International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol. 5, No.

5, October 2013

IEEE 802.16: WiMAX Overview, WiMAX Architecture

Mojtaba Seyedzadegan and Mohamed Othman

 wireless newcomer, WiMAX always has been viewed as

Abstract—WiMax, the Worldwide Interoperability for being potentially competitive with every other wireless
Microwave Access is a new technology dealing with provision of broadband access technology, including 3G and Wi-Fi, but
data over long distance using wireless communication method in using WiMAX as the backhaul method in a Wi-Fi mesh
many different ways. Based on IEEE 802.16 WiMax is claimed
as an alternative broadband rather than cable and DSL. This
topology will prove the two technologies to be
paper is a quick technical overview and covers:WiMAX complementary.”[3].
overview(Fundamental Concept; Technology; Standard update) To the Internet

andWiMAX architecture(Network and Node Architectures;

Physical Layer; MAC Layer) Wired Link

Mesh Router with

Gateway

Index Terms— Broadband, IEEE 802.16, WiMAX.

×
Poor Connection

Mesh Network
Backbone
I. WIMAX OVERVIEW Mesh Router

A. Fundamental Concept
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access) is a connection-oriented wide area network [1]. It
supports high bandwidth and hundreds of users per channel at Mesh Router with Bridge /
Gateway
Access Point

speeds similar to currently seen for DSL, Cable or a T1 Access Point

connection; Promises to provide a range of 30 miles as an

alternative to wired broadband like cable and DSL. It could Base Station

potentially provide broadband access to remote places. Use

WiM
point-to-multipoint (P2MP) architecture. It is designed for WiFi Network
A XN
etw
ork
delivering broadband seamless quality multimedia services to
the end users. “WiMAX combines the familiarity of Wi-Fi
with the mobility of cellular that will deliver personal mobile Cellular Network

broadband that moves with you” [2]. Fig. 1. Overview of a backbone mesh network and connections to WiFi,
WiMAX, and wireless cellular networks [4].
B. WiMAX Devices
• A WiMAX base-station which is similar to a cellular tower, E. WiMAX vs. 3G
except that it can cover of almost of 3,000 square miles The common Misconceptions about WiMAX & 3G
(~8,000 square km). CDMA are [5]:
• A WiMAX receiver could be standalone tower or a
PCMCIA card inserted into your laptop. By having such 1) Cost considerations
large coverage areas, potential problems of handoffs • WiMAX networks cost less (by a factor of 2 – 10x)
associated with 802.11 seems to be solved. • WiMAX devices will cost less
• WiMAX IPR cost will be lower
C. Challenge • WiMAX has larger ecosystem (many participants, more
QoS is a challenge. Efficient scheduling design is left for competition)
designers and developers. Consequently providing QoS 2) Services and revenue
Scheduling Architecture for WiMAX Base Stations is a • WiMAX is optimized for data, 3G CDMA is for voice
challenge for system developers. • 16d WiMAX systems are easily upgraded to mobility
D. WiMAX and Wireless Mesh Network • WiMAX is Wi-Fi with greater range
“If WiMAX and Wi-Fi technologies can work together in a F. IEEE 802.16 Features
mesh environment, it would bring at least a temporary 802.16 is used for WiMAX with the features:
resolution to the issue of whether or not the technologies are • Uses wireless link with microwave or millimeter waves.
actually competitive with one another. It seems that as the • Uses licensed spectrum
• Provides public network service to fee-paying customers
• Uses point-to-multipoint (P2MP) architecture
Manuscript received November 13, 2012; revised March 7, 2013. • Simple stationary rooftop or tower-mounted antennas
The authors are with the Department of Communication Technology and • Provide broadband and QoS guarantee data transmissions.
Network, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor D.E, Malaysia G. IEEE 802.16 Standard History
(email: mojtaba@fsktm.upm.edu.my, mothman@fsktm.upm.edu.my).

DOI: 10.7763/IJCTE.2013.V5.796 784

 International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 5, October 2013

802.16
WiMAX architecture consists of two types of fixed (non
(Dec 2001) mobile) stations:
• Subscriber Stations (SS): serves a building (business or
802.16c residence)
(2002) • Base station (BS): connects to public network and provide
802.16a SS with first-mile access to public networks
802.16 Amendment (Jan 2003) The communication path between SS and BS has two
WiMAX System
directions:
Profiles 10-66 GHz
• Uplink (from SS to BS)
802.16REVd • Downlink (from BS to SS)
Air Interface for (802.16-2004)
Fixed and Mobile (Oct 2004) B. WiMAX Layer Architecture
Broadband Wireless Physical layer functions are encoding/decoding of signals,
Access System
(rollup of
preamble generation/removal, and bit transmission/reception.
802.16e
802.16-2004, (802.16-2005) In the Data link layer, medium access control functions
802.16-2004/Cor 1, (Dec 2005) are:
802.16e, 802.16f, • On transmission, assemble data into a frame with address
802.16g and
P802.16i)Air and error detection fields
Interface for Fixed
802.16-2009 • On reception, disassemble frame, and perform address
and Mobile recognition and error detection
Broadband Wireless • Govern access to the wireless transmission medium
Access System 802.16j-2009 For the convergence layer, functions are:
Multi-hop relay
Encapsulate PDU framing of upper layers into native
802.16 MAC/PHY frames, map upper layer‟s addresses into
P802.16m 802.16 addresses, translate upper layer QoS parameters into
native 802.16 MAC format, and adapt time dependencies of
H. 802.16 Standards upper layer traffic into equivalent MAC service.

C. Channel Acquisition Process between an SS and BS [6]

1. SS begins scanning presets frequency for base station

2. BS responds. Synchronizes with SS

3. Messages in every frame SS bursts with increasing

power until it reaches/receives a ranging response from BS
BS SS
4. BS responds with timing and power adjustments, management
II. WIMAX ARCHITECTURE CIDs(connection ID)

5. SS reports its physical layer capabilities

A. WiMAX Network Architecture (modulation/coding schemes)

6. BS accepts SS; is ready for service flow

SS
TE
to other BS

D. SS Authentication and Registration [5]

SS TE
Core
Network(s) 1. Authorization Requests and Authentication Information
BS
(contains X.509 certificate)

SS TE 2. BS responds with Authorization Reply

RS 3. With successful authorization, SS registers with the network

TE
SS BS SS
4. After registration, SS attains an IP address with the network
RS
BS: Base Station
TE
SS: Subscriber Station 5. SS DHCP server provides address of TFTP server where SS
RS: Relay Station
SS
obtains a configuration file
TE: Terminal Equipment
TE

6. BS accepts SS; is ready for service flow

Fig. 2. IEEE 802.16 network architecture

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 International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 5, October 2013

E. Multimedia over WiMAX G. MAC Layer

The basic idea of multimedia streaming is transporting WiMAX MAC layer is a point to multipoint protocol
different types of desired media content to the user over a (P2MP). It supports high bandwidth and hundreds of users per
network, and displaying it to the user. Both, „Live and channel. It utilizes spectrum efficiently by supporting bursty
interactive audio/video‟ on the other hand, involve a client traffic. The MAC convergence sub layer offers support for
and two servers. ATM, Ethernet, 802.1Q, IPv4, IPv6 (a possible future support
WiMAX has the capability to deliver broadband speeds for PPP, MPLS etc). The core MAC layer provides packet
over 70Mb/s in an efficient manner. A sophisticated QoS fragmentation, ARQ and QOS. The MAC Privacy Sub layer
scheme is needed to have a real time experience of voice and
integrates security features in WiMAX. Authentication,
Video applications.
encryption and Key exchange functionality are provided in
The architecture of WiMAX Base-Station with QoS
MAC sub layer.
provision for Multimedia Application is as follow:
• Privacy Sublayer
Base Station (BS) QoS architecture:
1) Encapsulation protocol
• A compensation block receives Carrier to Interference
• Encrypt or decrypt data
Noise Reports (CINR), also bandwidth requests, from
substations (SSs). 1) Privacy Key Management (PKM) protocol
• Based on reports, compensation block labels a flow as a • Secure distribution of keying data (BS to SS)
bad or a good flow. 1) Security Association (SA)
• The Connection Identifiers (CIDs) belonging to a bad flow • Identified by SAID
are marked as banned by the compensation block. • Contains cryptographic suite and security info
• The compensation block connects to an intelligent packet H. WiMAX PHY and MAC Summary
scheduler to select the appropriate flow for transmission. A
• PHY
system channel aware.
1) MIMO
• Before transmitting a packet, the scheduler checks whether
the packet has a banned CID to stop transmitting it. 2) Modulation
• The classifier gets feedback from the compensation block. 3) OFDM, Modulation technique, spread spectrum (used
• Connections with separate connection IDs (CIDs) and in e.g DSL, WLAN, WiMAX)
classifies traffic based on a class-based approach are • MAC, control plane, user plane
differentiated. 1) Manage resources on the air interface
• QoS admits frames with only those CIDs that can be 2) QoS for multimedia and video streaming
serviced without any significant delay to the real time voice 3) ARQ
and video applications, thus: 4) Mobility Management
• It rejects a CID that experiences bad channel quality and 5) Radio Resource Management
allows unmarked CIDs to utilize the channel at its 6) Location
maximum efficiency.
Incoming Traffic

III. CONCLUSION
WiMAX Technology is facing many hurdles in market
while it has some great advantages which make it a
Classifier technology of today. This paper provided the quick and
WiMAX MAC Layer for BS technical overview of concept, technology, standard, and
architecture for IEEE 802.16 WiMAX.
nrtPS

Enhanced Buffer
manager
rtPS

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REFERENCES
UGS

[1] IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, Part 16:
Air Interface for Broadband Wireless Access Systems IEEE Std
802.16™-2009.
[2] Intel leap ahead. Welcome to Your Internet Future. Intel 2007. (August
Compensation Block Scheduler Data to SSs 30, 2010). [Online]. Available:
http://download.intel.com/network/connectivity/products/wireless/wel
come-to-your-internet-future. pdf
[3] Dan O'Shea. WiMAX Makes a Mesh. (Oct. 17, 2005). [Online].
CINR Reports Control Information from Subscriber Stations (SSs) Available:
http://connectedplanetonline.com/mag/telecom_wimax_makes_mesh/i
Fig. 3. WiMAX BS Architecture ndex2.html
[4] N. F. Mir, Computer and Communication Networks, Printice Hall,
F. Physical Layer 2006.
[5] WiMAX vs 3G CDMA. (January 2008). [Online]. Available:
The physical layer supports: http://www.qualcomm.com.
• OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing [6] WiMAX Made Simple. How WiMAX Works. (December 15, 2009).
• TDD: Time Division Duplex [Online]. Available:
• FDD: Frequency Division Duplex http://wimax-made-simple.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-wimax-works.
• QPSK: Quadrature Phase Shift Keying html

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 International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 5, October 2013

Mojtaba Seyedzadegan currently is with the Wireless Mohamed Othman is a professor of computer science
and Mobile Networks Laboratory, Department of in the Department of Communication Technology and
Communication Technology and Network, Faculty of Network, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), since
Computer Science and Information Technology, 2001. In April 2008, he was appointed as a deputy
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). His field of study is director of InfoComm Development Centre (iDEC) at
Computer Networks and his interests include the same university. He received his PhD in Computer
Architectural Design of WiMAX and Wireless Mesh Science from the Department of Industrial Computing,
Networks, Fairness in Wireless LANs, Network Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia with distinction (Best
Management, and Graph Theory. PhD Thesis in 2000 awarded by Sime Darby Malaysia
and Malaysian Mathematical Science Society) in
1999. Since 1989, in total, he had published more than 200 journal papers
and more than 300 conference papers, both at national and international
levels. He has expertise in several areas of computer science such as parallel
and distributed algorithms, grid computing, high-speed computer network
and scientific computing.

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