The Evolution Towards WiMAX
Convergence is a step towards the unpredictable future of wireless communications. Important increases are foreseen in supported bit rates and remarkable improvements in services, applications and wireless communication components. After presenting a brie
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The Evolution Towards WiMAX Ramjee Prasad and Fernando J. Velez
Abstract Convergence is a step towards the unpredictable future of wireless communications. Important increases are foreseen in supported bit rates and remarkable improvements in services, applications and wireless communication components. After presenting a brief history of wireless communications, a vision on nowadays wireless ecosystem is presented and the path towards broadband wireless access is explored. Details on IEEE 802.16 evolution are given and the reasons for the existence of the WiMAX Forum are explained. WiMAX service classes are described and salient features of WiMAX are highlighted.
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Introduction
The rapid growth of wireless communication and its pervasive use in all walks of life are changing the way we communicate in all fundamental ways. It is one of the most vibrant areas in the communication field today. Wireless communication dates back to the end of the nineteenth century when Maxwell showed through his equations that the transmission of information can be achieved without the need for a wire [1]. Later, experimentations by Marconi and other scientists proved that long distances wireless transmission may be a reality. True Wireless communications have gained a momentum in the last decade of twentieth century with the success of second Generation (2G) of digital cellular mobile services. Worldwide successes of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Personal digital Cellular (PDC) and digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (IS-54/136) have enabled pervasive ways of life for the new information and communication technology era. Second R. Prasad (*) Center for TeleInFrastruktur (CTIF), Aalborg University, Niels Jernes Vej 12, DK–9220 Aalborg Øst, Denmark e-mail: [email protected]
R. Prasad and F.J. Velez, WiMAX Networks, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8752-2_1, # Springer ScienceþBusiness Media B.V. 2010
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R. Prasad and F.J. Velez
5G
GIMCV
2020 IMT-A/4G High speed WLAN
WiBro 802.16e
2010 + LTE
5 GHz WLAN
WiMAX
PN & PN Federation IEEE 802.22
WPAN IEEE 802.20
3G 2.4 GHz WLAN
Bluetooth
2000
ZigBee
2G
1990 1G
1980 GIMCV: Global Information Multimedia Communication Village
Fig. 1.1 The progress tree for communication technology [5, 6]
Generation (2G), 2.5G, and Third Generation (3G) standards of mobile systems are being deployed everywhere worldwide, with different versions of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), while efforts are going on towards the development and standardization of Beyond 3G (B3G) systems, for example, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Wireless Local and Personal Area Networks (WLANs/WPANs) and ultimately towards Fourth Generation (4G) [2–4]. Figure 1.1 illustrates how the progress towards the next generation in communication technology, 4G, can be perceived as a tree, with many branches. But this is not the end of the tunnel; ever increasing user demands have drawn the industry to search for always best connected solutions to support data rates
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