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2019
WI MAX TECHNOLOGY
A seminar report submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the Degree of
Bachelor of Technology
in
Electronics and Communication Engineering
by
Shaik Shahul (15731A0481)
2019
ABSTRACT
WiMax stands for the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and is also
known as the IEEE 802.16 wireless metropolitan area network. Along with the development
of mobile communication and broadband technology, WiMax has become a hot spot for global
telecom operators and manufacturers. In 1998, a working group named 802.16 was formed by
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and their responsibility is to
develop the specifications of broadband wireless access technology. WiMax promises to
deliver the Internet throughout the globe, and connect the "last mile" of broadband wireless
connectivity services.
1. Introduction 1
2. What is Wimax? 2
2.1. Standards associated with Wimax
2.2. Integration With IP based Network
3. Wimax Technology 6
3.2. Wimax Design
3.3. Types of Wimax
4. Key Technologies in Wimax 8
5. Applications of Wimax Technology 11
5.1.Application Modes of Wimax
5.2.Application Scenarios of Wimax
6. Features of Wimax 15
7. Relationship with different wireless technologies 17
8. Conclusion 19
References 20
1. INTRODUCTION
Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) has been serving enterprises and operators for
years, to the great satisfaction of its users. However, the new IP-based standard developed by
the IEEE 802.16 is likely to accelerate adoption of the technology. It will expand the scope of
usage thanks to: the possibility of operating in licensed and unlicensed frequency bands, unique
performance under Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions, Quality of Service (QoS)
awareness, extension to nomadicity, and more. In parallel, the WiMAX forum, backed by
industry leaders, will encourage the widespread adoption of broadband wireless access by
establishing a brand for the technology and pushing interoperability between products.
The purpose of this White Paper is to highlight and assess the value of WiMAX as the
right solution to:
extend the currently limited coverage of public WLAN (hotspots) to citywide coverage
(hot zones) the same technology being usable at home and on the move,
blanket metropolitan areas for mobile data-centric service delivery,
offer fixed broadband access in urban and suburban areas where copper quality is poor
or unbundling difficult,
bridge the digital divide in low-density areas where technical and economic factors
make broadband deployment very challenging. In addition to these uses, this paper will
highlight other potential applications, such as telephony or an effective point-to
multipoint backhauling solution for operators or enterprises.
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2. WHAT IS WIMAX
USES:
The bandwidth and range of WiMAX make it suitable for the following potential
applications:
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2.1. Standards Associated With Wimax
IEEE 802 refers to a family of IEEE standards dealing with local area networks and
metropolitan area networks. More specifically, the IEEE 802 standards are restricted to
networks carrying variable-size packets. (By contrast, in cell-based networks data is
transmitted in short, uniformly sized units called cells. Isochronous networks, where data is
transmitted as a steady stream of octets, or groups of octets, at regular time intervals, are also
out of the scope of this standard.) The number 802 was simply the next free number IEEE could
assign, though “802” is sometimes associated with the date the first meeting was held February
1980.
IEEE 802.16: The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access
Standards, which was established by IEEE Standards Board in 1999, aims to prepare formal
specifications for the global deployment of broadband Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks.
The Workgroup is a unit of the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee. A related future
technology Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) is under development in IEEE
802.20.
Although the 802.16 family of standards is officially called Wireless MAN, it has been
dubbed “WiMAX” (from "Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access") by an industry
group called the WiMAX Forum. The mission of the Forum is to promote and certify
compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products.
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Fig2: Types of 802.16
The WiMAX Forum has proposed an architecture that defines how a WiMAX network
can be connected with an IP based core network, which is typically chosen by operators that
serve as Internet Service Providers (ISP); Nevertheless, the WiMAX BS provide seamless
integration capabilities with other types of architectures as with packet switched Mobile
Networks.
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Fig3: WiMAX Forum Architecture
The WiMAX forum proposal defines a number of components, plus some of the
interconnections (or reference points) between these, labeled R1 to R5 and R8:
It is important to note that the functional architecture can be designed into various hardware
configurations rather than fixed configurations. For example, the architecture is flexible enough
to allow remote/mobile stations of varying scale and functionality and Base Stations of varying
size – e.g. femto, pico, and mini BS as well as macros.
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3. WIMAX TECHNOLOGY
Various advanced technologies will be developed to meet services above and consequently
WiMAX will support seamless mobility and technologies such as the technique for minimized
power consumption of the terminal, fast link adaptation, and efficient MAC for broadband
services will be developed for high data rate transmission in mobile environments.
3.1.WIMAX Design
The design of the WiMAX is ideal for challenges related with earlier versions of wired
and wireless access networks. At the same time the backhaul connects the WiMAX system to
the network, it is not an integrated part of WiMAX system. Normally a WiMAX network
consists of two parts, a WiMAX Base Station (BS) and a WiMAX receiver also referred as
Customer Premise Equipment (CPE).
Backhaul: Backhaul is actually a connection system from the Access Point (AP) back
to the provider and to the connection from the provider to the network. A backhaul can set out
any technology and media provided; it connects the system to the backbone. In most of the
WiMAX deployments circumstances, it is also possible to connect several base stations with
one another by use of high speed backhaul microware links. This would also allow for roaming
by a WiMAX subscriber from one base station coverage area to another, similar to roaming
enabled by cellular phone
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A WiMAX base station comprises of internal devices and a WiMAX tower. A base
station can normally covers the area of about 50 kilometres or 30 miles radius, but some other
and environmental issues bound the limits of WiMAX range to 10 km or 6 miles. Any wireless
user within the coverage area would be able to access the WiMAX services. The WiMAX base
stations would use the media access control layer defines in the standard and would allocate
uplink and downlink bandwidth to subscribers according to their requirements on real time
basis.
The WiMAX family of standards concentrate on two types of usage models a fixed
usage model and a mobile usage model. The basic element that differentiates these systems is
the ground speed at which the systems are designed to manage. Based on mobility, wireless
access systems are designed to operate on the move without any disruption of service; wireless
access can be divided into three classes; stationary, pedestrian and vehicular.
A mobile wireless access system is one that can address the vehicular class, whereas
the fixed serves the stationary and pedestrian classes. This raises a question about the nomadic
wireless access system, which is referred to as a system that works as a fixed wireless access
system but can change its location.
Fixed WIMAX: Service and consumer usage of WiMAX for fixed access is expected to reflect
that of fixed wire-line service, with many of the standards-based requirements being confined
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to the air interface. Because communications takes place via wireless links from Customer
Premise Equipment (CPE) to a remote Non Line-of-sight (NLOS) base station, requirements
for link security are greater than those needed for a wireless service. The security mechanisms
within the IEEE 802.16 standards are sufficient for fixed access service.
Another challenge for the fixed access air interface is the need to set up high
performance radio links capable of data rates comparable to wired broadband service, using
equipment that can be self installed indoors by users, as is the case for Digital Subscriber Line
(DSL) and cable modems. IEEE 802.16 standards provide advanced physical (PHY) layer
techniques to achieve link margins capable of supporting high throughput in NLOS
environments.
Mobile WIMAX: The 802.16a extension, refined in January 2003, uses a lower frequency of 2
to 11 GHz, enabling NLOS connections. The latest 802.16e task group is capitalizing on the
new capabilities this provides by working on developing a specification to enable mobile
WiMAX clients. These clients will be able to hand off between WiMAX base stations, enabling
users to roam between service areas.
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4. KEY TECHNOLOGIES IN WIMAX
WiMAX broadband technology uses some key technologies to enable it to provide the
high speed data rates:
4.1.OFDM
OFDM stands for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing; it’s a technology that
provides the operator to beat the challenges of Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) transmission in the
more efficient manner. OFDM waveform put forward the advantage of functioning with the
larger delay spread of the NLOS background. With the excellent quality of OFDM
functionality, time and use of a cyclic prefix and its also removes the Inter Symbol Interference
(ISI) complications of adaptive equalization. Multiple narrowband orthogonal carriers
composed because of OFDM waveform, localizing selective fading to a subset of carriers that
are comparatively simple to equalize. 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 are shown in Fig.
Fig7: OFDM
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4.2. MIMO
The rapid development of wireless communication sets forth stricter requirements for
the system capacity and frequency spectrum efficiency. There have been various attempts to
meet these requirements, such as the expanding band width of system, optimizing modulation
mode, or adopting a complex CDMA system. However, the application of these methods is
restrictive. Obviously, neither the expansion of band width nor the increase of modulation order
is limitless, and the channels of CDMA system are not orthogonal to each other perfectly. The
MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) system was born at the right moment. By using Space
Time Coding (STC) technology, it realizes space division multiplexing using multi-element
array, which greatly improves the frequency spectrum efficiency within the limited bandwidth.
For this reason, MIMO becomes one of the necessary key technologies for WiMAX, LTE,
802.11n and nearly all “popular” wireless communication systems in the future. MIMO means
using multiple transmitting and receiving antennae at the transmitting and receiving terminals
respectively. The signals are transmitted and received by multiple antennae at the transmitting
and receiving terminals, and accordingly the quality of service is improved for each user.
Compared with the traditional single-element system, MIMO technology greatly improves the
unitization rate of frequency spectrum, which enables the system to transmit data by higher
speed under limited bandwidth. The block diagram of MIMO system with is shown in Figure.
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5. APPLICATIONS OF WIMAX TECHNOLOGY
5.1.1.PMP
As shown in Figure below, centering on the base station, the PMP application mode
uses the point-to-multipoint connection to compose a WiMax access network of star structure.
The base station plays the role of service accessing point. By the dynamic allocation of band
width, the base station selects the beam antenna, the omnidirectional antenna or multi-section
techniques, subject to the conditions of users in the coverage, to satisfy the demand of a mass
of subscriber station equipment accessing the core network. If necessary, it expands the
wireless coverage by repeater stations. It also allocates the channel bandwidth flexibly based
on the quantity of user groups, and thereby expands the network capacity to realize the
coordination between benefits and costs.
Fig9: PMP
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PMP is a conventional application form of access network, characterized by the simple
network architecture. The application mode is similar to the access form of cables such as
xDSL. Therefore, it is an ideal option as replacement of cables.
5.1.2. Mesh
As shown in Figure 4.1.2, Mesh application mode adopts multiple base stations (BS) to
expand the wireless coverage by mesh network. One of the base stations connects to the core
network as a service access point (SAP), and others connects to this SAP via wireless links.
Consequently, the base station as SAP is used as not only a service access point but also a
junction point of accessing, and other base stations are service access points instead of simple
repeater stations (RS).
Fig10: Mesh
The Mesh application mode is characterized by the mesh network structure, which can
be arranged flexibly to realize elastic extension of network in accordance with the
actualsituation. For areas such as suburban areas far away from the backbone network, which
is seldom covered by the cable network, this application mode can be used to expand the
coverage. The scale depends on the radius of base station, the size of the covered areas, etc.
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5.1.3. Hotspot Backhaul
The Hotspot Backhaul mode adopts WiMax wireless access network to haul the hotspot
service of remote WiFi back to the core network. The WiMax base station still plays the role
of SAP, and the WiMax subscriber station is the wireless accessing equipment at the side of
hotspot, which offers standard interface to the hotspot, and then connects to the wireless
terminal as the hotspot equipment of WLAN access point via IEEE802.11a/b/g wireless link.
The WiMax access network may adopt PMP or Mesh structure as the case may be. The
mobile network operator can adopt the application mode to haul the service of mobile base
stations in residential areas back to the mobile switching center. The Hotspot Backhaul mode
is mainly characterized by the wireless transmission for service backhaul. Compared with
traditional cable backhaul, it has obvious advantages and should be the supplement or
replacement of traditional mode.
The fixed access service is the most fundamental mode of 802.16 operation network,
including the services of Internet access, transmission carrying, and Wi-Fi hotspot backhaul.
The nomadic service is the nest development stage of fixed access. The terminal
connects to an operator’s network via different access points. In the connection of each
conversation, the user terminal only realizes the access of station type. For different network
accesses, the data transmitted will not be reserved. The nomadic and all subsequent application
scenarios support the roaming service and have the function of terminal power supply
management.
In this scenario, the user can connect to the network in walking. The connection will
not be interrupted except for switching between residential areas. The portable service develops
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on the basis of nomadic service. Since this stage, the terminal is allowed to switch between
different base stations. When the terminal holds still, the application model of portable service
is the same as fixed service and nomadic service. When the terminal switches, the user
experiences a momentary (maximum 2s) service interruption or delay. After the completion of
switching, TCP/IP application refreshes the current IP address or re-establishes the IP address.
In this scenario, the user can use the broadband wireless access service in walking,
driving or taking bus, etc. However, when the moving speed of terminal reaches 60~120km/h,
the data transmission speed descends. It is the first scenario allowing switching between
neighboring base stations. In the process of switching, the data package losses are controlled
within certain scope. In the worst case, TCP/IP conversation is not interrupted, but the service
of application layer might be interrupted. After the completion of switching, QoS resets to the
initial level. The simple moving and mobile networks are required to support the suspend mode,
idle mode, and paging mode. The mobile data services are the main applications in mobile
scenario (including simple moving and mobile), including the popular mobile E-mail,
streaming media, videophone, mobile games, mobile VoIP, which occupy more wireless
resources.
In this scenario, the user can use the broadband wireless access service at a moving
speed of 120km/h or higher. If no network connection is available, the user terminal is in a
state of low power consumption.
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6. FEATURES OF WIMAX
6.1.Scalability
6.2.Quality of Service
6.3.Range
The wide range of the WiMAX technology depends on the height of the antennas, if they
are installed at the suitable position from where there is no barrier between the transmitter and
receiver, and then we can get better range and service from it. Even though the frequency for
operation of WiMAX is not definite, the most likely band at 3.5GHz is higher in frequency
than the 3G bands at around 2.1 GHz. Range will, as a result, be lower, perhaps somewhere
between 50% and 75% of the range of 3G. WiMAX can therefore support 30 to 50 kilometres
distance with Line-of-Sight (LOS) links. As far as Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) links in
concerned WiMAX can support the broad range from 3 to 10 kilometres using advanced
modulation algorithm that can overcome many interfering objects that Wi-Fi systems cannot
pass through.
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6.4.Coverage
In addition to supporting a robust and dynamic modulation scheme, the IEEE 802.16
standard also supports technologies that increase coverage, including mesh topology and
“smart antenna” techniques. As radio technology improves and costs drop, the ability to
increase coverage and throughput by using multiple antennas to create “transmit” and/or
“receive diversity” will greatly enhance coverage in extreme environments.
6.5.Data Rate
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7. RELATIONSHIP WITH DIFFERENT WIRELESS
TECHNOLOGIES
7.1.WIMAX Vs WI-FI
As for the relation between WiMax and WiFi, they are not in the same category. WiFi is
an interoperability organization related to the IEEE802.11x standard of WLAN, while WiMax
is an interoperability organization related to the IEEE802.16x standard of WMAN. They are
oriented to different application types. Compared with WiFi, WiMax has a better physical layer
and MAC layer technology with higher speed and QOS, and the competition follows. WiFi is
mainly used in the category of WLAN, and the WiMax is used in the category of WMAN,
which are complementary to each other. It can be considered that WiFi is suitable for the indoor
usage, and WiMax is suitable for outdoor usage in cities.
7.2.WIMAX Vs 3G
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goal of 3G is to realize seamless coverage in all areas (urban area and open country) to make
the system services available to users anywhere. 3G also offers the voice and data services.
Under present conditions, the QoS of voice service based on circuit switching is much better
than the VoIP.
As the fourth standard of 3G, WiMax demonstrates its great superiority in many respects
compared with other three 3G technologies. Although the speed of 3G network improves
greatly than others at present, it is slower than WiMax by 30 times. Additionally, the network
coverage of a 3G base station is only one tenth of WiMax.
In the past years, wireless network operators invested hundreds of billion dollars in order
to acquire the 3G operation license. They still spend tens of billion dollars on the operation of
3G network now. At present, the frequency spectrum of WiMax needs no additional expenses,
and the WiMax-based network requires base stations much less than 3G.
The fixed-line operators are proposed to establish a WiMax-based network of low costs
firstly, and then connect the wireless network with the Internet via existing fixed telephone
line. In this way, they may recapture some market shares from mobile network operators.
The core function of 3G is to provide mobile telephone service, and also to transmit
data. The criterion of WiMax is the high-speed data transmission while voice quality is not the
key requirement. Accordingly, they have different tasks and targets. WiMax emphasizes on the
wireless service of broadband, while 3G tends to realize the broadband service of wireless
network.
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8. CONCLUSION
The latest developments in the IEEE 802.16 group are driving a broadband wireless access
(r) evolution 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 and
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 with seamless roaming between various accesses, it
will enable end users 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.
Alcatel, the worldwide broadband market leader with a market share in excess of 37%, is
committed to offer complete support across the entire investment and operational cycle
required for successful deployment of WiMAX services.
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REFERENCES
1. www.ewh.ieee.org/r4/chicago/Yu-WiMAX.pdf
2. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wimax.htm
3. www.wimaxforum.org
4. http://standards.ieee.org/catalog/olis/lanman.html
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