Sign up with GoogleTaking wireless to the MAX
Anyone who has used a wireless LAN is well aware of the technology's enormous benefits. The convenience derived from being able to move about an office or another location has bestowed upon computing and Internet access what portable phones did years ago for telecommunications. It is no exaggeration to say that wireless modems have become a veritable "Declaration of Independence" for anyone who relies on e-mail and the Internet to do his or her job.
Well, the good is about to become a whole lot better.
Welcome to the world of WiMAX, which promises to bring wireless access to municipal area networks (MANs) in the same way that Wi-Fi has enabled wireless capabilities for local area networks (LANs). Think of it this way: If Wi-Fi was the analogue of portable telephones connected to a local base, WiMAX is the equivalent of local area cell phones, with all the attendant benefits of that revolutionary technology.
Suddenly, the world of wireless is beginning to look a lot more exciting.
Technical parameters
In technical terms, WiMAX (which stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is used interchangeably as both the advocacy body and as an umbrella term for standards and certifications relating to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) new 802.16 protocol, a successor to the more well-known, LAN-focused 802.11 standard.
Other than their differences in range, WiMAX and Wi-Fi share many technical similarities, including a comparable technical evolution. But there are two key distinctions. Unlike the fixed-width frequencies applied to Wi-Fi, WiMAX supports variable frequencies, so that it can be more easily adapted to the frequency standards of other countries. And WiMAX also covers a much wider range of frequencies--a 9GHz range, compared to Wi-Fi's 300MHz band.
In terms of performance, WiMAX will support a variety of transmission scenarios. The most optimistic among these calls for speeds of up to 70 Mbps, with a geographic range of 30 miles. Furthermore, WiMAX doesn't require a line of sight, making it ideal for use in urban areas, where trees, buildings, and other obstructions typically prevent a direct line of sight between locations.
The stuff of computer users' dreams
Although the WiMAX standard does not include support for fully mobile devices, like PDAs and cell phones (it is not intended to be a substitute for the 3G architecture), it is a potentially revolutionary development nonetheless. For it represents the first real threat to emerge to the cable modem/DSL duopoly.
According to John Muleta, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, the promise of WiMAX is the stuff of computer users' and service providers' dreams. "No more cables, no more fiber optics, no more wires at all!" His vision, as he told the Broadband Wireless World 2004 trade show in San Diego, is for 100 million WiMAX households (representing 150 million to 200 million subscribers) by the year 2010, if not earlier.
In addition to replacing current broadband installations, WiMAX-enabled Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) has the potential of delivering high-speed Internet service to rural areas, where more traditional high-speed options historically have not been available. From a carrier perspective, Mobile Business Advisor notes, "BWA could fill the gaps in their existing operating areas where subscribers are too far from the central office to get DSL service, or too far from the central office to get the highest speed DSL options."
We don't need wires
Where is all of this headed? According to Mobile Business Advisor, to a world in which "wireless broadband, voice, video, and all manner of data services become global and ubiquitous. Forget about delivering data over your coaxial cable TV line or . . . copper telephone line . . . . WiMAX could deliver your telephone and television services over the data network connection." It doesn't end there. "With all that available data bandwidth," the magazine says, "be prepared to see IP-based video services take off" as well.
Such a future is not all that far away. Companies like Intel, Fujitsu, Nokia, Raytheon, Yahoo!, and dozens of others have already signed up as members of the WiMAX Forum--the technology's advocacy body. Intel is promising 802.16 chipsets by July, and launch of the first WiMAX-enabled devices is expected by the end of the year, with the first round of certifications scheduled to take place on January 10, 2005. After that, the sky--literally--is the limit.
One is reminded of the end of the movie Back to the Future, in which Christopher Lloyd flies off in his modified DeLorean, proclaiming, "Where we're going, we don't need roads!" If the WiMAX promise holds, Internet users can soon declare, with equal exuberance, "Where we're going, we don't need wires!"
For more information, see:
The WiMAX forum Website.
The Wi-Fi Networking News Website.
Ref : http://h30046.www3.hp.com/news_article.php?topiccode=20040519_newsletter_wireless6
Anyone who has used a wireless LAN is well aware of the technology's enormous benefits. The convenience derived from being able to move about an office or another location has bestowed upon computing and Internet access what portable phones did years ago for telecommunications. It is no exaggeration to say that wireless modems have become a veritable "Declaration of Independence" for anyone who relies on e-mail and the Internet to do his or her job.
Well, the good is about to become a whole lot better.
Welcome to the world of WiMAX, which promises to bring wireless access to municipal area networks (MANs) in the same way that Wi-Fi has enabled wireless capabilities for local area networks (LANs). Think of it this way: If Wi-Fi was the analogue of portable telephones connected to a local base, WiMAX is the equivalent of local area cell phones, with all the attendant benefits of that revolutionary technology.
Suddenly, the world of wireless is beginning to look a lot more exciting.
Technical parameters
In technical terms, WiMAX (which stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is used interchangeably as both the advocacy body and as an umbrella term for standards and certifications relating to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) new 802.16 protocol, a successor to the more well-known, LAN-focused 802.11 standard.
Other than their differences in range, WiMAX and Wi-Fi share many technical similarities, including a comparable technical evolution. But there are two key distinctions. Unlike the fixed-width frequencies applied to Wi-Fi, WiMAX supports variable frequencies, so that it can be more easily adapted to the frequency standards of other countries. And WiMAX also covers a much wider range of frequencies--a 9GHz range, compared to Wi-Fi's 300MHz band.
In terms of performance, WiMAX will support a variety of transmission scenarios. The most optimistic among these calls for speeds of up to 70 Mbps, with a geographic range of 30 miles. Furthermore, WiMAX doesn't require a line of sight, making it ideal for use in urban areas, where trees, buildings, and other obstructions typically prevent a direct line of sight between locations.
The stuff of computer users' dreams
Although the WiMAX standard does not include support for fully mobile devices, like PDAs and cell phones (it is not intended to be a substitute for the 3G architecture), it is a potentially revolutionary development nonetheless. For it represents the first real threat to emerge to the cable modem/DSL duopoly.
According to John Muleta, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, the promise of WiMAX is the stuff of computer users' and service providers' dreams. "No more cables, no more fiber optics, no more wires at all!" His vision, as he told the Broadband Wireless World 2004 trade show in San Diego, is for 100 million WiMAX households (representing 150 million to 200 million subscribers) by the year 2010, if not earlier.
In addition to replacing current broadband installations, WiMAX-enabled Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) has the potential of delivering high-speed Internet service to rural areas, where more traditional high-speed options historically have not been available. From a carrier perspective, Mobile Business Advisor notes, "BWA could fill the gaps in their existing operating areas where subscribers are too far from the central office to get DSL service, or too far from the central office to get the highest speed DSL options."
We don't need wires
Where is all of this headed? According to Mobile Business Advisor, to a world in which "wireless broadband, voice, video, and all manner of data services become global and ubiquitous. Forget about delivering data over your coaxial cable TV line or . . . copper telephone line . . . . WiMAX could deliver your telephone and television services over the data network connection." It doesn't end there. "With all that available data bandwidth," the magazine says, "be prepared to see IP-based video services take off" as well.
Such a future is not all that far away. Companies like Intel, Fujitsu, Nokia, Raytheon, Yahoo!, and dozens of others have already signed up as members of the WiMAX Forum--the technology's advocacy body. Intel is promising 802.16 chipsets by July, and launch of the first WiMAX-enabled devices is expected by the end of the year, with the first round of certifications scheduled to take place on January 10, 2005. After that, the sky--literally--is the limit.
One is reminded of the end of the movie Back to the Future, in which Christopher Lloyd flies off in his modified DeLorean, proclaiming, "Where we're going, we don't need roads!" If the WiMAX promise holds, Internet users can soon declare, with equal exuberance, "Where we're going, we don't need wires!"
For more information, see:
The WiMAX forum Website.
The Wi-Fi Networking News Website.
Ref : http://h30046.www3.hp.com/news_article.php?topiccode=20040519_newsletter_wireless6
]