The Constructive Anarchist

Standard Computing systems for Defense Applications Introduction With the advent of Indian CPU designs, it is now possible to define standard SoCs for a wide range of defense applications, leading to lower acquisition costs due to standardization and having designs tailored for defense applications. 4 standard configurations, D1, D2, D3 and D4 will cater to more than 75% of CPUs used in the strategic sector. D1-D4 will be class standard specs and variants can be derived from them for specialized applications while still keeping the base class design intact. This allows custom designs to be realized quickly and with lower cost compared to a full custom design that cannot leverage existing designs. It is also necessary that the computing systems and form factors also be standardized so that standard LRUs can be used across various systems. These will broadly fall into two categories Single board computers Backplane based systems The cabling standards between systems also has to be stand...

So lots of folks want to dump Chinese phones for a variety of reasons, I am not getting into the validity of the reasons. But I do advise the  Indian security establishment occasionally, so my cognitive biases are clear ! Someone who does not have an  in-depth knowledge of a mobile phone supply chain should not really comment on this issue. I am not being arrogant here, it is just that it is a complex issue and while anyone can understand the intricacies of the supply-chain, you need to put in the effort to know the subject. I have been designing and setting up mobile phone supply chains for about 2 decades now, so have been around the block. India was actually designing high end mobile phones (by 2002) before the Chinese, a fact that is not common knowledge. So it is not as if the supply chain knowledge does not exist here. On to the present  ... 1. The core semicon part of the phone - Processors, DRAM, NAND, SPI Flash, Camera Sensor, Radio, Power. Not aware of ...

 Telecom Travails There are few times in my life when I am at a loss for words and folks who know me will attest to the fact that those moments are exceedingly rare ! Talking about the state of the Indian Telecom industry is one such situation. But writing a blog requires words to be put on paper, so here goes .... To say that the industry is in a mess is to state the obvious. If as a scientist I were to apply the principle of Occam's razor, the simplest explanation is  that Telco  execs  have strong suicidal tendencies and the state of the companies they run can be said to validate the thesis. But a lot of them are good friends of mine and are intelligent, capable and dedicated people. So while the thesis is not a bad one, evidence suggests the cause lies elsewhere ! As with all human  tragedies, the causes are manifold and as is  always the the case, the principal actors had the noblest of intentions. But you know what they say about the road to he...