WIRELESS BROADBAND ACCESS: WIMAX AND BEYOND - A Secure and Service-Oriented Network Control Framework for WiMAX Networks

WiMAX, worldwide interoperability for microwave access, is an emerging wireless communication system that can provide broadband access with large-scale coverage. As a cost-effective solution, multihop communication is becoming more and more important to WiMAX systems. To successfully deploy multihop WiMAX networks, security is one of the major challenges that must be addressed. Another crucial issue is how to support different services and applications in WiMAX networks. Since WiMAX is a relatively new standard, very little work has been presented in the literature. In this article we propose a secure and service-oriented network control framework for WiMAX networks. In the design of this framework we consider both the security requirements of the communications and the requirements of potential WiMAX applications that have not been fully addressed previously in the network layer design. The proposed framework consists of two basic components: a service-aware control framework and a unified routing scheme. Besides the design of the framework, we further study a number of key enabling technologies that are important to a practical WiMAX network. Our study can provide a guideline for the design of a more secure and practical WiMAX network     

移动WiMAX无线技术研究

移动WiMAX作为移动和固定宽带网络融合的宽带无线解决方案,具有宽频无线接入技术和灵活的网络结构,在宽带移动网络的演进过程中必将发挥重要的作用。研究了移动WiMAX采用的无线技术,介绍了波束形成、空时编码和空间复用技术,分析了具有自适应MIMO转换技术的自适应智能天线系统,为了保证边缘用户的连接质量,引入了有别于传统频率复用技术的部分频率复用技术,最后简单介绍了移动WiMAX支持的多播和广播业务。     

The Mobile Broadband WiMAX Standard [Standards in a Nutshell]

Mobile worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) is a wireless standard that introduces orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and other key features to enable mobile broadband services at a vehicular speed of up to 120 km/h. WiMAX complements the and competes with wireless local area networks (WLANs) and the third generation (3G) wireless standards on coverage and data rate. More specifically, WiMAX supports a much larger coverage area than WLAN, does not require line of sight for a connection, and is significantly less costly compared to the current 3G cellular standards. Although the WiMAX standard supports both fixed and mobile broadband data services, the latter have a much larger market. Therefore, this article will briefly present the Mobile WiMAX standard, the technologies deployed for the air interface and the network, and the development of the standards to support mobile multihop relays in a WiMAX network.     

Fixed Mobile Convergence Architectures for Broadband Access: Integration of EPON and WiMAX [Topics in Optical Communications]

EPON and WiMAX are two promising broadband access technologies for new-generation wired and wireless access. Their complementary features motivate interest in using EPON as a backhaul to connect multiple dispersed WiMAX base stations. In this article we propose four broadband access architectures to integrate EPON and WiMAX technologies. The integrated architectures can take advantage of the bandwidth benefit of fiber communications, and the mobile and non-line-of-sight features of wireless communications. Based on these integrated architectures, we elaborate on related control and operation issues to address the benefits gained by this integration. Integration of EPON and WiMAX enables fixed mobile convergence, and is expected to significantly reduce overall design and operational costs for new-generation broadband access networks.     

Multicast Broadcast Services Support in OFDMA-Based WiMAX Systems [Advances in Mobile Multimedia]

Multimedia stream service provided by broadband wireless networks has emerged as an important technology and has attracted much attention. An all-IP network architecture with reliable high-throughput air interface makes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access (OFDMA)-based mobile worldwide interoperability for microwave access (mobile WiMAX) a viable technology for wireless multimedia services, such as voice over IP (VoIP), mobile TV, and so on. One of the main features in a WiMAX MAC layer is that it can provide'differentiated services among different traffic categories with individual QoS requirements. In this article, we first give an overview of the key aspects of WiMAX and describe multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) architecture of the 3GPP. Then, we propose a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) architecture for WiMAX that is based on MBMS. Moreover, we enhance the MBS architecture for mobile WiMAX to overcome the shortcoming of limited video broadcast performance over the baseline MBS model. We also give examples to demonstrate that the proposed architecture can support better mobility and offer higher power efficiency.     

Seamless integration of mobile WiMAX in 3GPP networks

As the wireless industry makes its way to the next generation of mobile systems, it is important to engineer solutions that enable seamless integration of emerging 4G access technologies within the currently deployed and/or evolved 2G/3G infrastructures. In this article we address a specific case of such a seamless integration, that of mobile WiMAX in evolved 3GPP networks. In this context we investigate the architecture and the key procedures that enable this integration, and we also introduce a novel handover mechanism that enables seamless mobility between mobile WiMAX and legacy 3GPP access, such as UTRAN or GERAN. The core characteristic of this novel handover mechanism is that mobile terminals do not need to support simultaneous transmission on both WiMAX and 3GPP accesses; therefore, it mitigates the RF coexistence issues that exist otherwise and improves handover performance. In addition, we provide a brief overview of mobile WiMAX and the evolved 3GPP network technologies, and we set the appropriate background material before presenting our proposed handover mechanism. Our main conclusion is that integrating mobile WiMAX in evolved 3GPP networks is a compelling approach for providing wireless broadband services, and mobility across WiMAX and 3GPP access can become seamless and efficient with no need for mobile terminals to support simultaneous transmission on both types of access.     

WiMAX应用潜力分析

文章分析了WiMAX在固定宽带无线接入场合和便携、移动通信场合的应用前景.文章认为:在固定宽带无线通信中,WiMAX会广泛应用于家庭用户、IP语音用户、传输承载用户和集团客户,为他们提供宽带无线接入;在便携、移动通信中,IEEE802.16即将集成到笔记本电脑和个人数字助理(PDA)等便携式电子设备中,实现在城域网范围内的可移动的宽带无线数据服务;用户需求加上WiMAX设备的批量上市及终端成本的下降,WiMAX的应用潜力巨大,市场将呈几何级增长.     

WiMAX关键技术及网络结构探讨

WiMAX支持非视距传播条件下的无线宽带接入,它致力于为无线网络提供低时延、高质量的语音和数据服务,正迅速发展并将在无线城域网中扮演重要角色。WiMAX技术因其定位于城域级的无线宽带接入,具有覆盖范围广、传输距离远、传输速率快等优势,在未来的无线宽带移动通信领域将会占有相当重要的主导地位。文中从WiMAX的基本特征、关键技术和网络结构及应用3个维度对WiMAX进行了分析与探讨。     

WiMAX宽带无线接入在SDH宽带光城域网的应用模型

WiMAX是一种应用于城域网并提供宽带无线接入的技术。针对我国宽带IP城域网建设的实际情况,结合WiMAX技术优势和应用特点,建立了采用WiMAX接入技术的城域网的网络结构,提出了网络配置方案和各种WiMAX设备的接口要求,并对该应用模型所对应的协议栈进行了分析和设计。对今后WiMAX技术在SDH宽带IP城域网的应用具有实际意义。     

WiMAX技术及其应用

WiMAX以其传输速率高、建网速度快、建设成本低、覆盖面积广、频谱效率高等特点成为未来最富有竞争力的无线宽带技术之一.WiMAX除能提供公众网络的语音/数据等业务外,最先会在专业网络中获得大规模的应用,尤其是在城市安防、公安消防、智能交通、防洪抗灾、政府办公等专网领域具有显著的优势,逐渐成为专网用户、电信运营商,尤其是网络基础设施相对匮乏地区运营商关注的无线宽带技术.     

An overview of next-generation mobile WiMAX technology - [WiMAX update]

The growing demand for mobile Internet and wireless multimedia applications has motivated the development of broadband wirelessaccess technologies in recent years. Mobile WiMAX has enabled convergence of mobile and fixed broadband networks through a common wide-area radio-access technology and flexible network architecture. Since January 2007, the IEEE 802.16 Working Group has been developing a new amendment of the IEEE 802.16 standard (i.e., IEEE 802.16m) as an advanced air interface to meet the requirements of ITU-R/IMT-advanced for 4G systems, as well as for the next-generation mobile network operators. Depending on the available bandwidth and multi-antenna mode, the next-generation mobile WiMAX will be capable of over-the-air datatransfer rates in excess of 1 Gb/s and of supporting a wide range of high-quality and high-capacity IP-based services and applications while maintaining full backward compatibility with the existing mobile WiMAX systems to preserve investments and continuing to support first-generation products. This tutorial describes the prominent technical features of IEEE 802.16m and the potential for successful deployment of the next generation of mobile WiMAX in 2011+.     

TD-SCDMA和WiMAX技术融合实现宽带无线移动通信系统

本文主要论述了基于TD-SCDMA和WiMAX技术融合实现一种新型的宽带无线移动通信系统。在该系统中,TD-SCDMA接入网提供广域无线覆盖,支持高移动性,提供话音业务和中、低速数据业务;WiMAX接入网提供热点区域覆盖,支持游牧移动性,提供高带宽流媒体数据服务,两种接入技术在网络层实现汇聚,通过网络层移动性管理技术,共享核心网络和业务系统,实现两种接入网的统一的无线资源管理以及统一的用户管理和计费,移动终端可以在该系统下的两种网络之间实现无缝漫游和切换。该种新型的移动通信系统能够很好的满足用户对移动通信业务的使用要求,也能够有力支持TD-SCDMA大规模独立组网,增强TD-SCDMA的竞争力;同时,也为TD-SCDMA系统的演进和跨越式发展提出新的思路。     

Seamless IP mobility support for flat architecture mobile WiMAX networks - [WiMAX update]

The growing demand for wireless Internet services is accelerating the evolution of wireless networks toward all-IP architecture, and the mobile WiMAX network is a prominent example. Although currently deployed mobile WiMAX networks use hierarchical architecture, flat architecture is feasible and specified as a design alternative in the mobile WiMAX standard. In flat architecture the functionalities of the ASN-GW and BS are consolidated into a single element. In this article we first discuss the benefits and challenges of flat architecture mobile WiMAX networks. We then present a scheme to deal with the seamless mobility issue, which is one of the key challenges of the flat architecture. The proposed scheme combines two standard IP-mobility protocols, Proxy Mobile IP and Fast Mobile IP, and customizes them for IEEE 802.16e-based mobile WiMAX networks. This provides interoperability with existing mobile WiMAX networks. We demonstrate the viability of the proposed scheme through simulations using NS-2.     

宽带无线接入WiMAX系统组网设计

WiMAX作为新兴的宽带无线接入技术,具有覆盖范围广、传输带宽大的特点,已经成为电信业关注的热点,WiMAX无线接入系统的组网设计问题已成为一个重要的课题.文中对WiMAX组网设计涉及到的几个关键问题,如业务需求预测、频率规划、传播摸型、组网方式等相关问题进行了探讨,可为WiMAX无线接入网络的规划,工程设计和工程建设提供参考和帮助.     

Measurement and analysis of online gaming services on mobile WiMAX networks

Online games have been played mainly in desktop computers over wired networks because of high speed and intensive computation requirements. The advances in mobile devices and ever increasing wireless link bandwidth motivate us to study whether players can enjoy online gaming over broadband wireless networks such as mobile Worldwide Inter‐operability for Microwave Access (WiMAX). In this paper, we carry out comprehensive measurements of the World of Warcraft (WoW) over the mobile WiMAX in Seoul, Korea, and analyze the network performance focusing on two aspects: (1) network layer dynamics such as round trip time, jitter, and packet loss and (2) WiMAX link layer statistics such as the radio signal strength, handovers, and piggyback mechanism. From the empirical data, we set up performance models and evaluate the performance of WoW over WiMAX. We also discuss how to improve the service quality of online gaming over WiMAX.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross-Layer MAC Protocol and Holistic Opportunistic Scheduling with Adaptive Power Control for QoS in WiMAX

Providing quality of service (QoS) to different service classes with integrated real-time and non-real-time traffic is an important issue in broadband wireless access networks. Opportunistic MAC (OMAC) is a novel view of communication over spatiotemporally varying wireless link whereby the multi-user diversity is exploited rather than combated to maximize bandwidth efficiency or system throughput. It combines cross-layer design features and opportunistic scheduling scheme to achieve high utilization while providing QoS support to various applications. Channel characteristics, traffic characteristics and queue characteristics are the essential factors in the design of opportunistic scheduling algorithms. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer MAC scheduling framework in WiMAX point-to-multipoint (PMP) systems and a corresponding opportunistic scheduling algorithm with an adaptive power control scheme to provide QoS support to the heterogeneous traffic. Extensive simulation experiments have been carried out to evaluate the performance of our proposal. The simulation results show that our proposed solution can improve the performance of the WiMAX PMP systems in terms of packet loss rate, packet delay and system throughput.     

Dynamic Resource Allocation Architecture for IEEE802.16e: Design and Performance Analysis

Mobile communications has witnessed an exponential increase in the amount of users, services and applications. WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) targets to provide broadband connectivity to wide area coverage, both in fixed and in mobile environments, as well as in the provision of QoS constraints of those applications and services envisioned for Next Generation Networks (NGNs), which results in significant design challenges in the MAC (Medium Access Control) to provide the seamless transport of heterogeneous traffic in a cost-effective manner. This paper proposes a Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) architecture for the IEEE802.16e broadband wireless system (also known as Mobile WiMAX) that can provide operators the flexibility to deliver broadband traffic with high spectral efficiency. The proposed DRA architecture framework encompasses scheduler, Link Adaptation (LA), Resource Allocation (RA) and Hybrid Automated Repeat Request (HARQ) functional blocks which interwork seamlessly. The performance of the DRA was evaluated using commonly deployed scheduling policies: Max C/I, Proportional Fair and Round Robin schemes. Simulation results show that the proposed DRA scheme has the capacity to provide enhanced coverage and QoS provisioning for the area networks (WANs), such as the ones envisioned for B3G mobile wireless networks.     

Future technologies for very high throughput satellite systems

In this paper, we investigate the possible satellite's role and technical solutions required for providing broadband services complementing the terrestrial fifth generation wireless standards. First, we review the satellite networks use cases, services, and system requirements. Then we investigate the satellite potential purpose for broadband service provision and the associated challenges with focus on the system and space/ground technological aspects. Different architectural satellite network solutions are illustrated jointly with the key system design trade‐offs. Particular emphasis is dedicated to the payload architecture. Finally, we illustrate the space and ground segment technologies enabling the successful satellite contribution to broadband services provision.     

IPTV over WiMAX: Key Success Factors, Challenges, and Solutions [Advances in Mobile Multimedia]

The advances in broadband Internet access and scalable video technologies have made it possible for Internet Protocol television (IPTV) to become the next killer application for modern Internet carriers in metropolitan areas. With the recent release of IEEE 802.16d/e (worldwide interoperability for microwave access or WiMAX), broadband wireless access (BWA) is envisioned to further extend IPTV services to a new application scenario with wireless and mobility dimensions. It is a very strategic but challenging leverage for a carrier to glimpse the potential of IPTV by using WiMAX as the access network. Challenges are posed for IPTV over WiMAX due to multicasting under a diversity of fading conditions. A cross-layer design framework based on a novel two-level superposition coded multicasting (SCM) scheme is introduced. Simulation results show that much improved video quality is achievable with our approach.     

Traffic handling capability of a broadband indoor wireless networkusing CDMA multiple access

CDMA (code division multiple access) may be an attractive technique for wireless access to broadband services because of its multiple access simplicity and other appealing features. In order to investigate the traffic handling capabilities of a future network providing a variety of integrated services, this paper presents a study of a broadband indoor wireless network supporting high-speed traffic using CDMA multiple access. The results are obtained through the simulation of an indoor environment and the traffic capabilities of the wireless access to broadband 155.5 MHz ATM-SONET networks using the mm-wave band. A distributed system architecture is employed and the system performance is measured in terms of call blocking probability and dropping probability, the impacts of the base station density, traffic load, average holding time, and variable traffic sources on the system performance are examined. The improvement of system performance by implementing various techniques such as handoff, admission control, power control and sectorization are also investigated