WiMAX

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless communications standard designed to provide 30 to 40 megabit-per-second data rates. It is a part of a fourth generation, or 4G, of wireless-communication technology. WiMax far surpasses the 30-metre wireless range of a conventional Wi-Fi local area network (LAN), offering a metropolitan area network with a signal radius of about 50 km. The name "WiMAX" was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. WiMax offers data-transfer rates that can be superior to conventional cable-modem and DSL connections, however, the bandwidth must be shared among multiple users and thus yields lower speeds in practice.
WiMAX refers to interoperable implementations of the IEEE 802.16 family of wireless-networks standards ratified by the WiMAX Forum. Similarly, Wi-Fi, refers to interoperable implementations of the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standards certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance. WiMAX Forum certification allows vendors to sell fixed or mobile products as WiMAX certified, thus ensuring a level of interoperability with other certified products, as long as they fit the same profile. It is an IP based, wireless broadband access technology that provides performance similar to 802.11/Wi-Fi networks with the coverage and QOS (quality of service) of cellular networks. With WiMAX, WiFi-like data rates are easily supported, but the issue of interference is lessened. WiMAX operates on both licensed and non-licensed frequencies, providing a regulated environment and viable economic model for wireless carriers. At its heart, however, WiMAX is a standards initiative. Its purpose is to ensure that the broadband wireless radios manufactured for customer use interoperate from vendor to vendor. The primary advantages of the WiMAX standard are to enable the adoption of advanced radio features in a uniform fashion and reduce costs for all of the radios made by companies, who are part of the WiMAX Forum - a standards body formed to ensure interoperability via testing. The more recent Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard is a similar term describing a parallel technology to WiMAX that is being developed by vendors and carriers as a counterpoint to WiMAX.

Uses of WiMAXThe bandwidth and range of WiMAX make it suitable for the following potential applications:

Providing portable mobile broadband connectivity across cities and countries through a variety of devices. Providing a wireless alternative to cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) for "last mile" broadband access. Providing data, telecommunications (VoIP) and IPTV services (triple play). Providing a source of Internet connectivity as part of a business continuity plan. Smart grids and metering

Internet access
WiMAX can provide at-home or mobile Internet access across whole cities or countries. In many cases this has resulted in competition in markets which typically only had access through an existing incumbent DSL (or similar) operator. Additionally, given the relatively low costs associated with the deployment of a WiMAX network (in comparison with 3G, HSDPA, xDSL, HFC or FTTx), it is now economically viable to provide last-mile broadband Internet access in remote locations. Backhaul Mobile WiMAX was a replacement candidate for cellular phone technologies such as GSM and CDMA, or can be used as an overlay to increase capacity. Fixed WiMAX is also considered as a wireless backhaul technology for 2G, 3G, and 4G networks in both developed and developing nations. In North America, backhaul for urban operations is typically provided via one or more copper wire line connections, whereas remote cellular operations are sometimes backhauled via satellite. In other regions, urban and rural backhaul is usually provided by microwave links. (The exception to this is where the network is operated by an incumbent with ready access to the copper network.) WiMAX has more substantial backhaul bandwidth requirements than legacy cellular applications. Consequently the use of wireless microwave backhaul is on the rise in North America and existing microwave backhaul links in all regions are being upgraded. Capacities of between 34 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s are routinely being deployed with latencies in the order of 1 ms. In many cases, operators are aggregating sites using wireless technology and then presenting traffic on to fiber networks where convenient.

Triple-play
WiMAX supports the technologies that make triple-play service offerings possible (such as Quality of Service and Multicasting). On May 7, 2008 in the United States, Sprint Nextel, Google, Intel, Comcast, Bright House, and Time Warner announced a pooling of an average of 120 MHz of spectrum and merged with Clearwire to market the service. The new company hopes to benefit from combined services offerings and network resources as a springboard past its competitors. The cable companies will provide media services to other partners while gaining access to the wireless network as a Mobile virtual network operator to provide triple-play services. Some analysts questioned how the deal will work out: Although fixed-mobile convergence has been a recognized factor in the industry, prior attempts to form partnerships among wireless and cable companies have generally failed to lead to significant benefits to the participants. Other analysts point out that as wireless progresses to higher bandwidth, it inevitably competes more directly with cable and DSL, inspiring competitors into collaboration. Also, as wireless broadband networks grow denser and usage habits shift, the need for increased backhaul and media service will accelerate, therefore the opportunity to leverage cable assets is expected to increase.

Deployment

WiMAX access was used to assist with communications in Aceh, Indonesia, after the tsunami in December 2004. All communication infrastructure in the area, other than amateur radio, was destroyed, making the survivors unable to communicate with people outside the disaster area and vice versa. WiMAX provided broadband access that helped regenerate communication to and from Aceh. WiMAX hardware was donated by Intel Corporation to assist the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and FEMA in their communications efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. In practice, volunteers used mainly self-healing mesh, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and a satellite uplink combined with Wi-Fi on the local link

Comparison with Wi-Fi

The following table only shows peak rates which are potentially very misleading. In addition, the comparisons listed are not normalized by physical channel size (i.e., spectrum used to achieve the listed peak rates); this obfuscates spectral efficiency and net through-put capabilities of the different wireless technologies listed below.
Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods Common Name Downstrea Upstream m (Mbit/s) (Mbit/s)

Family

Primary Use

Radio Tech

Notes

HSPA+

3GPP

Used in 4G

CDMA/FDD MIMO

21 42 84 672

5.8 11.5 22 168

HSPA+ is widely deployed. Revision 11 of the 3GPP states that HSPA+ is expected to have a throughput capacity of 672 Mbps.

LTE

3GPP

General 4G

LTE-Advanced update 100 Cat3 50 Cat3/4 expected to 150 Cat4 OFDMA/MIMO/S 75 Cat5 offer peak 300 Cat5 (in 20 MHz rates up to 1 C-FDMA (in 20 MHz FDD)[31] Gbit/s fixed FDD) [31] speeds and 100 Mb/s to

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods Common Name Downstrea Upstream m (Mbit/s) (Mbit/s)

Family

Primary Use

Radio Tech

Notes

mobile users. 17 37 (10 MHz (10 MHz WirelessMAN MIMO-SOFDMA TDD) TDD) 83 (20 MHz TDD) WirelessMAN MIMO-SOFDMA 141 (2x20 MHz FDD) 2x2 MIMO 110 (20 MHz TDD) 183 (2x20 MHz FDD) WirelessMAN MIMO-SOFDMA 4x4 MIMO 219 (20 MHz TDD) 365 (2x20 MHz FDD) Mobile Internet mobility up to Flash-OFDM 200 mph (350 km/h) Mobile Internet 46 (20 MHz TDD) 138 (2x20 MHz FDD) 2x2 MIMO 70 (20 MHz TDD) 188 (2x20 MHz FDD) 4x4 MIMO 140(20 M Hz TDD) 376 (2x20 MHz FDD) With 2x2 MIMO.[32]

WiMax rel 1 802.16

WiMax rel 802.161.5 2009

With 2x2 MIMO.Enhanc ed with 20Mhz channels in 802.16-2009[32]

WiMAX rel 2 802.16m

Also low mobility users can aggregate multiple channels for up to DL throughput 1Gbps[32]

FlashFlash-OFDM OFDM

5.3 10.6 15.9

1.8 3.6 5.4

Mobile range 30 km (18 miles) extended range 55 km (34 miles)

HIPERMAN HIPERMAN

OFDM

56.9 288.8 (using 4x4 configuration in

Wi-Fi

802.11

Mobile Intern OFDM/MIMO

Antenna, RF front end

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods Common Name Downstrea Upstream m (Mbit/s) (Mbit/s) 20 MHz bandwidth) or 600 (using 4x4 configuration in 40 MHz bandwidth)

Family

Primary Use

Radio Tech

Notes

(11n)

et

enhancements and minor protocol timer tweaks have helped deploy long range P2P networks compromisin g on radial coverage, throughput and/or spectra efficiency (310 km & 382 km)
Cell Radius: 3 12 km Speed: 250 km/h Spectral Efficiency: 13 bits/s/Hz/cell Spectrum Reuse Factor: "1" 3GPP Release 7 HSDPA is widely deployed. Typical downlink rates today 2 Mbit/s, ~200 kbit/s uplink; HSPA+ downlink up to 56 Mbit/s.

iBurst

802.20

HCMobile Intern SDMA/TDD/MIM 95 et O

36

EDGE Evolution

GSM

Mobile Intern TDMA/FDD et

1.6

0.5

UMTS WCDMA UMTS/3GS General 3G HSDPA+HSUP M A

CDMA/FDD 0.384 CDMA/FDD/MIM 14.4 O 0.384 5.76

Comparison of Mobile Internet Access methods Common Name Downstrea Upstream m (Mbit/s) (Mbit/s)

Family

Primary Use

Radio Tech

Notes

UMTS-TDD

UMTS/3GS Mobile M Internet

CDMA/TDD

16

Reported speeds according to IPWireless using 16QAM modulation similar to HSDPA+HSUPA Rev B note: N is the number of 1.25 MHz chunks of spectrum used. EV-DO is not designed for voice, and requires a fallback to 1xRTT when a voice call is placed or received.

EV-DO Rel. 0 Mobile EV-DO Rev.A CDMA2000 Internet EV-DO Rev.B

CDMA/FDD

2.45 3.1 4.9xN

0.15 1.8 1.8xN

Notes: All speeds are theoretical maximums and will vary by a number of factors, including the use of external antennae, distance from the tower and the ground speed (e.g. communications on a train may be poorer than when standing still). Usually the bandwidth is shared between several terminals. The performance of each technology is determined by a number of constraints, including the spectral efficiency of the technology, the cell sizes used, and the amount of spectrum available. For more information, see Comparison of wireless data standards. For more comparison tables, see bit rate progress trends, comparison of mobile phone standards, spectral efficiency comparison table and OFDM system comparison table.