WiMAX Technology



Introduction1

Discussion1

Operating Principle of WiMAX2

Fixed WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX3

WiMAX Throughput4

Important Factors4

NLOS Capabilities5

Wireless 4G WiMAX Technology5

Conclusion6

References7

WiMAX Technology

Introduction

WiMAX ensures the use of interoperation among vendors by the broadband wireless radios which are manufactured for the customers. It enables the adapting of innovative radio features uniformly, together with reducing the radios' costs of companies. WiMAX has lessened the issues of interference as compared to Wi-Fi with same data rates. It operates on licensed as well as non-licensed frequencies and provides controlled settings and feasible economic model for wireless carriers. However, it is being competed with the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards by the vendor companies (www.wimax.com).

Discussion

WiMAX stands for “Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access”. It is IP based and wireless broadband access technology. It provides similar facilities as of 802.11/Wi-Fi networks. It also provides the mobile networks coverage and their “Quality of Service” (QOS). It is the wireless system which is also known as IEEE-802.16. It was created under the standards of the metropolitan area networks in 2002 by Intel and Alvarion. It has its broadband ranges of 50km for fixed stations, and 5-15 km for mobile stations. Its coverage range makes it better than the Wi-Fi/802.11 wireless LAN (Local Area Network) standard, which is mostly restricted to 30 - 100m (www.wimax.com).

During recent years, there has been a rise in the desire of bandwidth-intensive access of internet, along with the need of other audio and data services in the global market in spite of the fact that there has been economic crisis and ambiguous nature of telecommunication industry. The DSL market has been growing rapidly, serving thousands of hundreds of subscribers (private and business oriented) by following its wire-line infrastructures. But there have been issues related to the infrastructure supply to the last mile; thus, causing expensive challenges. However, this issue is resolved with the WiMAX technology as the people having broadband-ready infrastructure enjoy all the benefits of DSL while others make use of WiMAX technology (www.rct.bg).

The formation of WiMAX is credited to the WiMAX Forum™ and its members. It was necessary to create a well-developed ecosystem for driving acceptance and the cost reduction of hardware. Intel played an important role in the core formation of WiMAX technology by involving silicon chip manufacturers with it (www.wimax.com).

Operating Principle of WiMAX

Its BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) systems use the method of Point-Multipoint communication. It has the operating field of the base-transceiver station, which consists of 2 basic elements;

Base station

Subscriber equipment

The base station maintains a connection to the network backbone using an outdoor antenna for sending and receiving high-speed data and voice to the subscriber equipment. It eliminates the requirement of extensive and costly wire-line infrastructure as in case of DSL. It also provides high flexibility and less costly solutions of last-mile (www.rct.bg). The figure below depicts this principle,

Figure 1 (www.rct.bg)

Fixed WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX

WiMAX is categorized into two types:

1.Fixed WiMAX: it is also called IEEE 802.16-2004. It offers a fixed-line connection with an antenna. Its antenna is fixed on the rooftop as a TV ...