WiMAX TECHNOLOGY

Wimax stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. Wimax technology is a
telecommunications technology that offers transmission of wireless data via a number of
transmission methods; such as portable or fully mobile internet access via point to multipoints
links. The Wimax technology offers around 72 Mega Bits per second without any need for the
cable infrastructure. Wimax technology is based on Standard that is IEEE 802.16, it usually
also called as Broadband Wireless Access. WiMAX Forum created the name for Wimax
technology that was formed in Mid June 2001 to encourage compliance and interoperability of
the Wimax IEEE 802.16 standard. Wimax technology is actually based on the standards that
making the possibility to delivery last mile broadband access as a substitute to conventional
cable and DSL lines.  
Wimax (802.16) technology often misinterpreted by the people by the names of mobile WiMAX,
802.16d, fixed WiMAX and 802.16e. Actually 802.16-2004 or 802.16d is developed by the third
party as a standard and it is also referred to called as Fixed WiMAX because this standard is
lacking behind just because of the non-mobility feature that’s why it’s often called as Fixed
WiMAX. During the maturity period of Wimax (802.16) technology some of the amendments
were made to the above mentioned 802.16d and they referred this amending standard as 802.16e.
802.16e introduced mobility and some other features amongst other standards and is also known
as Mobile WiMAX.

Less than one out of five people of the developed world and an even smaller, little percentage of
people across the world have broadband access today. Existing technologies such as Digital
Subscriber Line (DSL), cable, and fixed wireless are overwhelmed by expensive installs,
problems with loop lengths, upstream upgrade issues, line-of-sight restrictions, and poor
scalability.

Wimax (802.16) is the next stage to a broadband as well as a wireless world, extending
broadband wireless access to new locations and over longer distances, as well as considerably
reducing the cost of bringing broadband to new areas. Wimax (802.16) technology offers greater
range and bandwidth than the other available or forthcoming broadband wireless technologies
such as Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Ultra-wideband (UWB) family of standards. It provides a
wireless alternative to wired backhaul and last mile deployments that use Data Over Cable
Service Interface Specification (DOGS1S) cable modems, Digital Subscriber Line technologies
(DSL), T-carrier and E-carrier (Tx/Ex) systems, and Optical Carrier Level (OC-x) technologies.
The general initiative of metropolitan area wireless networking, as envisioned with 802.16,
begins with what is called fixed wireless. A backbone of base stations is connected to a public
network, and each base station carries hundreds of fixed subscriber stations, which can be both
public hot spots and fire-walled enterprise networks. Later in the development cycle of 802.16e,
Wimax (802.16) is expected to encourage mobile wireless technology specifically wireless
transmissions directly to mobile end users, This will be similar in function to the General Packet
Radio Service (GPRS) and the one times Radio Transmission Technology (RTT) offered by
mobile phone companies. 

New organizations as well as individuals are increasingly adopting broadband, whereas those
already using broadband are becoming dependent on it and are demanding better services with
added benefits. To support this exceptional new demand, Wimax (802.16) has emerged as a
feasible solution, because of its inherent features that holds great promise for the future of
wireless communications.  

There has been a lot of excitement about Wimax (802.16) and the impact that this standards
based wireless network technology will have on the broadband access market. All this hype has
generated great expectations, and the industry has responded with exceptional aggression and
commitment toward taking broadband to the next level with Wimax (802.16). 

How WiMAX Works

The backhaul of the Wimax (802.16) is based on the typical connection to the public wireless
networks by using optical fibre, microwave link, cable or any other high speed connectivity. In
few cases such as mesh networks, Point-to-Multi-Point (PMP) connectivity is also used as a
backhaul. Ideally, Wimax (802.16) should use Point-to-Point antennas as a backhaul to join
subscriber sites to each other and to base stations across long distance. 

A wimax base station serves subscriber stations using Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) or LOS Point-
to-Multi-Point connectivity; and this connection is referred to as the last mile communication.
Ideally, Wimax (802.16) should use NLOS Point-to-Multi-Point antennas to connect residential
or business subscribers to the Wimax Base Station (BS). A Subscriber Station (Wimax CPE)
typically serves a building using wired or wireless LAN.