WiMAX Vs Wi-Fi

2 WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access Brand licensed by the WiMax Forum. “a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL” WiMAX was seen as more of a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) technology providing a much larger coverage. Based on IEEE

3 WiMAX WiMAX, in fact, comes in two forms, a so called ‘fixed WiMAX’ and a ‘mobile WiMAX’. WiMAX in its fixed form is seen as a possible alternative to expensive cable and fibre deployment. It is faster to deploy and less expensive and it also offers operators more flexibility in terms of deployment time frame and possible installation areas. 3G or other cellular network operators could see this as a potential substitute or as a complement to their cellular product.

4 WiMAX Architecture MIB – Management Information Base

5 Wi-Fi Stands for Wireless Fidelity. Brand licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi is a local area network technology that was originally thought to replace the thousands of miles of LAN cables. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) Based on IEEE

6 Wi-Fi Wi-Fi has grown from being just a LAN cable replacement technology to a public wireless access technology. Cheap and readily available equipment. WiFi has been viewed as complementary to 3G and other mobile standards as it has worked to enhance mobile services offered by operators. It’s coverage is not as great as that of 3G, but it gives a much higher transmission rate than mobile technology. Handoff between WiFi access points is still not possible and, therefore, it is known more as a wireless access technology than a mobile technology.

7 New developments are taking place within the standardization group With the increasing popularity of VoIP, many see WiFi as one of the possible means of using VoIP with some form of mobility r for wireless VoIP and other real time applications s for meshed WiFi networking Making WiFi more mobile could make it more of a substitute to mobile technologies Wi-Fi

8 Wireless Systems

Protocol Stack

protocol stack

11 Scalability Channel bandwidths can be chosen by operator (e.g. for sectorization) 1.5 MHz to 20 MHz width channels. MAC designed for scalability independent of channel bandwidth MAC designed to support thousands of users. Wide, fixed (20MHz) frequency channels MAC designed to support 10’s of users

12 Bit Rate: Relative Performance a~5.0 bps/Hz ~2.7 bps/Hz54 Mbps20 MHz 63 Mbps* 10, 20 MHz; 1.75, 3.5, 7, 14 MHz; 3, 6 MHz a Channel Bandwidth Maximum bps/Hz Maximum Data Rate * Assuming a 14 MHz channel a is designed for metropolitan performance

13 Optimized for outdoor NLOS performance Standard supports mesh network topology Standard supports advanced antenna techniques Optimized for indoor performance No mesh topology support within ratified standards Coverage is designed for market coverage

14 Optimized for up to 50 Km Designed to handle many users spread out over kilometers Designed to tolerate greater multi-path delay spread (signal reflections) up to 10.0μ seconds PHY and MAC designed with multi- mile range in mind StandardMAC;Sectoring/MIMO/AMC for Rate/Range dynamic tradeoff Optimized for ~100 meters No “near-far” compensation. Designed to handle indoor multi- path(delay spread of 0.8μ seconds). Optimization centers around PHY and MAC layer for 100m range. Range can be extended by cranking up the power – but MAC may be non-standard Range is designed for distance

15 Quality of Service (QoS) Grant-request MAC Designed to support Voice and Video from ground up Supports differentiated service levels: e.g. T1 for business customers; best effort for residential. TDD/FDD/HFDD – symmetric or asymmetric Centrally-enforced QoS Contention-based MAC (CSMA/CA) => no guaranteed QoS Standard cannot currently guarantee latency for Voice, Video Standard does not allow for differentiated levels of service on a per-user basis TDD only – asymmetric e (proposed) QoS is prioritization only a a is designed for carrier class operation

16 Triple-DES (128-bit) and RSA (1024-bit) Existing standard is WPA + WEP i in process of addressing security a Security a maintains fixed wireless security

17 WiMAX vs Wi-Fi

18 WiMAX vs Wi-Fi

19 Comparison of WiMAX, WiFi and 3G technology

and both gain broader industry acceptance through conformance and interoperability by multiple vendors complements by creating a complete MAN-LAN solution is optimized for license-exempt LAN operation is optimized for license-exempt and licensed MAN operation vs : Summary

21 Will WiMAX displace WiFi? WiMAX will not replace WiFi completely, but work TOGETHER Intel is currently integrating WiMAX and WiFi into a single Centrino chip. WiFi’s primary role will always be autonomous hotspot service areas (indoor and outdoor 0 ft. < cell radii <500 ft.). WiMax will ultimately replace WiFi in large- scale (greater than 1mi.Sq.) commercial and public roles.

22 Wi-fi and WiMax Together