WiMAX (IEEE 802.16-2004)

WiMAX is short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and it is defined by the IEEE 802.16 Working Group. Although first intended for fixed applications, the initial WiMAX standards have evolved to form the basis for mobile WiMAX as well.

The current version of the fixed WiMAX standard is 802.16-2004, sometimes also referred to as 802.16d. It is essentially frequency independent, allowing also nonline-of-sight (NLOS) operation in the lower end of the frequency range (frequencies below 3 GHz, according to Richardson (2006)). The radio access interface is based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with 256 subcarriers, although OFDMA2048 and single carrier access modes are included in the 802.16-2004 standard as alternatives. OFDM allows good resistance to interference and multipath fading.

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MOBILE BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS

Emerging telecommunications applications such as multimedia streaming, music download, on-line gaming and content browsing are popular examples of the digital revolution we have been facing as the world gets connected.Fixed broadband access has already become an urban commodity in the developed countries, but so far there have been few means of delivering these bandwidth-consuming services effectively and affordably to the significant number of rural and mobile users.

However, recent advances in e.g. signal processing, radio protocols, and mobile network infrastructure are now enabling the concept of mobile broadband for consumers around the world.

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Energy Efficiency Analysis for Mobile Broadband Networks

A recent analysis report by ABI Research finds that WiMAX and metro Wi-Fi technologies are both more energy cost effective than cellular technology.

The report, “Energy Efficiency Analysis for Mobile Broadband Networks,” pushes this as an important finding since carriers are moving to high-data-rate mobile broadband access which will cause rapidly-increasing energy consumption (energy costs represent the third most significant operating expense for cellular carriers).

 

The observation comes into stark relief against the backdrop of rapidly-increasing energy consumption as carriers move to high-data-rate mobile broadband access.

For those broadband networks, energy costs represent the third most significant operating expense (OPEX) for cellular carriers, and fluctuating energy costs are a significant area of concern for business planners, said the report entitled, “Energy Efficiency Analysis for Mobile Broadband Solutions.” The move to higher data rates means that the energy required per subscriber arising from increasing data uptake will push per-subscriber energy OPEX for cellular solutions past acceptable barriers—unless carriers move from a traditional cellular-only approach to one that integrates WiMAX and metro Wi-Fi.

Stuart Carlaw, director of wireless research at ABI Research, says that

From a pure coverage perspective WiMAX is twice as energy-cost-effective and metro Wi-Fi is 50 times more energy-cost-effective than WCDMA. When data traffic is factored into the equation, WiMAX can accommodate 11 times today’s average data consumption and still be more energy-cost-efficient compared to WCDMA.

A recent ABI Research study found that the total energy consumption arising from mobile broadband service delivery is forecast to grow from 42.8 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) in 2005 to 124.4 billion KWh in 2011. The Asia Pacific region will account for the majority of this growth.

(Note: The editor has not done his due diligence research to determine whether ABI Research is in any way connected to businesses or organizations that have a financial interest in the outcome this reports covers.)
Click here for information how to download the full report.