What's WiMAX?

WiMAX is a short name for Worldwide Interoperability of Microwave Access. WiMAX is described in IEEE 802.16 Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) standard. It is expected that WiMAX compliant systems will provide fixed wireless alternative to conventional DSL and Cable Internet.

Typically, a WiMAX system consists of two parts:

• A WiMAX Base Station: Base station consists of indoor electronics and a WiMAX tower. Typically, a base station can cover up to 10 km radius (Theoretically, a base station can cover up to 50 kilo meter radius or 30 miles, however practical considerations limit it to about 10 km or 6 miles). Any wireless node within the coverage area would be able to access the Internet.
• A WiMAX receiver - The receiver and antenna could be a stand-alone box or a PCMCIA card that sits in your laptop or computer. Access to WiMAX base station is similar to accessing a Wireless Access Point in a WiFi network, but the coverage is more.

Several base stations can be connected with one another by use of high-speed backhaul microwave links. This would allow for roaming by a WiMAX subscriber from one base station to another base station area, similar to roaming enabled by Cellular phone companies.

Important Wireless MAN IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) Specifications

Range - 30-mile (50-km) radius from base station
Speed - Up to 70 megabits per second
Non-Line-of-sight (NLoS) between user and base station
Frequency bands - 2 to 11 GHz and 10 to 66 GHz (licensed and unlicensed bands)
Defines both the MAC and PHY layers and allows multiple PHY-layer specifications.