4G wireless technology developments

The Dolcera 4G Wireless Standards Subscription Service

Dolcera will track the following information for all 4G wireless standards continuously:

Standards development (major milestones, announcements, specifications releases)
Patent filings
Products
Spectrum availability, allocation and auctions around the world

To subscribe, please email info@dolcera.com.

Definition of 4G

The 4G will be a fully IP-based integrated system of systems and network of networks achieved after the convergence of wired and wireless networks as well as computer, consumer electronics, communication technology, and several other convergences that will be capable of providing 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s, respectively, in outdoor and indoor environments with end-to-end QoS and high security, offering any kind of services anytime, anywhere, at affordable cost and one billing.

According to the 4G working groups, the infrastructure and the terminals will have almost all the standards from 2G to 3G implemented. The infrastructure will however only be packet based, all-IP. The system will also serve as an open platform where the new innovations can go with it.

Background information

Standards supported by 4G:

WiMax
WiBro
3GPP Long Term Evolution
HSOPA
3GPP2 Ultra Mobile Broadband

Services where 4G is used:

Wireless broadband access
Multimedia Messaging Service
Video chat
Mobile TV
High definition TV content,
DVB
Minimal service like voice and data

Objectives of the 4G wireless communication standard:

A spectrally efficient system (in bits/s/Hz and bit/s/Hz/site)
High network capacity
A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s at high speeds and 1 Gbit/s at stationary conditions as defined by the ITU-R
A data rate of at least 100 Mbit/s between any two points in the world
Smooth handoff across heterogeneous network
Seamless connectivity and global roaming across multiple networks
High quality of service for next generation multimedia support (real time audio, high speed data, HDTV video content, mobile TV, etc)
Interoperability with the existing wireless standards
An all IP, packet switched network

Technology overview

Mindmap below shows the overview of emerging technologies in 4G

Overview

Mobile technology roadmap

Roadmap

Road map

WiMax

WiMAX is defined as "Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access" by the WiMAX Forum, formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the IEEE 802.16 standard, officially known as WirelessMAN. WiMAX aims to provide wireless data over long distances, in a variety of different ways, from point to point links to full mobile cellular type access. In practical terms this enables a user, for example, to browse the Internet on a laptop computer without physically connecting the laptop to a wall jack.

Spectrum coverage by geography

Image below shows the spectrum for WiMax users World wide.

Spectrum for WiMax users World wide

Image below shows the sample of country wise spectrum allocation data. This information is form Maravadis: Telecom market research & and analysis .

Spectrum for WiMax users World wide

Standards

IEEE 802.16-2004 (802.16d) addresses only fixed systems
IEEE Std 802.16e-2005, also called mobile WiMax
- 802.16e also bring Multiple Antenna Support through Multiple-input multiple-output communications. This brings potential benefits in terms of coverage, self installation, power consumption, frequency re-use and bandwidth efficiency. 802.16e also adds a capability for full mobility support.
WiMAX II, 802.16m will be proposed for IMT-Advanced 4G (future development)
- 3GPP LTE and WiMAX-m are concentrating much effort on MIMO-AAS, mobile multi-hop relay networking and related developments needed to deliver 10X and higher Co-Channel reuse multiples.

IEEE 802.16e-2005 improves upon IEEE 802.16-2004 by:

Scaling of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to the channel bandwidth in order to keep the carrier spacing constant across different channel bandwidths (1.25-20 MHz). Constant carrier spacing results in a higher spectrum efficiency in wide channels, and a cost reduction in narrow channels. Also known as Scalable OFDMA (SOFDMA).
Improving NLOS coverage by utilizing advanced antenna diversity schemes, and hybrid-Automatic Retransmission Request (hARQ)
Improving coverage by introducing Adaptive Antenna Systems (AAS) and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology
Increasing system gain by use of denser sub-channelization, thereby improving indoor penetration
Introducing high-performance coding techniques such as Turbo Coding and Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC), enhancing security and NLOS performance
Introducing downlink sub-channelization, allowing administrators to trade coverage for capacity or vice versa
Enhanced Fast Fourier Transform algorithm can tolerate larger delay spreads, increasing resistance to multipath interference
Adding an extra QoS class (enhanced real-time Polling Service) more appropriate for VoIP applications.
Adding support for mobility (soft and hard handover between base stations). This is seen as one of the most important aspects of 802.16e-2005, and is the very basis of 'Mobile WiMAX'.

Source

Technology mapping parameters

WiMax Mobility Access

QoS for WiMax

Market research data:

Worldwide WiMAX equipment revenues are forecast to reach $3.26 billion in 2009
Worldwide outdoor wireless mesh access node sales are forecast to reach $1.17 billion in 2009
Samsung leads overall WiMAX equipment revenue share in 3Q06, ahead of Alvarion, Airspan, and Aperto Networks
Strix Systems leads overall outdoor mesh revenue market share in 3Q06, just ahead of Tropos Networks and BelAir Networks
35% of WiMAX equipment sales come from Asia Pacific, 30% from EMEA, 20% from North America, and 14% from CALA
49% of wireless mesh access node sales come from North America, 25% from EMEA, 18% from Asia Pacific, and 8% from CALA

Source 802.16 standards The first 802.16 standard was approved in December 2001. It delivered a standard for point to multipoint Broadband Wireless transmission in the 10-66 GHz band, with only a Line of Sight (LOS) capability. It uses a single carrier (SC) physical (PHY) standard.

Companies

List of companies

Products

Table below shows some of the products using WiMax technology.

Company	Product		Image
Company	Main category	Sub category	Image
Alvarion	BreezeMAX WiMax - base station	BreezeMAX Macro Base
Alvarion	BreezeMAX WiMax - base station	BreezeMAX Micro Base Station
Axxcelera	Base station	EXCELMAX BASE STATION
Proxim	TeraMax P2MP systems comprise base stations and clients, and include mounting hardware, Power over Ethernet (POE), and system management software.	TeraMax P2MP
Airspan	AS.MAX - base stations	Hiper MAX	Not available
		Macro MAX	Not available
		Micro MAX	Not available

IP information

Search query and result:

Search scope: US Granted US Applications EP-A EP-B WO JP (bibliographic data only) DE-C,B DE-A DE-T DE-U GB-A FR-A; Claims, Title or Abstract Years: 2001-2007	Patents
(WiMax OR (Wi ADJ1 Max))	328

Sample analysis

Mobile Wimax spreadsheet

WiBro

WiBro is an acronym for wireless broadband and is actually a term that is in the process of being phased out in favor of the more collaborative and generic Mobile WiMAX.

Korean standards makers early on adopted the term to describe their initiatives towards adopting a version of the 802.16e standard.
Basically, the Korean standard chose to accept a specific mobile WiMAX iteration of 802.16e, rather than any future version that included backwards compatibility to fixed wireless 802.16 systems.
Korea enjoys probably the most extensive 3G deployments in the world already, and its fixed broadband access per capita is the highest in the world. What it needed was an improved mobile broadband. In fact, the Korean government issued the first three deployment licenses for WiBro/Mobile WiMAX in January of 2005.
WiBro/Mobile WiMAX in many respects is driving the mobile side of WiMAX at least from the point of view of vendors eager to provide products to these early deployments. This decision however, results in a backwards compatibility problem with Fixed WiMAX standards or 802.16-2004.
The smooth interoperability of previous WiBro gear from Samsung with other vendors such as Motorola should be cemented this year as these two companies along with Intel have been chosen as the primary vendor for Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX deployment. The two companies clearly have a powerful incentive for their products to work seamlessly.