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Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

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Page 1: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

w w w . g r e e n p a c k e t . c o m

WHITEPAPER

WiMAX 2.0 – SIGNIFYING THE NEXT GENERATION OF WiMAX

Page 2: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

WHITEPAPER

Abstract

The last three decade of technological advancement and worldwide

adoption of wireless networks have been phenomenal, bringing us through

basic analog first generation (1G) to the now high-speed digital fourth

generation (4G) systems. Providing us with increased data transfer rates

that make VoIP, real-time information sharing, video streaming and

data-intensive applications possible today, delivering mobility which users

have come to expect through wireless devices.

Continuous improvements in semiconductor and computing technologies

are providing great encouragement to the industry and consumers to

automatically anticipate what’s next. The dawn of 4G is fast coming into

reality with over 583(1) WiMAX and 105(2) LTE networks deployed to date.

As we move towards embracing this adoption either by choice or by

chance, there is much debate especially amongst the WiMAX service

provider community as to which technology camp to adopt. Much of this

can be attributed to the breadth of technology covered under the 4G

banner, the wide range of business interests involved in creating the 4G

vision and the various progression path of making 4G real.

The purpose of this paper is to:

• Summarize the current state of Wireless Broadband & Networking

• Present the next decade of change installed for WiMAX

• State key 4G device requirements

1WiMAX Forum : Monthly Industry Report, May 2011

2GSA : GSA Evolution To LTE Report, Oct 2012

Page 3: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

Contents

The Current State of Wireless Networking 01

Going Beyond 3G

WiMAX in Focus

The Next Decade for WiMAX 06

The Path to 4G – Connecting People

- WiMAX in 4G

The Path to M2M – Connecting Machines

- WiMAX in M2M

4G Requirements for Device 14

WHITEPAPER

Page 4: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Current State ofWireless Networking

Business is increasingly becoming a mobile activity, and as a result, the

wireless networks and services used to support those developments are

growing in importance. In both the business-to-business (B2B) and

business-to-consumer (B2C) environments, the availability of more reliable,

higher-capacity wireless data networks allow the expanding reach of

business into the mobile environment. The evolution of our public wireless

networks can be depicted in four distinct generations, each of which is

characterized by a number of key technical innovations that resulted to

specific commercial impact.

The early ‘First Generation’ systems comprise of independently-developed

systems worldwide like Analogue Mobile Phone System (AMPS), used in

America, Total Access Communication System (TACS), used in parts of

Europe, Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT), used in parts of Europe and

Japanese Total Access Communication System (J-TACS), used in Japan

and Hong Kong. The use of analogue technology were confined within

national boundaries attracting only a small number of users, as the

equipment was expensive, cumbersome and power-hungry, and therefore

was only practical in a vehicle that is able to provide a power source.

The ‘Second Generation’ digital systems known as Global System for

Mobile Communication (GSM) brought about noticeable change, propelling

wireless telecommunication further by making global roaming possible, due

in part by the collaborative spirit in which it was developed under the

European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). GSM became a

robust, interoperable and widely-accepted standard. Fuelled by advances

in mobile handset technology, which resulted in small, fashionable terminals

with long battery life. The widespread acceptance of the GSM standard

became near-universal, first in the developed world with voice and text,

then later through the introduction of basic data services. Meanwhile in the

developing world, GSM begin connecting communities and individuals in

remote regions where fixed-line connectivity was nonexistent and would be

cost prohibitive to deploy.

The Current State of Wireless Networking - 01WHITEPAPER

Page 5: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Current State of Wireless Networking - 02WHITEPAPER

This ubiquitous availability and user-friendliness sparked practical

consumer reliance and increased demand, thus providing the industry with

encouragement for continuous progression. Over the last decade,

expansion of service provisioning grew beyond voice and leans heavily

towards packet-switched data with the development of numerous ‘Third

Generation’ technologies, dominated mainly by the 3rd Generation

Partnership Project (3GPP & 3GPP2) family of technologies which sparked

the Wireless Broadband race.

Introduced in the early days of 2002, the second path of evolution of

wireless broadband emerged, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE) 802 LAN/MAN standard committee created the 802.16

standard or more commonly known as WiMAX. While the first version

802.16-2004 was restricted to fixed access, the following version 802.16e

and often referred to as mobile WiMAX, includes basic support of mobility.

In later years, the International Standards Union (ITU) listed WiMAX as an

official IMT-2000 technology, and based on latest adjustments made to the

4G definition, confers mobile WiMAX as ‘Fourth Generation’ (4G), although

debated by certain camps to be more befitting as 3.9G with its next

iteration of 802.16m (an IMT-Advance standard) officially as 4G.

Nevertheless, WiMAX has since 2008, gained popular recognition globally

as a wireless broadband technology standard.

Continuing the technology progression within the 3GPP technology family,

Long Term Evolution (LTE) emerged as its latest technology standard to

complete the trend of expansion of service provision towards multiservice

air interface. Relatively new to market, LTE has rapidly moved from the early

stages of deployment, to demonstrate its commercial applicability and fit by

a broad set of global operator segments within varying spectrums.

Recognizing these developments, the wireless industry is now aligning itself

to take advantage of these advancements. Identifying LTE as the principle

wireless platform positioned to drive the next decade of wireless networks.

Ultimately, operator networks will support an all IP-based framework as

specified in 3GPP and 3GPP2 standards. Similarly to that extent, WiMAX,

previously a rival technology would follow suit and integrate the support of

both WiMAX and 3GPP TD-LTE standards.

Page 6: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

WHITEPAPER

Going Beyond 3G

GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA and HSPA is the technology stream of choice for

the vast majority of the world’s mobile operators, typically offering

commercial downlink speeds of 1-5Mbps with expectation that beyond

10Mbps per user will be widely available in the near future. From a

standardization perspective, 3G work is now well-advanced and, while

improvements continue to be made to maximize performance from

currently deployed systems, there is a limit to the extent to which further

enhancements will be effective. If the motivations were to deliver higher

performance, then this in itself would be relatively easy to achieve. The

added complexity is that such improved performance must be delivered

through systems which are cheaper to install and maintain. Dramatic

reduction in telecommunications charges and increase in capability is

expected. Therefore, in deciding the next standardization step, there must

be a dual approach of seeking considerable performance improvement but

at reduced cost.

The Current State of Wireless Networking - 03

WiMAX802.16m

LTEAdvance

IEEE802.11b

GSM

CDMA(IS-95A)

802.11a

GPRS

CDMA(IS-95B)

802.11g

E-GPRSEDGE

WCDMAFDD/TDD

TD-SCDMALCR/TDD

CDMA2000

802.11h

Fixed WiMAX802.16d

WiBRO

HSDPAFDD/TDD

HSUPAFDD/TDD

1xEVDORel 0/A/B

Mobile WiMAX802.16e

802.11n

HSPA+

LTEE-UTRA

UMB802.20

2G

3GPP2

3GPP

IEEE

2.5G 3G 3.5G

1995 2000 2010 2015

WiMAX802.16m

LTEAdvance

TDMA(IS-136)TDMA(IS-136)

IEEE802.16IEEE

802.16

IEEE802.11b

GSM

CDMA(IS-95A)

802.11a

GPRS

CDMA(IS-95B)

802.11g

E-GPRSEDGE

WCDMAFDD/TDD

TD-SCDMALCR/TDD

CDMA2000

802.11h

Fixed WiMAX802.16d

WiBRO

HSDPAFDD/TDD

HSUPAFDD/TDD

1xEVDORel 0/A/B

Mobile WiMAX802.16e

802.11n

HSPA+

LTEE-UTRA

UMB802.20

3.9G 4G

TDMA/FDMA CDMA OFDM

The evolution of wireless cellular standards

Page 7: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Current State of Wireless Networking - 04WHITEPAPER

The road to migration is inevitable, depending on the maturity of the

wireless network ecosystem, viability, cost and variety of consumer devices

including service competitiveness. As more and more mobile data-centric

and mobility driven applications influence the carrier service provider

business models, it will quicken their path to LTE beyond 3G enhancements

of HSPA and HSPA+. With the arrival of LTE and widespread promotion as

substitute for WiMAX is a little unsettling for Greenfield operators that have

invested in WiMAX systems and looking for long term profitability.

Nevertheless, pockets of WiMAX market remains strong in the fixed

applications in emerging markets, rural markets in developed countries and

niche applications such as vertical markets in relation to utility. For many

small and medium size businesses, WiMAX is still an exciting prospect in

ways, as it promises good wireless access and bandwidth boundaries. But

the adoption of WiMAX for service providers are befitting only if the

investment exposure in multiple wireless standards can significantly impact

supply chain expenditures of equipment vendors, component vendors,

operators and eventually subscribers.

Relative cost per bit of transmitted data

• Decreased latency

• Increased spectrum efficiency

• Increased peak throughput

• Increased capacity per cell

• Flexible spectrum usage

• Robust security

• Flexible interoperability and integration

• More..

20

40

60

80

100

Cost

Technology3G 3.5G HSPA WiMAX

3.9G/4G

LTE

Page 8: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

WiMAX in Focus

WiMAX was the earlier conceived technology available to bring about enabling wireless broadband, on which future mobile telecommunications system architecture will be built. Several incremental improvements and innovation in radio technology and command-and-control software have seen the WiMAX standard releasing higher and higher variants of mobile WiMAX in the form of releases such as Release 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0. The latter two, release 1.5 (802.16e Rev 2) and 2.0 (802.16m) representing short-term and long-term evolution respectively.

Release 1.0

ASN anchored mobility,3 ASN pro�les

CSN anchored mobility

CMIP, PMIP

IPv4 & optional IPv6

Idle mode and paging

EAP-based authentication

Mobile, portable, nomadic, �xed

Pre-provisioned/static QoS

Pre- and Post-paid RADIUS Accounting

Roaming (RADIUS only)

O&M Features Networkdiscovery/selection

Load balancing

Release 1.5

Persistent scheduling forreduced MAC overhead

Femto Cell introduction

Load balancing

BF+MIMO , UL MIMO (optional)

GPS & non-GPSbased location services

Enhanced Multicast & Broadcastservices ( MCBCS APP and DSx)

Wimax-WiFi-Bluetooth coexistence

Ethernet services

Public Safety & emergency services

O & M Features OTA pre-provisioning & devicemanagement ( OMA & TR69)

PCC /PCRF ( Dynamic QoS andpolicy based charging)

USI ( Universal service interface)

WIMAX SIM

ROHC

Lawful intercept

Release 2.0

Reduced Latency

Multihop Relays

Self-organizing capability (SON)

Enhanced VoIP support

Enhanced MCBCS(both static and dynamic multicasting)

Enhancements to LBS

Mobility: up to 500 km/hr

Backward compatibility

Commercially, WiMAX has revolutionized the delivery of wireless broadband, being the high performance, robust and cheaper alternative to 3G and wireline networks. Enabling vast formations of new Greenfield operators and playing a profound role to enable communication (simple fixed and nomadic voice) and Internet services to reach vastly across developing and rural markets (majority of deployments) previously underserved. Yet, further steps of refinement and market diversification must surely follow in the midst of the equally domineering LTE camp.

In many aspects, WiMAX fundamentals share common characteristics to TD-LTE. Take for example, the modulation technique of OFDM, where the spectrum is multiplexed in time division (TD) duplex where the uplink and downlink is a time-shared method that is spectrum efficient. Similarly, TD-LTE offers key technical advantages in antenna system techniques of MIMO and beamforming, which is also supported in WiMAX. With both uplink and downlink on the same frequency, these technologies render simplicity and inexpensive implementation that is inherently efficient.

As ITU and 3GPP/3GPP2 standards have now included TD method as a formal part of the specifications to which TD-LTE finds its place in the 4G infrastructure increasingly in China, India and parts of Asia. This also means WiMAX systems are closer to a smooth migration to TD-LTE and can still find relevance among the mainstream service offerings. While WiMAX service providers are getting involved in ensuring their systems are in working order, so are WiMAX chipset vendors like Sequans and Altair are ready to offer TD-LTE chipsets.

The Current State of Wireless Networking - 05WHITEPAPER

Key features in the evolution of Mobile WiMAX

Page 9: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 06WHITEPAPER

The Next Decade for WiMAX

The Path To 4G –Connecting People

ITU as the authority to define what constitutes 4G clearly intended to have

the standard alter the paradigm of user-network interaction, where

broadband can be made available to consumer devices. Essentially

eliminating the need for the user to know anything about the network

(operator, topology, radio or technology), achieving the “Always Best

Connected” experience.

To achieve IMT-Advance’s vision of various access systems

interconnected to provide services in a cooperative manner, ITU defines

layers of network based on the geographic scope of coverage and extent

of mobility offered by each layer. Interactions among these networks are

not limited to intra-network (horizontal) or inter-network (vertical) handoffs

for service continuity, but encompass complex functions of billing,

security, privacy, Quality of Service (QoS), fault tolerance and recovery

with the following key attributes:

Network Discovery and Selection — A subscriber terminal that features

multiple radio technologies and intelligent connectivity management

software that allows participation/presence in multiple networks

simultaneously. Connecting to the best network with the most

appropriate service parameters (QoS, QoE and capacity among

others) for the application.

Terminal Mobility and Service Continuity — A network that features

intra- and inter-technology handovers, assuring service continuity with

zero or minimal interruption, without a noticeable loss in service quality

- Continuous transparent maintenance of active service instances and

inclusion of various access technologies, from Wi-Fi to OFDMA.

Support for Multiple Applications and Services — Efficient support for

unicast, multicast and broadcast services and the applications that rely

on them.

Page 10: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 07WHITEPAPER

The vision of 4G is a framework for an advanced infrastructure consisting of

architecture, core technologies and open interfaces for building, deploying

and providing applications to achieve ubiquitous, converged broadband

services.

Quality of Service — Consistent application of admission control and

scheduling algorithms regardless of underlying infrastructure and

operator diversity.

Technology and Topology Independence —Service capability that is

not constrained by topology or technology limitations, but rather

achieve the “Always Best Connected” characteristic.

Distribution Layer

Fixed (Wired) Layer

• Full coverage• Global access• Full mobility• Not necessary individual links

• Global access• Personal mobility

Vertical:Handover between systems

Horizontal:Handover within a system

Possible return channel

Cellular Layer

• Full coverage & Hotspots• Global roaming• Full mobility• Individual links

Hotspot Layer

• Local coverage• Hotspots• Global roaming• Local mobility• Individual links

Personal Network Layer

• Short range communication• Global roaming• Individual links

Complimentary access systems

Page 11: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 08WHITEPAPER

WiMAX in 4G

WiMAX framework has the fundamental technological building blocks to

support the vision of 4G and its framework. The standard has been proven

commercially, giving operators globally the opportunity to launch wireless

broadband services, but predominantly serving the fixed and nomadic

segment. The lack of penetration into the mobile segment is premised on

the basis that WiMAX was not designed with the same emphasis on

mobility and compatibility with operator’s core network as the 3GPP

technology family, which includes core network evolution in addition to the

radio access network evolution. Nevertheless, 802.16m, the next iteration

in the WiMAX roadmap has enhancements outlined that are geared

towards provisioning of new services including worldwide roaming and

interworking /compatibility with other technologies, aimed at increasing

seamless user experience in an all IP framework.

But, technology alone does not dictate adoption. The challenge for

802.16m lies on its capability to attract sufficient market support from

chipset manufacturers, equipment vendors (infrastructure and device)

and the operator community. With WiMAX Forum’s willingness to

integrate elements of TD-LTE standards within its platform, the transition

from WiMAX to TD-LTE will help bridge the divide between differing

technology camps with a level of comfort and quell doubts of

incompatibility. No need to single out any technology, but benefit from

co-existence. The openness of the roadmap evolution supports

harmonization to allow operators to adopt dual or multiple radio access

technologies within their service offerings.

The commercial availability of LTE, which has close similarity to WiMAX,

especially for its time-division LTE (TD-LTE) version have sparked serious

interest, largely due to the wider overall support for this new technology –

ranging from network infrastructure, device, chipsets, technology roadmap

development and host of downstream supply chains. Clearly, the TD-LTE is

popular with WiMAX operators like Packet One Networks in Malaysia,

Clearwire in the US and Yota in Russia. That aside, given that TD-LTE

services entering mainstream, simply for the reasons of plentiful and decent

spectrum prices alongside FD-LTE to augment dual-mode coverage. It is a

matter of time, before the device and chipset multimode roadmaps gain

influence and are sufficiently available.

Page 12: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 09WHITEPAPER

WiMAX operators are also learning that future subscriber and average

revenue per user (ARPU) growth is not limited to just a fixed wireless

replacement, offering traditional data packages for a fixed fee. Rather,

bundled data services that combine recursive fixed at-home and high value

mobile on-the-go packages, leading to greater revenue and draw out value

from data services such as mobile, video, music, games, Internet access,

navigation and messaging.

Market forces are signaling WiMAX service providers and vendors to evolve

and adapt business models to support the 4G vision in the coming decade.

Emphasizing on advanced infrastructure consisting of architecture, core

technologies and open interfaces for building, deploying and providing

applications to achieve ubiquitous, converged broadband service either:

Building a loosely coupled heterogeneous network –

Evolving the WiMAX network by adopting some degree of system

interworking, primarily with a 3G and/or LTE service provider through a

form of collaboration. An evolution option well suited for WiMAX

operators with limited spectrum holding. Key integration attributes

includes provisioning and billing, with handover/connectivity selection

mostly managed via multimode devices.

Building a tightly coupled heterogeneous network –

Evolving the WiMAX network by adopting a converged overlay

structure, primarily with LTE as the secondary/primary co-existing

network. An evolution option well suited for WiMAX operators with

broad spectrum holding. Key integration attributes includes tight

integration at the core and application network layer, have advance

coordination at the access level with extreme automation through

self-organization and cognition and assisted by advance devices with

increased degree of coordination capability.

Page 13: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 10WHITEPAPER

The Path To M2M –Connecting Machines

Machine-to-machine communications is an established business that has

functioned behind the scenes and drawn little attention in the past. Today,

however, M2M is experiencing a period of change and growth.

M2M’s resurgence is attributed to the widespread availability of wireless

technologies, which make it possible to reach equipment in locations that were

too remote or too costly to reach before. The trend is also driven by regulatory

incentives to employ M2M in certain markets, such as energy, and

entrepreneurial drive to create innovative and consumer-focused solutions in

others, such as those listed in the table below.

Despite its allure as a new business opportunity, M2M is a broad field and hard

to categorize. It has many touchpoints from those found at the farthest reaches

of the utility grid to vending machines in public places via a variety of wireless

technology options, which will be deployed and configured depending on the

need at hand. Because of its near-ubiquitous availability, wireless network

technologies will find relevance in many M2M markets.

Choosing access technology suitable for M2M applications require strategic

considerations in order to assure that it meets the minimum requirements for

successful service. Areas encompass specific performance, security, and

network management capabilities with the following key attributes:

Security and public safety

Smart grid

Tracking and tracing

Vehicular telematics

Payment

Healthcare

Remote maintenance and control

Consumer devices

Surveillance systems, control of physical access (e.g. buildings), enviromental monitoring (e.g. for natural disasters), backup for landlines.

Fleet management, car/driver security, enhanced navigation, traf�c info, tolls, pay as you drive, remote vehicle diagnostics.

Monitoring vital signs, supporting the aged or handicapped, web access telemedicine points, remote diagnostics.

Point of sale, ATM, vending machines, gaming machines.

Industrial automation, sensors, lighting, pump, vending machine control.

Digital photo frame, digital camera, ebook, home management hubs.

Electricity, gas, water, heating, grid control, industrial metering, demand response.

Order management, asset tracking, human monitoring.

Potential applications for wireless M2M

Page 14: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 11WHITEPAPER

Activation Rates Optimized for the “Internet of Things” - most M2M

applications typically have low throughput requirements as they are

only sending small amounts of data, often intermittently or even on an

exception-only basis. M2M applications do benefit from the ability of

the mobile packet gateways to rapidly scale up to a large number

(hundreds of thousands or millions) of activations.

Quality-of-Service - Utilities demands on strong Service Level

Agreements (SLAs) and require guarantees of reliable network access

especially during emergencies.

Fault tolerance and Session Recovery – Network architecture designed

with stateful geo-redundancy disaster recovery.

IPv6 Support for Network Address Availability - millions to hundreds of

millions of new devices are going to be networked in an “Internet of

Things”, an optimal long-term solution is a shift to IPv6, which enables

orders of magnitude larger numbers of available IP addresses.

Monitoring and provisioning – M2M devices are in majority highly

remote, requiring the capability of monitoring events (movement, theft,

outage) and having the flexibility to provision or follow-up with actions

upon event detection.

Low power consumption – M2M devices are predominantly requires

low power consumption and specific system-device features is

required to invoke power saving mechanism (e.g: idle, sleep mode) to

optimize power consumption.

Page 15: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 12WHITEPAPER

WiMAX in M2M

WiMAX Mobile Network Operator/ Mobile Virtual Network Operator

(MNO/MVNO) believes that the mobile M2M market will undergo an

evolution from the general-purpose, mobile network elements to deploy

M2M services, to using equipment that has been specifically optimized for

the needs of the M2M market. Such optimization gives the MNO/MVNO the

benefit of being able to provide a more intelligent network to their

Application Service Provider (ASP) customers and thereby differentiate their

connectivity offering, compete more successfully for ASP business, and,

ultimately, to garner more revenue from selling connectivity services for

M2M applications.

In the face of changing wireless network landscape, WiMAX can easily find its

niche and win over other technologies for M2M support. It offers the best

value to ASPs by providing the greatest feature/functionality at the lowest

cost. The advantages over Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Data Link

Control (DLC) and Mesh networks are significant and compelling enough.

Comparing Access Technologies

High Bandwith

Suitability for HighCustomer Densities

Suitability for LowCustomer Densities

Security

Standards Based

Scalability

Large Supplier Ecosystem

Reliability

Option to Wholesale/Lease

System Availability

Cost

WiMAX provides the greatest feature set and fuctionality at the lowest cost

PLCCritical Attribute DLC Mesh WiMAX Cellular

Source : Referenced from Motorola’s Internal Study

Page 16: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

The Next Decade for WiMAX - 13WHITEPAPER

While most of these aspects are already well developed in the current

WiMAX releases, there exist a small but critical disparity between what is

available in a service model of an operator and what is required by a M2M

enterprise to fulfill its service model. Application development is the most

problematic and challenging part for the M2M market. Presently,

enterprises tend to use custom designed software to manage data and

provision the decision-making and messaging requirements peculiar to

M2M systems which are not functionally built in an existing cellular

network’s system. Fortunately, the WiMAX Forum has formed dedicated

working groups to assist in closing these technological and market gaps.

Specific features are being streamlined and standardized into WiMAX

standards to cater for M2M communications. Engagement focus with

industry players, the utility and enterprise community, in particular for smart

grid, aviation, oil and gas and Smart Cities are underway to clarify use cases

and find specific collaboration fit to expedite the commercialization of

WiMAX in M2M. Although still preliminary, WiMAX operators and WiMAX

equipment vendors have started to embrace M2M, forming models to

serve the sector, treating it as the next new growth area of the decade.

Page 17: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

4G Requirements for Device - 14WHITEPAPER

4G Requirements for Device

In WiMAX subscriber devices of today, radio is only a small part of device

capability. Enhanced user experience is central and service providers tend

to market innovative plans for the services and applications that can be

supported. But in essence, ubiquitous radio access will be the essential

backbone to support the next generation of wireless networks.

For mass market 4G applications, device will support a vast number of

services with a powerful and complex communications engine. Radios in

devices already support WiMAX and Wi-Fi, and in smartphones additionally

with cellular, GPS and Bluetooth. International roaming requires devices to

support a variety of radios/bands because globally available frequency

bands are not consistent. As a result, the RF complexity in the device will

increase drastically, requiring radios to support multiple bands and

duplexing methods (FDD & TDD).

In future, the radios in the device will perform local radio resource

management and assist with network resource management.

Device support for carrier aggregation and heterogeneous networks could

enable simultaneous communication over multiple radio access

technologies. The wireless device may also be a gateway for a multitude of

sensors and machine type devices that perform spectrum sensing for

capturing and analyzing the radio environment.

Features to optimize device power consumption will be a key factor in the

future as battery capacity improvements are relatively slow compared to the

evolution of other technologies.

Page 18: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

Greenpacket, Bringing You 4G Wireless Networking Expertise - 15WHITEPAPER

Greenpacket, Bringing You 4GWireless Networking Expertise

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Page 19: Next Decade for WiMAX - WiMAX 2.0

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