CHANNEL LOADING

Channel loading is a ratio of the number of users authorized to operate on a par

ticular channel or systems compared to the number of users that actively transmi
t on a system. An example of channel loading on a WiMAX system is the number of
broadband subscribers that can be effectively served by a single WiMAX radio cha
nnel.
The amount of channel loading depends on a variety of factors including the type
of use (e.g. bursty web browsing or watching continuous digital telephony). For
many types of applications, the subscriber station does not usually continuousl
y transmit data while it is connected to the WiMAX system. For Internet browsing
, the typical data transmission activity is less than 10%. This could allow chan
nel loading of 10:1 or more. For example, in a WiMAX cell or single radio covera
ge area that has a channel capacity of 70 Mbps, 700 broadband Internet customers
could be provided with data rates of 1 Mbps each.
The service provider can affect the channel loading through their price plans. P
rice plans can range from usage based service (charge per megabyte transferred)
to unlimited rate plans. In 2006, the services and rate plans offered by WiMAX s
ervice providers were similar to digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modem s
ervices rate plans.

SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY
Spectral efficiency is a measurement characterizing a particular modulation and
coding method that describes how much information can be transferred in a given
bandwidth. This is often given as bits per second per Hertz.
Modulation and coding methods that have high spectral efficiency are typically v
ery sensitive to small amounts of noise and interference and often have low geog
raphic spectral efficiency. WiMAX was designed to use multiple types of modulati
on, which allows the system to offer very high spectrum efficiency when the sign
al quality permits. Because of the robust modulation type used for the GSM syste
m, its spectral efficiency is approximately 1.0 to 1.5 bits per Hertz. More effi
cient modulation types are used in the WCDMA system providing 1.5 to 2.5 bits pe
r Hertz. 802.11 Wi-Fi systems can use efficient modulation types when channel qu
ality is acceptable (e.g. limited interference by other unlicensed devices), whi
ch can provide spectral efficiency of 2 to 3 bits per Hertz. The 802.16 WiMAX sy
stem can use very efficient modulation providing an efficiency of 3 to 5 bits pe
r Hertz.
The approximate spectral efficiency for several different types of systems. This
diagram shows that the spectral efficiency of early mobile telephone systems (e
.g. GSM) is approximately 1.0 to 1.5 bits per Hertz and that newer cellular syst
ems (such as WCDMA) have spectral efficiencies of 1.5 to 2.5 bits per Hertz. The
spectral efficiency of 802.11 WLAN system can be 2 to 3 bits per Hertz and the
spectral efficiency of the 802.16 WiMAX system is approximately 3 to 4 bits per
Hertz.