Worldwide Interoperability

for
Microwave Access
( Wi - MAX)

D C Sonkhla,
SDE Computer, BRBRAITT
 Introduction

The Wi-MAX certification mark is

given to product that pass
conformity and interoperability
test for the IEEE 802-16
standard which caters for the Air
interface standard for point-to-
multipoint broad-band Internet
access over a wireless
connection.
Oct 22, 2008 2
 Introduction

Wi-MAX is an acronym that stands for

World-wide Interoperability for Microwave
Access.
It is an ideal method for ISP to deliver high
speed broadband to locations where wired
connections would be difficult or costly.
Wi-MAX delivers a point-to-multipoint
architecture.
It doesn't require a direct line of sight
between the source and endpoint and it
has a service range of 50 Kms.
It provides a shared data rate of up to 70
Mbps, which is enough to service up to a
thousand homes with high-speed access.
Oct 22, 2008 3
 Advantages of Wi-MAX

High speed of broadband service

upto 70 Mbps.
Wireless rather than wired access,
so that it would be a lot less
expensive than cable or Digital
Subscriber Line (DSL) and much
easier to extend to suburban and
rural areas.
Broad coverage like the cell phone
network instead of small Wi-Fi
hotspots , 50 Kms.
Oct 22, 2008 4
 Wi-MAX standards

IEEE 802.16-2004 is for fixed point-to-point

and point-to-multipoint wireless access. It is
akin to a faster, airborne version of Digital
Subscriber Line (DSL) or cable-modem
services, It is also called first Non Line of Sight
(NLOS), Broad-Band Wireless access (BWA)
standard.
IEEE 802.16e is for mobile wireless access
from laptops and hand held. It is analogous to a
faster version of third-generation (3G)
telecommunications technology. (Wi-Max
proponent Intel Corp. has promised 802.16e-
enabled laptops by early 2007)
True roaming cell-like wireless broadband , is
IEEE standard 802.20, which is compatible
with Wi-MAX.

Oct 22, 2008 5

 Working of Wi-MAX

Wi-MAX operates similar to Wi-Fi but at

higher speeds, over greater distances and
for a greater number of users. It consists
of following two parts:
b. A Wi-MAX tower, similar in concept to a
cell-phone tower, and which can provide
coverage to a very large area as big as
3,000 square miles (~8,000 square km).
c. A Wi-MAX receiver, and antenna could be
like a PCMCIA (Personal Computer
Memory Card International Association)
card, or they could be built into a laptop
similar to Wi-Fi access.

Oct 22, 2008 6

 Working of Wi-MAX

It can provide two forms of wireless

service:
The non-line-of-sight, Wi-Fi sort of
service, where a small antenna on
your computer connects to the
tower.
In this mode, Wi-MAX uses a lower
frequency range - 2 GHz to 11 GHz
(similar to Wi-Fi).
As lower-wavelength transmissions
are not as easily disrupted by
Oct 22, 2008
physical obstructions they provided 7
 Working of Wi-MAX

The line-of-sight service, where a

fixed dish antenna points straight at
the Wi-MAX tower from a rooftop or
pole.
The line-of-sight connection is
stronger and more stable, so it is
able to send a lot of data with fewer
errors.
Line-of-sight transmissions use
higher frequencies, with ranges
reaching a possible 66 GHz.
At higher frequencies, there is less
Oct 22, 2008
interference and lots more bandwidth 8
 Fig 1
Oct 22, 2008 9
 Working of Wi-MAX

Wi-MAX operates on the same general

principles as Wi-Fi.
A typical Wi-MAX network sends data from
one computer to another via radio signals.
A computer (either a desktop or a laptop)
equipped with Wi-MAX would receive data
from the Wi-MAX transmitting station,
using encrypted data keys to prevent
unauthorized users from stealing access.
The fastest Wi-Fi connection can transmit
up to 54 megabits per second under
optimal conditions.
Wi-MAX should be able to handle up to 70
megabits per second. Even once those 70
megabits is split up between several dozen
businesses or a few hundred home users, it
will provide at least the equivalent of
Oct 22, 2008 cable-modem transfer rates to each user. 10
 Working of Wi-MAX

The Wi-MAX protocol is a way of

networking computers together Wi-MAX
does not conflict with Wi-Fi.
It is designed to interoperate with Wi-Fi
and may indeed complement it.
This complementarity to Wi-Fi also extends
to all flavors of wired Ethernet (IEEE 802.3
), token ring (IEEE 802.5) and non-IEEE
standards that use the same Logical Link
Control (LLC) including Fiber Distribution
Data Interface (FDDI) and cable modem
Data Over Cable Service Interface
Specification (DOCSIS).

Oct 22, 2008 11

 Technical Advantage of Wi-MAX

IEEE 802.16 networks use the same Logical Link

Controller (standardized by IEEE 802.2) as other
LANs and WANs.
It can be both bridged and routed to them.
Wi-MAX is a wireless Metropolitan Area Network
(MAN) technology that can connect IEEE 802.2
(Wi-Fi) hotspots to the Internet and provide a
wireless extension to cable and DSL for last
mile (last km) broadband access.
IEEE 802.16 provides up to 50 kms (31 miles) of
linear service area range and allows users
connectivity without a direct line of sight to a
base station.
Note that this should not be taken to mean that
users 50 kms (31 miles) away without line of
sight will have connectivity.

Oct 22, 2008 12

 Technical Advantage of Wi-MAX

The technology also provides shared data

rates up to 70 Mbps, which, according to
Wi-MAX proponents, is enough bandwidth
to simultaneously support more than 60
businesses with T1-type connectivity and
well over a thousand homes at 1Mbps DSL-
level connectivity.
An important aspect of the IEEE 802.16 is
that it defines a MAC layer that supports
multiple Physical Layer (PHY)
specifications .
The MAC is significantly different from that
of Wi-Fi (and Ethernet from which Wi-Fi is
derived).
Oct 22, 2008 13
 Technical Advantage of Wi-MAX

In Wi-Fi, the Ethernet uses contention

access: all subscriber stations wishing to
pass data through an access point are
competing for the Access Points (AP's),
attention on a random basis.
This can cause distant nodes from the
Access Point (AP) to be repeatedly
interrupted by less sensitive, closer nodes,
greatly reducing their throughput.
By contrast, the 802.16 MAC is a scheduling
MAC where the subscriber station only has
to compete once (for initial entry into the
network).
After that it is allocated a time slot by the
base station.
Oct 22, 2008 14
 Technical Advantage of Wi-MAX

The time slot can enlarge and constrict,

but it remains assigned to the subscriber
station meaning that other subscribers are
not supposed to use it but take their turn.
This scheduling algorithm is stable under
overload and over subscription (unlike
802.11).
It is also much more bandwidth efficient.
The scheduling algorithm also allows the
base station to control Quality of Service
(QoS) by balancing the assignments among
the needs of the subscriber stations.

Oct 22, 2008 15

 Technical Advantage of Wi-MAX

The Wi-MAX outdistances Wi-Fi by

miles. Wi-Fi's range is about 100
feet (30 metres). Wi-MAX will
blanket a radius of 30 miles (50
kms) with wireless access.
The increased range is due to the
frequencies used and the power of
the transmitter.
Wi-MAX is both faster and has a
longer range than Wi-Fi. However,
Wi-MAX does not necessarily
conflict with Wi-Fi but is designed
to interoperate with it and may
Oct 22, 2008 indeed complement it. 16
 Wi-MAX (IEEE 802.16) Specifications

Range: 30 miles (50-kms) radius

from base station.
Speed: 70 Mbps.
Line-of-sight not needed between
user and base station.
Frequency bands: 2 to 11 GHz and
10 to 66 GHz (licensed and
unlicensed bands).
Defines both the MAC and PHY
layers and allows multiple PHY-
layer specifications.
Oct 22, 2008 17
 Network Scale

The smallest-scale network is a Personal

Area Network (PAN).
A PAN allows devices to communicate with
each other over short distances. Bluetooth
is the best example of a PAN.
The next step up is a Local Area Network
(LAN). A LAN allows devices to share
information, but is limited to a fairly small
central area, such as a company's
headquarters, a coffee shop or your house.
E.g. Wi-Fi to connect the network
wirelessly.
Wi-MAX is the wireless solution for the
next step up in scale, the Metropolitan
Area Network (MAN).
A MAN allows areas the size of cities to be
connected. (Figure 2)
Oct 22, 2008 18
 Figure -2: The Network Scale

Oct 22, 2008 19

 Standards

The current 802.16 standard is IEEE Std 802.16-

2004. It renders the previous (and 1st) version
802.16-2001 obsolete, along with its
amendments 802.16a and 802.16c.IEEE Std
802.16-2004 addresses only fixed systems.
802.16-2004: IEEE Standard for Local and
Metropolitan Area Networks Part 16 -- Air Interface for
Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems
802.16.2-2004: IEEE Recommended Practice for
Local and Metropolitan Area Networks -- Coexistence
of Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems.
802.16-2001 obsolete by 802.16-2004.
802.16a amendment, obsolete by 802.16-2004.
802.16c amendment, obsolete by 802.16-2004.
802.16e in progress, adds mobility to the standard.

Oct 22, 2008 20

 Standards

An amendment to the standards,

802.16e, and addressing mobility
was concluded in 2005.
This is some times called “Mobile
Wi-MAX”, and should not be
confused with 802.20, the planned
standards for “Mobile Broadband
Wireless Access (MBWA)” itself
probably some years away.

Oct 22, 2008 21

 The Wi-MAX Difference

Wi-MAX promises to provide high-speed

wireless connectivity more simply and
cost-effectively than current cellular
technologies, and it offers the scalability
to deliver affordable broadband access
across India.
Because its wireless infrastructure can be
extended to provide portable and mobile
device support in the future, Wi-MAX has
additional advantages for developing
economies such as that of India, that don’t
have widespread broadband infrastructure
already in place.
By leapfrogging to the latest technology,
they gain not only the best broadband
connectivity when in a fixed environment,
but also the potential to easily add fully
mobile high-speed data connectivity in the
Oct 22, 2008 future. 22
 The Wi-MAX Difference

Because Wi-MAX is standards-based, it can

enable economies of scale that will bring
down the cost of broadband access and
ensure interoperability while increasing
ease of implementation.
Without standards, proprietary equipment
manufacturers provide the entire stack of
hardware and software building blocks,
and restrictive licensing can drive up costs.
For the service provider, standards-based
products with fewer variants and larger
volume production will drive the cost of
equipment down.

Oct 22, 2008 23

 The Wi-MAX Difference

Competition among vendors will also lower

equipment costs, because service
providers will be able to buy from many
sources and shop for the best price.
For consumers, wireless products will be
differentiated by the service, not the
technology, and thus the consumer will
benefit from a variety of competitive and
cost-effective solutions that match their
communication needs.
Table 1 depicts the throughput comparison
between other cellular technologies and
Wi-MAX.
Wi-MAX delivers greater throughput and
greater scalability to meet consumer’s
needs.
Oct 22, 2008 24
 Table1. Comparison of cellular
technologies and Wi-MAX

Cellular Wi-MAX
Metric 1xEVDO 802.16- 802.16
Edge HSPDA
2004 e
Technoloy TDMA WCDMA (5 CDMA2K OFDM/OF Scalable
Familyand GMSK QPSK DMA OFDMA
MHz) QPSK
Modulation & 16 QAM & 16 QAM QPSK, 16AM
QPSK, 16
and 8-PSK & 64 QAM
QAM &
64 QAM
Peak Data Rate 473 Kbps 10.8 Mbps 2.4 Mbps 75 Mbps (20 75 Mbps
MHz (Max)
channel) 18
Mbps (5 MHz
channel)

Average User T-put < 130 < 750 kbps < 140 Kbps 1–3 Mbps 80% pfmc

Throughput Kbps initially of fixed usage

model

Range Outdoor 2–10 kms 2–10 kms 2–10 kms 2–10 kms 2–7 kms
(Avg Cell)
Channel BW 200 KHz 5 MHz 1.25 MHz Scalable Scalable
1.5–20 1.5–20 MHz
MHz

Oct 22, 2008 25

 The Wi-MAX Difference

Wi-MAX suits India’s broadband requirement

because, there is no comprehensive wired
communications infrastructure in place today.
Wired broadband technologies like Digital
Subscriber Line (DSL) connectivity can reach
only about 5 Kms (~ 3 miles) from the central
office switches, making them an expensive and
unrealistic option to reach the rural and remote
areas of India.
Planning and expanding the wired “last-mile”
solution is a challenge in these areas.
In new localities, it is a challenge for
telecommunications operators to estimate
physical wiring infrastructure needed for future
growth, and maintenance and upgrading may
necessitate excavating the earth to lay many
Kms/miles of extra cables.
Both add significant operational costs.

Oct 22, 2008 26

 The Wi-MAX Difference

Cable broadband service is another

wired last-mile solution.
Most cable broadband services in
India offer just 64 Kbps of
connectivity.
This is not significantly faster than
a dial-up connection and does little
to improve the Internet user
experience.
There is also no consistent
infrastructure quality or
organization and local Internet
service providers, so Internet users
Oct 22, 2008
don’t experience consistent Quality 27
 Evolution of Wi-MAX

The first phase of Wi-MAX technology

(based on IEEE 802.16-2004) is providing
fixed wireless connections via outdoor
antennae from the first half of 2005.
In the second half of 2005, Wi-MAX is
available for indoor installation, with
smaller antennae similar to a Wi-Fi access
point today.
In this fixed indoor model, Wi-MAX is
available for use in wide consumer
residential broadband deployments, as
these devices become "user installable,"
lowering installation costs for carriers.
By 2006, the technology will be integrated
into mobile computers to support roaming
between Wi-MAX service areas.
Figure 3 depicts the evolution of Wi-MAX.
Oct 22, 2008 28
 Figure -3: Evolution of Wi-MAX

Oct 22, 2008 29

 Advantages of Wi-MAX

The broad band Internet access has

biggest limitation of last mile solution and
higher data rate.
The presently available technologies like
Wi-Fi does not provides sufficient band
width coverage is very limited roaming ,
backhaul, interference and security are
also its limitations.
Wi-MAX has been evolved takes care all
these limitations.
The coverage area of one site is very large
the coverage radius is 50Kms as compare
to Wi-Fi which requires 650 access points
to cover 10 Sq Km area.
The bandwidth of 70 Mbps is good enough
to cater hundreds of home users.
Roaming and mobility is available, security
Oct 22, 2008
features are better that Wi-Fi. 30
 Advantages of Wi-MAX

The Wi-MAX standard offers a great deal of

design flexibility including support for
licensed and license-exempted frequency
bands, channel widths ranging from 1.5
MHz to 20 MHz, per-connection Quality of
Service (QoS) and strong security
primitives.
802.16 is optimized to deliver high, bursty
data rates to the subscriber but the
sophisticated Medium Access Control
(MAC) architecture can simultaneously
support real-time multimedia and
isochronous applications such as Voice
over IP as well.
This means that Wi-MAX is uniquely
positioned to support applications
requiring advanced QOS, such as Internet
telephony & streaming video.
Oct 22, 2008 31
 Indian Scenario of Wi-MAX Role out

In India, WebSky has created a joint

venture with World-Wide Wireless India
(WWWI) to design, build and run a network
that could address 75m people.
WebSky will provide the funding and will
construct the system while WWWI will
contribute its licensed frequencies in
3.5GHz spectrum, which cover nine large
cities, including Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi,
Calcutta, Chennai (Madras), Bangalore and
Hyderabad.
The first build-out will occur in the city of
Ludhiana, in the Punjab.
Also in India, telecom giant Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced
plans to roll out Wi-MAX and Wi-Fi services
in 10 major cities, including Hyderabad,
Pune, Ahemdabad and Bangalore.The
installation and commissioning of Wi-Fi
Oct 22, 2008
and Wi-MAX certified equipment of BSNL is
under progress and will be rolled out 32
 Indian Scenario of Wi-MAX Role out

It will build 400 to 500 Wi-Fi hotspots, in

the first phase, at public locations such as
airports, hotels, universities and hospitals,
and will use Wi-MAX for backhaul and for
some last mile services, complementing its
existing fixed, mobile and internet services
across India.
On trial basis BSNL has deployed Cambridge
Broadband’s Vectastar Equipment in
Gurgoan near Delhi.
Its CPEs are multi frequency and multi
sector.
Vectastar’s technology product is used for
both access and transmission with the
network combining IP based access services
with the backhaul of traffic from GSM, 3G,
Oct 22, 2008
Wi-Fi and Wi-MAX base stations. 33
 Indian Scenario of Wi-MAX Role out

French telecom major Alcatel has joined

hands in an agreement with the Centre for
Development of Telematics (CDoT) to set
up a global research and development
centre in India for broadband wireless
products.
The joint venture facility, to be established
in Chennai, will employ 1,000 people and
initially work on Wi-MAX technology.
Alcatel believes that broadband wireless
and particularly Wi-MAX is appropriate
technology for India keeping in mind the
requirements of the rural sector.

Oct 22, 2008 34

 Indian Scenario of Wi-MAX Role out

Tokyo is having the first major

deployment of a Wi-MAX Metropolitan Area
Network (MAN) in the world .
The Yozan MetroZone will deliver high
speed IP connectivity with support for
voice, video and broadband data services.
Airspan Networks and partner Yozan has
commenced trials in the second quarter of
2005 and the commercial rollout has
begun from the fourth quarter of the year.
The contract is valued in excess of $12
million. This is a just a sample of how big
the market for Wi-MAX technologies can be
in India.

Oct 22, 2008 35

 Abbreviations

1. LAN: Local Area Network.

2. AP: Access Point.
3. EP: Extension Point .
4. ISM: Industrial Scientific & Medical
5. MAC: Media Access Control.
6. CSMA/CA: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with
Collision Avoidance.
7. DSL: Digital Subscriber Line .
8. IEEE: Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers
9. OSI: Open systems Interconnect.
10. PCMCIA: Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association.
11. NLOS: Non Line of Sight .
12. BWA: Broadband Wireless access
13.C-DoT: Centre for Development of Telematics.
14.LLC: Logical Link Control.
15. DOCSIS:Data over Cable Service Interface Specification.
16. PAN: Personel Area Network.
17. WWWI: Worl-Wide Wireless India.

Oct 22, 2008 36

THANK YOU