The first wave of standards based metro/wide area wireless broadband to have an impact will be IEEE 802.16a systems. These will go under the industry organization name WiMAX (similar to the WiFi Alliance) www.wimaxforum.org.
A lot of the impact of WiMAX will be 'behind the scenes' of the public. It will help create more viable and inter operable systems for first/last mile access, but will probably take some time to gain momentum in that market and won't have the same volumes as WiFi . . . at least not for several years.
The second wave of standards based wide/metro area broadband wireless network systems will occur when the new combinations of technologies defined and used in 802.16a/WiMAX are tuned and scaled to become capable of mobile operation. The standards in the works are 802.16e and 802.20. 802.16e is, obviously, an extension of the 802.16 standard. It is targeted at licensed wireless broadband applications in the 5 GHz and below range and for mobile applications up to about 80 mph. However, that is not to say that an 802.16e system can't be used for high speed trains and other high speed transit applications if the base stations along the route and system within the trains are designed to reduce hand-off times and other latency factors. 802.20 is designed to provide wide area service similar to typical cell phone coverage and to operate in high speed transit applications such as h.s. trains and aircraft. However, the proponents of 802.20, which includes Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, ArrayComm, Sprint, and Alvarion envision broad application.
Regardless of all the technical advances in modulation technologies, enhanced antenna sub-systems, MIMO, dynamic modulation, etc., the ability to send and receive broadband reliably and with minimal delays data over long distances(so as to be capable of video, VoIP and other streaming or real time service), the standards groups see a need for the evolution of tiered systems architectures. We already see this occurring in WiFi and cellular areas. It is likely to become a basic part of the design of WBB systems architectures. For example, multi-mode APs, routers and passive relays will likely be used inside of buildings to gateway to the local network and provide uniform, high bandwidth coverage within the confines of the building.
All the standards will tend to merge in silicon, dependent on power and application function demands. Some of the debates about best use of technology or standards are already being clouded by combinations in multi-mode ICs. Over time these will become not just switched multi-mode but true multi-mode, multi-threaded in operation. The newest ICs include hardware based real-time encryption within the radio ICs and are starting to include multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) capabilities and smart, targetable antenna capabilities (STA). The STA sub-systems are first showing up in base stations. Within about three years STA will show up as a standard feature in mass produced consumer devices.
When users can go from their home or office with their laptop, PDA or video cell phone and stay connected to their VoIP phone conversation while at the same time have access to the Internet and corporate systems similar to the coverage of celular phoone service, then WBB use will explode and 'first/last' mile will be reality. The first/last mile decision will become more than just replacing tethered service at a lower cost. While WBB has the potential to become very competitive with wireline services, the big differentiator will become the inherent mobility of wireless media (once you build devices and systems that can practically take advantage of it). |
