Introduction to FDM, OFDM, OFDMA, SOFDMA

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)

WiMAX air interface is based on OFDM/OFDMA physical layer (PHY). To understand

how OFDM and OFDMA work, it is useful to start with its "mother" namely FDM
(Frequency Division Multiplexing).

Figure. Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)

Spacing is put between two adjacent sub-carriers.

In FDM system, signals from multiple transmitters are transmitted simultaneously (at the
same time slot) over multiple frequencies. Each frequency range (sub-carrier) is
modulated separately by different data stream and a spacing (guard band) is placed
between sub-carriers to avoid signal overlap.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

Figure. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

Sub-carriers are closely spaced until overlap.

Like FDM, OFDM also uses multiple sub-carriers but the sub-carriers are closely spaced
to each other without causing interference, removing guard bands between adjacent sub-
carriers. This is possible because the frequencies (sub-carriers) are orthogonal; meaning
the peak of one sub-carrier coincides with the null of an adjacent sub-carrier.

In an OFDM system, a very high rate data stream is divided into multiple parallel low
rate data streams. Each smaller data stream is then mapped to individual data sub-carrier
and modulated using some sorts of PSK (Phase Shift Keying) or QAM (Quadrature
Amplitude Modulation). I.e. BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM.
OFDM needs less bandwidth than FDM to carry the same amount of information which
translates to higher spectral efficiency. Besides a high spectral efficiency, an OFDM
system such as WiMAX is more resilient in NLOS environment. It can efficiently
overcome interference and frequency-selective fading caused by multipath because
equalizing is done on a subset of sub-carriers instead of a single broader carrier. The
effect of ISI (Inter Symbol Interference) is suppressed by virtue of a longer symbol
period of the parallel OFDM sub-carriers than a single carrier system and the use of a
cyclic prefix (CP).

OFDM has been in theory for decades but just entered real world applications in recent
years thanks to the availability of modern chips that can handle complex digital signal
processing. Wireline and wireless, fixed and mobile communications or networking
technologies have chosen OFDM to achieve higher data rate (what is called broadband).
Examples of such technologies are: ADSL, HomePlug AV, WiMedia UWB, Wi-Fi
(802.11a/g), WiMAX.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)

Like OFDM, OFDMA employs multiple closely spaced sub-carriers, but the sub-carriers
are divided into groups of sub-carriers. Each group is named a sub-channel. The sub-
carriers that form a sub-channel need not be adjacent. In the downlink, a sub-channel may
be intended for different receivers. In the uplink, a transmitter may be assigned one or
more sub-channels.

Figure. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

Sub-carriers with the same color represent a sub-channel.

Subchannelization defines sub-channels that can be allocated to subscriber stations (SSs)

depending on their channel conditions and data requirements. Using subchannelization,
within the same time slot a Mobile WiMAX Base Station (BS) can allocate more transmit
power to user devices (SSs) with lower SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), and less power to
user devices with higher SNR. Subchannelization also enables the BS to allocate higher
power to sub-channels assigned to indoor SSs resulting in better in-building coverage.
 Figure. Uplink Subchannelization in WiMAX
In OFDM, only one SS transmits in one time slot.
In OFDMA, several SS's can transmit at the same time slot over several sub-channels.

Subchannelization in the uplink can save a user device transmit power because it can
concentrate power only on certain sub-channel(s) allocated to it. This power-saving
feature is particularly useful for battery-powered user devices, the likely case in Mobile
WiMAX.

Scalable OFDMA (SOFDMA)

SOFDMA (S-OFDMA) adds scalability to OFDMA. It scales the FFT size to the channel
bandwidth while keeping the sub-carrier frequency spacing constant across different
channel bandwidths. Smaller FFT size is given to lower bandwidth channels, while larger
FFT size to wider channels. By making the sub-carrier frequency spacing constant,
SOFDMA reduces system complexity of smaller channels and improves performance of
wider channels.

As a reminder, IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) is used in a WiMAX transmitter to

create an OFDM waveform from modulated data streams, while FFT (Fast Fourier
Transform) is used in a WiMAX receiver to demodulate the data streams. The FFT size
equals the number of sub-carriers, e.g. in a OFDM/OFDMA system with 256 sub-
carriers, the FFT size is 256.

Figure. Transmitter and Receiver RF chains in WiMAX

Basic building blocks of a Tx RF chain and a Rx RF chain.
SOFDMA is the OFDMA mode used in Mobile WiMAX. It supports channel bandwidths
ranging from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz. With bandwidth scalability, Mobile WiMAX
technology can comply with various frequency regulations worldwide and flexibly
address diverse operator or ISP requirements, that's whether for providing only basic
Internet service or a broadband service bundle.

OFDM and OFDMA Symbol Structure

Figure. OFDM symbol structure in WiMAX

Both OFDM and OFDMA symbols are structured in similar way. Each symbol consists
of:
- data sub-carriers (OFDM) or sub-channels (OFDMA) that carry data (information),
- pilot sub-carriers as reference frequencies and for various estimation purposes,
- DC sub-carrier as the center frequency, and
- guard sub-carriers or guard bands for keeping the space between OFDM/OFDMA
signals.

Figure. OFDMA symbol structure in WiMAX

sub-carriers of the same color represent a sub-channel.
Internet Access Guide : WiMAX

Figure: WiMAX vision

WiMAX provides broadband Internet connection wirelessly,
alternative backhaul for Wi-Fi hotspots, and
T1/E1 lines to business subscribers.

The emergence of WiMAX (Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access) as a

broadband wireless access (BWA) technology adds another alternative for users to access
broadband services, specifically high speed Internet (HSI). WiMAX has the capability to
deliver triple play services, i.e. voice, video and data over microwave RF (Radio
Frequency) spectrum to stationary or moving users making broadband available
anywhere. That is what leads WiMAX being touted as a Personal Broadband technology.
Above all, the fact that WiMAX is an international standard is the prime advantage of
WiMAX over previous BWA systems such as LMDS and MMDS which experienced
limited adoption and deployment.
There are two flavors of WiMAX, i.e. Fixed WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX. Fixed
WiMAX is developed based on the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard and is optimized for
fixed and nomadic applications in LOS and NLOS environments. Mobile WiMAX is
based on the IEEE 802.16e standard and targeted primarily for portable and mobile
applications in NLOS environment. However, Mobile WiMAX systems also can provide
fixed and nomadic access. Mobile WiMAX incorporates additional features crucial to
mobile applications: handoff, flexible power management (sleep mode and idle mode),
channel bandwidth scalability (SOFDMA), fractional frequency reuse, and better NLOS
performance and indoor penetration.

The WiMAX Forum, the organization that promotes WiMAX interoperability between
vendors, develops WiMAX system profiles based on the IEEE 802.16 standards
harmonized with industry trends, market demands, and international regulations. Because
the 802.16 standard only defines physical layer (PHY) and MAC sublayer air interface
specifications, the WiMAX Forum also creates guidelines for an end-to-end WiMAX
network architecture, roaming, and integration with different networks (such as Wi-Fi
and 3G), taking a large part from IETF Internet Protocol (IP) - related RFCs, other
relevant IEEE standards, DOCSIS-based security protocols, and 3GPP's IMS fixed
mobile convergence concept.

For Fixed WiMAX, the 802.16-2004 is harmonized with similar work by the European
standard body, i.e. ETSI HiperMAN. The 802.16-2004 supports LOS (line-of-sight) fixed
wireless access (FWA) in 10 - 66 GHz licensed frequency bands using single carrier air
interface. The two multi-carrier air interfaces of Fixed WiMAX (i.e. OFDM and
OFDMA) support LOS and NLOS applications in licensed and license-exempt sub-11
GHz bands. The first Fixed WiMAX profiles use OFDM with 256 carriers as its PHY
(physical layer) in the licensed 3.5 GHz band using a pair of 3.5 MHz or 7 MHz
TDD/FDD channels and the unlicensed 5.8 GHz band using a 10 MHz TDD channel.

Meanwhile, Mobile WiMAX will operate in sub-6 GHz bands and support scalable
channel bandwidths from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz over SOFDMA (Scalable OFDMA) air
interface. Release-1 Mobile WiMAX profiles cover 5, 7, 8.75, 10 MHz channel
bandwidths for licensed spectrum in the 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands. Even
though with PHY and MAC not fully compatible with Mobile WiMAX specification,
WiBro (Wireless Broadband) which is the Korean implementation of IEEE 802.16e, is
included as one of Mobile WiMAX profiles. WiBro operates in the 2.3 GHz band over an
8.75 MHz TDD-channel. More details of Fixed and Mobile WiMAX system profiles can
be found on this page.
 Figure: WiMAX Point-To-Multipoint (PMP) application

WiMAX MAC (media access control) sublayer supports point-to-multipoint (PMP) and
optionally mesh topology. In PMP mode, traffic only occurs between Base Station (BS)
and Subscriber Stations (SSs) while in mesh mode, traffic can occur directly between
SSs. WiMAX supports traffic scheduling, dynamic bandwidth allocation and QoS
(Quality of Service) per service flow, which guarantees every type of traffic will be
handled with its associated bandwidth, latency, jitter, and priority requirements.
Therefore, WiMAX can deliver toll quality VoIP while maintaining best effort traffic
such as e-mail and web browsing at the same time.

Every WiMAX traffic is encrypted using DES (Data Encryption Standard) or AES
(Advanced Encryption Standard) for securing its transmission over the air. The
encryption keys are distributed from the BS to the SSs using PKM (Privacy Key
Management) protocol to ensure that only authorized SSs can receive the keys. Every
WiMAX user device is authenticated using a digital certificate or SIM (Subscriber
Identity Module). This way, WiMAX keeps user traffic from eavesdropping and protects
operator or service provider from becoming a victim of bandwidth theft by unauthorized
users.

Figure: Fixed and Mobile WiMAX CPE

Outdoor CPE, indoor CPE, and PC card.

WiMAX is a versatile wireless MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) access technology

that can address diverse applications. Fixed WiMAX most notably will become an
alternative for DSL or cable broadband access. That's why sometimes WiMAX is called
Wireless DSL. For that kind of application, user will need outdoor or indoor CPE which
consists of antenna, RF interface, modem, and various interfaces for connecting user
devices. CPE with roof-mounted or wall-mounted outdoor antenna offers the best
performance of all, but in many cases its installation requires a technician and maybe a
truckroll.

High end Fixed WiMAX CPEs integrate several functions in one box which is ready for
home or small office networking and Internet connection sharing. The kinds of interfaces
for connecting computers and other types of user devices are RJ-45 (Ethernet/Fast
Ethernet), RJ-11 (POTS), RJ-11 with integrated VoIP adapter, router, LAN switch, and
even Wi-Fi access point.

Figure: WiMAX Point-To-Point (PTP) backhaul

In point-to-point application, WiMAX serves as a big pipe
that streams Wi-Fi hotspot traffic to/from the Internet.

Fixed WiMAX also finds its application as backhaul (high speed connection to the
Central Office or ISP's Point of Presence) for Wi-Fi hotspots, cellular base stations
connection to base station controller, and backbone for proprietary networks spanning
hard-to-wire geographical areas. A more interesting application of Fixed WiMAX is as
wireless access in a hotzone or metro zone, that's the kind of hotspot but covers larger
area (very often city-wide). In this particular case, WiMAX can be viewed as a
competitor to Wi-Fi because it could replace Wi-Fi altogether. Nonetheless, in the near
future both technologies will work together in a complementary manner. More details on
this page.

Meanwhile, Mobile WiMAX will bring broadband access experience to stationary as well
as walking users and those traveling at vehicular speed (up to about 120 km/hour) with
devices such as laptop, PDA, and smart phone. At a glance, this is like a typical
application of 3G. But Mobile WiMAX introduces several advantages in that it has
higher spectral efficiency, better support for NLOS technologies, flexible and dynamic
QoS, and corporate-grade security, thanks to the OFDM/OFDMA PHY and the advanced
MAC design. So instead, in terms of services Mobile WiMAX is better compared with
DSL with the bonus of mobility. Expect these kinds of services over Mobile WiMAX:
music/video streaming, live TV broadcast, voice/video chatting, Internet multiplayer
game, large file download/upload from/to the Internet, remote access to office LAN via
VPN. Mobile WiMAX vision as a Personal Broadband is to make broadband available
everywhere (i.e. at home, in the office, on the street, on car, on train, on vessel).

WiMAX performance (throughput and range) is determined by many factors, i.e. on

which frequency band it operates, channel bandwidth, duplexing scheme (TDD or FDD),
modulation (whether BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, or 64-QAM) and code rate, antenna types,
whether LOS or NLOS, transmit power, receiver sensitivity, and the number of users per
base station sector. It certainly varies from one case to another.

Looking from some pre-WiMAX implementations, fixed broadband wireless access

subscribers at average get 512 kbps - 2 Mbps download data rate and 128 kbps - 1 Mbps
upload rate in a NLOS environment and PMP configuration. Fixed WiMAX operators
will likely multiply those rates up to several Mbps to compete with DSL/cable. They can
adjust the number of subscribers that will be served by a Base Station sector based on the
Service Level Agreement (SLA) of each subscriber (or user) and the maximum capacity
per sector. For PTP backhaul in a LOS environment, WiMAX capacity per base station
sector can reach 70 Mbps in a 20 MHz channel with range over 30 miles. As for Mobile
WiMAX, if WiBro - which is deployed this year in Korea - is taken as a baseline, the
effective download and upload rate per user will be over 1 Mbps outpacing 3G and
enhanced 3G (a.k.a. 3.5G) technologies such as EV-DO and HSDPA.

Figure: Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC)

Users with better SNR (closer to the BS) get higher order modulation,
those farther from the BS get lower order modulation,
ensuring the best performance for each user within the BS coverage.
WiMAX offers a number of techniques that can improve its performance, i.e. throughput,
capacity, coverage or range, indoor penetration. Some of these techniques are adaptive
modulation and coding (AMC), uplink subchannelization (using OFDMA), hybrid
automatic repeat request (H-ARQ), Forward Error Correction (FEC), and smart antenna
technologies (via optional AAS and MIMO features). They can improve performance by
improving spectral efficiency or signal strength (SNR).

Several Fixed WiMAX products (base stations and CPEs) have become WiMAX Forum
Certified after passing compliance and interoperability tests last year (2005). That was
the first round of certification. Another round will follow and from the second half of this
year (2006) will include certification for Mobile WiMAX profiles. But despite
certification process is still in early phase, in many developing countries WiMAX has
gained traction with pre-WiMAX products being installed or trialed for providing fixed,
nomadic, portable, or mobile broadband access. Meanwhile, WISPs or independent
service providers are expected to be the first WiMAX adopters in developed countries,
many of them already have Fixed WiMAX-like products installed for backhauling traffic
from their access networks.

Internet Access Guide : Other Internet Access Methods

There are more types of Internet access that aren't so popular as DSL or cable Internet.
Some are illustrated below.

Satellite Internet Access

In (one-way) Internet access over satellite, a user requests an Internet connection to her
ISP using a dial-up modem. The request runs over telephone network (PSTN). She will
be granted access if she is a registered subscriber. After the connection establishment, she
can do any Internet activities. But any content that she wants is delivered through a
satellite.

The ISP uses a dish antenna to transmit the Internet content to a satellite transponder. The
satellite transponder retransmits the received content to the user. She must install a dish
antenna to capture the content and a satellite receiver (decoder) to tune into the right
frequency and translate the content into standard formats readable on her computer
screen.
 Figure: (One-Way) Internet Access over Satellite.
The satellite only sends downstream Internet traffic, upstream traffic is served by the
telephone network.

In two-way Internet access over satellite, both upstream and downstream Internet traffic
is carried over satellite's links therefore a dial-up modem is not required. The connection
speeds offered by broadband satellite ISPs compete with those of DSL and cable Internet
access. But users reported more glitches and longer latency, that's because the satellite is
positioned far away from earth and the wireless (microwave) link passes through several
atmospheric layers.

Nonetheless, Internet access over satellite is often the only choice for people living in
remote areas, beyond the coverage of DSL or cable Internet service.

Stratellite Internet Access

Stratellite is an airship that stays afloat in the stratosphere at an altitude of 65,000 feet
and functions as a relay station that receives and retransmits signals from/to the ground.
Stratellite doesn't orbit the earth, it is stationed at a fixed coordinate. A stratellite is used
to blanket a city or a region with Internet access and other telecom services. It is cheaper
than satellite and considered more viable for providing two-way broadband
communication due to its closer distance to earth. The word "stratellite" is a trademark
owned by Sanswire Networks, LLC, the company that plans to launch and operate
stratellites. Stratellite (or the likes) concept has been around for years, but significant
commercial deployment hasn't materialized.
 Figure: Stratellite
A stratellite blankets a city with Internet access.

Internet Access over Powerline

The thought to use the AC power grid to deliver Internet to the homes has been around
for long. Intensive studies and tests by HomePlug Powerline Alliance members have led
to a candidate standard for delivering broadband Internet services over the power
network. The standard is called HomePlug BPL (Broadband over Power Line). The
standard is still being developed but one can expect to have Internet out of home power
outlets in the coming years.
 Figure: Broadband over Powerline.
Get electricity and Internet from the wall power jack.

There are other types of Internet access methods not explained in this guide that have
been used for years, in early deployment, or still being developed, such as those using:
- dial-up access over ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network),
- other DSL flavors: HDSL, SDSL, VDSL,
- leased line (nx64 kbps, E1/T1),
- CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data),
- HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data),
- EVDO (Evolution Data Only),
- EDGE (Enhanced Data rate for GSM and TDMA Evolution), and
- 3G (Third Generation) mobile technology.

Duplexing Scheme in WiMAX: TDD or FDD

Duplexing refers to the way downlink and uplink data is arranged in a two-way wireless
transmission. The downlink carries information from a Base Station (BS) to Subscriber
Stations (SSs). Downlink is also known as forward link. The uplink carries information
from a SS to a BS. It is also called reverse link. There are two types of duplexing scheme,
i.e. FDD and TDD.
 Figure. Downlink and Uplink
Downlink and uplink traffic in a 2-way communication.

FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) requires two distinct channels for transmitting
downlink sub-frame and uplink sub-frame at the same time slot. FDD is suitable for bi-
directional voice service since it occupies a symmetric downlink and uplink channel pair.
FDD is commonly used in cellular networks (2G and 3G). Meanwhile, WiMAX supports
full-duplex FDD and half-duplex FDD (HFDD or HD-FDD). The difference is in full-
duplex FDD a user device can transmit and receive simultaneously, while in half-duplex
FDD a user device can only transmit or receive at any given moment.

Figure. Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) - full duplex mode

Downlink and uplink sub-frames are transmitted at the same time in two adjacent
channels.

FDD is inefficient for handling asymmetric data services since data traffic may only
occupy a small portion of a channel bandwidth at any given time. TDD (Time Division
Duplex) is another duplexing scheme that requires only one channel for transmitting
downlink and uplink sub-frames at two distinct time slots. TDD therefore has higher
spectral efficiency than FDD. Moreover, using TDD downlink to uplink (DL/UL) ratio
can be adjusted dynamically. TDD can flexibly handle both symmetric and asymmetric
broadband traffic.
 Figure. Time Division Duplex (TDD)
Downlink and uplink sub-frames are transmitted at different time slots in one channel.

Most WiMAX implementations either on licensed or license-exempt bands will most

likely use TDD. The reasons are TDD uses half of FDD spectrum hence saving the
bandwidth, TDD system is less complex and thus cheaper, and WiMAX traffic will be
dominated by asymmetric data. The first release of Fixed WiMAX profiles support both
TDD and FDD, while Mobile WiMAX profiles only include TDD.

Fixed WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX Initial System Profiles

To accelerate WiMAX adoption in real world networks, the WiMAX Forum creates
WiMAX system profiles. WiMAX system profiles refer to a set of parameters on which a
WiMAX network will operate. They include frequency band, channel bandwidth, and
duplexing scheme. The profiles do not cover all possible operational parameters
as stated in the IEEE 802.16 standards because the WiMAX Forum prioritizes
those with wide support from the industry (mainly due to advantageous
propagation characteristics) and those in harmony with various frequency regulations
across regions and countries. Consequently, additional system profiles may be added over
time based on market demand and regulation changes.

The first release of Fixed WiMAX profiles has been published by the WiMAX Forum.
They are listed in the following table.

Frequency band Channelization

Duplexing
(MHz) (MHz)
3400 - 3600 3.5 TDD
3400 - 3600 7.0 TDD
3400 - 3600 3.5 FDD
3400 - 3600 7.0 FDD
5725 - 5850 10 TDD
 Table. Fixed WiMAX initial profiles (source: WiMAX Forum)

The licensed 3.5 GHz band (3400 - 3600 MHz) is the most globally harmonized band for
Fixed WiMAX. However, several countries in which the 3.5 GHz band has been assigned
for other services will most likely propose other frequencies as additional profiles. On the
other hand, in the unlicensed 5.8 GHz band the use of frequencies should be coordinated
with other users of the band. Operators of an unlicensed spectrum in the 5.8 GHz band
might have to install a DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) system. Such system is able
to vacate the band when it detects the presence of the primary user of the band.

For Mobile WiMAX deployment, frequency selection will affect the quality and cost of
the network. The lower frequency bands are generally of preference because they offer
propagation advantage, i.e. lower attenuation and longer reach which leads to smaller
number of cells required to provide a mobility coverage. However, lower bands are not
always available. For example, the most preferred bands of many would-be Mobile
WiMAX operators are between 1.9 GHz and 2.1 GHz, but those bands have been
assigned to 3G operators. There is also a growing interest in 700 - 800 MHz bands,
traditionally used by analog TV broadcast. But it is still unclear when these bands will be
completely vacated.

Release-1 of Mobile WiMAX profiles has been published, as in the following table:

Frequency band (GHz)

Channelization FFT 2.305- 2.345- 2.496-
2.3 - 2.4 3.3 - 3.4 3.4-3.8
(MHz) Size 2.32 2.36 2.69
5.0 512 TDD TDD TDD TDD TDD TDD
7.0 1024 TDD TDD
8.75 1024 TDD
10 1024 TDD TDD TDD TDD TDD TDD

Table. Mobile WiMAX Release-1 System Profiles (source: WiMAX Forum)

For 7 and 8.75 MHz channel bandwidths, sampling factor -instead of FFT size- made
variable.

The availability of spectrum in a certain band doesn't automatically mean a green light for
either Fixed WiMAX or Mobile WiMAX implementation. WiMAX operators should
examine carefully the intended use of each band, whether for fixed only application,
fixed and nomadic, portable and mobile, and so on. Also whether the band can be used
for both indoor and outdoor, indoor only or outdoor only.

Handoff mechanism in Mobile WiMAX

For implementing a mobile network, a handoff mechanism must be defined to maintain
uninterrupted user communication session during his/her movement from one location to
another. Handoff mechanism handles subscriber station (SS) switching from one Base
Station (BS) to another. Different handoff techniques have been developed. In general,
they can be divided into soft handoff and hard handoff.

Figure. Soft Handoff

A SS maintains multiple connections. Delay is very minimal

Soft handoff is used in voice-centric cellular networks such as GSM or CDMA. It uses a
make-before-break approach whereas a connection to the next BS is established before a
SS leaves an ongoing connection to a BS. This technique is suitable to handle voice and
other latency-sensitive services such as Internet multiplayer game and video conference.
When used for delivering data traffic (such as web browsing and e-mail), soft handoff
will result in lower spectral efficiency because this type of traffic is bursty and does not
require continues handover from one BS to another.
 Figure. Hard Handoff
A SS maintains a connection to a single BS at any given time.

Mobile WiMAX has been designed from the outset as a broadband technology capable of
delivering triple play services (voice, data, video). However, a typical Mobile WiMAX
network is supposedly dominated by delay-tolerant data traffic. Voice in Mobile WiMAX
is packetized (what is called VoIP) and treated as other types of IP packets except it is
prioritized. Hard handoff (HHO) is therefore used in Mobile WiMAX. In hard handoff, a
connection with a BS is ended first before a SS switches to another BS. This is known as
a break-before-make approach. Hard handoff is more bandwidth-efficient than soft
handoff, but it causes longer delay. A network-optimized hard handoff mechanism was
developed for Mobile WiMAX to keep a handoff delay under 50 ms.

Introduction to Multiple Antenna Systems: SIMO, MISO, MIMO

SISO

Radio transmissions traditionally use one antenna at the transmitter and one antenna at
the receiver. This system is termed Single Input Single Output (SISO).
 Figure. Single Input Single Output (SISO)
One antenna at both the transmitter and the receiver.
Employs no diversity technique.

Both the transmitter and the receiver have one RF chain (that's coder and modulator).
SISO is relatively simple and cheap to implement and it has been used age long since the
birth of radio technology. It is used in radio and TV broadcast and our personal wireless
technologies (e.g. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth).

SIMO

Figure. Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO), 1x2

One antenna at the transmitter, two antennas the receiver.
Employs a receive diversity technique.

To improve performance, a multiple antenna technique has been developed. A system

which uses a single antenna at the transmitter and multiple antennas at the receiver is
named Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO). The receiver can either choose the best
antenna to receive a stronger signal or combine signals from all antennas in such a way
that maximizes SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio). The first technique is known as switched
diversity or selection diversity. The latter is known as maximal ratio combining (MRC).

MISO

Figure. Multiple Input Single Output (MISO), 2x1

Two antennas at the transmitter, one antenna at the receiver.
Employs a transmit diversity technique.
A system which uses multiple antennas at the transmitter and a single antenna at the
receiver is named as Multiple Input Single Output (MISO). A technique known as
Alamouti STC (Space Time Coding) is employed at the transmitter with two antennas.
STC allows the transmitter to transmit signals (information) both in time and space,
meaning the information is transmitted by two antennas at two different times
consecutively.

Multiple antennas (each with an RF chain) of either SIMO or MISO are usually placed at
a base station (BS). This way, the cost of providing either a receive diversity (in SIMO)
or transmit diversity (in MISO) can be shared by all subscriber stations (SSs) served by
the BS.

MIMO

To multiply throughput of a radio link, multiple antennas (and multiple RF chains

accordingly) are put at both the transmitter and the receiver. This system is termed
Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). A MIMO system with similar count of antennas
at both the transmitter and the receiver in a point-to-point (PTP) link is able to multiply
the system throughput linearly with every additional antenna. For example, a 2x2 MIMO
will double the throughput.

Figure. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), 2x2

Two antennas at both the transmitter and the receiver.

MIMO often employs Spatial Multiplexing (SM) to enable signal (coded and modulated
data stream) to be transmitted across different spatial domains. Meanwhile, Mobile
WiMAX supports multiple MIMO modes, that's using either SM or STC or both to
maximize spectral efficiency (increase throughput) without shrinking the coverage area.
The dynamic switching between these modes based on channel conditions is termed
Adaptive MIMO Switching (AMS). If combined with AAS (Adaptive Antenna System),
MIMO can further boost WiMAX performance.
MIMO is a hot topic in today wireless communications since all wireless technologies
(PAN, LAN, MAN, and WAN) try to add it to increase data rate multiple times to satisfy
their bandwidth-hungry broadband users.