WiMAX Questions and Answers
Q: What is WiMAX?
A: WiMAX is a wireless broadband technology. The term WiMAX comes from 'Wireless (Wi) Microwave Access (MAX).' WiMAX is very similar to Wi-Fi in that it uses the same core technology of wireless modulation developed way back in the '60's called OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing).
Q: How is WiMAX different from Wi-Fi?
A: The fundamental technology is the same.
• The real benefit of WiMAX technology is that you can run signals very, very close to each other on wireless channels. You can have super narrow lanes, so you can put a lot of traffic over them and they don't disrupt each other. Wi-Fi channels are wider and have a fixed width.
• Wi-Fi technology has been delivered in unlicensed spectrum. WiMAX will use one of the unlicensed frequencies, but we're also supporting two other frequencies that are licensed. This means you can turn up the output power and broadcast longer distances.
3) WiMAX is designed to be a carrier-grade technology, which requires a higher level of reliability and quality of service than typical Wi-Fi implementations.
Those fundamental differences make WiMAX more of a metropolitan area access technology versus hotspot.
Q: What is the WiMAX standard and when will it be published?
A: 802.16-2004 is the fixed, point-to-multi point broadband wireless access version of WiMAX. The first generation of the technology will allow service providers to deploy fixed broadband services (similar to DSL or cable). We expect to see commercial trials of that standard in the second half of this year.
Later this year 802.16e will be published, which sometimes is referred to as the 'portable' or 'nomadic' phase of WiMAX. It will offer broadband connectivity similar to Wi-Fi. When you use a notebook in a hotspot or in a building, you'll be able to move around at pedestrian speeds and maintain your broadband connection. Because the 802.16e standard is already largely defined, silicon vendors will be able to deliver products at the same time the standard gets published. This will result in commercial products in late 2006. So 'nomadic phase' will roll out about a year after the fixed phase.
Solutions built on the first generation of 802.16e in 2006 won't allow for the fast hand-off like you're used to with a cell phone. The true mobility – which most people think of as high speed roaming and fast hand off – will most likely be ready in late 2007.
Q: What will users be able to do via WiMAX that they can't do with existing technologies?
A: WiMAX is very cost effective technology to quickly deploy in the regions which otherwise would not have broadband access. So WiMAX helps spread broadband to more users more quickly than existing technologies.
Another benefit of WiMAX is the ability to get higher connection speeds farther away from the transmitter. Right now you can get a really high speed connection in Wi-Fi close to the transmitter. The other option is that you can get a pretty slow Internet connection using a cellular technology, which spans a greater distance. WiMAX fits between those two offerings. You'll get speeds similar to close-up Wi-Fi connections out to several miles away from the transmitter.
WiMAX will also be much easier to install, which makes it more cost-effective for service providers and hopefully some of those savings will accrue to users. For example, with 802.16-2004, service providers will be able to offer users last mile access with an external antenna mount. Shortly thereafter we expect to offer that same service so people can put that antenna inside on their desk near their window. Either way, it's easier to install than Wi-Fi, which requires precise alignment between access points. Our goal here is to enable self installation.
When 802.16e comes out in 2006, the improvements become more obvious. This is where we're adding scalability and multi-access capabilities to the fixed OFDM technology. We'll make the channels scalable and the lanes different sizes to extend broadband wireless access across a larger geography.
Q: How does WiMAX compare to 3G?
A: 3G has been built on the foundation of a voice network. And the 3G community is adding data capability to it. The objective for WiMAX 802.16e is to be a high speed data service that can be used to extend and complement 3G service. Several 3G service providers are worried that as data use grows they will not have enough spectrum for both their voice customers and their data customers. So they're interested in WiMAX as a complementary data service technology that they can deploy with their 3G voice service. So essentially, WiMAX is very targeted for wireless data, not wireless voice.
There's another big difference between WiMAX and cellular technologies in general. Cellular was architected from the network and base station all the way out to the client (the phone) and different vendors' equipment didn't necessarily work together. Eventually there were a lot of separate networks. Roaming agreements have been put in place, so that more so and more so you can work on other people's networks, although you'll be charged extra for it. WiMAX is working to get that type of interoperability from Day One. That means if you buy a client made out of silicon by Intel, you could use it on several different networks even if the base stations are provided by different companies.
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