14 DAY TRIAL // 4G WiMAX networks and services are registering increasing demand on the market, a state of facts that determined the WiMAX Forum to launch an initiative for accelerating the development of new features meant to enhance the performance of WiMAX. Those improvements are aimed both at the current Release 1 technology, as well as at the upcoming WiMAX Release 2 (WiMAX 2), based on the IEEE Standard 802.16m, which set to be completed in the second half of the ongoing year.
According to the WiMAX Forum, the enhancements brought to WiMAX Release 1 should increase its performance by over 50 percent, though compliance with IEEE Standard 802.16e will be kept. The first products certified with these new features are set to arrive in late 2010. As for the WiMAX Release 2 (WiMAX 2), the product certification is expected for late 2011.
“With the global demand for 4G wireless broadband services experiencing explosive growth, WiMAX service providers need faster networks with greater capacity and efficiency, and the WiMAX community has responded,” said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. “There is no country where this demand is as pronounced as it is in India, where there is less than three percent broadband penetration. WiMAX can address this demand as well as the growing needs around the globe, plus we’re committed to taking performance to the next level in an unmatched timeframe.”
Due to the high amount of data WiMAX operators deliver to users, the networks are threatened by overload, and carriers need more advanced technologies to meet demand. The new features being developed for WiMAX are expected to double peak data rates and increase performance by 50 percent. These enhancements should include support for additional MIMO antennae on the base stations, improved fractional frequency reuse, or higher order modulation on the uplink, downlink beamforming, the WiMAX Forum announced.
The work on enhancements for Release 1 will go hand in hand with the completion of IEEE Standard 802.16m during the ongoing year. The first 802.16m products are already in development, and the WiMAX Forum is set to start certification of these products in late 2011. “The intense technical work in IEEE 802.16m has benefited from a dedicated international collaboration among the world’s leading telecom equipment manufacturers, technical organizations, and universities in support of future-looking worldwide operator requirements,” said Roger Marks, vice president for Technology at the WiMAX Forum and Chair of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group.