.What is wimax ?

WiMax, also known as IEEE 802.16, is a

wireless digital communications system that is
intended for wireless “metropolitan area
networks”. WiMax is designed to extend lo-
cal WiFi networks across greater distances,
such as on a university campus.
.What is wimax ?
The WiFi/802.11 wireless local area, which
is the network standard, is limited in most
cases to only about 100 to 300 feet; how-
ever, Wimax can provide broadband wireless
access for up to 30 miles for fixed stations
and 3 to 10 miles for mobile stations. WiMax
allows for more efficient bandwidth use, inter-
ference avoidance, and is intended to allow
higher data rates over longer distances.
.What is wimax ?
The IEEE 802.16 standard defines the techni-
cal features of the communications protocol.
The WiMAX Forum offers a means of testing
manufacturer’s equipment for compatibility,
as well as an industry group dedicated to
fostering the development and commercial-
ization of the technology.
.What is wimax ?
In the next five years, Wimax will have an enormous
impact on the cellular markets, particularly that of third-
world countries, as well as that of the United States.
The cost-effectiveness of WiMax to that of preexisting
systems is much higher. One application that can be
used by cellular companies is WiMax’s ability to serve
as a high bandwidth “backhaul” for internet or cellu-
lar phone traffic from remote areas back to an Internet
backbone; WiMax may be an answer to reducing the
cost of T1/E1 backhaul as well.
.What will wimax services offer
to the average consumer ?
The IEEE 802.16 standard defines the techni-
cal features of the communications protocol.
The WiMAX Forum offers a means of testing
manufacturer’s equipment for compatibility,
as well as an industry group dedicated to
fostering the development and commercial-
ization of the technology.
.What will wimax services offer
to the average consumer ?
In the U.S., Mobile WiMax services from Sprint and
Clearwire will reach more than 150 million consumers by
year end 2010. In rural areas, WiMAX technology will
establish an affordable and efficient broadband network.
The purchase and installation process of WiMAX technol-
ogy is faster, simpler and cheaper than other offered solu-
tions. Additionally, wimax can provide coverage despite
the challenges of geography and the limited footprint of
wireline-based solutions. In developing countries, WiMAX
technology provides the opportunity to connect people
with Internet and VOIP services faster and more affordably
than wireline technology.
.What is the speed of wimax
for end users ?
wirelessUsers can expect to have broadband
access speeds ranging from 1-5 Mbps depending on
the service provider offering. The data rate may also
depend on a number of factors, including which fre-
quency 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. There is the potential to burst
to higher speeds, but that would depend on the op-
erator’s plans and business model.
.Key features of Wimax
• Interoperability : A key differentiation for
wimax is the interoperability of certified
equipment, resulting in large economy of
scale and assurance for service providers that
equipment from different vendors is interoper-
able. 530 leading companies in the commu-
nications and computing industries, members
of the Wimax Forum, are currently driving a
common platform for the global deployment
of IP-based broadband
.Key features of Wimax
• Wider coverage : The technology behind
wimax has been optimized to provide
excellent coverage; wider areas, better pre-
dictability of coverage and lower cost as it
means fewer base stations and backhaul,
simple RF planning, shorter towers and faster
CPE install times.
.Key features of Wimax
• Lower cost : A standards based platform for
wimax drives down costs and delivers volume
economics to WiMAX equipment.

• Industry Standard : for all usage models

(fixed to mobile). Wimax was designed to be-
come the most cost-effective solution for carri-
ers for any usage model from fixed to mobile.
Newer versions of the WiMAX standard sup-
port higher speeds of mobility and always
maintain backward compatibility with previ-
ous Mobile WiMAX releases.
.Key features of Wimax
• Higher capacity : advantage of wimax is
the use of Orthogonal Frequency-Division
Multiplexing (OFDM) over CDMA which is
used in older technologies like Edge, GPRS,
and HSPA. OFDM delivers higher spectral ef-
ficiency and therefore higher data rate and
overall system capacity.
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