What is WiMAX™ technology?
WiMAX™ is based upon the IEEE 802.16 standard enabling the delivery of wireless broadband services anytime, anywhere. WiMAX products can accommodate fixed and mobile usage models. The IEEE 802.16 standard was developed to deliver non-line-of-sight (LoS) connectivity between a subscriber station and base station with typical cell radius of three to ten kilometers. All base stations and subscriber stations claiming to be WiMAX compliant must go through a rigorous WiMAX Forum Certified™ testing process. WiMAX Forum Certified systems can be expected to deliver capacity of up to 40 Mbps per channel. This is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support hundreds of businesses with T-1 speed connectivity and thousands of residences with DSL speed connectivity. The WiMAX Forum expects mobile network deployments to provide up to 15 Mbps of capacity within a typical cell radius of up to three kilometers. WiMAX technology already has been incorporated in notebook computers and PDAs to deliver high speed mobile Internet services anytime, anywhere.
>High speed internet access where it is currently unavailable
>Substantially increase data speeds for applications to include online gaming, streaming video, video conferencing, VoIP and location based services >Drive wireless Internet equipment and access prices to a competitive price point comparable to cable, DSL, and fiber Internet services With a robust telecommunications infrastructure already in place in the U.S. Mobile WiMAX services from Sprint and Clearwire will reach more than 150 million consumers by year end 2008. In Australia, WiMAX technology will establish an affordable and efficient broadband network. This wireless broadband technology is perfectly suited for regional and rural areas and the purchase and installation process of WiMAX technology is faster, simpler and cheaper than other offered solutions. Additionally, the non-line-of-sight (NLoS) capability means that WiMAX technology can provide coverage despite the challenges of geography and the limited footprint of wireline.
What are the key elements of WiMAX technology?
A key differentiator for WiMAX is the interoperability of WiMAX Forum Certified equipment, resulting in mass volume economy of scale and assurance for service providers that when buying equipment from more than one company, the technologies are interoperable. The WiMAX Forum has assembled an alliance of leaders in the communications and computing industries to drive a common platform for the global deployment of IP-based broadband wireless services. Other key elements include cost, coverage, capacity and standards for both fixed and mobile wireless usage models.
Lower cost
A standards based platform for WiMAX technology drives down costs delivering volume economics to WiMAX equipment.
Wider coverage
The technology behind WiMAX has been optimized to provide excellent non-line-of-sight (NLoS) coverage. NLoS advantages are coverage of wider areas, better predictability of coverage and lower cost as it means fewer base stations and backhaul, simple RF planning, shorter towers and faster CPE install times. Thanks to techniques for improving NLoS coverage, such as diversity, space-time coding, and Automatic Retransmission Request (ARQ), coverage are increased.
Higher capacity
A key advantage of WiMAX technology is to use Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) over Edge, GPRS, HSPA to deliver higher bandwidth efficiency and therefore higher data throughput, with more than one Mbps downstream and higher data rates. Adaptive modulation also increases link reliability for carrier-class operation and the possibility to keep higher order modulation at wider distance extend full capacity over longer distances.
Standard for all usage models (fixed to mobile)
By leveraging the same technology networks, WiMAX technology will become the most cost-effective solution for carriers to deploy for any usage model from fixed to mobile.The WiMAX Forum certifies products for conformance and interoperability based upon the standards IEEE 802.16.
What is the data transfer speed of WiMAX technology for end users?
Users can expect to have broadband access speeds ranging from 1-5 Mbps depending on the service provider offering. Plus, there is a range difference because it depends on a number of factors, including which frequency is being used, distance of the user from the base station or node, whether there is line of site or NLoS to the base station, and the number of users on the network.
When the WiMAX Forum refers to 40 Mbps, it is referring to a single channel in wireless frequency (as part of the network) that is likely shared among multiple users. Individual users will have access to that amount of capacity, but the likelihood is they will have the ability to achieve downlink speeds of 1-5 Mbps, which is similar to the cable experience. There is the potential to burst to higher speeds, but that would depend on the operator's plans and business model. Is there a difference between Fixed and Mobile WiMAX™?
Mobile WiMAX
>WiMAX is also called Mobile WiMAX as it can serve all usage models from fixed to mobile with the same infrastructure. Based on the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard, Mobile WiMAX offers fixed, nomadic, portable and mobile capabilities
>Does not rely on line-of-sight transmissions in lower frequency bands (2 to 11 GHz)
>Provides enhanced performance, even in fixed and nomadic environments
>Currently uses Time Division Duplexing (TDD)
>System bandwidth is scalable to adapt to capacity and coverage needs
How many subscribers can a single WiMAX node serve?
A single WiMAX base station or node should be able to serve thousands of subscribers. The actual number of users will depend on the guaranteed bandwidth to each users and the actual spectrum used by the operator.
What is the WiMAX Forum?
The WiMAX Forum was established in June 2001 and is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization of more than 520 companies to include over 200 operators formed to certify and promote broadband wireless products based upon the harmonized IEEE 802.16/ETSI HiperMAN standard. The WiMAX Forum strives to ensure global adoption of a common platform to deliver Broadband Wireless services as a standard alone is not enough to effect mass adoption of a technology. Along these lines, the Forum works closely with service providers, regulators, equipment manufacturers, test equipment manufacturers, Certification labs, and application service providers to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. WiMAX Forum Certified™ products are fully interoperable and support all usage models of broadband wireless services. Which companies are involved with the WiMAX Forum? More than 520 companies are members of the WiMAX Forum, representing the entire ecosystem of companies necessary for bringing WiMAX Forum Certified™ products to market, including equipment manufacturers, operators, system integrators, silicon and component makers, test equipment manufacturers, test labs, content and application providers. Each one of its members is essential to the progress of the WiMAX Forum’s vision of global adoption of WiMAX as the Mobile Internet technology of choice anytime, anywhere and in a wide variety of products. Regulators are invited as observers as they play an active role in determining spectrum opportunities for WiMAX technology. Detailed information on each member can be found at www.wimaxforum.org under the "About Us" tab. 8. What are the current challenges faced by the WiMAX Forum? How are you trying to address them? The complexity of obtaining spectrum allocated in all major marketing regions around the globe is a challenge for the industry. The adoption of flexible regulatory attitudes toward mobile broadband technologies like WiMAX is particularly critical at this time, particularly the current effort to get WiMAX based technology approved as an IMT2000 technology. Pent-up demand for mobile broadband is present in developing and emerging countries. Moreover, many new mobile digital devices capable of a wide range of functionality and in novel form factors are poised to enter the marketplace over the next few years. Consumers demand to secure Internet access globally is strong and WiMAX is poised to deliver on this opportunity. Furthermore, operators will accelerate the deployment of the mobile broadband infrastructure if they have the flexibility they need to be able to implement the technologies that will support the services in demand by their subscribers. A forward-looking regulatory attitude will hasten the day when the widest possible segment of global consumers will benefit from WiMAX technology and true mobile broadband access.
The GXC mission is to establish, develop and deliver value added management and technical consultancy to companies involved in mobile and fixed satellite communication networks, addressing all aspects system development and deployment lifecycle.
