GURU NANAK INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY
Department of Electronics and Communication
Engineering

WIMAX TECHNOLOGY
IEEE 802.16
Submitted By:
Ragipani Naresh
19835A0411
ECE-B
GNIT
 INDEX

SL. NO PARTICULARS PAGE NO

I. ABSTRACT 1

II. INTRODUCTION 2

III. HISTORY 2-3

IV. WHAT IS WiMAX? 3-4

V. OVERVIEW OF THE IEEE 802.16a STANDARDS 4-7

VI. BENEFITS OF 802.16 TECHNOLOGY 8-9

VII. ADVANTAGES 9-11

VIII. LIMITATIONS 11

IX. HOW WIMAX WORKS 11-12

X. IEEE 802.16 SPECIFICATIONS 13

XI. THE EVOLUTION BEGINS 13-15

XII. CONCLUSION 15

XIII. REFERENCES 15

XIV. KEYWORDS 15

XV. REFERENCE LINKS 16

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 ABSTRACT

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is introduced by

the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) which is designated
by 802.16. There are fixed (802.16d) and mobile (802.16e) WiMAX [1] which
offers both line of sight and non-line of sight wireless connectivity.

This technology offers a high speed, secure, sophisticate, last mile broadband
service, ensuring a flexible and cheap solution to certain rural access zones. In a
fixed wireless communication, WiMAX can replace the telephone company's
copper wire networks, the cable TV's coaxial cable infrastructure. In its mobile
variant it can replace cellular networks.

In comparison with Wi-Fi and Cellular technology, Wi-Fi provides a high data
rate, but only on a short range of distances and with a slow movement of the user.
And Cellular offers larger ranges and vehicular mobility, but it provides lower
data rates, and requires high investments for its deployment. WiMAX tries to
balance this situation.

WiMAX fills the gap between Wi-Fi and Cellular, thus providing vehicular
mobility, and high service areas and data rates WiMAX developments have been
rapidly moving forward.

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 I. INTRODUCTION
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is
introduced by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) which
Page | 2[1] which offers both line of sight and non-line of communication,
WiMAX can replace the telephone company's copper wire networks, the cable
TV's coaxial cable infrastructure.

In its mobile variant it can replace cellular networks. In comparison with Wi-Fi
and Cellular technology, Wi-Fi provides a high data rate, but only on a short range
of distances and with a slow movement of the user.

And Cellular offers larger ranges and vehicular mobility, but it provides lower
data rates, and requires high investments for its deployment. WiMAX tries to
balance this situation. WiMAX fills the gap between Wi-Fi and Cellular, thus
providing vehicular mobility, and high service areas and data rates WiMAX
developments have been rapidly moving forward. Sight wireless connectivity.
This technology offers a high speed, secure, sophisticate, last mile broadband
service, ensuring a flexible and cheap solution to certain rural access zones. In a
fixed wireless.

II. HISTORY

Many researchers do believe that WiMAX can move the wireless data
transmission concept into a new dimension. There are basically three limiting
factors for transmitting high data rate over the wireless medium that mainly
include multipath fading, delay spread and co-channel interference. Standards for
Fixed WiMAX (IEEE 802.16d-2004) were announced as final in 2004, followed
by Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) in 2005, which are based on orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology.

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OFDM is a transmission technique built for high speed bi-directional wired or
wireless data communication.

OFDM has high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR). The Wireless MAN
(metropolitan area network)-OFDM interface can be extremely limited by the
presence of fading caused by multipath propagation and as result, the reflected
signals arriving at the receiver are multiplied with different delays, which cause
Inter-symbol interference (ISI).

OFDM basically is designed to overcome this issue and for situations where high
data rate is to be transmitted over a channel with a relatively large maximum
delay. If the delay of the received signals is larger than the guard interval, ISI may
cause severe degradations in system performance.

III. WHAT IS WIMAX?

WiMAX is an industry trade organization formed by leading

communications component and equipment companies to promote and certify
compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless access equipment that
conforms to the IEEE* 802.16.

WiMAX works very much like cell phone technology in that reasonable
proximity to a base station is required to establish a data link to the Internet. Users
within 3 to 5 miles of the base station will be able to establish a link using non-
line-of sight (NLOS) technology with data rates as high as 75Mbps.

Users up to 30 miles away from the base station with an antenna mounted for
line-of-sight (LOS) to the base station will be able to connect at data rates
approaching 280Mbps. Wi LANs, on the other hand, provide wireless network
connectivity between devices with in a given office or residence location.

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The 802.11b standard equipment can provide up to 11Mbps and 802.11g standard
equipment will support data rates of up to 54Mbps.

IV. OVERVIEW OF THE IEEE 802.16a STANDARDS

A standard that would enable companies to build systems that will
effectively reach underserved business and residential markets in a manner that
supports infrastructure build outs comparable to cable, DSL, and fiber cable.
For years, the wildly successful 802.11x or Wi Fi wireless LAN technology has
been used in BWA applications along with a host of proprietary based solutions.
When the WLAN technology was examined closely, it was evident that the
overall design and feature set available was not well suited for outdoor BWA
applications.
It could be done, it is being done, but with limited capacity in terms of bandwidth
and subscribers, range and a host of other issues made it clear this approach while
a great fit for indoor WLAN was a poor fit for outdoor.

1. Models of IEEE 802.16

 Fixed
 IEEE 802.16 standard
 Portable
 IEEE 802.16-2004 standard (revises & replaces IEEE
802.16a & 802.16REVd versions).
 Mobile
 IEEE 802.16e

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 2. IEEE 802.16a Created by creative

The 802.16a standard for 2-11 GHz is a wireless metropolitan area

network (MAN) technology that will provide broadband wireless connectivity to
Fixed, Portable and Nomadic devices.

It can be used to connect 802.11 hotspots to the Internet, provide campus

connectivity, and provide a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for last mile
broadband access.

It provides up to 50-kilometers of service area range, allows users to get

broadband connectivity without needing direct line of sight with the base station,
and provides total data rates of up to 280 Mbps per base station, which is enough
bandwidth to simultaneously support hundreds of businesses with T1/E1-type
connectivity and thousands of homes with DSL-type connectivity with a single
base station.

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 3. CANDIDATE TECHNOLOGIES
3.1 Wi-Fi (802.11p)

Wi-Fi was developed by the IEEE 802.11 working group and was
initially designed to be used indoors at close range but has recently ventured into
mobility. It includes the approved 802.11a, b, g, n, and specifications. Wi-Fi is
the first high-speed wireless
technology deployed in areas
such as hotspots, homes,
offices, airports, etc. Wi-Fi
hotspots have become quite
popular and have allowed
mobile users to remain
productive while on the go. Wi- Fi, however, is limited by its range; users must
remain within 300 feet (for 802.11a) or 1000 feet (for 802.11p) of a base station.

3.2 WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e)

WiMAX is the latest wireless technology to be approved by the IEEE

802.16 working group. It is a standard for point-to multipoint wireless
networking. It’s intended to deliver “last mile” broadband connectivity to
individual home or
business locations and
its data rates are
comparable with cable
and Digital Subscriber
Line (DSL) rates.
Phone companies are
hoping it will be a

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replacement for their aging legacy wired networks. In fact, it is seen as the
wireless replacement for a wired broadband connection. The IEEE 802.16e
version is an extension of the IEEE 802.16 standard that was drafted specifically
to deal with mobility. It is backward compatible with all IEEE 802.16 standards.
And while IEEE 802.16 was conceived as a back-end technology, IEEE 802.16e
has the capacity to be adapted for individual computers, and has the quality of
service features to support voice. It provides connectivity for high-speed data in
both stationary and mobile situations. It will enable mobile users to maintain their
network connection while moving at speeds up to between 75-93 miles per hour.
The upper speed limit depends on the distance of the access point from the base
station as well as other transmission quality issues, i.e., air density, solar flares,
electromagnetic radiation, etc.

WiMAX is a point-to-multipoint (PMP) technology that operates in the 10 to

66GHz and sub11GHz wavelengths. At higher frequencies, line of sight is a
requirement and it is compatible with technologies such as asynchronous transfer
mode (ATM) and internet protocol (IP). It can provide service over distances up
to 30 miles. The standard covers both media access control (MAC) and physical
(PHY) layers for combined fixed and mobile operation in licensed frequency
bands. The MAC layer is optimized for longer distances because it was designed
for BWA. WiMAX-based solutions include many advantages, such as robust
security features, good quality of service, and mesh and smart antenna technology
that will allow better utilization of the spectrum resources. The WiMAX-based
solutions are set up and deployed like cellular systems using base resources. The
WiMAX-based solutions are set up and deployed like cellular systems using base
station.

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V. BENEFITS OF 802.16 TECHNOLOGY

Cost & Investment Risk

Interoperable equipment lets operators purchase WiMAX Certified™

equipment from more than one vendor A stable, standards-based platform
improves Op Ex by sparking innovation at every layer, Network Management,
antennas and more.,

Higher throughput at longer ranges (up to 50 km)

Better bits/second/Hz at longer ranges

Scalable system capacity Easy addition of new sectors supported with

flexible channels maximizes cell capacity, allowing operators to scale the
network as the customer base grows. Flexible channel bandwidths accommodate
spectrum allocations for both licensed and unlicensed spectrum MAC protocol
scales efficiently from one to hundreds of subscribers

Coverage

Advanced techniques (mesh, beamforming, MIMO) improve non-line-

of-sight performance Superior system gain allows greater penetration of obstacles
at longer distances

Quality of Service Dynamic

TDMA (Grant/Request) MAC supports new latency sensitive services

such as voice and video

Help enable last-mile broadband deployment wirelessly

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 Service providers could use an 802.16 equipment to deliver T1/E1-
speed or higher network connectivity to their Wi-Fi access points. Today, it can
take up to three months or more for service providers to provision a T1/E1
network line for a business customer. With wireless broadband technology, a
service provider could provision the same network access in a matter of days and
at a fraction of the cost. In addition, a service provider could offer "on demand"
high speed bandwidth for events such as tradeshows, or for nomadic businesses
such as construction sites with sporadic broadband connectivity needs.

WiMAX More Flexibility and Security

Unlike WLAN, WiMAX provides a media access control (MAC) layer that uses
a grant-request mechanism to authorize the exchange of data. This feature allows
better exploitation of the radio resources, in particular with smart antennas, and
independent management of the traffic of every user. This simplifies the support
of real-time and voice applications. One of the inhibitors to widespread
deployment of WLAN was the poor security feature of the first releases. WiMAX
proposes the full range of security features to ensure secured data exchange:

 Terminal authentication by exchanging certificates to prevent rogue

devices,
 User authentication using the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP),
 Data encryption using the Data Encryption Standard (DES) or Advanced
Encryption
 Standard (AES), both much more robust than the Wireless Equivalent
Privacy (WEP)
VI. ADVANTAGES
 A single WiMAX main station can serve hundreds of users. ‡ Endpoints
install within days instead of the weeks required for wired connections.

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  Data rates as high as 280Mbps and distances of 30 miles are possible.‡
Users can operate mobile within 3-5 miles of a base station at data rates up
to 75Mbps.
 No FCC radio licensing is required.

There are basically three different

options:

Broadband access - In your

home, you have either a DSL or
cable modem. At the office, your
company may be using a T1 or a
T3 line.

Wi-Fi access - In your home, you

may have set up a Wi-Fi router
that lets you surf the Web while you lounge with your laptop. On the road, you
can find Wi-Fi hot spots in restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and libraries.

Dial-up access - If you are still using dial-up, chances are that either broadband
access is not available, or you think that broadband access is too expensive. The
main problems with broadband access are that it is pretty e expensive and it
doesn't reach all areas. The main problem with Wi-Fi access is that hot spots are
very small, so coverage is sparse. What if there were a new technology that solved
all of these problems? This new technology would provide: ·

 The high speed of broadband service ·

 Wireless rather than wired access, so it would be a lot less expensive than
cable or DSL and much easier to extend to suburban and rural areas ·
 Broad coverage like the cell phone network instead of small Wi-Fi
hotspots

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 This system is actually coming into being right now, and it is called WiMAX.
WiMAX is short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, and
it also goes by the IEEE name 802.16. WiMAX could replace cable and DSL
services, providing universal Internet access just about anywhere you go.
WiMAX has the potential to do to broadband Internet access what cell phones
have done to phone access.

VII. LIMITATIONS
 Line-of-sight (LOS) is required for long distance (5-30 mile) connections
‡ Heavy rains can disrupt the service.
 Other wireless electronics in the vicinity can interfere with the WiMAX
connection and cause a reduction in data throughput or even a total
disconnect.
VIII. HOW WIMAX WORKS

In practical terms, WiMAX would operate similar to Wi-Fi but at higher

speeds, over greater distances and for a greater number of users. WiMAX could
potentially erase the suburban and rural blackout areas that currently have no
broadband Internet access because phone and cable companies have not yet run
the necessary wires to those remote locations. A WiMAX system consists of two
parts: A WiMAX tower, similar in concept to a cell-phone tower - A single
WiMAX tower can provide coverage to a very large area -- as big as 3,000 square

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miles (~8,000 square km). A WiMAX receiver - The receiver and antenna could
be a small box or PCMCIA card, or they could be built into a laptop the way Wi-
Fi access is today. A WiMAX
tower station can connect
directly to the Internet using a
high-bandwidth, wired
connection (for example, a
T3 line). It can also connect
to another WiMAX tower
using a line of-sight,
microwave link. This
connection to a second tower
(often referred to as a
backhaul), along with the
ability of a single tower to
cover up to 3,000 square
miles, is what allows
WiMAX to provide coverage to remote rural areas. What this points out is that
WiMAX actually can provide two forms of wireless service: There is the non-
line-of-sight, Wi-Fi sort of service, where a small antenna on your computer
connects to the tower. In this mode, WiMAX uses a lower frequency range -- 2
GHz to 11 GHz (similar to Wi-Fi). There is line-of-sight service, where a fixed
dish antenna points straight at the WiMAX tower from a rooftop or pole. The
line-of-sight connection is stronger and more stable, so it's able to send a lot of
data with fewer errors. Line-of-sight transmissions use higher frequencies, with
ranges reaching a possible 66 GHz. At higher frequencies, there is less
interference and lots more bandwidth.

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IX. IEEE 802.16 Specifications
 Range - 30-mile (50-km) radius from base station ·
 Speed - 70 megabits per second ·
 Line-of-sight not needed between user and base station · Frequency bands
2 to 11 GHz and 10 to 66 GHz (licensed and unlicensed bands).

X. THE EVOLUTION BEGINS

The next step for broadband wireless technology will help usher in a new
era of applications and devices, as well as new thinking about how we view
broadband the broadband access realm, there is more soon on the way, as the
WiMAX Forum and its member companies look to make Mobile WiMAX, based
on the IEEE 802.16e standard, a commercial endeavour by sometime early next
year. And many people in the WiMAX community are betting that Mobile
WiMAX will do what Fixed WiMAX and other fixed forms of broadband access
have not been able to do—inspire a whole new way of thinking about and defining
broadband service as the broadband user experience. Figure - 3 Forecast WiMAX
That name isn’t so much an alter ego, as it is a much better descriptor of what the
technology actually provides to its users, as well as an indicator of exactly how it
may change our current concept of broadband technology and access. “WiMAX
will broaden the market for broadband everywhere in the world and make it the
kind of market that it should be, one that is counted in number of people
connected rather than in the number of households connected,” Subramanian
said. Carlton O’Neal, vice president of marketing for Lavation, added,
“Beginning this year, there will be a move to the idea of personal broadband, and
it can change broadband in the same way that [personal communications services]
changed the cell phone market. What will happen with Mobile WiMAX is that

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you will have a personal broadband service that is wrapped in a device. The
concept of broadband will go up a notch and become disconnected from location.
People will be asking
each other, ‘Who is your
personal broadband
provider?’” If it seems a
stretch for the average
communications
consumer to start thinking
in those terms about
broadband, then maybe
you just aren’t young
enough to know better
about how the nature of communications, and by extension broadband, is already
changing. Mobile substitution of landline service, the so-called act of “cutting the
cord,” has been on the rise for the last few years, and mobile substitution in the
U.S.

Market for WiMAX

WiMAX will boost today's highly fragmented BWA market thanks to

standardization and interoperability, state of-the-art radio efficiency with NLOS
capability, and strong support from the radio equipment manufacturers and
chipset industries. WiMAX will also target the data centric mobility market with
the introduction of lower power consumption chipsets. The strong support from
some of the most important chipsets manufacturers such as Intel is a key enabler
for the success of WiMAX, since it will lead to wide availability of affordable
WiMAX-enabled terminals (e.g., laptops, PDAs, etc.). In emerging countries, the
main focus of broadband deployment is on urban and sub-urban areas, and will
remain so in the near future. The low POTS penetration and the low quality of

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 the copper pair prevent mass scale DSL deployment and foster the need for
alternate broadband technologies. In this context, WiMAX is positioned as an
excellent option. Moreover, the possibility of offering broadband services in
combination with voice services will gradually lead to narrowband WLL
substitution.

XI. CONCLUSION

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 high-speed 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.

XII. REFERENCES

[1] IEEE 802.16-2001, “IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area
Networks — Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access
Systems,” Apr. 8, 2002.

[2] IEEE 802.16.2-2001, “IEEE Recommended Practice for Local and

Metropolitan Area Networks — Coexistence of Fixed Broadband Wireless
Access Systems,” Sept. 10, 2001.

XIII. KEYWORDS

IEEE – Institute of Electrical And Electronics Engineering, ETSI - European

Telecommunications Standards Institute, Wi-Fi-Wireless Fidelity, WiMAX-

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 Worldwide Interoperability For Microwave Access, BWA – Broadband Wireless
Access

XIV. REFERENCE LINKS:

WiMAX Forum http://www.wimaxforum.org/news/down

loads/wimax_wifi_june3.pd IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/in dex.html what is WiLAN and Why
Should I Care? http://www.sssmag.com/wlan.html#info 2

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