WIMAX

Mobile WiMAX base station aerial in Lepšiškiai, Lithuania

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 (2004, Lithuania)

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a

telecommunications protocol that provides fixed and fully mobile Internet access. The
current WiMAX revision provides up to 40 Mbit/s[1][2] with the IEEE 802.16m update
expected to offer up to 1 Gbit/s fixed speeds. 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[3] as "a standards-based
technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an
alternative to cable and DSL".[4]

Terminology
WiMAX refers to interoperable implementations of the IEEE 802.16 wireless-
networks standard (ratified by the WiMAX Forum), in similarity with Wi-Fi, which
refers to interoperable implementations of the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standard
(ratified by the Wi-Fi Alliance). The WiMAX Forum certification allows vendors to
sell their equipment as WiMAX (Fixed or Mobile) certified, thus ensuring a level of
interoperability with other certified products, as long as they fit the same profile.

The IEEE 802.16 standard forms the basis of 'WiMAX' and is sometimes referred to
colloquially as "WiMAX", "Fixed WiMAX", "Mobile WiMAX", "802.16d" and
"802.16e."[5] Clarification of the formal names are as follow:

 802.16-2004 is also known as 802.16d, which refers to the working party that
has developed that standard. It is sometimes referred to as "Fixed WiMAX,"
since it has no support for mobility.
 802.16e-2005, often abbreviated to 802.16e, is an amendment to 802.16-2004.
It introduced support for mobility, among other things and is therefore also
known as "Mobile WiMAX".

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 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.

Broadband

Companies are deploying WiMAX to provide mobile broadband or at-home

broadband connectivity across whole cities or countries. In many cases this has
resulted in competition in markets which typically only had access to broadband
through an existing incumbent DSL (or similar) operator.
Additionally, given the relatively low cost to deploy a WiMAX network (in
comparison to GSM, DSL or Fiber-Optic), it is now possible to provide broadband in
places where it might have been previously economically unviable.

Backhaul

WiMAX is a possible 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 cellular operations is typically provided via one
or more copper wire line T1 connections, whereas remote cellular operations are
sometimes backhauled via satellite. In most 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, in which case T1
lines may be used.) WiMAX is a broadband platform and as such has much more
substantial backhaul bandwidth requirements than legacy cellular applications.
Therefore, traditional copper wire line backhaul solutions are not appropriate.
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.[8] 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 form a company which will take the name "Clear". 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 have 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.

Rapid 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 to WiMAX

A WiMAX Gateway which provides VoIP, Ethernet and WiFi connectivity

A WiMAX USB modem for mobile internet

There are numerous devices on the market that provide connectivity to a WiMAX
network. These are known as the "subscriber unit" (SU).

There is an increasing focus on portable units. This includes 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. It is notable that WiMAX is more similar
to Wi-Fi than to 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 Airspan, ZyXEL, Huawei, Motorola, and Greenpacket are
stand-alone self-install indoor units. Such devices typically sit near the customer's
window with the best WiMAX 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 should you wish to connect directly to your computer or DVR
instead.
 One or two PSTN telephone jacks to connect your 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.

Dongles

There are a variety of USB dongles on the market which provide connectivity to a
WiMAX network. Generally these devices are connected to a notebook or netbook
whilst on the go. 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 Nov 12th
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.[14] A number of WiMAX Mobiles are
expected to hit the US market in 2010.

Technical information

Illustration of a WiMAX MIMO board

WiMAX and the IEEE 802.16 Standard

The current WiMAX revision is based upon IEEE Std 802.16e-2005,[16] approved in
December 2005. It is a supplement to the IEEE Std 802.16-2004,[17] 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, WiMax
and HSPA.

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.[19]

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:Subscriber Station/Mobile Station

 ASN: Access Service Network[20]
 BS: Base station, part of the ASN
 ASN-GW: ASN Gateway, part of the ASN
 CSN: Connectivity Service Network
 HA: Home Agent, part of the CSN
 AAA: Authentication, Authorization and Accounting Server, part of the CSN
 NAP: Network Access Provider
 NSP: 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

A critical requirement for the success of a new technology is the availability of low-
cost chipsets and silicon implementations.
WiMAX has a strong silicon ecosystem with a number of specialized companies
producing baseband ICs and integrated RFICs for implementing full-featured
WiMAX Subscriber Stations in the 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5 GHz band (refer to 'Spectrum
allocation' above). It is notable that most of the major semiconductor companies have
not developed WiMAX chipsets of their own and have instead chosen to invest in
and/or utilise the well developed products from smaller specialists or start-up
suppliers. These companies include but not limited to Beceem, Sequans and PicoChip.
The chipsets from these companies are used in the majority of WiMAX devices.

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 with Wi-Fi

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:
o WiMAX uses a QoS mechanism based on connections between the base
station and the user device. Each connection is based on specific
scheduling algorithms.
o 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.

Wi-Fi and WiMAX 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.

Wi-Fi and WiMAX are protocols designed for different situations.

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).

Future development
The IEEE 802.16m [30] standard is the core technology for the proposed WiMAX
Release 2, which enables more efficient, faster, and more converged data
communications. The IEEE 802.16m standard has been submitted to the ITU for IMT-
Advanced standardization.[31] 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 fasterdata speed than the current WiMAX Release 1 based on
IEEE 802.16e technology.

WiMAX Release 2 will provide strong backward compatibility with Release 1

solutions. It will allow current WiMAX operators to migrate their Release 1 solutions
to Release 2 by upgrading channel cards or software of their systems. Also, the
subscribers who use currently available WiMAX devices can communicate with new
WiMAX Release 2 systems without difficulty.

It is anticipated that in a practical deployment, 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 is expected that the WiMAX Release 2 will be available
commercially in the 2011-2012 timeframe.