WIMAX 802.

16e & ITS COMPARISON WITH

OTHER 3G TECHNOLGIES

Advanced Telecommunication ETS190

Submitted By:

Salman Hussain Changazi

wx07sh9@student.lth.se

Supervisor:

Ulf Körner

Department of Electrical and Information Technology

Lund University, Sweden.
 Abstract
WiMAX is revolutionizing the broadband wireless world, enabling the formation of a global
Wireless industry. These days many researchers, manufacturers and operators are looking at
IEEE 802.16, a WiMAX certified technology. WiMAX networks are foreseen to provide
broadband wireless access to mobile users everywhere at lowest costs. This report provides
valuable performance evaluations, some features and some drawbacks of WiMAX and finally it
reports about the comparison with other wireless broadband technologies like 3G, Wi-Fi etc. One
will be able to evaluate what such systems can do and what they cannot. No single technology
will become dominant. In fact, the most robust wireless solutions will use a combination of
technologies to enable increased mobility and eventually seamless roaming.

Introduction of Mobile WiMAX

Mobile WiMAX takes the fixed wireless application a step further and enables cell phone-like
applications on a much larger scale. For example, mobile WiMAX enables streaming video to be
broadcast from a speeding police or other emergency vehicle at over 70 MPH. It potentially
replaces cell phones and mobile data offerings from cell phone operators such as HSDPA. In
addition to being the final part in a quadruple play, it offers superior building penetration and
improved security measures over fixed WiMAX. Mobile WiMAX will be very valuable for
emerging services such as mobile TV and gaming.
The implementation of the IEEE 802.16 air interface standard promises to significantly broaden
the scope of wireless technology, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX).
Apart from the mobility the wireless broadband, the fixed standards-based, metropolitan area
network (MAN) WiMAX holds the potential to deliver high-speed data throughput over
distances up to 30 miles, approaching network connectivity speeds of up to 75 megabits per
second. Dependent on both the width of the radio spectrum and the range the signal must travel
WiMax throughput matches or exceeds current wireless broadband bandwidth and data-
transmission speeds. Expected to propel the propagation of broadband wireless access (BWA),
WiMAX is slated to provide the “last mile” connection in wireless MAN essentially bringing
wireless connectivity to the

                 Block diagram of WIMAX transmitter and receiver

OFDM Implementation in WiMAX
Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
It is algorithm for computing discrete Fourier transform. This is very efficient way for having
parallel processing. In OFDM technique we have large number of carriers and subcarriers which
have to be processed simultaneously at the same time. Apart from many other applications FFT
algorithm is also used in digital signal processing and also for solving partial differential
equations.

The Wimax 802.16d(2004) which is for fixed networks uses the OFDM 256 FFT Mode, and the
another mobile version of Wimax 802.16e uses OFDM 256 FFT Mode SOFDMA , it is for
NLOS as well. These two new access method s called OFDMA and SOFDMA slightly differ
from ordinary OFDM .They are more flexible in terms of no of carriers we want to select. For
example in 802.16-2004 we have options of using carriers and modulation schemes are

a- Single carrier, 256 OFDM or 2,048 OFDM

b- QPSK, 16 QAM, 64 QAM

The 802.16e-2005 uses

a- Single carrier, 256 OFDM or scalable OFDM with 128, 512, 1,024, or 2,048
subcarriers.

The OFDMA scheme we see in more detail below.

OFDMA TECHNIQUE
The OFDMA is the same as OFDM that they have narrowly spaced carriers, (and of course they
should be orthogonal, although the multipath channel will try to disturb the orthogonality that is
why we use different mechanisms to get rid of it) but the difference lies in the case where we
divide the sub carriers into another group of sub carriers. They then get together to form the a
sub channel and it is not mandatory that they should be adjacent to each other, and at the
receiver we detect them nicely depending on their own symbol time by the use of simple
equalization filter.

We define here the term sub channelization that actually means the sub channels that have been
allocated to different subscribers based on the channel requirements, (we do channel estimations
either by sending pilot carriers, or training sequences) and the respective data rate required by
the users. That is the reason that the Wimax BTS allocates variable power to users depending on
the interference and noise level obviously it has to induce more power where it sees that the
noise level is high compared to the signal strength. It is very effective way to lower the power
consumption, which is very important for long usage of batteries. And if we see the power
consumption in mobile which are operating through batteries power saving is crucial, also the
low use of power by the mobile is highly demanding in markets, (we can also save the power
either by using efficient power amplifiers and using suitable modulation schemes depending on
the application.
Its more practical aspect in providing high data rate is because of it handles multiple users in a
single time slot over several of the sub channels and that is not possible for its latest version,
and this salient feature makes it more prominent and attractive to use in modern communication
systems.
Another type of OFDMA used in Wimax 802.16e (that is actually the mobile version of Wimax)
is SOFDMA called scalable orthogonal frequency division multiple access. It differs from
OFDMA and has ability to face other practical problems. (in the case where the receiver is
moving with a certain speed , and apart from multipath fading we also cope with the Doppler
effects which strongly affects the carrier frequency) .let us have look on this technique in detail
from mobile Wimax perspective

                          SOFDMA IN 802.I6e

It scales the FFT size corresponding to the bandwidth of the wireless channel keeping the
spacing of subcarrier frequency unchanged, means the size varies proportionally with the size of
bandwidth of channel. In fact the system is this way becomes more efficient by making
maximum use of its resources. The number of the subcarriers is actually the same as the size of
FFT. We must always keep in mind that the fast Fourier transform algorithm and its inverse are
used simultaneously at the sending side and receiving side respectively (because it is the same
signal that is transmitted has to be received at the receiver).
It supports the bandwidth from 1.25MHZ to 20MHZ, resulting in a data rate ranging from
1Mbps to 15Mbps.The data rate depends on the user application and also on the medium through
which it has to send data. It has also capability to comply with the frequency shift, because of the
dynamic receiver positions, when it is moving towards and away from the receiver (named as the
Doppler Effect stated as when the receiver moves towards or away from the transmitter there is
shift in the frequency).
Each of its symbols consists of data subcarriers also called sub channels carrying the data and
pilot carriers as reference frequencies and for channel estimation purposes. Flexibility in terms of
data rates is very important, in practical systems because we have to provide a simple internet
service and we have to provide a broad band service at the same time and it deals with these
applications nicely. SOFDMA systems are well equipped with the modern diversity schemes
specially with the use of diversity at the transmitter that is possible by using space time coding
(called Almouti coding) in addition with hybrid automatic repeat request for the case where the
packet is lost and we have to retransmit again if we got the acknowledgement that the packet is
lost.
The low error probability is achieved by using efficient coding schemes and also the addition of
parity checks, and they work well also for providing better security to the systems. Adaptive
Antenna systems, MIMO systems are also used for larger coverage and to accommodate that is
why multiple input multiple out systems are employed for (but the receiver is rather more
complicated in such a scenario and we have to use an optimum receiver for such a case).the
specialized algorithms are designed to tackle with the multipath effects like delay spread .The
intersymbol interference, inter channel interference are caused by longer delay spreads. They are
actually these enhanced fast Fourier transform algorithms which work well to eliminate these
types of effects.
Wimax 802.16e has both the time division duplexer and frequency division duplexer,(the time
duplexer is simple in structure compared to that of frequency duplexer)and sometimes it uses the
functions of both of them at the same time. The MAC architecture protocol supports both the
point to multipoint and mesh mode. If we see point to multipoint mode works well at normal
conditions but its efficiency goes on decreasing drastically at saturation, where we have
congestion in the network for the bandwidth allocation and then we switch sometimes to polling,
where every subscriber is first polled before the allocation, all the sending request are transmitted
from the base station and the subscriber is not allowed to request for send. Only the user sends its
data after it has been granted permission by the base station. The algorithm for polling is rather
more complicated that is the reason its equipment is very expensive and fails to attract the
markets. The hybrid design of both the distributed function (that is used for point to multiple
point modes) and coordination function (polling) are still under investigation.

SOFDMA and OFDMA256 are not compatible, so most of the equipment has to be replaced
that is going to the drawback, but efforts are under way to find the common interface for both of
them or at least we have to provide a migration path from the older version to the new scalable
orthogonal frequency division multiple access.

MAC LAYER IN 802.16e

802.16e MAC uses a scheduling algorithm for which the subscriber station need compete once.
After that it is allocated slot by the base station. The time slot can enlarge and contract, but
remains assigned to the subscriber station, which means that other subscribers cannot use it. Its
stability under overload and over-subscription is well maintained, the scheduling algorithm can
also be more bandwidth efficient. The scheduling algorithm in the base station controls QoS
parameters by balancing the time-slot assignments among the application needs of the subscriber
state.
FEATURES OF WiMax
OFDM & Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation
WiMax has different mechanisms that ensure good QoS. First, the coding and modulation
schemes (64-QAM/16-QAM/QPSK) ensure steady signal strength over increasing distance.
Secondly, Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) is a mechanism that monitors the network and,
when interference or other detractions to signal strength occur, the base station allocates more
bandwidth and power for the afflicted stream.

Spectral Efficiency
Spectral efficiency is the measure of the width of the signal's beam through the air. It is also the
measure of the WiMax radio's scalability. In mobile WiMax, for example, commonly used beam
widths range from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz Efficiency of the product is determined by how much
bandwidth can be transported over how little beam width (MHz in this case). Spectral efficiency
is especially important in cases where a service provider is paying a high price for spectrum
(example: 40 MHz at 2.5 GHz). With high spectral efficiency, the service provider can service
more customers at a lower cost per subscriber for the spectrum in use.

WiMax Security
It’s another feature of WiMax; Security is set in the Privacy Sub layer in the MAC Layer. Per
their respective specifications, fixed WiMAX (802.16-2004) uses X.509 certificates for
authentication and 56-bit Digital Encryption System (DES) for encryption of the data stream.
Mobile WiMAX (802.16e-2005) uses EAP for authentication and Advanced Encryption System
for encryption. Vendors may use variants of these. Some vendors offer 152-bit AES, which is
rumored to take millions of years to crack with a consumer grade PC. Both variants use Privacy
Key Management (PKM) for authentication between base station and subscriber station. While
Wi-Fi may have suffered a bad reputation for security given early problems in the industry,
WiMAX offers strong security measures toward a wide variety of security threats.

Drawbacks and Suggested Solutions of WiMax

There are some drawbacks of this Technology; we must consider those when going to the phase
of implementation of this technology. Some important objections to WiMAX are:
Interference: The interference from other broadcasters may degrade the quality of the WiMAX
service.

1. Quality of Service (QoS): Wireless is inherently unstable so this can affect voice
and video services.
 2. Security: As it is believed that Wireless medium is less secure so Security of
WiMax can be big question.
3. Reliability: Also reliability of any wireless technology isn’t that much as compare
to cable network, so reliability of Wimax can be a question too.

The solutions to these drawbacks are best understood through the Physical (PHY) and Medium
Access Control (MAC) Layers. The WiMax Working Group no doubt were aware of these
objections based on experiences with earlier wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, LMDS, MMDS,
CDMA, GSM) and they made Wimax to fix failures of past wireless technologies.

Spectrum Allocation Problem

A major problem with WiMax is Spectrum Allocation; there are two main types of spectrum
Allocation. Licensed and unlicensed, the unlicensed bands such as 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz, which
are used for some applications, may reduce the performance and QoS of WiMax, which may
affect the commercial viability of the service. And for the licensed bands 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz
bands, they are currently occupied by some other services such as fixed-satellite, broadcasting-
satellite, etc. in some countries. The scarcity of suitable spectrum for WiMax may not be a
problem which can be satisfactorily resolved in the short term.

Peak to average power Ratio

One problem with OFDM systems is the high peak-to-average power Ratio (PAPR), which
significantly reduces the efficiency of the transmitter high power amplifier (HPA). Many
solutions have been suggested to reduce the peak power of OFDM signals. Using typical HPA
models and spectral masks, these PAPR reduction methods are evaluated in terms of the total
system degradation.

A Comparison of Wimax & 3G

Here we draw a comparison of WiMax with other wireless technologies. The Mobile WiMax
system was standardized in February 2006. According to several industry sources, the key
features of Mobile Wimax are that it uses OFDMA, MIMO, Beam-forming and a number of
other recent technology advancements that are labeled as features in 4G [LTE]. Due to that,
Wimax has some key advantages in comparison to other 3Gs, which were set up 7 years ago. It
supports several new features necessary for delivering mobile broadband services at vehicular
speeds greater than 120 km/hr with QoS. Some of WiMax key new features and benefits over
other wireless technologies are:

1. Introduces OFDMA, which improves spectrum efficiency (the amount byte transferred
on given width of frequency) around two times more than current 3G technologies or Wi-
Fi. For the same service, Wimax only need about half of the base station as would for
HSPA.
 2. Enables a wide range of advanced antenna systems including MIMO, beam-forming,
space-time coding and spatial multiplexing. It thus increases the covering range of
Wimax; it also can dynamically allocate frequency band (from 1.5 to 20 MHz) based on
user’s signal strength, bandwidth requirement. By this it makes better use of available
frequency to support more users, so have better spectral efficiency.
3. Dynamic Power Conservation Management ensures power efficient operation of battery
operated mobile handheld and portable devices in Sleep and Idle modes. This may be
critical for small devices like cell phones.
4. With 5 millisecond latency between hand hold devices and cellular tower, plus the
support of QoS, make Wimax good for high quality VOIP, this wireless data network
also competes with 2G and 3G on voice service. This is the reason why Qualcomm and
Ericsson are strongly against it.
5. Wimax is an open standard, which means there will be no or very little royalty. This is
one of the biggest advantages of Wimax.
6. Another important feature of Wimax is that it defines a Framework or APIs and leave
implement details to individual company. It thus makes it possible to plug in those most
recent progresses and keep itself up-to-date, and this also encourage competition to
develop better system.
7. The industry is working fast to offer high-speed data connection to portal devices, but the
market has split into two camps: one stands by wireless standards such as WiMax and
Wi-Fi, while the other supports mobile technology 3G and HSDPA. Wireless broadband
technologies Wi-Fi and WiMax are among the hot favorites. WiMax can support Web
connection of up to 75Mbps and a single base station can cover an area with a radius of
up to 30 miles.

Wi-Fi and WiMax have been largely confined to facilitating high-speed connectivity to laptops
and PDAs, while 3G and HSDPA have focused on mobile phones. However, there are now
suggestions that 3G can be extended to laptops, particularly as the data speeds offered by these
mobile standards catch up to those provided by WiMax or Wi-Fi. But mobile standards 3G and
High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) are fast becoming hot buzzwords. HSDPA is a
beefed up version of the Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) 3G technologies that specifically
improves the downlink speed, and is capable of supporting data connection of up to 1.4Mbps.

Nevertheless, many of the technologies incorporated by equipment vendors are very new and
much more complicated than people think. There has been fierce competition of Wimax talents
recently. In the short term, Intel will win big with this ITU approval of Wimax, and there will be
huge changes to the wireless technology landscape going forward, with huge money won and
lost. In any case, the consumer will be the eventual beneficiary of more competition in wireless
space. Currently, the front runners of Mobile Wimax are Alvarion, Samsung and Motorola.
Table Comparison of WiMAX with Other Broadband Wireless Technologies

Parameter Fixed Mobile HSPA 1x EV-DO

WiMAX WiMAX Rev A
Standards IEEE IEEE 802.16e- 3GPP 3GPP2
802.16-2004 2005
Throughput Up to 75 Up to 30Mbps Up to 10 Mbps Up to 2.4
Mbps Mbps

Bandwidth 3.5MHz and 3.5MHz, 5MHz 1.25MHz

7MHz in 7MHz, 5MHz,
3.5GHz 10MHz, and
band; 8.75MHz
10MHz in initially
5.8GHz
band
Modulation QPSK, 16 QPSK, 16 QPSK, 16 QAM QPSK,
QAM, 64 QAM, 64
QAM QAM 8 PSK, 16
QAM
Multiplexing TDM TDM/OFDMA TDM/CDMA TDM/CDMA
Duplexing TDD, FDD TDD initially FDD FDD
Frequency 3.5GHz and 2.3GHz, 800/900/1,800 800/900/1,800
5.8GHz 2.5GHz, and
initially 3.5GHz /1,900/2,100MHz /1,900MHz
initially
Coverage 3–5 miles < 2 miles 1–3 miles 1–3 miles
(typical)
Mobility Not Mid High High
applicable

Conclusion
In our project report, we studied about WiMAX, a wireless emerging technology, we discussed
about the basic OFDM technique and then the form which is implemented in WiMAX also we
tried to cover its MAC layer features. Lastly we made a comparison of WiMAX with other
wireless technologies like 3G etc. The growing demand for broadband services on a global scale
is clear and uncontestable. We can say that with respect to high data rates and reliability and
security, WiMAX is more efficient than any other and will get more success in future specially
its mobile version. But In fact, the most robust wireless solutions will use a combination of
technologies to enable increased mobility and performance.
 References
1. William Stallings. Mobile Communications and Networks. Published: Prentice Hall
cop. 2005.
2. Andreas F. Molisch. Mobile Wireless Communications. Wiley, IEEE press, ISBN:
047084888X
3. “Broadband Wireless; The New Era in Communication” Intel White paper
4. Chris Snow, Lutz Lampe, and Robert Schober “Analysis of the Impact of WiMAX-OFDM
Interference on Multiband OFDM”, pp 761- 766, “IEEE Communications letters”, 2007.
5. S. H. Muller and J. B. Huber, “OFDM with Reduced Peak-to-Average Power Ratio by
Optimum Combination of Partial Transmit Sequences,” Electronics Letters, vol. 33, pp.
368-369, February 1997.
6. Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Kfm. Christian P. Hoymann, Prof. Dr.-Ing. B. Walke, Dipl.-Ing Benedikt
M. Wolz, “Metropolitan Area Networks and its Future Potentials”, European Wireless
2006.
7. WiMAX’s Applications and Drawbacks
http://www.wimax.com/education/wimax/wimax_overview
8. OFDM Implementation
www.ofdm.eecs.berkeley.edu/
9. WiMAX’s Features
http://www.wimaxforum.org/home/
10. OFDM
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COFDM