ASIA-PACIFIC BROADCASTING

WiMAX Standards
The WiMAX standards consist of the IEEE 802.16 family of standards that address the "first-mile/last-mile" connection using a wireless network and therefore is a broadband wireless access (BWA) technology.  The standards provide multiple access modes that include fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile connectivity. The mobile WiMAX standard (IEEE 802.16e Standard) can be considered a pre-4G standard and as such is of great interest to network operators.  To build a WiMAX network to deliver broadband Internet connectivity targeted at consumers, the customer premise equipment (CPE) must be inexpensive and easy to set up. This goal was facilitated by the development of the non line-of-sight WiMAX standards (see below) which meant that no outdoor antenna was needed i.e. no expensive “truck-roll”.

The First IEEE 802.16 Standard
The first IEEE 802.16 Standard specifies the WirelessMAN Air Interface for wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN).  It focuses on the efficient use of bandwidth between 10 and 66 GHz.  This standard supports continuously varying traffic levels at many licensed frequencies (e.g., 10.5, 25, 26, 31, 38 and 39 GHz) for two-way communications.  The standard enables interoperability among devices, so carriers can use products from multiple vendors.  Engineers from the world's leading operators and vendors created this standard in a two-year, open-consensus process.

Further Development of the IEEE 802.16 Standard
The two main standards now being deployed are the 802.16d (fixed) and 802.16e (mobile) standards.  For these products, WiMAX solutions have been implemented for both licensed and unlicensed bands in the 2 – 11 GHz range.

The main mileposts in the development of the WiMAX standards are:
1)December 2001 – 802.16 adopted for wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) in 10-66 GHz frequency range (line-of-sight);
2)January 2003 – 802.16a extension adopted for (2 – 11 GHz, near line-of-sight);
3)June 2004 – 802.16d 2004 Standard adopted for fixed WiMAX (non line-of-sight);
4)December 2005 – 802.16e 2005 Standard adopted for mobile WiMAX;
5)The 802.16m Standard is under development as a 4G technology.

Continuing fight between 2G/3G Cellular Network Operators and WiMAX
The 2G/3G operators have their own evolutionary path towards 4G.  This evolution must be backward compatible since the cellular operators have large investments in existing networks.  To further develop their standards including plotting a path towards 4G, the 2G/3G network operators have formed their own associations:
1)3G Partnership Project (3GPP), http://www.3gpp.org/, supported by GSM/UMTS (i.e. TDMA);
2)3G Partnership Project (3GPP2), http://www.3gpp2.org/, supported by CDMA operators.

In both cases this path does not (presently) include WiMAX.

Comments

Add New Search

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."