WiMAX

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

File:WiMAX Forum.png Logo trademarked by the WiMAX Alliance

Mobile WiMAX base station aerial

WiMAX base station equipment with a sector antenna and wireless modem on top

A pre-WiMAX CPE of a 26 km (16 mi) connection mounted 13 metres (43 ft) above the ground (Photo dated 2004)

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a trademark for a family of telecommunications protocols that provide fixed and mobile Internet access. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations. The name "WiMAX" was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL".

Terminology

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.

The original IEEE 802.16 standard (now called "Fixed WiMAX") was published in 2001. WiMAX adopted some of its technology from WiBro, a service marketed in Korea.

Mobile WiMAX (originally based on 802.16e-2005) is the revision that was deployed in many countries, and basis of future revisions such as 802.16m-2011.

WiMAX is sometimes referred to as "Wi-Fi on steroids" and can be used for a number of applications including broadband connections, cellular backhaul, hotspots, etc. It is similar to Wi-Fi but it can also permit usage at much greater distances.

Uses

The 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.

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.

Connecting

A WiMAX USB modem for mobile internet

Devices that provide connectivity to a WiMAX network are known as the "subscriber unit" (SU).

Portable units include handsets (similar to cellular smartphones); PC peripherals (PC Cards or USB dongles); and embedded devices in laptops, which are now available for Wi-Fi services. In addition, there is much emphasis by operators on consumer electronics devices such as Gaming consoles, MP3 players and similar devices. WiMAX is more similar to Wi-Fi than to other 3G cellular technologies.

The WiMAX Forum website provides a list of certified devices. However, this is not a complete list of devices available as certified modules are embedded into laptops, MIDs (Mobile Internet devices), and other private labeled devices.

Gateways

WiMAX gateway devices are available as both indoor and outdoor versions from several manufacturers. Many of the WiMAX gateways that are offered by manufactures such as [[[Alvarion]], [Airspan]], ZyXEL, Huawei, Motorola, and Green Packet] are stand-alone self-install indoor units. Such devices typically sit near the customer's window with the best signal, and provide:

• An integrated Wi-Fi access point to provide the WiMAX Internet connectivity to multiple devices throughout the home or business.
• Ethernet ports to connect directly to a computer or DVR instead.
• One or two analog telephone jacks to connect a land-line phone and take advantage of VoIP.

Indoor gateways are convenient, but radio losses mean that the subscriber may need to be significantly closer to the WiMAX base station than with professionally-installed external units.

Outdoor units are roughly the size of a laptop PC, and their installation is comparable to the installation of a residential satellite dish. A higher-gain directional outdoor unit will generally result in greatly increased range and throughput but with the obvious loss of practical mobility of the unit.

External modems

File:YOTA USB DONGLE cc by-nc.jpg

External USB modem by Yota marketing in Russia, 2010

USB can provide connectivity to a WiMAX network through what is called a dongle. Generally these devices are connected to a notebook or netbook computer. Dongles typically have omnidirectional antennae which are of lower-gain compared to other devices, as such these devices are best used in areas of good coverage.

Mobile phones

HTC announced the first WiMAX enabled mobile phone, the Max 4G, on November 12, 2008. The device was only available to certain markets in Russia on the Yota network.

HTC and Sprint Nextel released the second WiMAX enabled mobile phone, the EVO 4G, March 23, 2010 at the CTIA conference in Las Vegas. The device, made available on June 4, 2010, is capable of both EV-DO(3G) and WiMAX(4G) as well as simultaneous data & voice sessions. The device also has a front-facing camera enabling the use of video conversations. A number of WiMAX Mobiles are expected to hit the US market in 2011.

Technical information

The IEEE 802.16 Standard

WiMAX is based upon IEEE Std 802.16e-2005, approved in December 2005. It is a supplement to the IEEE Std 802.16-2004, and so the actual standard is 802.16-2004 as amended by 802.16e-2005. Thus, these specifications need to be considered together.

IEEE 802.16e-2005 improves upon IEEE 802.16-2004 by:

• Adding support for mobility (soft and hard handover between base stations). This is seen as one of the most important aspects of 802.16e-2005, and is the very basis of Mobile WiMAX.
• Scaling of the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to the channel bandwidth in order to keep the carrier spacing constant across different channel bandwidths (typically 1.25 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz or 20 MHz). Constant carrier spacing results in a higher spectrum efficiency in wide channels, and a cost reduction in narrow channels. Also known as Scalable OFDMA (SOFDMA). Other bands not multiples of 1.25 MHz are defined in the standard, but because the allowed FFT subcarrier numbers are only 128, 512, 1024 and 2048, other frequency bands will not have exactly the same carrier spacing, which might not be optimal for implementations. Carrier spacing is 10.94 kHz.
• Advanced antenna diversity schemes, and hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ)
• Adaptive Antenna Systems (AAS) and MIMO technology
• Denser sub-channelization, thereby improving indoor penetration
• Introducing Turbo Coding and Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC)
• Introducing downlink sub-channelization, allowing administrators to trade coverage for capacity or vice versa
• Adding an extra QoS class for VoIP applications.

SOFDMA (used in 802.16e-2005) and OFDM256 (802.16d) are not compatible thus equipment will have to be replaced if an operator is to move to the later standard (e.g., Fixed WiMAX to Mobile WiMAX).

Physical layer

The original version of the standard on which WiMAX is based (IEEE 802.16) specified a physical layer operating in the 10 to 66 GHz range. 802.16a, updated in 2004 to 802.16-2004, added specifications for the 2 to 11 GHz range. 802.16-2004 was updated by 802.16e-2005 in 2005 and uses scalable orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (SOFDMA) as opposed to the fixed orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) version with 256 sub-carriers (of which 200 are used) in 802.16d. More advanced versions, including 802.16e, also bring multiple antenna support through MIMO (See WiMAX MIMO). This brings potential benefits in terms of coverage, self installation, power consumption, frequency re-use and bandwidth efficiency. WiMax is the most energy-efficient pre-4G technique among LTE and HSPA+.

MEDIA ACCESS CONTROL, MAC (data link) layer

The WiMAX MAC uses a scheduling algorithm for which the subscriber station needs to compete only once for initial entry into the network. After network entry is allowed, the subscriber station is allocated an access slot by the base station. The time slot can enlarge and contract, but remains assigned to the subscriber station, which means that other subscribers cannot use it. In addition to being stable under overload and over-subscription, the scheduling algorithm can also be more bandwidth efficient. The scheduling algorithm also allows the base station to control Quality of service (QoS) parameters by balancing the time-slot assignments among the application needs of the subscriber station.

Deployment

As a standard intended to satisfy needs of next-generation data networks (4G), WiMAX is distinguished by its dynamic burst algorithm modulation adaptive to the physical environment the RF signal travels through. Modulation is chosen to be more spectrally efficient (more bits per OFDM/SOFDMA symbol). That is, when the bursts have a high signal strength and a high carrier to noise plus interference ratio (CINR), they can be more easily decoded using digital signal processing (DSP). In contrast, operating in less favorable environments for RF communication, the system automatically steps down to a more robust mode (burst profile) which means fewer bits per OFDM/SOFDMA symbol; with the advantage that power per bit is higher and therefore simpler accurate signal processing can be performed.

Burst profiles are used inverse (algorithmically dynamic) to low signal attenuation; meaning throughput between clients and the base station is determined largely by distance. Maximum distance is achieved by the use of the most robust burst setting; that is, the profile with the largest MAC frame allocation trade-off requiring more symbols (a larger portion of the MAC frame) to be allocated in transmitting a given amount of data than if the client were closer to the base station.

The client's MAC frame and their individual burst profiles are defined as well as the specific time allocation. However, even if this is done automatically then the practical deployment should avoid high interference and multipath environments. The reason for which is obviously that too much interference causes the network to function poorly and can also misrepresent the capability of the network.

The system is complex to deploy as it is necessary to track not only the signal strength and CINR (as in systems like GSM) but also how the available frequencies will be dynamically assigned (resulting in dynamic changes to the available bandwidth.) This could lead to cluttered frequencies with slow response times or lost frames.

As a result the system has to be initially designed in consensus with the base station product team to accurately project frequency use, interference, and general product functionality.

The Asia-Pacific region has surpassed the North American region in terms of 4G broadband wireless subscribers. There were around 1.7 million pre-WIMAX and WIMAX customers in Asia - 29% of the overall market - compared to 1.4 million in the USA and Canada.

Integration with an IP-based network

The WiMAX Forum WiMAX Architecture

The WiMAX Forum has proposed an architecture that defines how a WiMAX network can be connected with an IP based core network, which is typically chosen by operators that serve as Internet Service Providers (ISP); Nevertheless the WiMAX BS provide seamless integration capabilities with other types of architectures as with packet switched Mobile Networks.

The WiMAX forum proposal defines a number of components, plus some of the interconnections (or reference points) between these, labeled R1 to R5 and R8:

• SS/MS: the Subscriber Station/Mobile Station
• ASN: the Access Service Network
• BS: Base station, part of the ASN
• ASN-GW: the ASN Gateway, part of the ASN
• CSN: the Connectivity Service Network
• HA: Home Agent, part of the CSN
• AAA: Authentication, Authorization and Accounting Server, part of the CSN
• NAP: a Network Access Provider
• NSP: a Network Service Provider

It is important to note that the functional architecture can be designed into various hardware configurations rather than fixed configurations. For example, the architecture is flexible enough to allow remote/mobile stations of varying scale and functionality and Base Stations of varying size - e.g. femto, pico, and mini BS as well as macros.

Spectrum allocation

There is no uniform global licensed spectrum for WiMAX, however the WiMAX Forum has published three licensed spectrum profiles: 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz, in an effort to drive standardisation and decrease cost.

In the USA, the biggest segment available is around 2.5 GHz, and is already assigned, primarily to Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. Elsewhere in the world, the most-likely bands used will be the Forum approved ones, with 2.3 GHz probably being most important in Asia. Some countries in Asia like India and Indonesia will use a mix of 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and other frequencies. Pakistan's Wateen Telecom uses 3.5 GHz.

Analog TV bands (700 MHz) may become available for WiMAX usage, but await the complete roll out of digital TV, and there will be other uses suggested for that spectrum. In the USA the FCC auction for this spectrum began in January 2008 and, as a result, the biggest share of the spectrum went to Verizon Wireless and the next biggest to AT&T. Both of these companies have stated their intention of supporting LTE, a technology which competes directly with WiMAX. EU commissioner Viviane Reding has suggested re-allocation of 500–800 MHz spectrum for wireless communication, including WiMAX.

WiMAX profiles define channel size, TDD/FDD and other necessary attributes in order to have inter-operating products. The current fixed profiles are defined for both TDD and FDD profiles. At this point, all of the mobile profiles are TDD only. The fixed profiles have channel sizes of 3.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 7 MHz and 10 MHz. The mobile profiles are 5 MHz, 8.75 MHz and 10 MHz. (Note: the 802.16 standard allows a far wider variety of channels, but only the above subsets are supported as WiMAX profiles.)

Since October 2007, the Radio communication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) has decided to include WiMAX technology in the IMT-2000 set of standards. This enables spectrum owners (specifically in the 2.5-2.69 GHz band at this stage) to use WiMAX equipment in any country that recognizes the IMT-2000.

Spectral efficiency

One of the significant advantages of advanced wireless systems such as WiMAX is spectral efficiency. For example, 802.16-2004 (fixed) has a spectral efficiency of 3.7 (bit/s)/Hertz, and other 3.5–4G wireless systems offer spectral efficiencies that are similar to within a few tenths of a percent. The notable advantage of WiMAX comes from combining SOFDMA with smart antenna technologies. This multiplies the effective spectral efficiency through multiple reuse and smart network deployment topologies. The direct use of frequency domain organization simplifies designs using MIMO-AAS compared to CDMA/WCDMA methods, resulting in more effective systems.

Inherent Limitations

WiMAX cannot deliver 70 Mbit/s over 50 kilometers (31 miles). Like all wireless technologies, WiMAX can operate at higher bitrates or over longer distances but not both. Operating at the maximum range of 50 km (31 miles) increases bit error rate and thus results in a much lower bitrate. Conversely, reducing the range (to under 1 km) allows a device to operate at higher bitrates.

A city-wide deployment of WiMAX in Perth, Australia demonstrated that customers at the cell-edge with an indoor CPE typically obtain speeds of around 1–4 Mbit/s, with users closer to the cell tower obtaining speeds of up to 30 Mbit/s.

Like all wireless systems, available bandwidth is shared between users in a given radio sector, so performance could deteriorate in the case of many active users in a single sector. However, with adequate capacity planning and the use of WiMAX's Quality of Service, a minimum guaranteed throughput for each subscriber can be put in place. In practice, most users will have a range of 4-8 Mbit/s services and additional radio cards will be added to the base station to increase the number of users that may be served as required.

Silicon implementations

Picture of a WiMAX MIMO board

A number of specialized companies produced baseband ICs and integrated RFICs for WiMAX Subscriber Stations in the 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5 GHz band (refer to 'Spectrum allocation' above). These companies include but not limited to Beceem, Sequans and PicoChip.

Intel Corporation is a leader in promoting WiMAX, but has limited its WiMAX chipset development and instead chosen to invest in these specialized companies producing silicon compatible with the various WiMAX deployments throughout the globe.

Comparison

Comparisons and confusion between WiMAX and Wi-Fi are frequent because both are related to wireless connectivity and Internet access.

• WiMAX is a long range system, covering many kilometres, that uses licensed or unlicensed spectrum to deliver connection to a network, in most cases the Internet.
• Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access to a local network.
• Wi-Fi is more popular in end user devices.
• Wi-Fi runs on the Media Access Control's CSMA/CA protocol, which is connectionless and contention based, whereas WiMAX runs a connection-oriented MAC.
• WiMAX and Wi-Fi have quite different quality of service (QoS) mechanisms:
  • WiMAX uses a QoS mechanism based on connections between the base station and the user device. Each connection is based on specific scheduling algorithms.
  • Wi-Fi uses contention access - all subscriber stations that wish to pass data through a wireless access point (AP) are competing for the AP's attention on a random interrupt basis. This can cause subscriber stations distant from the AP to be repeatedly interrupted by closer stations, greatly reducing their throughput.
• Both 802.11 (which includes Wi-Fi) and 802.16 (which includes WiMAX) define Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and ad hoc networks, where an end user communicates to users or servers on another Local Area Network (LAN) using its access point or base station. However, 802.11 supports also direct ad hoc or peer to peer networking between end user devices without an access point while 802.16 end user devices must be in range of the base station.

Although Wi-Fi and WiMAX are designed for different situations, they are complementary. WiMAX network operators typically provide a WiMAX Subscriber Unit which connects to the metropolitan WiMAX network and provides Wi-Fi within the home or business for local devices (e.g., Laptops, Wi-Fi Handsets, smartphones) for connectivity. This enables the user to place the WiMAX Subscriber Unit in the best reception area (such as a window), and still be able to use the WiMAX network from any place within their residence.

Conformance testing

TTCN-3 test specification language is used for the purposes of specifying conformance tests for WiMAX implementations. The WiMAX test suite is being developed by a Specialist Task Force at ETSI (STF 252).

Associations

WiMAX Forum

The WiMAX Forum is a non profit organization formed to promote the adoption of WiMAX compatible products and services.

A major role for the organization is to certify the interoperability of WiMAX products. Those that pass conformance and interoperability testing achieve the "WiMAX Forum Certified" designation, and can display this mark on their products and marketing materials. Some vendors claim that their equipment is "WiMAX-ready", "WiMAX-compliant", or "pre-WiMAX", if they are not officially WiMAX Forum Certified.

Another role of the WiMAX Forum is to promote the spread of knowledge about WiMAX. In order to do so, it has a certified training program that is currently offered in English and French. It also offers a series of member events and endorses some industry events.

WiMAX Spectrum Owners Alliance

WiSOA logo

WiSOA was the first global organization composed exclusively of owners of WiMAX spectrum with plans to deploy WiMAX technology in those bands. WiSOA focussed on the regulation, commercialisation, and deployment of WiMAX spectrum in the 2.3–2.5 GHz and the 3.4–3.5 GHz ranges. WiSOA merged with the Wireless Broadband Alliance in April 2008.

Competing technologies

Speed vs. Mobility of wireless systems: Wi-Fi, HSPA, UMTS, GSM

Within the marketplace, WiMAX's main competition comes from existing, widely deployed wireless systems such as UMTS, CDMA2000, existing Wi-Fi and mesh networking.

In the future, competition will be from the evolution of the major cellular standards to so-called 4G, high-bandwidth, low-latency, all-IP networks with voice services built on top. The worldwide move to 4G for GSM/UMTS and AMPS/TIA (including CDMA2000) is the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) effort.

LTE is expected to be ratified at the end of 2010, with commercial implementations becoming viable within the next two years. End of 2009 TeliaSonera started commercial deployment in Oslo and Stockholm. In Denmark the 3 big telecoms are upgrading their network, and will make LTE available during 2010.

In some areas of the world, the wide availability of UMTS and a general desire for standardization has meant spectrum has not been allocated for WiMAX: in July 2005, the EU-wide frequency allocation for WiMAX was blocked.

Harmonization

Early WirelessMAN standards, the European standard HiperMAN and Korean standard WiBro have been harmonized as part of WiMAX and are no longer seen as competition but as complementary. All networks now being deployed in South Korea, the home of the WiBro standard, are now WiMAX.

Comparison with Wi-Fi

Main article: Comparison of wireless data standards

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	Family	Primary use	Radio tech	Downstream (Mbit/s)	Upstream (Mbit/s)	Notes
HSPA+	3GPP	Mobile Internet	CDMA/TDMA/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 Mbit/s.
LTE	3GPP	Mobile Internet	OFDMA/TDMA/MIMO/SC-FDMA/for LTE-FDD/for LTE-TDD	100 Cat3 150 Cat4 300 Cat5 25065 Cat17 1658 Cat19 (in 20 MHz FDD)	50 Cat3/4 75 Cat5 2119 Cat17 13563 Cat19 (in 20 MHz FDD)	LTE-Advanced Pro offers rates in excess of 3 Gbit/s to mobile users.
WiMax rel 1	802.16	WirelessMAN	MIMO-SOFDMA	37 (10 MHz TDD)	17 (10 MHz TDD)	With 2x2 MIMO.
WiMax rel 1.5	802.16-2009	WirelessMAN	MIMO-SOFDMA	83 (20 MHz TDD) 141 (2x20 MHz FDD)	46 (20 MHz TDD) 138 (2x20 MHz FDD)	With 2x2 MIMO.Enhanced with 20 MHz channels in 802.16-2009
WiMAX rel 2.0	802.16m	WirelessMAN	MIMO-SOFDMA	2x2 MIMO 110 (20 MHz TDD) 183 (2x20 MHz FDD) 4x4 MIMO 219 (20 MHz TDD) 365 (2x20 MHz FDD)	2x2 MIMO 70 (20 MHz TDD) 188 (2x20 MHz FDD) 4x4 MIMO 140 (20 MHz TDD) 376 (2x20 MHz FDD)	Also, low mobility users can aggregate multiple channels to get a download throughput of up to 1 Gbit/s
Flash-OFDM	Flash-OFDM	Mobile Internet mobility up to 200 mph (350 km/h)	Flash-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	Mobile Internet	OFDM	56.9
Wi-Fi	802.11 (11ax)	Wireless LAN	OFDM/OFDMA/CSMA/MIMO/MU-MIMO/Half duplex	9600 Wi-Fi 6		Antenna, RF front end enhancements and minor protocol timer tweaks have helped deploy long range P2P networks compromising on radial coverage, throughput and/or spectra efficiency (310 km & 382 km)
iBurst	802.20	Mobile Internet	HC-SDMA/TDD/MIMO	95	36	Cell Radius: 3–12 km Speed: 250 km/h Spectral Efficiency: 13 bits/s/Hz/cell Spectrum Reuse Factor: "1"
EDGE Evolution	GSM	Mobile Internet	TDMA/FDD	1.6	0.5	3GPP Release 7
UMTS W-CDMA HSPA (HSDPA+HSUPA)	3GPP	Mobile Internet	CDMA/FDD CDMA/FDD/MIMO	0.384 14.4	0.384 5.76	HSDPA is widely deployed. Typical downlink rates today 2 Mbit/s, ~200 kbit/s uplink; HSPA+ downlink up to 56 Mbit/s.
UMTS-TDD	3GPP	Mobile Internet	CDMA/TDD	16		Reported speeds according to IPWireless using 16QAM modulation similar to HSDPA+HSUPA
EV-DO Rel. 0 EV-DO Rev.A EV-DO Rev.B	3GPP2	Mobile Internet	CDMA/FDD	2.45 3.1 4.9xN	0.15 1.8 1.8xN	Rev B note: N is the number of 1.25 MHz carriers used. EV-DO is not designed for voice, and requires a fallback to 1xRTT when a voice call is placed or received.

Notes: All speeds are theoretical maximums and will vary by a number of factors, including the use of external antennas, 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 comparison tables, see bit rate progress trends, comparison of mobile phone standards, spectral efficiency comparison table and OFDM system comparison table.

Development

The IEEE 802.16m-2011 standard was the core technology for WiMAX 2. The IEEE 802.16m standard was submitted to the ITU for IMT-Advanced standardization. IEEE 802.16m is one of the major candidates for IMT-Advanced technologies by ITU. Among many enhancements, IEEE 802.16m systems can provide four times faster data speed than the WiMAX Release 1.

WiMAX Release 2 provided backward compatibility with Release 1. WiMAX operators could migrate from release 1 to release 2 by upgrading channel cards or software. The WiMAX 2 Collaboration Initiative was formed to help this transtion.

It was anticipated that using 4X2 MIMO in the urban microcell scenario with only a single 20 MHz TDD channel available system wide, the 802.16m system can support both 120 Mbit/s downlink and 60 Mbit/s uplink per site simultaneously. It was expected that the WiMAX Release 2 would be available commercially in the 2011–2012 timeframe.

Interference

A field test conducted by SUIRG (Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group) with support from the U.S. Navy, the Global VSAT Forum, and several member organizations yielded results showing interference at 12 km when using the same channels for both the WiMAX systems and satellites in C-band. The WiMAX Forum has yet to respond.

Deployments

Main article: List of deployed WiMAX networks

South Korea launched a Wimax network in the 2nd quarter of 2006 and a HSPA network in the 3rd quarter. By the end of 2008 there were 8.4 million HSPA subscribers and 350,000 WiMAX subscribers in Korea. Almost all of HSPA subscribers come from 2G and 3G users who have been tempted to upgrade to new devices by high subsidies, whereas Wimax subscribers almost all are newcomers. Deployment of Wimax is still limited (spotted), whereas there are well over 100 countries where HSPA networks are deployed, and even where there is no HSPA coverage there is backward compatibility (using HSPA devices) to pre-existing networks (GSM and WCDMA) with a roaming infrastructure already in place.

As of October 2010, the WiMAX Forum claimed over 592 WiMAX (fixed and mobile) networks deployed in over 148 countries.

Yota is the largest WiMAX network operator in the world but has announced that it will move new network deployments to LTE and, subsequently, change its existing networks as well.

A study published September 2010 by Blycroft Publishing found that only 364 WiMAX operations were actually offering active services (launched or still trading as opposed to just licensed and still to launch). Many operators known to be active in WiMAX were found by the research to have been bought out, merged or even switched to LTE.

See also

• Evolved HSPA
• High-Speed Packet Access
• List of deployed WiMAX networks
• Mobile broadband
• Mobile VoIP
• Municipal broadband
• Packet Burst Broadband
• Switched mesh
• WiBro
• Wireless bridge
• Wireless local loop

References

• K. Fazel and S. Kaiser, Multi-Carrier and Spread Spectrum Systems: From OFDM and MC-CDMA to LTE and WiMAX, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-99821-2
• M. Ergen, Mobile Broadband - Including WiMAX and LTE, Springer, NY, 2009 ISBN 978-0-387-68189-4

External links

• WiMAX Forum
• How WiMAX Works at HowStuffWorks
• What Is WiMAX?
• Internet Protocol Journal Overview of Mobile WiMAX
• Patent alliance formed for WiMAX 4G technology
• WiMAX.com
• WiMAX vs. LTE
• WiMAX 2
• WiMax architecture
• Prashant Sharma (2009). "Facts About WiMAX And Why Is It "The Future of Wireless Broadband"". TechPluto blog. Retrieved August 26, 2011.