What is WiMAX?

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is the common name associated to the IEEE 802.16a/REVd/e standards. These standards are issued by the IEEE 802.16 subgroup that originally covered the Wireless Local Loop technologies with radio spectrum from 10 to 66 GHz. Goal: Provide high-speed Internet access to home and business subscribers, without wires. Base stations (BS) and subscriber stations (SS) Centralized access control to prevents collisions Supports applications with different QoS requirements WiMAX is a subset of IEEE 802.16 standard. 802.16.1 (10-66 GHz, line-of-sight, up to 134Mbit/s) 802.16.2 (minimizing interference between coexisting WMANs) 802.16a (2-11 Ghz, Mesh, non-line-of-sight) 802.16b (5-6 Ghz) 802.16c (detailed system profiles) P802.16e (Mobile Wireless MAN)

IEEE 802.16 Introduction

IEEE 802.16 (2001) Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access System MAC and PHY Specifications for 10 66 GHZ (LoS) One PHY: Single Carrier Connection-oriented, TDM/TDMA MAC, QoS, Privacy IEEE 802.16a (January 2003) Amendment to 802.16, MAC Modifications and Additional PHY Specifications for 2 11 GHz (NLoS) Three PHYs: OFDM, OFDMA, Single Carrier

Additional MAC functions: OFDM and OFDMA PHY support, Mesh topology support, ARQ IEEE 802.16d (July 2004) Combines both IEEE 802.16 and 802.16a Some modifications to the MAC and PHY IEEE 802.16e (2005?) Amendment to 802.16-2004 MAC Modifications for limited mobility

Coverage range up to 50km and speeds up to 70Mbps(shared among users).

Reference Model

Physical layer: Allows use of directional antennas Allows use of two different duplexing schemes: Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) Time Division Duplexing (TDD)

Support for both full and half duplex stations Adaptive Data Burst profiles Transmission parameters (e.g. Modulation, FEC) can be modified on a frame-by-frame basis for each SS

Profiles are identified by Interval Usage Code

Source: Understanding WiMAX and 3G for Portable/Mobile Broadband Wireless, Technical White Paper, Intel.

Time Division Duplexing (TDD) :-

IEEE 802.16 MAC addressing and Identifiers:

SS has 48-bit IEEE MAC address BS has 48-bit base station ID o Not a MAC address o 24-bit operator indicator 16-bit connection ID (CID) 32-bit service flow ID (SFID) 16-bit security association ID (SAID)

IEEE 802.16 MAC Convergence Sub-Layer (CS) :

ATM Convergence Sub-Layer: o Support for VP/VC switched connections o Support for end-to-end signaling of dynamically created connections o ATM header suppression o Full QoS support o Packet Convergence Sub-Layer: o Initial support for Ethernet, VLAN, IPv4, and IPv6 o Payload header suppression o Full QoS support

IEEE 802.16 MAC CS Packet Convergence Sub-Layer :

Functions:

o Classification: mapping the higher layer PDUs (Protocol Data Units) into appropriate MAC connections o Payload header suppression (optional) o MAC SDU (Service Data Unit), i.e, CS PDU, formatting

MAC SDU = CS PDU

PHSI

Packet PDU (e.g., IP packet, Ethernet Packet)

Payload Header Suppression Index Optional, Depending on upper layer protocol

IEEE 802.16 MAC CPS MAC PDU Format:

msb lsb

MAC PDU

Generic MAC Header (6 bytes)

payload (optional)

CRC (optional)

Generic MAC Header Format (Header Type (HT) = 0)

H E T C Type (6 bits) rs C EKS rs v I (2) v

BW Req. Header Format (Header Type (HT) =1)

H E T C Type (6 bits)

LEN msb (3)

BW Req. msb (8) CID msb (8)

LEN lsb (8)

CID msb (8)

BWS Req. lsb (8)

CID lsb (8)

HCS (8)

CID lsb (8)

HCS (8)

IEEE 802.16 MAC CPS-- MAC Management Connections: o Each SS has 3 management connections in each direction: o Basic Connection: short and time-urgent MAC management messages

 MAC mgmt messages as MAC PDU payloads o Primary Management connection: longer and more delay tolerant MAC mgmt messages MAC mgmt messages as MAC PDU payloads o Secondary Management Connection: Standard based mgmt messages, e.g., DHCP, SNMP, etc IP packets based CS PDU as MAC PDU payload

MAC mgmtmsg can be sent on: Basic connections; Primary mgmt connection; Broadcast connection; and initial ranging connections 41 MAC mgmtmsgs specified in 802.16

The TLV (type/length/value) encoding scheme is used in MAC mgmtmsg, e.g., in UCD msg for UL burst profiles, (type=1, length=1, value=1) QPSK modulation (type=1, length=1, value=2) 16QAM modulation (type=1, length=1, value=3) 64QAM modulation

MAC PDUs are transmitted in PHY Bursts The PHY burst can contain multiple FEC blocks MAC PDUs may span FEC block boundaries Concatenation Packing Segmentation Sub-headers

Bandwidth request:
o o o o o o o

SSs may request bandwidth in 3 ways: Use the contention request opportunities interval upon being polled by the BS Send a standalone MAC message called BW request in an allready granted slot Piggyback a BW request message on a data packet

Bandwidth allocation:
o BS grants/allocates bandwidth in one of two modes: o Grant Per Subscriber Station (GPSS) o Grant Per Connection (GPC) Decision based on requested bandwidth and QoS requirements vs available resources Grants are notified through the UL-MAP

Bandwidth Request-Grant Protocol:

1. BS allocates bandwidth to SSs for transmitting bandwidth request. 2.1 SS1 transmits bandwidth 2.2 SS2 transmits bandwidth requests. 3. BS allocates bandwidth to SSs for transmitting data based on their bandwidth requests. Bandwidth is also allocated for requesting more bandwidth.
4.1 SS1 transmits data and bandwidth requests.

4.2 SS2 transmits data and bandwidth requests.

4.1 2.1 3

Ss1

BS
4.2 2.2
Ss2

Scheduling services:
Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) o Real-time, periodic fixed size packets (e.g. VoIP) o No periodic bandwith requests required Real-Time Polling Service (rtPS) o Real-time, periodic variable sizes packets (e.g MPEG) o BS issues periodic unicast polls Non-Real-Time Polling Service (nrtPS) o Variable sized packets with loose delay requirements (FTP) o BS issues unicast polls regularly (not necessarily periodic) o Can also use contention requests and piggybacking Best Effort Service o Never polled individually o Can use contention requests and piggybacking

Example

Total Uplink Bytes = 100 2 SS and 1 BS SS1 Demands: UGS = 20 rtPS = 12 nrtPS = 15 BE = 30 SS2 Demands: UGS = 10 rtPS = 10 nrtPS = 15 BE = 20

Flows: UGS rtPS nrtPS BE st 1 Round 40 30 20 10 30 22 20 10 Excess Bytes = 18 nd 2 Round 30 22 20+12 10+6 30 22 32 16 Excess Bytes = 2 rd 3 Round 30 22 30 16+2 30 22 30 18

Total Demand Per Flow: UGS = 30 rtPS = 22 nrtPS = 30 BE = 50

SS1 Allocation = 20 +12 + 15 + 9 = 56 SS2 Allocation = 10 +10 + 15 + 9 = 44

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References: IEEE802.16-2004 Alcatel White Paper: WiMAX, making ubiquitous high-speed data services a reality Intel White Paper: Understanding WiMAX and 3G for Portable/Mobile Broadband Wireless WiMAX Forum: www.wimaxforum.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMax IEEE 802.16 MAC commonly used terms:
BS Base Station SS Subscriber Station, (i.e., CPE) DL Downlink, i.e. from BS to SS UL Uplink, i.e. from SS to BS FDD Frequency Division Duplex TDD Time Division Duplex TDMA Time Division Multiple Access TDM Time Division Multiplexing OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OFDMA - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access QoS Quality of Service

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