Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no.

1, October 2011 12

Smart Computing Review

A Survey on Technical
Issues in IEEE 802.16j
Mobile Multi-hop Relay
Networks
D. Satish Kumar1 and N. Nagarajan2
1
Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, Anna University of Technology Coimbatore, Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu 641047, India / satishcoimbatore@yahoo.co.in
2
Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu- 641109, India / swekalnag@gmail.com

* Corresponding Author: Satish Kumar. D

Received June 27, 2011; Revised September 2, 2011; Accepted September 11, 2011; Published October 31, 2011

Abstract: In this paper, we have conducted a detailed survey on relay technologies for IEEE
802.16j mobile multi-hop relay networks, such as relay modes, relay transmission schemes, and
relay pairing schemes. We have also conducted a detailed survey about the technical issues in the
physical layer, medium access control-common part sub layer, and medium access control-security
sub layer of IEEE 802.16j mobile multi hop relay networks. Technical issues such as data
forwarding schemes, frame structure for transparent and non-transparent relay mode, link
adaptation, modulation, and coding, belong to the physical layer. Other technical issues such as
quality of service-scheduling services, bandwidth allocation and request, network planning,
medium access control handover procedures, connection management, path management, and
interference management belong to the medium access control- common part sub layer. Centralized
security control and distributed security control belong to the medium access control--security sub
layer. In this paper, we have also given how to integrated IEEE 802.16j (worldwide interoperability
for microwave access) with IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi).

Keywords: IEEE 802.16j, physical layer, common part sub layer, security sub layer, relay
technologies, Wi-Fi.

This research was supported by Networks Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of
Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu- 641109 INDIA.

DOI: 10.6029/smartcr.2011.01.002
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 13

Introduction

W ireless systems that achieve high speed mobile wireless access services can be divided into two groups. The first
group is the International Mobile telecommunications-2000, which includes wideband code division multiple
access, high speed downlink packet access, high speed uplink packet access, High speed packet access plus, LTE/LTE-
advanced specified by 3rd generation partnership project, code division multiple access 2000 1x and ultra mobile
broadband specified by 3rd generation partnership project-2. The second group consists of IEEE 802.16e, IEEE 802.16j,
and the IEEE 802.16m standard specified by the IEEE 802.16 committee.
The second group is also called the worldwide interoperability for Microwave access (WiMAX) standard and is one of
the 4th generation telecommunication technologies that supply wireless communication of data through different
transmission links like point to multi point. Two groups that play a role in the development of IEEE 802.16j standard are
the IEEE 802.16 working group on Broadband wireless Access standard, which develops standards and recommends
practices to support the development of broadband Wireless metropolitan area networks, while the second group is the
worldwide interoperability for Microwave access forum, which certifies and promotes broadband wireless products based
on the IEEE 802.16 standard. There are several IEEE 802.16 standards including the IEEE 802.16a standard that is used in
the license and license exempted frequencies of 2-11 GHz and supports mesh topology in which transceivers can pass a
single communication on to other transceivers; the IEEE 802.16b supports the 5-6Ghz frequency band and supports quality
of service; the IEEE 802.16c represents a 10-66 GHz band and supports more consistency and interoperability; the IEEE
802.16b that is an amendment to IEEE 802.16a and creates system profiles for compliance testing of 802.16a devices; the
IEEE 802.16e enables the high-speed signal handoffs necessary for communications with users moving at vehicular speeds;
and the IEEE 802.16j which is an amendment to IEEE 802.16e as explained below.

The new task group IEEE 802.16j-2009 standard [1] of IEEE 802.16 air interface for broadband wireless access was
officially established in March 2006. In order to support the mobile multi-hop relay specification, mesh mode is removed
from the IEEE 802.16 -2009 standard. The specification is an amendment of the IEEE 802.16e standard for achieving
throughput enhancement and coverage extension. It provides multi hop wireless connectivity where traffic between a base
station and a subscriber station can be relayed through a relay station. This system enables mobile stations to communicate
with a base station through an intermediate relay station. Multihop relay station is an optional deployment that may be used
to provide additional coverage or performance advantage in an access network. The Relay Station may be fixed in location
or, in the case of an access relay station, may be mobile access Relay Station. Most of the time, the relay station will act as
a base station and will have its own physical cell identifier, and it should be able to transmit its own synchronization
channels and control information. There should be no difference between cell control in there lay station and base station.
The radio link originating or terminating at a mobile station is named as access link and the link between the base
station and relay station or between a pair of relay stations is called as relay link. The access link and relay link can be used
for uplink and downlink data transmission. This standard defines the physical and the medium access control layer
14 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

specifications for mobile multihop relay networks. The medium access control layer supports functions such as network
entry, bandwidth request, and forwarding of data units, connection management, and hand over. The Physical layer adopts
orthogonal frequency division multiple access as the primary channel access mechanism for non-line of sight
communications in the frequency band below 11 GHz. Where multiple users are allocated separate set of slots, so that they
can communicate in parallel. It supports point to multipoint network topology where resource allocation is performed by
the base station on a per connection basis, and the subscriber stations are treated equally. Multiple input multiple output
techniques have the ability to exploit non loss of sight channels and increase spectral efficiency compared to single input
single output systems. Those techniques are able to provide high capacity and data rate without increasing bandwidth. The
gain of multiple input multiple output includes multiplexing gains, diversity gains, and array gains.
The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the technical issues in IEEE 802.16j mobile multi-hop relay networks.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In section I, we briefly recapitulate the different relay technologies in IEEE
802.16j mobile multi-hop relay networks such as relay modes, relay transmission schemes, relay pairing schemes, and relay
techniques. In section II we briefly discuss the different technical issues in the physical layer of IEEE 802.16j mobile multi-
hop relay networks and present a study of the advantages of the different physical layer technical issues. This is followed in
section III by a brief discussion about the different technical issues in the medium access control-common part sub layer of
the IEEE 802.16j mobile multi-hop relay networks and their relevancy. We have also given how to integrated IEEE 802.16j
(worldwide interoperability for microwave access) with IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi) in this section. In section IV, we briefly
discuss the different technical issues in the Medium Access Control--Security Sub layer of the IEEE 802.16j mobile multi-
hop relay networks. Conclusions are drawn in Section V.

Different Technical Issues

WiMAX Forum
The Worldwide interoperability for microwave access forum was established in 2003 to promote the deployment of
worldwide interoperability for microwave access as a broadband wireless access technology. It initiated several technical
specifications and allowed the certification of worldwide interoperability for microwave access products. The network
specification involves interaction with other standard organization and includes internet engineering task Force, 3rd
generation partnership project, 3rd generation partnership project 2, digital subscriber line forum, and open mobile alliance.

Relay Modes
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 15

Two different relay modes are defined in this IEEE 802.16j standard, the transparent mode and the non- transparent mode.
(a) Transparent relay mode: Transparent relay mode increases the throughput as shown in Figure 2, and thus facilities
capacity increases within the base station coverage area. It does not support coverage extension because it does not forward
framing information to the base station. It is operated in two hop network topology and supports centralized scheduling
only as scheduling is done in Base Station. Transparent relay mode uses the channel ID based forwarding scheme and
supports embedded and explicit mode of path management. (b) Non-Transparent relay mode : The non transparent relay
mode, as shown in Figure 3, increases the coverage extension of the base station. In this mode the relay station generates its
own framing information and forwards it to the mobile stations or subscriber stations. It operates in two or more hops and
uses centralized or distributed scheduling mode, as scheduling is done in the base station and relay stations. It uses the
channel ID and tunnel based forwarding scheme and supports embedded and explicit mode of path management.

The transparent relay station does not transmit control messages, permeable, frame control header, and Downlink /
Uplink MAP, as it only increases the system throughput. The non transparent relay station transmits control messages,
permeable, frame control header, and Downlink / Uplink MAP, as it increases the system throughput and increases cell
coverage. Table 1 shows the difference between the transparent and non transparent mode of operation.

Relay Transmission Schemes

Many relay transmission schemes are used in IEEE 802.16j mobile multi-hop relay networks including amplify and
forward, selective decode and forward, and demodulation and forward. In amplify and forward scheme, the relay receives a
signal from the base station or mobile stations in the first phase and amplifies this signal and forwards it to the mobile
stations or base station in the second phase. This is a very simple and short delay relay transmission scheme. In the
selective decode and forward scheme, the relay receives a signal from the base station or mobile stations in the first phase
and decodes the signal; the decoded data is then checked for cyclic redundancy check, and the decoded data is coded and
16 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

forwarded to the mobile stations or base station in the second phase. This scheme avoids error propagation through the
channel. In the demodulation and forward scheme, the relay receives a signal from the base station or mobile stations in the
first phase and demodulates the signal without decoding, and it then modulates and forwards it to the subscriber stations or
base station in the second phase.

Relay Pairing Schemes

The pairing scheme is developed for achieving collaboration between the relay stations and base stations in data
transmission. This will improve the coverage and throughput of the mobile multi hop relay networks. The two relay pairing
schemes defined in IEEE 802.16j networks the centralized relay pairing scheme and the distributed relay pairing scheme.
The other relay pairing schemes are the random relay pairing schemes and the opportunistic relay pairing schemes. In the
centralized relay pairing scheme, the base station will act as a control node and collect the channel and location information
from all the relay stations and subscriber stations, and then it then makes the pairing decision. This information must be
formed as a service set and is periodically updated in the local base stations to capture the dynamic changes of subscriber
stations. This scheme requires more signaling over head and can achieve better performance gains. In the distributed relay
pairing scheme, the relay stations collect the channel and location information from all nearby subscriber stations and then
makes the pairing decision. First, each relay station identifies its service set of neighborhood subscriber stations and also
the channel conditions between its base station as well as its subscriber stations; those relay stations with single service set
each randomly selects a time slot from the N- slots in the pairing scheme. If multiple relay stations choose the same time
slot, then collusion occurs and those relay stations will try again in the next pairing scheme.

Relay Placement
By deploying the relay stations in lower signal to noise ration cell boundary area, the system capacity, throughput per user,
and the system reliability can be enhanced. The relay placement is formulated as an optimization problem and solved by an
iterative algorithm, under the assumption that mobile stations distribution is uniform. In some cases, large geographic areas
under non-uniformly distributed traffic demand are considered. The locations of base stations are determined in the first
stage of network deployment. A relay station location algorithm is designed to locate the relay stations.

Characteristics of Relay based Networks.

Relay based networks have small form factor and low cost relays associated with base stations. Three main benefits
provided by relay based architecture over single hop architecture are throughput enhancement, coverage increase, and
deployment cost. (a) Throughput enhancement: Throughput enhancement is expected to increase the system capacity by
deploying RSs in a manner that enables more aggressive spatial reuse. (b) Coverage enhancement/extension: The relay
technology is expected to improve the coverage reliability in geographic areas that are severely shadowed from the base
station and/or to extend the range of a base station. (c) Cost Reduction: Relay based systems have the potential to deliver
cost gains over traditional single hop wireless access systems. Using relay stations, an operator could deploy a network
with wide coverage at a lower cost than using only (more) expensive base stations to provide good coverage and system
capacity.

Relaying Techniques
The Relaying techniques include the conventional techniques (i) time domain relaying, (ii) frequency domain relaying, (iii)
hybrid time/frequency domain relaying, and the current technique, which is of interest among the research community, is
(iv) co-operative technique. In the time domain relaying scheme, relays access the medium in time multiplex. The resources
are further divided in time in either the downlink or uplink to allow the relay station to receive and transmit data. In
frequency domain relaying, the relays operate on different frequency channels. The main advantage of this scheme is that
relays can transmit and receive data simultaneously. In the hybrid time/frequency domain relaying, relays operate
periodically on different frequency channels to forward data. The idea here is to switch between two frequencies in order to
allow the base station to transmit to its client while the relay is forwarding data on another frequency. The co-operative
technique can significantly enhance the performance of relay based systems via multiple relay stations cooperatively
transmitting the same data to a mobile station or the base station, i.e., in the downlink or uplink. This leads to similar
benefits to those of multiple input multiple output systems with transmit/receive diversity and spatial multiplexing

Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication for IEEE 802.16j

Multiple input multiple output techniques have been used in IEEE 802.16d/e/j to improve cell coverage and increase
average user with in the cell. Multiple input multiple output transmission is used to increase the data rate of communication
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 17

between a given transmitter-receiver pair and/or improve the reliability of the link. Using multiple antennas can improve
the achievable rates of users in the network with given frequency. As the multiple input multiple output technology matures,
it is expected that multiple input multiple output will be widely used for wireless communication. For the next generation
worldwide interoperability for microwave access, a system is to support at least up to 8 transmit antennas at the base station,
4 streams, and space-time coding. Multiple input multiple output futures such as closed-loop input multiple output will be
included in future Worldwide interoperability for Microwave access; more specifically, it has been already decided to
support closed-loop multiple input multiple output using channel quality information, precoding matrix index, and rank
feedback in future systems.

Multiple input multiple output techniques include the single user-multiple input multiple output, multi user-multiple
input multiple output, and cooperative multiple input multiple output. The adoption of multiple input multiple output
techniques often requires a tight design integration of physical, medium access control, and higher layers of IEEE 802.16j.
The key multiple input multiple output techniques are open-loop transmit diversity in downlink, open-loop spatial
multiplexing in downlink, open-loop transmit diversity in uplink, and open-loop spatial multiplexing in uplink,
Collaborative spatial multiplexing in uplink, adaptive beam forming, closed-loop antenna grouping/selection, Closed-loop
codebook-based pre-coding. These above features are included in releases 1.0 and 1.5 of worldwide interoperability for
microwave access forum. In single user-multiple input multiple output, the transmitter and receiver are equipped with m
and n antennas. The channel is Rayleigh or rician fading channel. Based on the full or partial availability of channel state
information to receiver and transmitter single user-multiple input multiple output is classified into open loop-single user,
multiple input multiple output, and closed loop-multiple input multiple output. Open loop-single user-multiple input
multiple output systems are more desirable in mobility applications because they do not require channel state information
as 802.16e support mobility of up to 120 km/h. 802.16e adopts space-time coding as the main open-loop multiple input
multiple output scheme. Space-time coding is supported by both the uplink and downlink, for up to four transmit antennas,
and for a multiplexing rate up to 4. The space-time coding option achieves low complexity decoding, while others are
optimized for high complexity decoding. Cyclic delay diversity is another open-loop scheme. Too much cyclic delay
diversity delay may reduce the receivers channel estimation accuracy due to the augmented frequency fluctuation. Closed-
loop single user - multiple input multiple output can achieve better performance than open-loop systems. Multi user
multiple input multiple outputs allows multiple subscriber stations to spatially share the same time-frequency resource to
improve both the cell spectral efficiency and average user experience. In distributed-multiple input multiple output and
relay in IEEE 802.16j the base stations, relay stations, and subscriber stations, a distributed multiple input multiple output
system is formed with all the transmit antennas of base stations and relay stations on one side and the receive antennas of
the destination subscriber stations on the other side. New multiple input multiple output techniques are open-loop multiuser
multiple input multiple output, and collaborative multicell multiple input multiple output. In the multicell multiple input
multiple output, multiple base stations collaborate to serve multiple subscriber stations in the edge region of the base
stations cell. A preceding entity in the network backhaul will decide the precoding vectors used for all subscriber stations in
18 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

all base stations. The multicell multiple input multiple output system has the potential to eliminate dominant intercell
interferences, while offering multiplexing rate and diversity gain.

IEEE 802.16j Protocol Layering

IEEE 802.16j protocol layering consists of data/control plane and management plane. The data/control plane defines the
physical layer and medium access control layer. The management plane defines the respective management entity of
physical layer and medium access control layer. (a) Data /Control Plane: The data /control plane, as shown in Figure 5,
includes the physical layer, medium access control - common part sub layer, and medium access control- convergence sub
layer. The medium access control - common part sub layer, as shown in Figure 4, includes connection admission control,
Link management, automatic repeat request, and scheduler downlink/uplink burst processing. The medium access control -
convergence sub layer network management includes configuration management, uplink packet reassembly, and downlink
packet classifier. (b) Management Plane: The management plane, as shown in Figure 5, includes the corresponding
management entity of physical layer, medium access control - common part sub layer, and medium access control-
convergence sub layer.

Technical Issues in Physical Layer

The IEEE 802.16 physical layer defines different modulation, demodulation, and transmission technologies applied in the
transmitter and receiver. It is split into two bands, frequency range of 2-11 GHz and frequent range of 10-66 GHz.

Wireless Metropolitan Area Network ( Wireless-MAN ) - Physical layer

The Wireless metropolitan area network scalable orthogonal frequency division multiple access physical layer supports
frequency range of below 11 GHz in licensed bands, and supports time division and frequency division duplexing
alternatives. In the IEEE 802.16j-2009 standard, an adaptive burst profile mechanism is used, so that the worldwide
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 19

interoperability for microwave access systems is able to flexibly adjust the modulation and power scheme for individual
subscriber stations depending on the radio conditions. Four modulation schemes are defined in burst profiles to suit
different signal to noise ratio situations: Binary phase shift keying, quadrature phase shift keying, 16 quadrature amplitude
modulation, and 64 quadrature amplitude modulation. Some other techniques and technologies, such as forward error
correction, multiple input multiple output antennas, adaptive antenna systems, and automatic repeat request are also defined
to improve performance.

Frame Structure of IEEE 802.16j Networks

In the IEEE 802.16j frame structure, the frame is divided into two sub frames, downlink sub frame, and uplink sub frame,
as is shown in figs 6 and 7. These sub frames are divided into two zones called the downlink / uplink access zone and
downlink transparent zone / uplink relay zone. It is divided into zones to support the base station- relay station and relay
station-mobile station communication. These frames have two different structures, transparent mode frame structure and
non transparent mode frame structure. (a) Frame structure for transparent relay mode: Only Two-hop topology is supported
by transparent relay mode, where it has only single access zone and one transparent zone in both the downlink and uplink,
and a transition gap between the two zones. Scheduling is performed via MAPs that are transmitted by the base station.
Relay stations have some small buffering capability such that multiple hops via the relay can be scheduled in different
frames. The frame structure for transparent zone is shown in Figure 7. (b) Frame structure for non-transparent relay mode:
More than two hop topology is supported by non transparent relay, where the downlink sub frame must include at least one
downlink access zone and may include at least one or more relay zones. The uplink sub frame, on the other hand, may
include one or more uplink access zones and one or more relay zones. It uses centralized or distributed scheduling. The
frame structure for transparent zone is shown in Figure 6.
20 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

Scalable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (S-OFDMA)

The most interesting technologies adopted in worldwide interoperability for microwave access are orthogonal frequency
division multiplexing, orthogonal frequency division multiple access, and scalable orthogonal frequency division multiple
access [1]. Scalable orthogonal frequency division multiple access technology is specified in the IEEE 802.16j-2009
standard. The operating spectrum of orthogonal frequency division multiple access is divided into multiple narrow
frequency bands; here, it groups sub-carriers into sub-channels, each of which consists of multiple sub carriers. Multiple
access is achieved by assigning different sub-channels to different users in the network for simultaneous transmission. The
available resource can be viewed as transmission blocks (or simply blocks) in a two dimensional structure with mini slots in
one dimension and sub channels in the other. The scheduling problem is how to assign such blocks to each link in the
network to optimize certain objectives. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing is very similar to frequency division
multiplexing, but it effectively squeezes multiple modulated carriers tightly together by keeping the signals orthogonal so
that they do not interfere with each other and thus reduces the required bandwidth. Orthogonal Frequency division multiple
access is a multiple access/multiplexing scheme that provides multiplexing operation of data streams like orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing. Flexibility to efficiently use the system resources is introduced with Scalable orthogonal
frequency division multiple access. It allows smaller frame sizes to further improve performance and reduce the cost for
lower bandwidth channels. One key aspect in orthogonal frequency division multiple access systems is to take advantage of
the so called multi user diversity as defined by knopp and humblet. Multi user diversity means that each user experiences
different, time varying and frequency varying signal quality due to time and frequency fading inherent in wireless channels.
As orthogonal frequency division multiple access allows the dynamic assignment of different sub carriers and orthogonal
frequency division multiple access symbols to different users, dynamic sub carrier allocations and adaptive power
allocation to multiple users can be used to enhance the system capacity.

Data Forwarding Scheme

Two different forwarding schemes are defined in the medium access control layer of IEEE 802.16j standard, tunnel based
data forwarding scheme and Connection ID based data forwarding scheme. The tunnel based data forwarding scheme
provides support for tunnels characterized by the unique Channel ID, two specific end points, and quality of service
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 21

parameters. In this scheme, the station adds a relay medium access control header to a packet indicating the Channel ID of
the tunnel the packet should traverse. It operates in both centralized and distributed scheduling. The Channel ID based data
forwarding scheme has no tunnels and does not support traffic aggregation; it only supports legacy management and
transport connections. In this scheme, the channel ID of the designation is used by the packets. It operates in both
centralized and distributed scheduling. In centralized scheduling, the base stations send messages to the relay stations
describing the relay link characteristics; however, in distributed scheduling, the relay stations have the knowledge of
quality of service requirements of each connection.

Tunneling
A tunnel connection is a unidirectional connection between the base station and relay stations established to aggregate
management and transport traffic. To identify the tunnel service flow identifier, a tunnel connection identifier and
management tunnel identifier are used. The transport and management tunneling mechanism is used in IEEE 802.16j
mobile multi-hop relay networks. Two different protocol data unit construction methods, namely encapsulation mode and
burst mode, are used in relay system. (a) Management tunneling: Three different management tunnels are established
between relay station and base station including the basic management tunnel, primary management tunnel, and secondary
management tunnel. Management messages are transmitted through the tunnel connection. (b) Transport tunneling: A
tunnel connection for each quality of service requirement such as quality of service requirement 1, quality of service
requirement 2, quality of service requirement 3, , quality of service requirement n is created between the
SS1,SS2,SS3,..SSn to base stations. A separate connection for new service flow is created between SS1, SS2, SS3, ,
SSn to the base stations. Here, the intermediate relay stations will ignore the quality of service parameter of the individual
service flow. (SSs= subscriber stations)

Link Adaptation
Link adaptation is a technique for adapting the system parameters to radio link conditions such as available power level,
channel path-loss, signal interference, and sensitivity. It is also known as the adaptive modulation and coding scheme. The
parameters that can vary include symbol rate, modulation schemes, data transmission rate, data size, and coding parameters.
Data rate and the transmit power are two parameters for calculating the network energy, variable-rate variable-power
adaptation techniques. Dynamically adjusting the transmission parameters leads to various adaptive techniques. The
channel coding procedures defined in IEEE 802.16j are randomization, forward error collection encoding, bit interleaving,
repetition, and modulation.

Forward Error Correction (FEC) Encoding

Five forward error correction encoding approaches are defined in IEEE 802.16 orthogonal frequency division multiple
access physical layer; they are convolution coding with tail-biting method, block turbo coding , convolution turbo codes,
low-density check coding, and convolution coding with zero-tailing. Here, convolution coding with tail-biting is
mandatory others are optional.

Sub Channelization
Logical collection of subcarriers forms a sub-channel, composed of either contiguous subcarriers or sub-carriers distributed
throughout the entire physical channel. The mapping of logical sub-channels to physical subcarriers is called permutation.
The number of distribution of the sub-carriers is dependent on the sub-carrier permutation scheme. According to the
subcarrier permutation, an orthogonal Frequency division multiple access slot is equivalent to 48 subcarriers. An
orthogonal frequency division multiple access slot depends on the orthogonal frequency division multiple access symbol
structure, which varies with subcarrier permutation.

Technical Issues in MAC-CPS (Medium Access Control- Common Part

Sub layer) layer
The IEEE 802.16j medium access control protocol was designed for point to multi point broad band wireless access
application. The purpose of this layer is to fragment and segment the medium access control service data units into the
medium access control protocol data units to control the quality of service and the scheduling and retransmission of
medium access control protocol data units. The IEEE 802.16j medium access control protocol is connection oriented where
it includes inherently connectionless services that are mapped into connection. Each connection is referenced by a 16-bit
22 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

connection identifier. Each of the subscriber stations has a 48-bit medium access control address, but this serves mainly as
an equipment identifier, since the primary addresses used during operation are the channel IDs. The medium access control
protocol data units are exchanged between the base station and mobile station, and each of the medium access control
protocol data units consists of fixed length medium access control header, variable length payload, and cyclic redundancy
check. Medium access control defines two header formats, namely the generic header and bandwidth request header, which
are followed by three types of medium access control sub headers including the grand management sub header,
fragmentation sub header, and packing sub header. An important functionality of medium access control common part sub
layer is quality of service. To ensure quality of service bandwidth request, grand schemes are defined to allocate bandwidth
in a frame to frame basis. There are two classes of base stations to allocate Bandwidth. One per connection called grand per
connection, and one per subscriber station called grand per subscriber Station. The grand per subscriber Station is
recommended by the IEEE 802.16j committee.

QoS Scheduling Services

One of the key functionalities of the medium access control-common part sub layer is providing quality of service
constrains to the medium access control protocol data units. The quality of service constrains include latency, jitter, data
rate, and error rate; system availability should be met for all service flows. The IEEE 802.16j standard defines five
scheduling services including unsolicited grand service, real time polling service, non-real time polling service, best-effort
service, and extended real time polling service. The main quality of service parameters are maximum sustained rate,
maximum latency, and tolerated jitter. Schedulers are designed to meet four main important criteria such as: (i) The
scheduler should use all available unsolicited grand service slots if there is traffic, and it should optimize system throughput.
(ii) The scheduler should guarantee the delay constraints or maximum latency. (iii) It should minimize delay jitter. (iv) The
scheduler should minimize the number of bursts and mobile application part overhead. Hence, the scheduler first calculates
the number of slots to allocate to each subscriber stations and selects on which sub-channel and time interval the data will
be transmitted. Schedulers can be broadly classified into channel-unaware schedulers and channel-aware schedulers. In
channel-unaware schedulers, the decision is independent of the channel condition and only focuses on ensuring the quality
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 23

of service requirements of the different service classes. Channel-aware approaches, on the other hand, try to take advantage
of the channel condition in order to maximize the system throughput. Two quality of service issues are service flow and
Bandwidth request. A service flow is defined as a one-way flow of medium access control service data units on a
connection associated with specific quality of service parameters such as latency, jitter, and throughput. There are three
basic types of service flows: provisioned service flows, admitted service flows, and active service flows. The Provisional
service flow is defined in the system with an SFID; it might not have any traffic presence. In admitted service flow based
on the external request from the specified service, the available bandwidth in admitted. In active service flow a service flow
will be activated when all the checks are completed and the resources are allocated. In order to ensure quality of service for
various service classes, a quality of service architecture, as shown in Figure 8, including several medium access control
mechanisms is defined. Two schedulers at the base station, one for downlink and one for uplink, and one scheduler at the
subscriber station for uplink are used. At the base station, downlink scheduler is defined to handle packets from the upper
layer, and each of these packets is put into different queues corresponding to specific downlink connections, which are
managed based on their quality of service requirement by the base station-downlink scheduler. The uplink base station
scheduler allocates resources in the uplink based on the bandwidth received from the subscriber stations. The subscriber
station-uplink scheduler manages the bandwidth requests and the data in different queues, the connections based on the
granted resources from the base station, and quality of service requirements of each connection. Unsolicited grand service
is designed to support constant bit rate traffic such as leased line digital connection and Voice over IP. There is no request
or poll in unsolicited grand service as it provides fixed size transmission at regular intervals. The real time polling service is
designed to support variable bit rate traffic such as MPEG video. Here, the base station allocates bandwidth periodically to
subscriber station based on the periodic request from subscriber stations. Non-real time polling service is for delay tolerant
service with minimum data rate such as file transfer protocol. It allows for contention request and unicast request
opportunities for bandwidth request. Best-effort service does not provide any service related requirements. Similar to the
non real time polling service, it allows for contention request and unicast request opportunities for bandwidth request. The
extended real time polling service builds on the efficiencies of both unsolicited grand service and real time polling service.
It is able to offer unsolicited grand service as in unsolicited grand service, but the size of the bandwidth allocation here is
dynamic.

Paging in IEEE 802.16j

To use the Battery conservation techniques, IEEE 802.16j defines the ideal mode, location update, and Paging operations.
On entering ideal mode, the mobile station relinquishes all of its connections and states associated with the base station that
it last registered with. In ideal mode, the mobile station periodically listens to the radio transmission for paging messages.
The period for which the mobile station listens to the paging message is known as the paging listen interval, and the period
for which the mobile station powers off its radio interface is known as the paging unavailable interval. One paging listen
interval and a paging unavailable interval, constitute a Paging cycle; in this cycle, the ideal mode mobile station listens for
paging messages. The network coverage area is divided into one or more paging groups. A paging group, as showing
Figure 9, refers to the coverage area of one or more base stations. A paging controller administers one or more paging
groups. As specified, there is one or more paging controllers in a network. For paging in ideal mode, the paging controller
initiates the transmitting mobile station a paging advertisement message to all base stations in particular paging groups.
The performance of paging mechanism in IEEE 802.16j is specified by two parameters, paging signal overhead and paging
latency. The paging signals overhead () is defined as the number of bits per second used for paging one ideal-mode mobile
Station. The paging latency () is defined as the time delay between the initiation of paging operation by the network and
the completion of mobile stations response to the paging operation. In a paging algorithm, the idle-mode Mobile Stations
are grouped into different sets, referred to as paging sets, in such a way that the paging information of these Mobile Stations
can be aggregated into one mobile paging advertisement message. This reduces the overhead associated with the paging
operation. The ideal mode is initiated by the base station or mobile stations when the mobile stations do not have any
ongoing traffic, for that the mobile stations send a deregistration request to the base stations, and similarly the base stations
send a deregistration command message to the mobile stations. Upon receiving a deregistration request, the base station
sends a paging controller to the corresponding paging controller, and this paging controller contains the mobile stations
service and operation information. In ideal mode, the mobile station alternate between paging listen Interval and paging
unavailable intervals. In case of paging in two MSs-MS1and MS2, they have the same paging cycle and PL1, but different
paging-offsets. The network sends two different mobile paging advertisement messages at different times.

Bandwidth Allocation and Request

For bandwidth allocation, two important criteria are considered. First, the bandwidth requirements of the mobile user in the
coverage area of relay stations are determined based on the neighboring or nearby relay station. Second, the bandwidth
management is provided by base station as most base stations use centralized control of scheduling. Two main methods to
transmit bandwidth requests are defined: contention based access and polling based access. In the contention based method,
24 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

the bandwidth requests are transmitted during the contention period defined in the uplink sub-frame. When collusion occurs
among bandwidth requests from different Subscriber Stations, a random back off mechanism is used. In the polling based
approach, on the other hand, the subscriber stations are allowed to transmit their bandwidth requests only when polled by
the base stations.

Network Planning
IEEE 802.16j for network planning consists of two propagation models including suitable, free space model and SUI model.
The free space model is applied to open space with no obstacles and is considered the standard model. The SUI (Stanford
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 25

University Interim) model is valid for radio propagation within the 23 GHz range and has different parameter settings for
urban, suburban, and rural scenarios. It was developed by Stanford University Interim for the multipoint microwave
distribution system. The Stanford University Interim model was chosen to be used because it was accepted by the IEEE
802.16 standard body and achieves good compromise between simplicity and accuracy. Relay placement is one of the
major technical issues in IEEE 802.16j networks. A relay station of equal capacity as base station has smaller coverage area
and lower cost. There will be a cost tradeoff between relay station and base stations when they are deployed. Achievable
data rate and maximizing the throughput are some of the variables to be considered in network deployment. A better signal
to noise ratio can be achievable when the link is broken to smaller links through relay stations. There will be minimum two
hops in this transmission using relay stations.

MAC Hand over Procedures

IEEE 802.16j is envisioned to support low latency seamless handover of much less than 100ms and almost zero packet loss
with a mobile speed of 120km/hour. The Medium access control layer handover of IEEE 802.16j includes the following
phases: (1) network topology acquisition before handover, which includes network topology advertisement, and mobile
stations scanning or association of neighbor base stations. (2) Handover execution phase, which mainly includes cell
reselection, handover initialization and handshake process, connection release, and target network reentry. The hand over
mechanism allows a mobile station to move form air interface on one base station to another base station. The hand over is
composed of several phases: network topology advertisement, mobile station scanning, Cell Reselection, hand over
decision, and initiation and Network Reentry. Three handover techniques, as shown in Figs 11 and 12, are supported within
the IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.16j standards including the hard handover, fast base station switching, and macro diversity
handover. Of these, the Hard Handover is mandatory, while fast base station switching and macro diversity handover are
two optional modes. The goal of WiMAX forum is keeping layer 2 handover delays below 50ms, so it has framed several
techniques for optimizing hand over. (a) Hard Handover: Here the mobile station communicates with only one base station,
and it has to disconnect from the original base station before it has to connect to the new base station. This procedure is
called hard handover. The hard hand over mechanism as shown in Figure 10 uses the principle of break before make. The
mobile station will break the connection with the original base station before making a new connection with another base
station. Although it may lower the handover quality, an improved hand over mechanism must be used. When the mobile
station moves from BS1 to BS2, it has to disconnect the original connection with BS1 before it can make a new connection
with BS2. Figure 3 shows the simulation topology for the mobile station to communicate directly with the base station.
Here, the base station operates in transparent mode. (b) Fast Base Station Switching: In fast base station switching, an
active set or diversity set is maintained by the base station and mobile station, This set contains list of base station that are
activated in fast base station switching with the mobile stations. An Anchor base station is identified by the mobile stations
in the diversity set, through which all the communications of mobile stations like uplink and downlink are carried out.
Transition from one anchor base station to another base station is done based on the hand over signals. (c) Macro Diversity
Handover: It is similar to fast base station switching and the active set that it maintains, but it has two connections one for
Macro Diversity Handover downlink and another for Macro Diversity Handover uplink. Two or more base stations provide
synchronized transmission of mobile stations downlink data such that diversity combining can be performed at the mobile
stations in the Macro Diversity Handover downlink. The mobile stations transmission is received by multiple base stations,
where selection diversity of the information received is performed in Macro Diversity Handover uplink. Using Two links is
the main drawback of this Handover, but it is more stable and achieves better performance results and smoother transition.

Hand over Process

The hand over process is composed of several phases: network topology advertisement, mobile station scanning, cell
reselection, hand over decision and initiation, network reentry (ranging, reselection re-registration), and normal operation.
The criteria for hand over decision and initiation is that channel quality indicators, such as carrier to interface and noise
ration or the signal strength, can be exchanged, while the quality of service is characterized by the service level prediction
26 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

of Mobile Station and Base Station. Other criteria such as bit error rate, packet delay/jitter, service pricing, mobile station
velocity, and mobile station location can also be used.

Handover stages are.

Stage-1: The mobile station collects information about base station in the neighborhood.
Stage-2: While scanning, the mobile station seeks a suitable base station that is added to the diversity set.
Stage-3: Two types of reports are sent by the mobile station, event triggered report and periodic reporting.
In the event triggered report, the mobile station sends reports after each measurement of relative delay, round trip delay,
receive signal strength report, and CINR, but periodic reporting reports are sent at periodic intervals.
Stage-4: Cell Reselection
Stage-5: mobile station hand over is initialized based on the comparison of signal level of the current Base Station and
new base station
Stage-6: mobile station network re-entry consists of three stages: ranging (obtaining information about uplink channel),
re-authorization, and Re-registration.
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 27

Stage-7: mobile station normal operation;

The mobile station is moving at a speed of 20 m/sec form the initial position towards the final position as specified in
the path. The node editor for the IEEE 802.16j base station consists of various modules like ARP, FIFO, MAC8023,
OFDMA interface, and physical layer modules; the parameters of each module are set as shown above. The propagation
channel mode can be set theoretically by specifying the parameters for path loss or fading model. The empirical channel
model defines 22 types of model. We have chosen the empirical channel model. There is a decrease in downlink throughput
as the mobile station moves out of the coverage area of Base station, and also during the hard hand over process, no packets
are transferred. The hand over time is 80 milli sec; after handover, the packets are transferred through base station2

Handover related Issues in IEEE 802.16j Networks

1. Excessive scanning and association activities
2. Optimizing scanning Interval.
3. Efficient exploitation of downlink and uplink Signals.
4. Wastage of ranging slots
5. Prolonged handover connection disruption Time.
6. Network re-entry activity due to ping pong effects
7. IP Connectivity delay during network re-entry.
8. Optimizing based load distribution.

Connection Management
Network Topology Acquisition
Network Topology acquisition, as shown in Figure 15, can be achieved in three steps
Step 1: Advertisement of Network Topology
Step 2: Scanning of Base stations
Step 3: Acquire Ranging parameters
We have studied the process of network Topology acquisition by setting the channel ID and time of accepting mobile
station by a corresponding base station. In network topology advertisement, a base station broad casts information
regarding the network topology. In the scanning period, the Base station can allocate time intervals to the mobile station to
identify it. During this period, the mobile station may attempt to synchronize with its downlink transmission and estimate
the quality of physical channel. This total period is called the scanning interval. In the third step, the mobile station is
enabled to acquire and record ranging parameters and service availability information of the base station. We have split the
network Topology acquisition process into three steps. In the first step, the mobile stations within the coverage area of base
station are accepted first, i.e., the base station accepts all mobile stations that are inside its coverage area by setting up the
channel IDs. In the second step, the relay stations that are inside the coverage area of base stations are accepted, i.e., the
relay stations that can extend their coverage area. In the third step, the mobile stations outside the coverage area of base
28 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

station, i.e., that can be served by using a multi hop replay station, are accepted. We have analyzed the time taken to accept
mobile stations, i.e., the time taken by a base station to accept its neighboring mobile stations.

Algorithm for Acquisition of Mobile stations (Inside coverage area)

Step-1: The mobile station sends a request message sendRNGREQ () message to the base station (BS), requesting the
base station to provide a link.
Step-2: Base station sends its link parameters to the corresponding mobile station, i.e., Signal to Noise ratio, etc.
Step-3: The base station assigns a Basic channel ID and primary channel ID to the corresponding mobile station, i.e.,
the mobile station that requests first. In the base stations, the createMS (BasicCID=1, PriCID=256) function is called to
create a new mobile station of the corresponding ID. Here, the basic channel ID is set as 1, 2, 3, 4., etc., and primary Id is
set as 256, 257,258, 259, etc.
Step-4: The base station decides that the corresponding mobile station access station is its own station.
Step-5: Base station accept the new mobile stations,
Step-6: Link mode is automatically set by base stations as Link Mode=Auto (SNR=44.1185dB), DIUC=6, UIUD=7.
The above steps are used by the base station to accept a new mobile station and to assign channel IDs to mobile stations.
The signal to noise ratio is automatically set as (SNR=44.1185dB) for the new link. The basic channel ID =1 and primary
CID=256 for MS-4.

Algorithm for Acquisition of Relay Stations

Step-1: The relay station sends request message sendRNGREQ () to the base station (BS), requesting the base station to
provide a link.
Step-2: Base station sends its link parameters to the corresponding mobile station, i.e., Signal to Noise ratio, etc.
Step-3: Base station accepts the new mobile stations.
Step-4: Link mode is automatically set by BS as Link Mode=Auto (SNR=39.30011 dB), DIUC=6, UIUD=7.

Algorithm for Acquisition of Mobile Stations (Outside Coverage Area)

Step-1: The mobile station sends a request message sendRNGREQ () to the Relay station (BS), requesting the relay
station to provide a link to its base station.
Step-2: Relay station sends its link parameters to the corresponding mobile station, i.e., Signal to Noise ratio, etc. (Here,
the corresponding relay station has replied)
Step-3: The base station assigns a basic channel ID and primary channel ID to the corresponding mobile station, i.e., the
mobile station that requests through a relay station. In BS, createMS (BasicCID=2, PriCID=257) function is called to create
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 29

a new mobile station of the corresponding ID. Here, the basic channel ID and primary Id are assigned the next ID.(i.e., 2,
3,4 .., as 1 is set to its mobile station that is inside its coverage area)
Step-4: The Base station decides that the corresponding mobile station access station is the relay station.
Step-5: Base station accepts the new mobile stations.
Step-6: Link mode is automatically set by BS as
Link Mode=Auto (SNR=39.30011 dB). There are no DIUC and UIUC numbers assigned, because they are assigned to
the relay station that provides extended coverage.
The above steps are used by the base station to accept a new mobile station that is outside the coverage area and to
assign a channel ID to the mobile stations. The signal to noise ratio is set automatically as (i.e., SNR=39.30011 dB) for the
new link.

Path Management
The medium access control layer provides routing and path management. [20] As the IEEE 802.16j network comprises
multi-hop paths between the base stations and mobile stations, the standard defines two approaches for path management,
embedded and explicit path management. It also defines network entry management. A path from the base stations to the
subscriber stations through relay stations should be selected according to the channel condition to maximize the data traffic.
Carrier to interference and noise ratio is used to determine the path. The path selection scheme used previously uses an
effective radio, resource index as a routing metric for selecting paths. The effective radio can be calculated by an inverse
number of carrier to interference and noise ratio. The minimum cost is chosen for path selection.

Relay Path Routing

Relay path routing [21] is the process of determining the most suitable route to base stations by considering constrains such
as bandwidth available, radio resource, interference, etc. In centralized path routing, the path information is stored in the
base stations; however, in distributed path routing, the path information is populated in relay stations. The relay path
information is embedded in the data burst by the base stations using the source routing mechanism, and each relay station
just navigates the given path from the received data burst. In order to reduce the latency and use the radio resource
effectively, distributed path routing is preferred as the base stations using centralized path routing cannot control the whole
network. Throughput of the wireless link depends on both the bandwidth of the link and the physical-layer loss rate;
therefore, the path selection method should take both the loss rate and the link bandwidth into account.

Interference Management
There are number of interference models defined, some of them are physical Interference model, primary Interference
model, protocol interference model, no spatial reuse model. The physical Interference model considers a set of links that
can be active at the same time only if the signal-to-interference and-noise ratio at every receiver of those links can remain
above a threshold. This model is harder with the applications of smart antennas, so it can be used in simulations, and no
algorithm is designed using this model. The primary Interference model simply treats collisions as the only interference
source. If two links e = (vi; vj) and e0 = (vi0; vj0) are incidents, then we say there exists primary interference in between. It
is usually much easier to design scheduling algorithms and analyze the network Performance using this primary model. In
the Protocol Interference model, the signal-to-interference and-noise ratio needs to be computed at each receiving node for
all pairs of links in order to design this protocol interference model. An interference graph is drawn, in which each vertex
corresponds to a communication link, and there exists an edge between two vertices if and only if the corresponding links
interfere with each other. We can identify for each node a set (ni) of neighboring nodes potentially interfering with it. This
model is rarely used in worldwide interoperability for microwave access research due to its difficulty. The no spatial reuse
model adopts well in trivial scheduling algorithm in the worldwide interoperability for microwave access standard. It fits
well at some point to multi point worldwide interoperability for microwave access network, 2-hop wireless radio network
that demands high signal to interference noise ratio. This model is too pessimistic, such that a lot of spectrum resources are
wasted. In the single hop interference model, two links interfere with each other if and only if they are at most 1-hop away
from each other. It is considerably more difficult than the primary interference model. This model is suitable for networks
with a request-to- send/clear-to-send based medium access control layer. Worldwide interoperability for microwave access
adopts a time division multiple access -based medium access control layer; 1 -hop interference model is not appropriate.
The K-hop Interference model is even harder than the 1-hop interference model. It is usually very hard to achieve exact
algorithms or even approximate algorithms with reasonable approximation ratios for a problem with such an interference
model. It is not as realistic as the interference range model, and is therefore rarely used in worldwide interoperability for
microwave access research. This model is used to study the maximum throughput scheduling problem in wireless networks.
Distributed wireless scheduling algorithms were designed using this model. This interference range mode decides whether
30 Kumar et al.: A Survey on Technical Issues in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multihop relay networks

or not interference may exist by the physical distance between end nodes of these two links. This model is closer to reality
and also more difficult. It is widely used in worldwide interoperability for microwave access research. Due to its hardness,
it is very difficult to design algorithms with any theoretical merit using this model.

Interference Degree Theory

The interference degree (e) of a link e is defined as the maximum number of links that interfere with e but do not
interfere with each other. It characterizes the potential loss of system capacity if link e is scheduled, since at most (e) other
links can be scheduled instead of the link e for the same resource. The interference degree of the entire network is the
maximum interference degree among all links. The interference degree does not measure the severity of interference in a
network. The performance of scheduling algorithms in wireless networks usually depends on the interference degree. The
interference degree of a link or a network is related to the interference model used. The most pessimistic model is the no
spatial reuse model, where any pair of links is considered interfering with each other. Obviously, the interference degree of
any link in such model is 1. The interference degree in a network with bidirectional equal power model is at most 8. The
interference degree can be unlimited in some networks with unidirectional equal power model". The difference between
their unidirectional equal power model and their bidirectional equal power model is that in the unidirectional model, all
links are considered directional. The interference degree is at most to 2 if the node exclusive spectrum sharing mode is
applied, which is called the primary interference model.

Interference Detection and Measurements

The target area to be mapped by the interference measuring scheme can be a MS-BS cell, a sector of a MS-BS cell, or a
cluster of adjacent cells. The interference measurements may be normalized in order to be further compared and evaluated
and thus allowing the interference management algorithm to take the proper steps to combat interference. The following
could be employed for interference detection and measurements in the IEEE 802.16j networks. Preamble sequence based
method that is suggested for determining the intrinsic 802.16j downlink related interference, in time division duplex mode
of operation. The relay station uplink interference pattern is built on the uplink sounding structure. The capacity of the
uplink sounding scheme can be estimated by calculating the number of uplink sounding band allowed in an uplink relay
zone and the length of an uplink sounding transmission.

Method for Interference and Signal to Interference Noise Ratio (SINR)

Prediction
Each station can measure the received signal strength of the relay amble transmitted from other stations; here, PR,i,j is the
received signal strength of the signal transmitted from node #i and received by node j, and PR,j,j is the thermal noise and
background interference power received by node j. The method for interference and signal to interference and noise ration
predicting different topology and radio resource reuse pattern is summarized as follows.
Step 1: Prediction of the interference plus noise power received by node i. The interference is the summation of (1) the
thermal noise plus background interference power received by node i and (2) the signal power not intended for node i.
Step 2: Prediction of the received signal to interference and noise ration of node i: The signal to interference and noise
ratio is the ratio of the total signal power destined to node i to the interference plus noise power obtained in Step 1.

Integration of WiMAX and Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi also called as wireless local area network or IEEE 802.11 provides wireless connectivity to local networks in the
unlicensed frequency band and offers low or free of cost internet connectivity, but worldwide interoperability for
microwave access, which is designed for point to multi point and operates in licensed and unlicensed bands, provides broad
band internet connectivity to the last mile access. In Wi-Fi, the subscriber stations are connected through access points, but
worldwide interoperability for microwave access- subscriber stations are connected to the base station. The IEEE 802.16j
standard provides point to multi point mode for subscriber station outside the base station coverage area and uses dedicated
relay stations to support the mobile nodes. For integrating Wi-Fi with worldwide interoperability for microwave access,
different scenarios are considered such as single mode client scenario, Dual mode client scenario, backhaul scenario, multi
hop heterogeneous scenario, dual gate way single mode client scenario, dual gate way dual mode client scenario, and
mobile / moving Networks scenario. In the single mode client scenario, the subscriber stations are connected to either base
station 1 or access point1 that is subscriber station 1 to base station 1 if it is within the coverage area of base station 1, and
subscriber station 2 to access point1 if it is within the coverage area of access point1. In the backhaul Scenario, subscriber
station 1 is connected to the Internet through point to point backhaul connection (BSi-BSj). In dual mode, subscriber station
1 is connected to both worldwide interoperability for microwave access- base station and Wi-Fi access points. In dual gate
Smart Computing Review, vol. 1, no. 1, October 2011 31

way mode, a dual gateway will connect to subscriber station and base station, which provides the coverage area of base
station. In multi hop mode, relay stations can provide coverage extension to the subscriber station for both base station and
also access points. In the mobile network scenario, a mobile gateway can be used by external clients outside the coverage
area of Wi-Fi / worldwide interoperability for microwave access.

Technical Issues in Security sub layer

A separate sub layer for security, called security sub layer, is defined in IEEE 802.16j at the bottom of the medium access
control layer. Two protocols are defined in this sub layer, privacy and key management protocol and encapsulation protocol.
IEEE 802.16j defines privacy and key version2 of privacy and key management protocol. This privacy and key version2
distributes security keys between the base station and subscriber station. The encapsulation protocol encrypts the
transmitted data. To ensure secured multicast and broad cast services, IEEE 802.16j defines multicast and broad case
rekeying algorithm to refresh traffic keying material. This standard defines two different security mechanisms, centralized
security mode and distributed security mode. (a) Centralized security mode: The Centralized security mode is based on key
management between the base station and subscriber stations. (b) Distributed Security mode: The Distributed Security
Control incorporates authentication and key management between the base station & relay stations and between relay
stations & subscriber stations. Connections may span multiple hops and may pass through one or more intermediate relay
stations. In distributed security mode these connections are identified by connection IDs, which are unique within the cell
area. An additional type of connection, called tunnel connection, may be established between the base station and relay
stations and subscriber stations. Tunnel connections shall be used for transporting relay medium access control protocol
data units from one or more connections between the base stations and access relay stations, and pass through one or more
intermediate relay stations. In IEEE 802.16j, three kinds of node stations are defined, subscriber station, base station, and
relay station. The subscriber stations do not know whether they connect directly to the base station or gain access to the
network through relay stations in distributed mode. The base station covers the area to serve to the subscriber stations
through one or more relay stations based on the mode of relay stations. The relay stations are of three kinds, fixed relay
stations, nomadic relay stations, and mobile relay stations. The fixed relay stations are used to cover the blind spot or for
indoor coverage. The nomadic relay stations do not move frequently and can adjust their positions if necessary; therefore,
they cover the hotspot. The mobile relay stations are placed in public transportation and provide high quality coverage for
inside users.

Conclusion and Future Works

The new IEEE 802.16j-2009 standard, which is an amendment to IEEE 802.16e -2004 standard, is a multi hop relay
specification for wireless networks. Technical issues such as Scalable orthogonal frequency division multiple access and
data forwarding schemes such as tunnel based and channel ID based forwarding scheme, frame structure for transparent
and non transparent mode of operation, Link adaptation, modulation and coding, tunneling were discussed, and these issues
belong to the physical layer of IEEE 802.16j networks, quality of service scheduling services such as, unsolicited grand
service, real time polling service, non-real time polling service, best-effort service, and extended real time polling service
are explained. Bandwidth allocation and request, Medium access control handover procedures such hard hand over, fast
base station switching, and macro diversity handover are discussed. Moreover, admission control, connection management,
path management, and interference management that belong to the medium access control layer are also discussed in this
paper. These issues are helpful for researchers in order to propose a new solution. In the future, we will solve some of the
technical issues such as network planning problem, relay placement problem, scheduling services problem, bandwidth
allocation problem, etc.

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D. SatishKumar is a PhD candidate of Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Anna

University of Technology Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu INDIA. He received his B.E., degree in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bharathiar University and M.E. degree in Computer
Science and Engineering from Manonmaniam Sundharnar University respectively. His research
interests accumulate in the area of IEEE 802.16j Multi hop Mobile networks, Routing, WIMAX
networks, Network management in wired Networks and Wireless Networks.

N. Nagarajan received his B.Tech and M.E. degrees in Electronics Engineering at M.I.T
Chennai. He received his PhD in Faculty of information and communication Engineering from
Anna University, Chennai. He is currently working as Principal, Coimbatore Institute of
Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore. He is member of board of study of faculty of
information Technology at Anna University of technology, Coimbatore. His specialization
includes optical, wireless Ad-hoc and sensor networks. He is guiding assorted research scholars
in optical networks and wireless networks.

Copyrights 2011 KAIS