WiMAX IEEE802.
16
Said Abushamleh
Nizabat Khan
Georg Oberholzer
Abstract
WiMAX is revolutionizing the broadband wireless world,
enabling the formation of a global Wireless industry. These
days many researchers, manufacturers and operators are
looking at IEEE 802.16 a WiMAX certified technology.
WiMAX networks are foreseen to provide broadband wire-
less access to mobile users everywhere at lowest costs. This
report gives a detailed description of OFDM Implementa-
tion in this technology, it provides valuable performance
evaluations, some features and some drawbacks of WiMAX
and finally it reports about the comparison with other wire-
less broadband technologies like 3G, Wi-Fi etc. One will
be able to evaluate what such systems can do and what
they cannot. No single technology will become dominant;
In fact, the most robust wireless solutions will use a com-
bination of technologies to enable increased mobility and
eventually seamless roaming.
1. Introduction
Mobile Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Ac-
cess WiMAX is a wireless standard that introduces orthog-
onal frequency division multiple access OFDMA, WiMAX
complement and competes with the wireless local area net-
works WLANs and the 3G wireless standards on coverage
and data rate, it supports a much larger coverage area than
WLAN, it does not require line of sight for a connection,
and it is significantly less costly compared to the current 3G
cellular standards. [1]
The objective of the mobile WiMAX standard is to fill the
gap between the WLANs (which provide very high data
rate but short range coverage) and the 3G cellular systems
(which provide highly mobile long range coverage but low
data rate). [1]
A lot of researches were done about the Broadband Wireless
Access BWA during the past few years, IEEE 802.11 wire-
less LAN (WLAN) technologies were examined closely in
BWA applications, but it was clear that these technologies
were not well suited for outdoor applications. IEEE 802.16
working group was set up in 1999 to develop a new stan-
dard for BWA applications - after the Worldwide interoper-
ability for Microwave Access WiMAX forum took place in
June 2001 - to develop IEEE 802.16 standards. The name
WiMAX was created by the WiMAX forum, the forum de-
scribes WiMAX as a ”standard - based technology enabling
the delivery of last mile (the last mile is the final leg of deliv-
ery connectivity from a communications provider to a cus-
tomer) wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable
and DSL.” [11]
The first IEEE 802.16 standard was related to the LOS com-
munication between the base station BS and the subscriber
station SS in a radio frequency band from 10 to 66 GHz.
The second IEEE 802.16 standard was related to the NLOS
communication operation in a frequency band from 2 to
11 GHz, using the physical PHY layer, so customers were
supported less expensively. [2] It is worthy of notice that
WiMAX equipment sales are expected to hit US $3 bil-
lion by 2009, and mobile data communication revenues ac-
count for 20-30 % of carriers’ revenues in many countries,
it means that wireless broadband data communication is ex-
periencing a rapid expansion. [1]
2. Architecture
2.1 Spectrum allocation
The first version of the IEEE 802.16 standard for fixed
WiMAX written in the year 2001 specified the use of
any frequency in the range from 10 up to 66GHz. A
later standard IEEE 802.16a published two years later
extended the above range to the spectrum of 2 to 11GHz.
These frequencies ranges made it also into the final IEEE
802.16-2004 standard. The later added frequency band
was necessary for mobile applications due to the reduced
range and penetration capabilities of higher frequencies.
The higher frequencies need a clear line of sight (LOS) and
a critical positioning of the antenna. These requirements
can not be guaranteed in the case of mobile devices. The
drawback of the lower frequencies is a lower throughput
which is more important for fixed stations. That’s why
 CHEN LAYOUT 4/24/07 11:31 AM Page 125

It is worth noting
that a concept of
mobile multihop
relay (MMR)
Base station networking has also
been introduced for

Relay station
PMP mode in
Subscriber station
IEEE 802.16e, which
Wireless link Mobile station
may expand the
(a) (b) coverage area and
enhance throughput
■ Figure 1. WiMAX network architectures: a) PMP mode; b) mesh mode.
through multihop
Figure 1. WiMAX network architectures: a) PMP mode; b) mesh mode [5]
paths.
Another important issue is how to support dif- example of the network topology is illustrated in
fixed stationsferent services
usually useandthe
applications in WiMAX and
higher frequencies net- Fig. 1a, where the
multiplexing) andWiMAX-OFDMA network includes frequency-
(orthogonal
works. Since WiMAX is a relatively new one BS and a number of SSs.
antennas with a highly directed beam. The respectively division multiple access). Except the -SC all modulations
standard, very little work has been conducted in On the other hand, mesh mode implies the
effective implementation
the literature. depends
In [2] theon national
authors regulations
provided a sur- are designedofforsupporting
requirement non-line-of-sight
multihop(NLOS) operation.
ad hoc net-
and available vey on the security schemes used in the
frequency bands. Most common areIEEE
the working by SSs. An example of a WiMAX mesh
OFDM offers thereby a very high spectrum efficiency and
licensed bands802.16-2001
of 2.5 andstandard
3.5GHz [1].andThey further analyzed
the unlicensed of 2.4 network
can handleis illustrated in Fig. 1b. Notice
multi-path-reflections and that in
changing channel
and 5.8GHz.the security flaws in the standard. Several this figure, we assume
characteristics. Thisthat BS can
is very provide access
important for mobile appli-
improvements have been proposed since then. to the Internet; a relay station (RS) is a special
cation. In OFDM the bandwidth of the channel can be
Nevertheless, we notice that the security mecha- type of SS that can forward traffic flows to BSs
nism of IEEE 802.16 is mainly focused on secu- configured
or other RSs;toanduse aany bandwidth
mobile station from
(MS)1.25MHz
is an SS to 20MHz.
2.2 Network rity instructure
the MAC layer, which may not be able to that can move in the network.
This bandwidth gets divided into 256 carriers whereby
provide sufficient security in multihop scenarios Compared
only 200 getto used,
PMP mode, mesh modesubcarriers
the remaining is more serve as
and satisfy the requirements of emerging appli- flexible and canDue
guard bands. be used
to thetorelatively
quickly deploy the
long symbol duration,
The WiMAX cationstechnology
in WiMAX supports two operation modes:
networks. infrastructure. In fact, a more general term for
In this
point-to-multipoint article
(PMP) andwemesh.
propose a secure and ser-
which is inverse proportional to the subcarrier spacing, one
mesh mode, wireless mesh network, has attracted
The PMP aims vice-oriented
at providing network control
a broadband framework
access for exam- for symbol
great has a quite
attention long
in the past duration.
few years A [3–5].
longerCur-symbol duration
ple access toWiMAX
a Internetnetworks. The main
service provider or motivation
as a backhaul of our
for rently, different
decreases IEEE standard
the probability of ISIgroups
(Interare work-interference)
symbol
GSM/UMTSstudy baseisstations.
that we need to take into account both
Point-to-multipoint organizes ing
andonICI
providing
(Inter wireless
carrier mesh support in aThis
interference). variety
aspect is very
the security concerns and the requirements of of networks, for
important including wireless
the use personal area net- applications
in non-line-of-sight
the nodes into a cellular structure
potential WiMAX applications.with a baseThe station (BS)
proposed works and wireless local area networks [5].
and several framework consists(SSc).
subscriber stations of twoThe important
channel compo-
get di- where multi-path propagation can lead to the mentioned
It is worth noting that a concept of mobile
vided into anents:
up- and downlink channel which get shared phenomena.
multihop relay (MMR) networking has also been
• A service-aware
among the SScs. All the SSccontrol
have toframework
be within the range introduced for PMP mode in IEEE 802.16e,
• A unified routing scheme which may expand the coverage area and
and in a LOS of the BS. A typical topology is illustrated in
In our study we show that the proposed frame- enhance throughput through multihop paths [5].
Fig. 1 (a). work is suitable for various application scenarios One of the motivations for the MMR scheme is
and canmode
In mesh operation provide sufficient
an ad securitycan
hoc topology from
be the net-
formed to overcome the problem that mesh mode is not
as illustratedwork perspective.
in Fig. 1 (b). AllIn the
addition
nodestoacttheasdesign
relaying of compatible with PMP mode.
the framework,
routers additionally we also
to the normal study amode.
operation number of key
Some of To summarize the existing architectures of
enabling technologies that are very important to WiMAX networks, we observe that multihop
these nodes the
can framework.
thereby act Ouras BSs and provide traffic for-
study can provide a guide- communications will become a basic feature in
warding to aline
different network. Mesh
to the design of a more mode is more
secure flexible
and practical the near future.
then PMP and WiMAX
can benetwork.
used to quickly establish the infras-
tructure. The rest of the article is organized as follows. Figure 2. OFDM Spectrum [9]
We firstbriefly review the architectures of CHALLENGES AND REQUIREMENTS IN
WiMAX networks. We then study the challenges
3. Layers and requirements in the design of the network NETWORK LAYER DESIGN
layer for WiMAX networks. Based on the analy- In the previous section we provide a brief review
sis, we propose and elaborate on a secure and Among the
of existing and200 subcarriers
proposed 192 are usedfor
architectures for data trans-
3.1 Physical Layer
service-oriented control framework. Within the WiMAX networks. In reality, to successfullyfor synchro-
mission and 8 as pilots. The pilots are used
proposed framework, we identify a number of deploy
nizationWiMAX
and fornetworks, a number ofThey
channel estimation. challeng-
are always mod-
The IEEEimportant technologies,
802.16 standards followed
supports fourbyspecifications
conclusions. ing issues
ulated must
with the be addressed.
relatively In this
robust BPSK.article
Thewe
data itself can
focus on two major issues in network layer
for the WiMAX air interface: Wireless-MAN-SC (single be modulated optionally with BPSK, QPSK,
design: security, and support of existing and
16 QAM or 64
WIMAX
carrier), -SCa, -OFDMN(orthogonal
ETWORK Afrequency-division
RCHITECTURES QAM. [3]
future applications.
According to the IEEE 802.16 standard [1], In the rest of this section we first discuss the
WiMAX technology supports two operation common requirements of security in WiMAX
modes: PMP and mesh. A WiMAX PMP net- networks and possible attacks to WiMAX net-
work aims at providing last-mile access to a works. We then address the current and poten-
broadband Internet service provider (ISP). An tial application scenarios of WiMAX networks.
3.2 MAC Layer
The specification allows several possibilities to divide
the channel in down- and uplink: TDD, FDD and half-
duplex FDD.
Figure 3. TDD Frame [9]
In TDD the basestation and the subscriber transmit on
the same frequency. A typical frame is shown in figure 3.
The frame contains a downlink and uplink subframe. After
the respective subframes transition gaps are introduced, a
transmit/receive transition gap (TTG) follows the downlink
and a receive/transmit transition gap (RTG) succeeds the
uplink subframe.
The downlink starts with a long preamble followed
by a header and the data bursts. The preamble is used
to synchronize and to estimate the channel. It’s made up
of two symbols of QPSK modulation. The first symbol
uses 50, the second 100 of the subcarriers. The header
contains information about the system and burst profile to
help correct decoding. And finally contains the data bursts
control messages and 12 to 108 bytes payload. Within
each data burst the same modulation is used but can change
from burst to burst. Thereby the one with the most robust
modulation gets sent first followed by the next less robust
one.
The uplink frame consists of several Uplink subframes
where each one starts with a short preamble of the length
of a single OFDM symbol which again is needed to
synchronize transmitter and receiver.
To reduce the requirements for the transmitter and
receiver all symbols are transmitted with the same power.
The preamble symbols are transmitted with 3dB more
power then the other symbols to make it easier for the
receiver to demodulate and decode correctly. Therefor a
transmit power level control is needed due to the variation
in needed power for the different modulations.
WiMAX also offers to use of frequency division mul-
tiplexing (FDD) and half-duplex FDD. The difference be-
tween these two is, that in full duplex a terminal can receive
and transmit simultaneously while in half duplex FDD only
one of the two transmission is allowed at a given time. In
the case of FDD to different frequency bands get used for
up- and download.
But because FDD is not efficiently occupying the band-
width in case of asymmetric data exchange, most WiMAX
applications implement TDD. Additionally the complexity
of TDD is lower as the one of FDD which also leads to a
cheaper implementation of the first mentioned.
4 Features of WiMAX
4.1 Flexible Architecture
WiMAX supports several system architectures, includ-
ing Point-to-Point, Point-to-Multipoint, and ubiquitous cov-
erage. The WiMAX MAC (Media Access Control) supports
Point-to-Multipoint and ubiquitous service by scheduling a
time slot for each Subscriber Station (SS). If there is only
one SS in the network, the WiMAX Base Station (BS) will
communicate with the SS on a Point-to- Point basis. A BS
in a Point-to-Point configuration may use a narrower beam
antenna to cover longer distances.
4.2 High Security
WiMAX supports AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
and 3DES (Triple DES, where DES is the Data Encryp-
tion Standard). By encrypting the links between the BS and
the SS, WiMAX provides subscribers with privacy (against
eavesdropping) and security across the broadband wireless
interface. Security also provides operators with strong pro-
tection against theft of service. WiMAX also has built-in
VLAN support, which provides protection for data that is
being transmitted by different users on the same BS.
4.3 WiMAX QoS
The characteristics of the wireless channel which are
very variable on a time-dependent basis and a location-
dependent basis cause a challenge for Quality of Service
QoS support in IEEE 802.16 networks, the solution is
to deal with QoS in wireless networks at the medium
access control MAC layer, which still has a problem in
its analysis in the research literature, however, the MAC
protocol is connection-oriented, in other words, all data
communications for transport and control, are in the context
of a unidirectional connection, at the start of each frame,
the BS schedules the uplink and downlink grants in order
to meet the QoS requirements.
As mentioned above, the basic MAC mechanisms defined
by 802.16 are related to QoS support in IEEE 802.16, to
share the wireless medium; two modes for sharing are
defined by IEEE 802.16; point-to-multipoint PMP mode
and mesh mode.
 Figure 4. frame structure with FDD and TDD
In PMP mode, the base station BS serves a set of
subscriber stations SSs within the same antenna sector, so
all SSs receive the same data transmitted, transmissions
from SSs are directed to and centrally oriented by the BS.
PMP mode is very good for fixed BWA applications, for
example the Internet and Digital Video Broadcasting DVB
where multi SSs can be served by one centralized service
provider. In the mesh mode, traffic is routed through other
SSs.
Data transmissions in PMP mode occur in separate time
frames for both uplink (SS to BS) and downlink (BS to SS),
BS transmits a burst of MAC protocol data units PDUs in
the downlink subframe and the transmission is broadcast so
all SSs listen to the data transmitted by the BS. However,
PDUs are processed only in the addressed SS or all of SSs
if they are transmitted for all addresses. Time Division
Multiple Access method is used in transmitting a burst of
MAC PDUs to the BS.
By considering the Interval Usage Code IUC (A term used
in IEEE 802.16 networks to identify a particular burst
profile that can be used by both a downlink and uplink
transmission interval.), which is related to modulation,
rate, and forward error correction FEC (Forward Error
Correction (FEC) is a type of error correction which
improves on simple error detection schemes by enabling
the receiver to correct errors once they are detected. This
reduces the need for retransmissions.), in downlink IUC
DIUC and uplink IUC UIUC transmissions, any SS can
adapt over time the IUC in use.
By decoding UL-MAP message each SS will learn
its boundaries in the uplink subframe, for the expected
downlink subframe the DL-MAP message contains the
timetable of the downlink grants. For both FDD and TDD
methods, DL-MAP and UL-MAP are transmitted by the
BS at the beginning of each downlink subframe.
The following figure shows the downlink queues that
contain downlink service data units to be transmitted to
SSs, the downlink scheduler selects the next SDUs on a
frame basis depending on the status of the queues and QoS
parameters.
The 802.16 document states that the definition of the
scheduling algorithm for both BS and SS is not related to
the standards but to the manufactures, the 802.16 MAC
specifies four different scheduling services in order to meet
the QoS requirements:
Unsolicited Grant Service UGS: which is designed to sup-
port real time applications such as T1/E1 and VoIP, these
applications generate fixed size data packets at periodic
intervals, this design considers exact delay requirements.
real-time-Polling-Service rtPS: which is designed to
support real time applications such as Moving Pictures
Expert Group MPEG video and VoIP, these applications
generate variable size data packets at periodic intervals,
 Figure 5. QoS functions within the BS and SSs
this design does not consider exact delay requirements.
non-real-time-Polling-Service nrtPS: like rtPS, it does
not require exact delay requirements, the main difference
between the rtPS and nrtPS is that nrtPS can reserve a
minimum amount of bandwidth so it can be used for
bandwidth intensive applications such as a File Transfer
Protocol (FTP).
Best Effort BE: refers to a network service that attempts
to deliver messages to their intended destinations but
which does not provide any special features that retransmit
corrupted or lost packets. Thus, there are no guarantees
regarding delivery. Also it does not require exact delay
requirments.
4.4 Quick Deployment
Compared with the deployment of wired solutions,
WiMAX requires little or no external plant construction.
For example, excavation to support the trenching of cables
is not required. Operators that have obtained licenses to use
one of the licensed bands, or that plan to use one of the unli-
censed bands, do not need to submit further applications to
the Government. Once the antenna and equipment are in-
stalled and powered, WiMAX is ready for service. In most
cases, deployment of WiMAX can be completed in a matter
of hours, compared with months for other solutions. Multi-
Level Service: The manner in which QoS is delivered is
generally based on the Service Level Agreement (SLA) be-
tween the service provider and the end-user. Further, one
service provider can offer different SLAs to different sub-
scribers, or even to different users on the same SS.
4.5 Interoperability
WiMAX is based on international, vendor-neutral stan-
dards, which make it easier for end-users to transport and
use their SS at different locations, or with different service
providers. Interoperability protects the early investment of
an operator since it can select equipment from different
equipment vendors, and it will continue to drive the costs
of equipment down as a result of mass adoption.
4.6 Portability
As with current cellular systems, once the WiMAX SS
is powered up, it identifies itself, determines the character-
istics of the link with the BS, as long as the SS is registered
in the system database, and then negotiates its transmission
characteristics accordingly.
4.7 Mobility
The IEEE 802.16e amendment has added key features
in support of mobility. Improvements have been made to
the OFDM and OFDMA physical layers to support devices
and services in a mobile environment. These improvements,
which include Scaleable OFDMA, MIMO, and support for
idle/sleep mode and hand-off, will allow full mobility at
speeds up to 160 km/hr. The WiMAX Forum-supported
standard has inherited OFDM’s superior NLOS (Non-Line
Of Sight) performance and multipath-resistant operation,
making it highly suitable for the mobile environment.
4.8 Cost-effective
WiMAX is based on an open, international standard.
Mass adoption of the standard, and the use of low-cost,
mass-produced chipsets, will drive costs down dramatically,
and the resultant competitive pricing will provide consider-
able cost savings for service providers and end-users.
4.9 Wider Coverage
WiMAX dynamically supports multiple modulation lev-
els, including BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM. When
equipped with a high-power amplifier and operating with
a low-level modulation (BPSK or QPSK, for example),
WiMAX systems are able to cover a large geographic area
when the path between the BS and the SS is unobstructed.
4.10 Non-Line-of-Sight Operation
NLOS usually refers to a radio path with its first Fresnel
zone completely blocked. WiMAX is based on OFDM tech-
nology, which has the inherent capability of handling NLOS
environments. This capability helps WiMAX products de-
liver broad bandwidth in a NLOS environment, which other
wireless product cannot do.
4.11 High Capacity
Using higher modulation (64-QAM) and channel band-
width (currently 7 MHz, with planned evolution towards the
full bandwidth specified in the associated IEEE and ETSI
standards), WiMAX systems can provide significant band-
width to end-users.
5 Applications
In this section we study the existing applications and sev-
eral potential scenarios that have been proposed in the lit-
erature. It is important to note that to fulfill the require-
ments of these applications, study and functionality of net-
work layers is necessory.
5.1 Internet Access
Internet access will still be the major demand in WiMAX
networks, especially when they are newly deployed. To sup-
port Internet access, a straight forward method is to provide
a unicast connection between SSs and the BS, which has the
link toward the Internet.
5.2 Group Communications
Since WiMAX networks can cover a relatively large
area, it is natural to imagine that many group communi-
cations, such as video conferences, will be important ap-
plications in WiMAX networks. To support such commu-
nication scenarios, multicast is the key technology. In the
past, Internet multicast has not been successful due to its
complexity and, more important, because Internet multicast
requires global deployment, which is virtually impossible.
In a WiMAX network, however, since all nodes are located
inside, implementing such group communication becomes
possible.
5.3 Metropolitan Area Distributed Service
With the deployment of WiMAX networks, more and
more value-added services can be provided in a metropoli-
tan area. To efficiently support a large number of customers,
distributed services can be enabled. In other words, a cus-
tomer can access the service from any of the servers in
the network in which these servers are distributed to serve
the entire metropolitan area. To enable distributed service,
there is a novel routing framework in the network layer,
multicast routing. In this scheme the customer does not
need to specify the exact address of a server in the net-
work. Instead, it only needs to indicate the service it wants
to access. Moreover, in such a communication scenario, the
client can communicate with a subset of all the servers in
order to achieve better reliability and security.
5.4 Military Applications
As WiMAX uses higher frequencies than current mili-
tary and commercial communication systems, existing an-
tennas towers can ”share” a WiMAX cell tower without
compromising the current communications services. Such
implementation can be used to deploy WiMAX to increase
bandwidth for specific data-intensive applications within
an existing network. Furthermore, integration of WiMAX
waveforms are already developed for Software Defined Ra-
dios (SDR), this radio is planned to support Soldier Ra-
dio Waveforms covering the Wi-Fi at 2.4 GHz. WiMAX
can also be used to support training areas, providing an in-
frastructure for realistic integration of live training and war
games simulation. An initial deployment of WiMAX has
already been constructed by the US Army Fort Dix. The
U.S. Army is testing pre-standard WiMAX gear and Xacta
Secure Wireless system from Telos Corp. in Fort Carson
in Colorado for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint com-
munications.
 Figure 6. WiBro network architecture

5.5 WiMAX VoIP (A Killer application) 6.1 Network Architecture of WiBro

The network architecture of WiBro is shown in Fig. 6.

Voice over WiMAX is an emerging application that has
been referred to as the ”killer application”. Voice over
WiMAX is rapidly changing with evolving standards. Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) offers a wider range of voice
services at reduced cost to subscribers and service providers
alike. In residential markets, VoIP is a ”must offer” service.
When integrated with broadband internet access and IPTV,
a WiMAX triple play becomes very attractive to residential
subscribers. With QoS, security and reliability mechanisms
built into WiMAX, VoIP is choice of subscribers as it pro-
vides better voice services than Telephone Company.
Basically, the network architecture of WiBro is the same as
other IP-based networks but it is different only at the radio
access network. A new RAN (Radio Access Network)
has been included to enable the requirements of high data
rate with mobility. RAS has the responsibility to interface
between mobile and core network at the physical layer and
it also controls the radio resource at the data link layer in
conjunction with ACR. RAS and ACR also support link
layer handoff.
Table 1. Major System Specifications

6 A Special case study: WiBro

Frequency Band 2.3GHz (Korea)
Channel Bandwidth 8.75MHz
Duplex TDD / 5msec frame
WiBro is the South Korean service name for IEEE
Multiple Access OFDMA
802.16e (mobile WiMAX) international standard. Its a
Frequency Reuse factor 1
wireless broadband Internet technology being developed
Modulation QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM
by the South Korean telecoms industry. The definition of
WiBro is Portable Internet Service to provide a high data Channel Coding CTC (Convolution Turbo Code)
rate wireless Internet access with PSS (Portable Subscriber Cell Coverage 1km
Station) under the stationary or mobile environment, Maximum Data Rate:
anytime and anywhere. User throughput DL : 3 Mbps, UL :1 Mbps
WiBro adapts TDD for duplexing, OFDMA for multiple
access and 8.75 MHz as a channel bandwidth. WiBro was
devised to overcome the data rate limitation of mobile WiBro provides data communication service to cus-
phones and to add mobility to broadband Internet access tomers utilizing a wireless access technology based on
(for example ADSL or WLAN). In February 2002, the IEEE 802.16e. Actually, WiBro is the same technology
Korean government allocated 100 MHz of electromagnetic as the Mobile-WiMAX in terms of access technology and
spectrum in the 2.3 - 2.4 GHz band. mobility support. In detail, it will provide mobility for
moving devices up to 120 km/h (74.5 miles/h) compared
to Wireless LAN having mobility up to walking speed
and Mobile Phone having mobility up to 250 km/h. The
technology will also offer Quality of Service. The inclusion
of QoS allows for WiBro to stream video content and other
loss-sensitive data in a reliable manner. These all appear to
be the stronger advantages over the fixed WiMAX standard
(802.16a). Some Telcom companies in many countries
are trying to commercialize the WiBro. While WiBro is
quite flexible in its requirements from spectrum use to
equipment design, WiMAX leaves much of this up to
the equipment provider while providing enough detail to
ensure interoperability between designs.
6.2 WiBro Services
WiBro is a mobile Triple Play Services TPS (Me-
dia+Communication+Data) based personal Internet service
that allows users to use media, communication and data si-
multaneously anywhere and anytime even while moving in
a vehicle at a very high transmission speed of approximately
1Mbps. WiBro introduces a new paradigm by providing
TPS through media, communication, and data.
Through Media, Live TV,VoD (Video On Demand), MoD
(Media On Demand), game service are available. In
Communication side, web-media, IM (Instant Messaging),
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), video phone are
available. Data applications include web searches, e-
Learning, e-Banking, e-Trading and location based ser-
vices.
7 Other Wireless systems
7.1 Interoperability of IEEE 802.16 and IEEE
802.11
Interoperability between IEEE 802.16 and other wire-
less technologies is one area that demands much attention.
How IEEE 802.16 interoperates with other wireless tech-
nologies such as IEEE 802.11 to provide a more compre-
hensive wireless network, this requires a good understand-
ing of the mechanisms and service differentiations across
different wireless platforms. IEEE 802.11 builds on a com-
pletely different design at the MAC level. The MAC proto-
col, in IEEE 802.11 uses contention access, in which each
SS has to compete against one another for accessing a wire-
less access point (AP). A subscriber distant from an AP can
suffer performance degradation which makes it difficult to
maintain the service requirements for applications like VoIP
and streaming video. IEEE802.16 MAC uses scheduling
mechanisms for channel arbitration. It also has the flexibil-
ity to allocate different numbers of time slots to users with
different needs.
One possible IEEE 802.16 deployment is to combine IEEE
802.16 and IEEE 802.11 to form a wireless network for both
outdoors and indoors. This is because it may not be prac-
tical or economically feasible to use WiMAX for providing
full coverage of an indoor environment as obstruction and
building materials can attenuate outdoor signals to a large
extent. To provide more complete coverage of indoor and
outdoor environments, it’s natural to use a mix of both. For
multimedia traffic transmission with mobility, the best com-
bination is IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.11e. IEEE 802.11e
is specified to support QoS over WLAN.
One of the key requirements is to ensure seamless handover
with minimum service disruption to applications. In such a
scenario there is a need to map the application-specific QoS
parameters across different wireless platforms, which in this
case are IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.11e. Another problem
is rerouting packets from the WiMAX BS to the 802.11e
AP. The network must be able to recognize the handover
and reroute packets appropriately such that there is mini-
mum disruption to the traffic routing. In such cases the chal-
lenge is to ensure that the packet reroute time is sufficiently
short to handle any QoS transmission latency caused by the
handover. Thus, there is a need to design intelligent routing
protocols that can work across different wireless platforms.
It is important to note that many issues discussed here are
also applicable for the interoperation of WiMAX with other
wireless technologies such as 3G or 4G.
7.2 A comparison
WiMAX is an excellent complement to other wireless
technologies that are designed to work in the LAN (Wi-
Fi) or that offer wider coverage but with more limited ca-
pacity (GSM, CDMA, WCDMA). The increasing demand
for wireless services and the more exacting requirements
of emerging applications have created a market in which
multiple wireless technologies, each with its own core ad-
vantages, can and need to coexist to meet subscriber expec-
tations. The key challenge for service providers is to un-
derstand what role is best for each technology, how differ-
ent technologies complement each other and how they meet
their requirements in a cost-effective way. Network oper-
ators will find the advantages that WiMAX brings in per-
formance, cost, flexibility and innovation crucial in main-
taining a leading position in their markets. When compared
to other wireless technologies, WiMAX offers superior per-
formance, a more flexible network architecture that encour-
ages inter-working and roaming, and cost-effective, inter-
operable equipment. This allows WiMAX to support any
bandwidth-intensive, real-time application on any device,
using a common user interface.
8 Conclusion [7] ”Broadband Wireless; The New Era in Communi-
cation” Intel White paper
In our deep studies report about WiMAX, in first part we
[8] ”Mobile WiMAX: A Performance and Compara-
studied the architecture and design of WiMAX including
tive Summary” WiMAX forum White paper 2006
MAC layer in detail. Some special features of technology
have been discussed which make this broadband technol- [9] rfdesignline.com, Practical tips on making
ogy more popular, after that we studied potential WiMAX WiMAX field measurements, Part 1,
applications where this technology can be implemented. In http://www.rfdesignline.
application Section WiBro, a Korean Standard for mobile com/197000698;jsessionid=
WiMAX is discussed in detail; at the end we made a com- QTVQPMTGVCCPCQSNDLQSKH0CJUNN2JVN?
parison of WiMAX with other wireless technologies like printableArticle=true
3G and WLAN etc. We believe that our study can pro-
vide a general overview of the design and practical WiMAX [10] WiMAX’s Applications
802.16 Standard. The growing demand for broadband ser- http://www.wimax.com/education/
vices on a global scale is clear and uncontestable. We can wimax/wimax_overview
say that with respect to high data rates and reliability and http://www.defense-update.com/
security, WiMAX is more efficient than any other and will products/w/wimax.htm
get more success in future specially its mobile version. But
[11] WiMAX Forum
In fact, the most robust wireless solutions will use a com-
http://www.wimaxforum.org
bination of technologies to enable increased mobility and
performance.

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[5] Kejie Lu and Yi Qian, Hsiao-Hwa Chen ”A Secure

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[6] William Stallings. Mobile Communications and

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