WI-FI AND WIMAX

What is Wi-Fi Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance for certified products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. The term Wi-Fi is often used by the public as a synonym for wireless LAN (WLAN) Wi-Fi is supported by most personal computer operating systems, many game consoles, laptops, smartphones, printers, and other peripherals.

What is Wimax WiMAX, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless transmission of data uses a variety of transmission modes, from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet access. The technology provides up to 3 Mbit/s broadband speed without the need for cables. The technology is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard also called Broadband Wireless Access

Wi-Fi system details Wi-Fi uses both single carrier direct-sequence spread spectrum radio technology and multi-carrier OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) radio technology The regulations for unlicensed spread spectrum enabled the development of Wi-Fi Unlicensed spread spectrum was first made available in the US by the Federal Communications Commission in 1985

Wi-Fi system advantages Wi-Fi allows low-cost local area networks (LANs) to be deployed without wires for client devices The price of chipsets for Wi-Fi continues to drop Wi-Fi has become widespread in corporate infrastructures. Unlike mobile telephones, any standard Wi-Fi device will work anywhere in the world. Wi-Fi is widely available in more than 220,000 public hotspots and tens of millions of homes and corporate and university campuses worldwide

Wi-Fi system challenges Spectrum assignments and operational limitations are not consistent worldwide Wi-Fi networks have limited range. A typical Wi-Fi home router using 802.11b or 802.11g has a range of 32 m (120 ft) indoors and 95 m (300 ft) outdoors. High power consumption of Wi-Fi makes lower battery life mobile devices.

Wi-Fi system devices A wireless access point (WAP) connects a group of wireless devices to an adjacent wired LAN. Wireless adapters allow devices to connect to a wireless network, such as PCI, miniPCI, USB, ExpressCard, PC card. A wireless router allows wired and wireless Ethernet LAN devices to connect to a (usually) single WAN device such as cable modem or DSL modem Wireless network bridges connect a wired network to a wireless network such as between two separate homes.

OSBRiDGE 3GN - 802.11n Access Point and UMTS/GSM Gateway

USB wireless adapter

Embedded serial-to-Wi-Fi module

City Wide Wi-Fi Many cities around the world announced plans for a city wide Wi-Fi network most of these projects were either canceled or placed on indefinite hold. A few were successful, for example in 2005, Sunnyvale, California became the first city in the United States to offer city wide free Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi system uses A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PC, game console, mobile phone, MP3 player or PDA can connect to the Internet Wi-Fi can make access publicly available at Wi-Fi hotspots provided either free of charge or to subscribers to various providers. There are already more than 300 metropolitan-wide Wi-Fi projects in progress Wi-Fi enables wireless voice-applications (VoWLAN or WVOIP).

Wi-Fi channel congestion Usage of the ISM band in the 2.45 GHz range is also common to Bluetooth, ZigBee Problem in high-density areas, such as large apartment complexes or office buildings with many Wi-Fi access points Additionally, other devices such as microwave ovens, security cameras, Bluetooth devices cordless phones and baby monitors can interfere Solution is to is migrate to a Wi-Fi 5 GHz product, (802.11a, or the newer 802.11n if it has 5 GHz support)

Wi-Fi Alliance The Alliance aims to improving the interoperability of wireless local area network products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a consortium of separate and independent companies The Alliance have a set of common interoperable products based on the family of IEEE 802.11 standards The Wi-Fi Alliance certifies products via a set of defined test-procedures

WiMAX Applications Connecting Wi-Fi hotspots to the Internet. Providing a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for broadband access. Providing data and telecommunications services. Providing a source of Internet connectivity as part of a business continuity plan. Providing portable connectivity.

WiMAX Technical details WiMAX is a term coined to describe standard, interoperable implementations of IEEE 802.16 wireless networks Wi-Fi is used for interoperable implementations of the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standard. However, WiMAX is very different from Wi-Fi in the way it works.

WiMAX Physical layer The original WiMAX is based in the 10 to 66 GHz range. 802.16a, updated in 2004 to 802.16-2004, added specifications for the 2 to 11 GHz range. 802.16-2004 was updated by 802.16e-2005 in 2005 More advanced versions, including 802.16e, also bring Multiple Antenna Support through MIMO (Multiple input-Multiple output)

WiMAX MIMO board

WiMAX integration with IP The WiMAX Forum has proposed a WiMAX network can be connected with an IP based core network Typically chosen by operators that serve as Internet Service Providers (ISP) Nevertheless the WiMAX BS provide seamless integration capabilities with other types of architectures as with packet switched Mobile Networks.

WiMAX frequency allocation WiMAX could function on any frequency below 66 GHz WiMAX Forum has published three licensed spectrum profiles: 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz In the USA it is 2.5 GHz primarily to Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. Some countries in Asia like India and Indonesia will use a mix of 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and other frequencies Pakistan's Wateen Telecom uses 3.5 GHz.

WiMAX Silicon design A critical requirement for the success of a new technology is the availability of low-cost chipsets and silicon implementations. Intel Corporation is a leader in promoting WiMAX, and has developed its own chipset. Texas Instruments, DesignArt, and picoChip are focused on WiMAX chip sets for base stations. Kaben Wireless Silicon is a provider of RF front-end and semiconductor IP for WiMAX applications.

WiMAX Compared with Wi-Fi WiMAX uses 802.16 standards provide different types of access, from portable (similar to a cordless phone) to fixed (an alternative to wired access, where the end user's wireless termination point is fixed in location.) Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access to a network. WiMAX and Wi-Fi have quite different Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms.