<http://www.theregister.com/2006/10/18/precertified_mobile_wimax/print.html>
Officially, 802.16e - or Mobile WiMAX as the vendors insist on
calling it, even though its greatest advantage is that it spans fixed
and mobile operations - is almost with us.
The standard is frozen, many of the forum's profiles are close to
completion, certification testing is supposed to start towards the
end of the year, two plugfests have been held, and suppliers are
showing off their pre-certified equipment.
...
However, this is all eerily reminiscent of the early days of 802.16d
fixed WiMAX equipment, when there was a phony war between various
so-called WiMAX systems as the market waited for certification
testing to begin and "real" WiMAX products to hit the streets.
Now there is the same situation and the same dilemmas for buyers -
namely, should they buy a first generation 802.16e system,
non-certified or, even at the turn of the year, only supporting the
limited first wave of the standard; grab the most developed, if least
future-proof option and enter the market early with enhanced 802.16d
systems; or wait for the second wave of 802.16e products, which will
feature key additions like MIMO and, driven by large vendor
roll-outs, should see significant price competition, but which could
be unavailable for another year?
Announcements like Sprint's of its 802.16e plans have given
credibility to the standard and increased operator willingness to
invest, but for those that want to start to build out before
mid-2007, the choices are all sub-optimal, certainly if the service
provider is planning mobile multimedia offerings and so really needs
to take advantage of second wave characteristics like MIMO combined
with beamforming to gain the best cost of delivery and functionality.
For those who opt for pre-certified or first wave 802.16e, there will
be few choices that include both MIMO and beamforming, for instance.
Many of the large vendors, while talking up their homegrown 802.16e
wares, will actually wait until wave two to launch these, and in the
meantime will continue to rely on OEM deals, a halfway house that
will not lead to rapid price erosion (Nortel, for instance, will ship
its MIMO enabled WiMAX in the third quarter of next year, and until
then continues to offer Airspan's systems).
Without MIMO and beamforming, it is hard to achieve key operator
objectives such as effective indoor penetration without the need for
very dense base station build-out. Early indoor devices have been
disappointing in this respect, a factor that may have led to the
scaling back of Airspan's flagship project with Japan's Yozan.
Some vendors are starting to implement these technologies even before
wave two, often at the behest of a sought-after customer - SR Telecom
has shipped products with indoor coverage using its own adaptive
antenna technologies, partly to keep hold of its large Telefonica
contract for wireless access in Spain.
[MORE]
--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>
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