MCA seminar 2005 WiMax

Contents

1. Introduction 2
2. History of WiMax and Wi-Fi 5
3. THE NEED FOR WiMAX 7
4. TECHNOLOGY BEHIND WiMAX 14

5. APPLICATIONS 23
6. CONCLUSION 24
7. REFERENCES 25

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1. INTRODUCTION

WiMAX is a standards-based wireless technology that provides high-

throughput broadband connections over long distances. WiMAX can be used for a
number of applications, including "last mile" broadband connections, hotspot and
cellular backhaul, and high-speed enterprise connectivity for businesses.

An implementation of the IEEE 802.16 standard, WiMAX provides

metropolitan area network connectivity at speeds of up to 75 Mb/sec. WiMAX
systems can be used to transmit signal as far as 30 miles. However, on the average
a WiMAX base-station installation will likely cover between three to five miles.

Today, last mile connections are typically made through cable, DSL (digital
subscriber line), fiber optic connections and even standard phone lines. The ability
to provide these connections wirelessly, without laying wire or cable in the
ground, greatly lowers the cost to provide these services.

WiMAX is expected to be deployed in three phases: the first phase of

WiMAX technology (based on IEEE 802.16d) will provide fixed wireless
connections via outdoor antennas in the first half of 2005. Outdoor fixed wireless
can be used for high-throughput enterprise connections (T1/E1 class services),
hotspot and cellular network backhaul, and premium residential services.

In the second half of 2005, WiMAX will be available for indoor

installation, with smaller antennas similar to a Wi-Fi access point today. In this
fixed indoor model, WiMAX will be available for use in wide consumer

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residential broadband deployments, as these devices become "user installable,"

lowering installation costs for carriers.

By 2006, the technology will be integrated into mobile computers to

support roaming between WiMAX service areas.

WiMAX Standards

The WiMAX Forum (the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave

Access Forum) is a non-profit corporation formed by equipment and component
suppliers, including Intel Corporation, to promote the adoption of IEEE 802.16
compliant equipment by operators of broadband wireless access systems. The
organization is working to facilitate the deployment of broadband wireless
networks based on the IEEE 802.16 standard by helping to ensure the
compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless access equipment.

Benefits to Operators

By choosing interoperable, standards-based equipment, wireless operators

and carriers will see new benefits in deploying their wireless systems, such as:

Economies of scale enabled by the standard to lower equipment costs Operators

are not locked in to a single vendor, because base stations will interoperate with
subscriber stations from different manufacturers.

Ultimately, operators will benefit from lower-cost and higher-performance

equipment, as equipment manufacturers rapidly create product innovations based
on a common, standards-based platform.

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Key to Emerging Markets

The appeal to emerging markets, where there may be little wired

infrastructure today, is striking to say the least. Imagine being able to put up an
antenna and provide high-speed Internet to thousands of customers who have little
access to the Internet or even wired phones today. This has great promise in
countries like India, Mexico, and China, where the cost of "wiring" the countries
would make broadband Internet access far too expensive.

How Do Wi-Fi and WiMAX Relate?

Wi-Fi and WiMAX are actually complementary technologies. As WiMAX

is a "last mile" technology, meaning that it connects businesses and homes to the
high-speed Internet. Wi-Fi provides the wireless LAN connectivity within a
building or a home. In the notebook computer of the future, you may have both
WiMAX and Wi-Fi technology to make connections to the broadband Internet.
These two technologies have been architected as close cousins, and will work
together to provide the best connection for your needs.

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2. HISTORY OF WiMAX AND Wi-Fi

Since the turn of the millennium, wireless networks have proliferated. Wi-
Fi, the popular term for the capabilities created by a group of standards from the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., has freed us to move around
our offices and many public places with our laptops and handhelds, yet still have
instant, unencumbered access to our companies' intranets and the Internet.

WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is the next step

on the road to a wireless world, extending broadband wireless access to new
locations and over longer distances, as well as significantly reducing the cost of
bringing broadband to new areas.

Among the promises of WiMax is that it could offer the solution to what's
sometimes called the "last-mile" problem, referring to the expense and time
needed to connect individual homes and offices to trunk lines for communications.
WiMax promises a wireless access range of up to 31 miles, compared with Wi-Fi's
300 feet and Bluetooth's 30 feet.

802.What?

The popularity of wireless networking has grown very quickly because of

effective standardization. Wi-Fi encompasses a family of specifications within the
IEEE 802.11 standard. These include 802.11b (the most popular, at 11Mbit/sec.,
with a typical range of up to 300 feet), 802.11a (54Mbit/sec., but at a shorter range
than 802.11b) and 802.11g (combining the speed of "a" with the range of "b").

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WiMax is the new shorthand term for IEEE Standard 802.16, also known as
"Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems." It's been designed
from the beginning to be compatible with European standards—something that
didn't happen with 802.11a and delayed its adoption.

The nonprofit WiMax Forum was established in 2001 by Nokia Corp.,

Ensemble Communications Inc. and the Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing Forum.

The WiMax Forum aims to support wireless metropolitan-area networking

products based on 802.16, much as the Wi-Fi Alliance has done for wireless LANs
and 802.11. The organization has most recently been working on standards
certification and interoperability testing. In 2003, Intel Corp. became a major
supporter of the WiMax Forum.

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3. WHY DO WE NEED Wi-MAX

3.1 Expanding Wireless Broadband Access

Although broadband has been available for some time, access for most people
is still limited. At the end of 2002, statistics showed only 46 million subscribers
worldwide had broadband access and in the United States only 17 percent of
households were connected (In-Stat/MDR). So what's the delay? The problem isn't
demand, it's how access is supplied. DSL or cable connections are limited because
customers:

• Are out of reach of DSL services

• Are not part of a residential cable infrastructure
• Think it's too expensive

Here, we will explain how the new IEEE 802.16 standard and WiMAX
(Worldwide Interoperability of Microwave Access) will standardize and promote
wireless broadband as a wireless alternative to digital subscriber line (DSL) and
cable that can help remove barriers to broadband access.

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The 802.16 standard defines the Wireless MAN (metropolitan area

network) air interface specification (officially known as the IEEE WirelessMAN*
standard). This wireless broadband access standard could supply the missing link
for the "last mile" connection in wireless metropolitan area networks.

For many home and business customers, broadband access via DSL or
cable infrastructure are still not available. Many customers are outside the range of
DSL's reach and/or are not served by broadband-capable cable infrastructure
(commercial zones are often not passed by cable.). But with wireless broadband
these barriers can be lifted. Because of its wireless nature, it can be faster to
deploy, easier to scale and more flexible, thereby giving it the potential to serve
customers not served or not satisfied by their wired broadband alternatives.

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Wireless broadband access is set up like cellular systems, using base

stations that service a radius of several miles/kilometers. Base stations do not
necessarily have to reside on a tower. More often than not, the base station antenna
will be located on a rooftop of a tall building or other elevated structure such as a
grain silo or water tower. A customer premise unit, similar to a satellite TV setup,
is all it takes to connect the base station to a customer. The signal is then routed
via standard Ethernet cable either directly to a single computer, or to an 802.11 hot
spot or a wired Ethernet LAN.

With the 802.16 standard, businesses and residences have a new, faster way
to add broadband service. Getting DSL service from the local telephone company
is often slow (and may not even be available). Wireless service is faster to deploy
using 802.16-compliant equipment that enables access in a broad section of
metropolitan areas. A corresponding acceleration in the deployment of 802.11
hotspots throughout metropolitan areas is expected to follow as more wireless
stations are constructed.

3.2 802.16 Driving Down Costs

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It is estimated that there are over 2,400 wireless Internet service providers
(ISPs) in the United States, serving over 6,000 markets (ISP-Market, LLC
Broadband Wireless Access 2002). But they use expensive, proprietary equipment
that's not interoperable with equipment from other vendors. A lack of standards
has also limited the usefulness of the technology and made it hard for wireless
broadband access providers to be competitive and profitable. To combat these
issues the 802.16 standard was conceived.

802.16 will provide definitive standards for a carrier-class solution that can
scale to support thousands of users with a single base station and provide
differentiated service levels. For example, a single base station sector can provide
enough data rate to simultaneously support more than 60 businesses with T1-type
connectivity and hundreds of homes with DSL-type connectivity.

The benefits of 802.16 are many: by enabling standards-based products

with fewer variants and larger volume production, it will drive the cost of
equipment down, and having standardized equipment will also encourage
competition, making it possible to buy from many sources. For areas poorly served
by a wired infrastructure, including many developing countries, 802.16 will be
important both for its ease of implementation and its low cost.

3.3 Wireless Roaming and Mesh Networking

The original 802.16 standard operates in the 10–66GHz frequency band and
requires line-of-sight towers. The 802.16a extension, ratified in January 2003, uses
a lower frequency of 2–11GHz, enabling nonline-of-sight connections. This
constitutes a major breakthrough in wireless broadband access because line-of-
sight between your transmission point and the receiving antenna is not necessary.
With 802.16a, operations will be able to connect more customers to a single tower
and substantially reduce service costs.

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The latest 802.16e task group is capitalizing on the new capabilities this
provides by working on developing a specification to enable mobile 802.16
clients. These clients will be able to hand-off between 802.16 base stations,
enabling users to roam between service areas.

A newly formed group within 802.16, the Mesh Ad Hoc committee, is

investigating ways to improve the coverage of base stations even more. Mesh
networking allows data to hop from point to point, circumventing obstacles such
as hills. Only a small amount of meshing is required to see a large improvement in
the coverage of a single base station. If this group's proposal is accepted, they will
become Task Force F and develop an 802.16f standard.

3.4 Seamless Roaming Between Networks

The IEEE 802 Handoff Study Group is another group chartered with
addressing roaming that studies hand-offs between heterogeneous 802 networks.
The key here will be enabling the "hand-off" procedures that allow a mobile
device to switch the connection from one base station to another, from one 802
network type to another (such as from 802.11b to 802.16), and even from wired to
802.11 or 802.16 connections. The goal is to standardize the hand-off so devices
are interoperable as they move from one network type to another.

Today, 802.11 users can move around a building or a hotspot and stay
connected, but if they leave, they lose their connection. With 802.16e, users will
be able to stay "best connected"—connected by 802.11 when they're within a hot
spot, and then connected to 802.16 when they leave the hot spot but are within a
WiMAX service area. Furthermore, having a standard in place opens the door to
volume component suppliers that will allow equipment vendors to focus on system
design, versus having to develop the whole end-to-end solution.

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A day is foreseen when having either 802.16e capabilities embedded in a

PDA or notebook (or added through an 802.16e-enabled card) will enable a user to
remain connected within an entire metropolitan area. For example, a notebook
could connect via Ethernet or 802.11 when docked, and stay connected with
802.16 when roaming the city or suburbs.

3.5 Flexible and Scalable

It is believed that the 802.16 standard will also provide an important
flexibility advantage to new businesses or businesses that move their operations
frequently, like a construction company with offices at each building site. Instead
of waiting weeks for a T1 or DSL line, wireless broadband access can be quickly
and easily set up at new and temporary sites.

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Additionally, the 802.16 standard is scalable. Imagine hundreds of hotspot

users at a five-day conference trying to access the network. Accessing the local
network would be no problem since 802.11 has plenty of bandwidth within the
LAN (local area network). But what if those users want to simultaneously access
the Internet, or hook up to their corporate network via virtual private network
(VPN)? The hotel might have a single T1 connection for servicing its "typical"
broadband connectivity use; however, for those five days, it needs a lot more
bandwidth. With wireless broadband access, it's easy to ramp up service at a
location for a short period of time—something wired broadband access service
providers currently don't do.

3.6 The Promise

If we consider that part of the telecommunications industry to be an
indicator of what's to come in data networking, it's likely that in a few years, much
of the Internet's traffic will be carried over the air via WiMax and its descendants,
not over copper wires or optical fiber.

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of WiMAX—one with the

potential to make this a significantly bigger market—is the evolution to mobility.

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The WiMAX Forum is working aggressively to incorporate mobile capabilities

into the 802.16 standard by the end of 2004.

In the 2007 timeframe, we expect that WiMAX will be incorporated into end-
user devices like notebook computers and PDAs along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth,
enabling the delivery of wireless broadband directly to the end user—at home, in
the office and on the move. In the 2007 timeframe, we expect to see WiMAX
integrated into 3G phones along with Wi-Fi, providing a simplified network
connection for voice and data. The WiMAX Forum is working to drive a common
platform for harmonization between standards that will enable users to remain
connected wherever they go.

Formula

• Existing proprietary technology & market

• Standards adoption
• Low cost manufacturing through economies of scale
• Wireless: available spectrum

WiMAX has the potential to be the great equalizer in broadband access. In short,
bridging the gap of the digital divide has never been more within our reach.

4. TECHNOLOGY BEHIND Wi-MAX

Wi-MAX’s technology for LOS and NLOS environments

While many technologies currently available for fixed broadband wireless

can only provide line of sight (LOS) coverage, the technology behind WiMAX has

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been optimized to provide excellent non line of sight (NLOS) coverage.

WiMAX’s advanced technology provides the best of both worlds – large coverage
distances of up to 50 kilometers under LOS conditions and typical cell radii of up
to 5 miles/8 km under NLOS conditions.

Figure 1 LOS Fresnel zone

14.1 NLOS versus LOS Propagation

The radio channel of a wireless communication system is often described as
being either LOS or NLOS. In a LOS link, a signal travels over a direct and
unobstructed path from the transmitter to the receiver. A LOS link requires that
most of the first Fresnel zone is free of any obstruction, see Figure 1 if this criteria
is not met then there is a significant reduction in signal strength, see [Ref 1]. The
Fresnel clearance required depends on the operating frequency and the distance
between the transmitter and receiver locations.

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Figure 2 NLOS propagation

In a NLOS link, a signal reaches the receiver through reflections, scattering,

and diffractions. The signals arriving at the receiver consists of components from
the direct path, multiple reflected paths, scattered energy, and diffracted
propagation paths. These signals have different delay spreads, attenuation,
polarizations, and stability relative to the direct path.

The multi path phenomena can also cause the polarization of the signal to
be changed. Thus using polarization as a means of frequency re-use, as is normally
done in LOS deployments can be problematic in NLOS applications.
How a radio system uses these multi path signals to an advantage is the key
to providing service in NLOS conditions. A product that merely increases power
to penetrate obstructions (sometimes called “near line of sight”) is not NLOS
technology because this approach still relies on a strong direct path without using
energy present in the indirect signals. Both LOS and NLOS coverage conditions

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are governed by the propagation characteristics of their environment, path loss,

and radio link budget.

There are several advantages that make NLOS deployments desirable. For
instance, strict planning requirements and antenna height restrictions often do not
allow the antenna to be positioned for LOS. For large-scale contiguous cellular
deployments, where frequency re-use is critical, lowering the antenna is
advantageous to reduce the co channel interference between adjacent cell sites.
This often forces the base stations to operate in NLOS conditions. LOS systems
cannot reduce antenna heights because doing so would impact the required direct
view path from the CPE to the Base Station. NLOS technology also reduces
installation expenses by making under-the-eaves CPE installation a reality and
easing the difficulty of locating adequate CPE mounting locations. The technology
also reduces the need for pre installation site surveys and improves the accuracy of
NLOS planning tools.

Figure 3 NLOS CPE location

The NLOS technology and the enhanced features in WiMAX make it

possible to use indoor customer premise equipment (CPE). This has two main
challenges; firstly overcoming the building penetration losses and secondly,
covering reasonable distances with the lower transmit powers and antenna gains

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that are usually associated with indoor CPEs. WiMAX makes this possible, and
the NLOS coverage can be further improved by leveraging some of WiMAX’s
optional capabilities. This is elaborated more in the following sections.
1
24.2 NLOS Technology Solutions
WiMAX technology solves or mitigates the problems resulting from NLOS
conditions by using:
• OFDM technology
• Sub-Channelization
• Directional antennas
• Transmit and receive diversity
• Adaptive modulation
• Error correction techniques
• Power control
0
4.2.1 OFDM Technology
Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology provides
operators with an efficient means to overcome the challenges of NLOS
propagation. The WiMAX OFDM waveform offers the advantage of being able to
operate with the larger delay spread of the NLOS environment. By virtue of the
OFDM symbol time and use of a cyclic prefix, the OFDM waveform eliminates
the inter-symbol interference (ISI) problems and the complexities of adaptive
equalization. Because the OFDM waveform is composed of multiple narrowband
orthogonal carriers, selective fading is localized to a subset of carriers that are
relatively easy to equalise. An example is shown below as a comparison between
an OFDM signal and a single carrier signal, with the information being sent in
parallel for OFDM and in series for single carrier.

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Figure 4 Single carrier and OFDM

The ability to overcome delay spread, multi-path, and ISI in an efficient

manner allows for higher data rate throughput. As an example it is easier to
equalize the individual OFDM carriers than it is to equalize the broader single
carrier signal.

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Figure 5 Single carrier and OFDM received signals

For all of these reasons recent international standards such as those set by
IEEE 802.16, ETSI BRAN, and ETRI, have established OFDM as the preferred
technology of choice.
1
14.2.2 Antennas for Fixed Wireless Applications
Adaptive antenna systems (AAS) are an optional part of the 802.16
standard. These have beamforming properties that can steer their focus to a
particular direction or directions. This means that while transmitting, the signal
can be limited to the required direction of the receiver; like a spotlight. Conversely
when receiving, the AAS can be made to focus only in the direction from where
the desired signal is coming from. They also have the property of suppressing co-
channel interference from other locations. AASs are considered to be future
developments that could eventually improve the spectrum re-use and capacity of a
WiMAX network.

14.2.3 Adaptive Modulation

Adaptive modulation allows the WiMAX system to adjust the signal
modulation scheme depending on the signal to noise ratio (SNR) condition of the
radio link. When the radio link is high in quality, the highest modulation scheme is
used, giving the system more capacity. During a signal fade, the WiMAX system
can shift to a lower modulation scheme to maintain the connection quality and link
stability. This feature allows the system to overcome time-selective fading. The
key feature of adaptive modulation is that it increases the range that a higher
modulation scheme can be used over, since the system can flex to the actual fading

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conditions, as opposed to having a fixed scheme that is budgeted for the worst case
conditions.

14.2.4 Error Correction Techniques

Error correction techniques have been incorporated into WiMAX to reduce
the system signal to noise ratio requirements. Strong Reed Solomon FEC,
convolutional encoding, and interleaving algorithms are used to detect and correct
errors to improve throughput. These robust error correction techniques help to
recover errored frames that may have been lost due to frequency selective fading
or burst errors. Automatic repeat request (ARQ) is used to correct errors that
cannot be corrected by the FEC, by having the errored information resent. This
significantly improves the bit error rate (BER) performance for a similar threshold
level.
1
24.2.5 Power Control
Power control algorithms are used to improve the overall performance of
the system, it is implemented by the base station sending power control
information to each of the CPEs to regulate the transmit power level so that the
level received at the base station is at a pre-determined level. In a dynamical
changing fading environment this pre-determined performance level means that
the CPE only transmits enough power to meet this requirement. The converse
would be that the CPE transmit level is based on worst-case conditions. The power
control reduces the overall power consumption of the CPE and the potential
interference with other co-located base stations. For LOS the transmit power of the
CPE is approximately proportional to it’s distance from the base station, for NLOS
it is also heavily dependant on the clearance and obstructions.
1
14.3. Summary

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WiMAX technology can provide coverage in both LOS and NLOS

conditions. NLOS has many implementation advantages that enable operators to
deliver broadband data to a wide range of customers. WiMAX technology has
many advantages that allow it to provide NLOS solutions, with essential features
such as OFDM technology, adaptive modulation and error correction.
Furthermore, WiMAX has many optional features, such as ARQ, sub-channeling,
diversity, and space-time coding that will prove invaluable to operators wishing to
provide quality and performance that rivals wireline technology. For the first time,
broadband wireless operators will be able to deploy standardized equipment with
the right balance of cost and performance; choosing the appropriate set of features
for their particular business model.

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5. APPLICATIONS

5.1 Multi-media applications

Due to the large data rate which can be achieved using WiMAX , large multimedia
files like videos ,movies, applications can be easily downloaded. High speed
broadband applications like gaming can be done using this method of broadband
access.

5.2 WiMAX Web Services

The broadband access services of WiMAX can be used for accessing

Internet and other web applications.

5.3 Roaming

IEEE802.16e supports mobile applications. Hence wireless roaming

can be achieved between different service areas.

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5.4 In-vehicles systems

Roaming facility can be used in automobiles similar to GPS systems.

5.5 Security applications

1024 bit RSA and 128 bit DES algorithms are used depending on the
security needs. Due to the use of this high security applications WiMAX can be
used for military and other high security applications.

7. CONCLUSION
The latest developments in the IEEE 802.16 group are driving a broadband
wireless access revolution thanks to a standard with unique technical
characteristics. In parallel, the WiMAX forum, backed by industry leaders, helps
the widespread adoption of broadband wireless access by establishing a brand for
the technology.

Initially, WiMAX will bridge the digital divide. Then, thanks to

competitive equipment prices, the scope of WiMAX deployment will broaden to
cover markets where the low POTS penetration, high DSL unbundling costs, or
poor copper quality have acted as a brake on extensive high-speed Internet and
voice over broadband.

WiMAX will reach its peak by making portable Internet a reality. When
WiMAX chipsets are integrated into laptops and other portable devices, it will
provide highspeed data services on the move, extending today’s limited coverage
of public WLAN to metropolitan areas. Integrated into new generation networks

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with seamless roaming between various accesses, it will enable endusers to enjoy
an “Always Best Connected” experience.

The combination of these capabilities makes WiMAX attractive for a wide

diversity of people: fixed operators, mobile operators, and wireless ISPs, but also
for many vertical markets and local authorities.

REFERENCES

IEEE
www.wimaxforum.org
Intel Corporation
Alcate
TELEPHONY Online
SR Telecom
ETSI
Proxim
kylight Research

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