Understanding mobile WiMAX radio technologies

Mobile Wimax drives business

For around 15 years, Alvarion has been at the forefront of the development and deployment of radio technologies and advance antenna systems for broadband wireless networks including mobile WiMAX. Ashish Sharma, Vice-President of Corporate Communications, explains the merits of Mobile WiMAX radio technologies and advance antenna systems.

In addition to being a leading-edge technology, Mobile WiMAX™ has also emerged as a business driver addressing the ever-escalating needs of operators. One of the primary requirements is the demand for low cost, wireless broadband to mobile stations, such as cell phones, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), laptops, smart phones and PDAs. However, the challenge still hinges on the capability to deliver reliable and consistent service to these networks while meeting the low price point demanded by consumers. This has become even more apparent when operators attempt to maximize Average Revenue per User (ARPU) and lower Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) and Operating Expenses (OPEX) in order to remain competitive.

AAS technologies demonstrate that WiMAX can successfully meet and exceed operator expectations

Advance Antenna Systems: ensuring best-in-class WiMax solutions

Advance Antenna Systems(AAS) refer to a class of intelligent antenna technologies that use multiple antennas at both transmission and reception ends of the wireless link. AASs generate multi-channel systems, increasing the carrier-to-interference plus noise ratio (CINR), significantly improving the radio signal and therefore impacting QoS for the customer. This greatly enhances the performance of WiMAX networks, while reducing the number of required base stations and cell sites. At the same time, it increases overall system reliability, improves data rates, and boosts capacity

Use of AAS provides a multitude of benefits for Wimax implemetations

AAS technologies demonstrate that WiMAX can successfully meet and even exceed operator expectations, providing operators with the differentiation they need to succeed. AASs go beyond WiMAX-based standard rules to integrate hybrid, best-in-class solutions that leverage innovative, proprietary signal processing functionalities embedded with standard WiMAX multi-antenna schemes.and coverage.

Antenna Diversity and Transmit Diversity Schemes

Antenna Diversity plays a major role in WiMAX implementations. Diversity greatly improves the quality and reliability of a wireless link line, utilizing more than one antenna element. Simply defined, Down Link (DL) Transmit Diversity is comprised of a number of schemes for reducing the effects of fading by transmitting identical information from two or more different antenna elements, generally with different transmission characteristics.

AASs generate multi-channel systems, increasing the carrier-to-interference plus noise ratio (CINR), significantly improving the radio signal

Multiple-Input Multiple-Output for improved communication performance

In radio access networks, Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) refers to the use of multiple antennas at both transmitter and receiver ends in order to improve communication performance. MIMO benefits include the ability to provide a significant increase in coverage and capacity while leveraging bandwidth through higher spectral efficiency and link reliability. AAS technologies represent a unique approach to MIMO implementation, and are fundamental building blocks in any successful WiMAX-based network deployment and in the successful delivery of customer-centric services and solutions.

Beamforming technolgies

Beamforming utilizes multiple antenna elements, or arrays, as is the case with diversity and MIMO techniques. However, by sending radio signals at specific relative phases, beamforming creates a narrower antenna beam than that generated by a baseline fixed-beam antenna, with the beam acting as a powerful adaptive directional antenna. The signal with its transmitted energy is physically formed and directed to a particular subscriber, resulting in higher gain, greater throughputand less interference.

Business benefits of Advanced Antenna Systems

• Enhanced base station coverage and capacity: leads to better performance and reduced system costs and TCO
• SLA fulfilment: increases probability that subscribers will receive service as delineated in their service level agreement (SLA)
• Increased system reliability: enables retention of SLAs even in hard-to-reach areas
• Dynamic system: delivers on-the-fly solutions to meet the dynamic needs of wireless environments
• Enhanced performance: substantially improves performance for even the most basic receivers

 

Advance Antenna Systems key to success of Wimax solutions

Summary

AASs play a strategic role in ensuring the delivery of best-in-class WiMAX solutions for operators. Typically comprised of diversity and MIMO schemes, these antenna systems improve network coverage, capacity and QoSAs a WiMAX world leader, Alvarion understands that for networks to operate most efficiently, they need to optimally utilize the various antenna element technologies at their disposal. The innovative SentieM technologies intelligently determine the optimal use of beamforming, together with diversity and MIMO schemes, under various wireless conditions. This enables operators to maximize coverage, capacity and QoS, and, in turn, lower TCO, increase revenues and enhance profitability.

Ashish Sharma, Vice-President of Corporate Communications Alvarion