WiMAX Forum
- Definition of conformance and interoperability profiles out of the huge amount of options in IEEE 802.16
- Interoperability testing and conformance & interoperability certification
- Definition of conformance and interoperability profiles is still focussing on OFDM 256
- More than 380 companies
384 companies (status Nov. 05 / WiMAX Forum) Equipment/System Suppliers, Components Suppliers and Operators
WiMAX Goals:
- Ensure interoperability of IEEE 802.16 and other interoperable (ETSI HiperMAN) systems
- Equivalent in purpose to Wi-Fi Alliance for 802.11
- Develop Conformance Test Specifications
- Two year, multi-company process to develop test suites Based upon ISO/IEC 9646 processes
- System Profiles correspond to market-driven usage modes Set up certification labs for testing
- Host interoperability events Conformance does not equal Interoperability
- Provide WiMAX-Certified stamp of approval
WiMAX Forum and IEEE Principle
The figure shows the responsibilities of both organizations:
While IEEE 802.16 working groups develop the protocols and protocol related aspects, WiMAX deals with the whole network infrastructure and the certification processes needed to assure interoperability between different vendors and network operators.
WMAN Protocol Layers
WMAN protocol stack consists of a physical layer (PHY) and a medium access control layer (MAC). The MAC layer is subdivided in a common part a security sub-layer and a convergence sub-layer (CS).
The physical layer (PHY) provides the air interface between the base station (BS) and the subscriber stations(SS/MS).
The PHY layer is specified for different bands (2 – 66 GHz) for single and multi-carrier bands.
The main multi-carrier technique is OFSM/OFDMA and SOFDM/SOFDMA. PHY layer also supports reduces mobility with the IEEE802.16e standard.