802.

16/WiMAX
EECS 228a, Spring 2006
Shyam Parekh
 References
• IEEE 802.16-2004 (802.16REVd)
• IEEE 802.16-2005 (802.16e)
• Intel’s Whitepapers, 2004 (
http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/2004/volume08issue03/)
• “IEEE Standard 802.16: A Technical Overview of the
WirelessMAN Air Interface for Broadband Wireless Access,”
C. Eklund et al., IEEE Communication Magazine, June 2002
• “Broadband Wireless Access with 802.16/WiMax: Current
Performance Benchmarks and Future Potential,” A. Ghosh et
al., IEEE Communication Magazine, Feb 2005
• “Wireless Communication Standards: A Study of IEEE 802.11,
802.15, and 802.16,” T. Cooklev, 2004
Electromagnetic Spectrum

Source: LBL
 802.16 Standards History
• First standard based on proprietary implementations of DOCSIS/HFC
architecture in wireless domain
• Original fixed wireless broadband air Interface
802.16 for 10 – 66 GHz: Line-of-sight only, Point-to-
(Dec 2001) Multi-Point applications

802.16c
(2002) • Extension for 2-11 GHz: Targeted for non-
802.16a line-of-sight, Point-to-Multi-Point applications
802.16 Amendment like “last mile” broadband access
WiMAX System Profiles
(Jan 2003)
10 - 66 GHz

• Adds WiMAX System Profiles and Errata for

802.16REVd 2-11 GHz
(802.16-2004)
(Oct 2004)

• MAC/PHY Enhancements to support

802.16e subscribers moving at vehicular speeds
(802.16-2005)
(Dec 2005)
Applications of 802.16
Standards
802.16 Network Architecture
802.16 Network Architecture (2)
Scope of 802.16 Standards
 Physical Layer Summary
Designation Applicability MAC Duplexing

WirelessMAN-SC 10-66 GHz Licensed Basic TDD, FDD, HFDD

WirelessMAN-SC 2-11 GHz Licensed Basic, (ARQ), TDD, FDD

(STC), (AAS)
2-11 GHz Licensed Basic, (ARQ), TDD, FDD
(STC), (AAS)
WirelessMAN-OFDM 2-11 GHz License- Basic, (ARQ), TDD
exempt (STC), (DFS),
(MSH), (AAS)
2-11 GHz Licensed Basic, (ARQ), TDD, FDD
(STC), (AAS)
WirelessMAN-OFDMA
2-11 GHz License- Basic, (ARQ), TDD
exempt (STC), (DFS),
(MSH), (AAS)
Channel Characteristics
• 10-66 GHz
– Very weak multipath components (LOS is
required)
– Rain attenuation is a major issue
– Single-carrier PHY
• 2-11 GHz
– Multipath
– NLOS
– Single and multi-carrier PHYs
Wireless Performance
(as of 2003)

Source: S. Viswanathan, Intel

 OFDMA Subchannels

• A subset of subcarriers is grouped together to form a subchannel

• A transmitter is assigned one or more subchannels in DL direction
(16 subchannels are supported in UL in OFDM PHY)
• Subchannels provide interference averaging benefits for aggressive frequency
reuse systems
 OFDM Basics

Orthogonal Subcarriers

Cyclic Prefix in Frequency Domain Cyclic Prefix in Time Domain

Equalizers are avoided in OFDM
Narrow bandwidth  long symbol times  all significant multipaths arrive within a symbol
time minimizing ISI  no equalization  low complexity

Tx Signal Note: All signals & multipath over a

time
useful symbol time are from the same
symbol & add constructively (no ISI)

Cyclic Prefix Useful Symbol Time

Rx Signal

time

Note: dashed lines

represent multipath

Source: Lucent
 Tradeoffs of FFT size
• The FFT size determines the number of sub-
carriers in the specified bandwidth
• Larger FFT sizes lead to narrower subcarriers and
smaller inter-subcarrier spacing
– More susceptibility to ICI, particularly in high Doppler
(Note: Doppler shift for 125 km/hr for operation at 3.5
GHz is v/λ = 35 m/sec/0.086 m = 408 Hz)
– Narrower subcarriers lead to longer symbol times 
less susceptibility to delay spread
• Smaller FFT sizes the opposite is true
Source: Lucent
 OFDMA Scalability

• Supports s wide range of frame sizes (2-20 ms)

Source: Intel “Scalable OFDMA Physical Layer in IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN”
Time Division Duplexing (TDD)
 General Downlink Frame
Structure

• Downlink Interval Usage Code (DIUC) indicates burst profile

 General Uplink Frame
Structure

• Uplink Interval Usage Code (UIUC) indicates burst profile

 OFDMA TDD Frame Structure

• DL-MAP and UL-MAP indicate the current frame structure

• BS periodically broadcasts Downlink Channel Descriptor (DCD) and Uplink
Channel Descriptor (UCD) messages to indicate burst profiles (modulation and
FEC schemes)
Frame Structure – Another View
Network Entry Process
SDU and PDU
Connections
• 802.16/WiMAX is connection oriented
• For each direction, a connection
identified with a 16 bit CID
• Each CID is associated with a Service
Flow ID (SFID) that determines the
QoS parameters for that CID
PDU Transmission

Source: R. Marks (NIST) IEEE Presentation

QoS Mechanism
Generic MAC Frame
Generic MAC Header
Generic Bandwidth Request
Management Messages
• Management messages are broadcast
or sent on three CIDs in each direction:
Basic, Primary, and Secondary
– Uplink Channel Descriptor
– Downlink Channel Descriptor
– UL-MAP
– DL-MAP
– DSA-REQ
– DSA-RSP
Key Management Messages (1)
Key Management Messages (2)
 Scheduling Types and QoS
Scheduling Type Parameters
Unsolicited Grant Service Max Sustained Traffic Rate,
(UGS) Maximum Latency,
Tolerated Jitter
Real-Time Polling Service Max Sustained Traffic Rate,
(rtPS) Min Reserved Traffic Rate,
Committed Burst Size,
Maximum Latency, etc.
Non-real-time Polling Service Committed Information Rate,
(nrtPS) Maximum Information Rate
Best Effort (BE) Maximum Information Rate

• Extended rtPS was introduced in 802.16e that combines UGS and rtPS: This has
periodic unsolicited grants, but the grant size can be changed by request
Scheduling Classes
 Advanced 802.16 Features
• Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO)
– MIMO channel capacity is given by
C = B log2 det(I + SNR.HH*T/N)
where H is MxN channel matrix with M and N are
receive and transmit antennas, resp.
• Hybrid-ARQ
– For faster ARQ, combines error correction and
detection and makes use of previously received
versions of a frame
• Adaptive Antenna System (AAS)
– Enables directed beams between BS and SSs
WiBro (Wireless Broadband)
• WiBro is an early large-scale
deployment of 802.16 in South Korea
(Dec 2005)
• Demonstrates 802.16 performance as
compared to 3G/4G cellular
alternatives
• 3 operators have been licensed by the
government (each spending ~$1B)
WiMAX Opportunities
• There is a work opportunity to
create/enhance 802.16/WiMAX
network level simulation
– Contact sparekh@lucent.com
• Technical contributions characterizing
802.16 performance and network
capacity are much needed