.jpg

And here's a slightly larger predecessor, inserted into a Ben:

http://downloads.qi-hardware.com/people/werner/wpan/tmp/atben-20110123-front.jpg

The Ben is a very small device. Adding a USB receptacle would pose some
problems (which I hope can be solved in future variant), and it would
be almost frivolous to dedicate one just to WLAN (USB power consumption
issues aside).

Also, one of the key objectives of the project is to advance openness
of hardware, much like Free Software works in its own field. With IEEE
802.15.4, we're in a much better position than with WLAN. First of all,
we can get proper data sheets. Second, in the future, even an
affordable SDR solution may be within reach.

I hope that we can find something along the lines of an open standard
like IEEE 802.15.4 being the "party line", with the option of plugging
in a non-open "black box" kind of device if pragmatism dictates it.

- Werner

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