New Year, new release of FC host tools

[Mychaela Falconia]

Hello FreeCalypso community,

I just put out a new release of FC host tools:

ftp://ftp.freecalypso.org/pub/GSM/FreeCalypso/fc-host-tools-r18.tar.bz2
ftp://ftp.freecalypso.org/pub/GSM/FreeCalypso/fc-host-tools-latest.tar.bz2

As usual, the CHANGES file inside the tarball details all changes since
the previous release - but they all fall into just two groups:

1) Support for newly discovered Sony Ericsson K200/220 phones - support
   as in ability to tinker with their flash chips and their FFS, not
   actually running FC firmware on these phones!

2) Updates to tools dealing with Calypso TCH tap modes and TCS211 voice
   memo recordings - I originally played with TCH DL sniffing and TCH
   UL play back in 2016, but we are now in a much better position,
   with a better understanding of all involved components and better
   tools, and I resurrected this TCH tap feature in FC Tourmaline fw
   a few weeks ago.  This resurrected TCH tap feature required some
   updates on the host tools side, and these updates are included in
   the present release.

Past this FC host tools update, here are my plans for 2023, hopefully
for the earlier months of this year:

* I've been working on a new GSM codec libraries & utilities package,
  gsm-codec-lib Hg repository.  At the core of this package are two
  Themyscira-developed libraries, libgsmefr (a librified version of
  GSM EFR reference implementation from ETSI) and libgsmfrp (an Rx DTX
  handler for FR1), plus a whole bunch of various utilities dealing
  with GSM speech codecs and related functions, built on top of these
  two libraries plus classic libgsm.  My near-term goal is to finish
  my TODO list for this package (mostly some improvements in libgsmefr)
  and make the first formal release.

* My home GSM network is already running quite well; being an illegal
  squatter in licensed spectrum I only turn it on intermittently, not
  continuously, but when I do turn it on, it functions quite well,
  enough to connect some "real" voice calls beyond pure testing.  But
  I still need to do some polishing work on my changes to osmo-bts-sysmo
  (the Linux userspace process running on the fancy sysmoBTS box)
  related to continuous unbroken RTP streams.  Right now my patched
  BTS emits Themyscira BFI packets during DTX pauses (basically any
  time nothing was received on the uplink, be it intentional DTX or
  bad radio conditions), but when a frame slot was stolen for FACCH,
  it still emits nothing in RTP, which is a bug I need to track down
  and fix.  I need to fix this defect before I can declare my GSM
  network "done for now" and switch my attention to FC Venus GSM MS.

* FC Venus GSM MS development board is my real dream goal, the one I
  really really want to do, that has been deferred for too long - I
  was originally planning to work on it a year ago, but I spent most
  of 2022 on a detour, gaining hands-on experience with the network
  side of GSM (OsmoCNI) and building my own GSM network, necessitated
  by T-Mobile's hostility to legacy GSM users getting worse.  But my
  home GSM network will soon reach the point of being good enough for
  first round, supporting FR1 and EFR codecs by way of my gsm-codec-lib,
  and then I would like to return my attention to my long-desired
  FC Venus board.

So that's the current state of FreeCalypso and Themyscira Wireless -
let's see where 2023 takes us.

Hasta la Victoria, Siempre,
Mychaela aka The Mother