Nokia wimax mobile phones in 2008

At a WiMAX technology conference this morning in Boston, representatives from Nokia told the press that consumers should expect to see WiMAX capable mobile devices from Nokia sometime during 2008. This news came as the company rolled out a WiMAX-enabled version of its lightweight base station, previously used just for transmitting HSDPA and W-CDMA third-generation cellular signals.

Nokia's timing is pretty much on target, since mobile carrier Sprint Nextel announced last August it intends to roll out a 4 Mbps WiMAX network by the fourth quarter of next year, as a complement to its existing W-CDMA and EV-DO services.

To that end, Intel helped out tremendously today, by formally announcing the availability of a key WiMAX system-on-a-chip (SoC), previously known as "Rosedale 2," now as WiMAX Connection 2250.

Installed in a mobile radio that includes a broadband modem, the SoC enables high-speed broadband handsets to connect to both fixed WiMAX networks, and mobile ones like those enabled by Nokia's new Flexi base station model.

At WiMAX World today, Intel executive vice president Sean Maloney touted that the number of carriers currently providing wireless broadband service worldwide now numbers 40, with the number performing trials has risen to 225. Intel will be partnering with Motorola and Clearwire to conduct a mobile WiMAX transmission test throughout the city of Portland, Oregon, throughout next year.

While carriers tend to cast WiMAX as a kind of high-speed data carrier that can be paired with existing cellular service, it’s easy to mask over the fact that a single WiMAX connection could conceivably take over the whole mobile circuit. Intel says its 2250 SoC is capable of handling a discrete WiMAX channel of up to 10 MHz bandwidth. Couple that figure with the WiMAX Forum’s recent independent estimate of spectral efficiency at 1.9 bps per hertz, and you have a system with a theoretical maximum throughput approaching 19 Mbps (WiMAX Forum admits the perceived maximum throughput today is more like 14 Mbps).

By comparison, 3x EV-DO -– which is two generations hence from what most Americans and a good chunk of Europeans consider “mobile broadband” today -– has a perceived maximum of about 4.2 Mbps, with a spectral efficiency of less than half that of WiMAX.

Intel’s news today didn’t mention Nokia, which is unusual, though perhaps just an oversight. The two companies have had a standing agreement since June 2005 to collaborate on WiMAX, and Intel SoC chips will very likely be powering Nokia WiMAX handsets. Though while Nokia has stakes in HSDPA, EV-DO, and WiMAX for wireless broadband, Intel is mainly concerned with just the latter, as the champion of that technology and perhaps the most prominent advocate in favor of its IEEE standardization.

Wimax technology

First of all what is WIMAX?. A question will raise in our mind.

WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. It is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, which is also called WirelessMAN. The name WiMAX was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL."

USES:

          The bandwidth and reach of WiMAX make it suitable for the following potential applications:

1. Connecting Wi-Fi hotspots with each other and to other parts of the Internet.
2. Providing a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for last mile broadband access.
3. Providing high-speed data and telecommunications services.
4. Providing a diverse source of Internet connectivity as part of a business continuity plan. That is, if a business has a fixed and a wireless Internet connection, especially from unrelated providers, they are unlikely to be affected by the same service outage.
5.Providing nomadic connectivity.

Broadband Access: 

                                Many companies are closely examining WiMAX for "last mile" connectivity at high data rates. The resulting competition may bring lower pricing for both home and business customers or bring broadband access to places where it has been economically unavailable. Prior to WiMAX, many operators have been using proprietary fixed wireless technologies for broadband services.

WiMAX access was used to assist with communications in Aceh, Indonesia, after the tsunami in December 2004. All communication infrastructure in the area, other than Ham Radio, was destroyed, making the survivors unable to communicate with people outside the disaster area and vice versa. WiMAX provided broadband access that helped regenerate communication to and from Aceh.

WiMAX was used by Intel to assist the FCC and FEMA in their communications efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Mobile handset applications:

Some cellular companies are evaluating WiMAX as a means of increasing bandwidth for a variety of data-intensive applications.

Sprint Nextel announced in mid-2006 that it would invest about US$ 5 billion in a WiMAX technology buildout over the next few years.[3] As of Friday, November 9, 2007, this project in partnership with Clearwire has been shelved, but the project could be revived with or without Clearwire once Sprint hires a new CEO. On December 5, 2007, Bin Shen, Sprint's VP of Product Management and Partnership Development, announced that Sprint's WiMAX network will go live in a soft launch in Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington DC. Full commercial launch is still expected to be approximately spring of 2008.

In December 2007 Wateen Telecom Pakistan deployed the largest and the first in the world to roll-out WiMAX 802.16e network in 22 cities of Pakistan.

Future developments:

Mobile WiMAX based upon 802.16e-2005 has been accepted as IP-OFDMA for inclusion as the sixth wireless link system under IMT-2000. This can hasten acceptance by regulatory authorities and operators for use in cellular spectrum. WiMAX II, 802.16m will be proposed for IMT-Advanced 4G.

The goal for the long term evolution of both WiMAX and LTE is to achieve 100 Mbit/s mobile and 1 Gbit/s fixed-nomadic bandwidth as set by ITU for 4G NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Network) systems through the adaptive use of MIMO-AAS and smart, granular network topologies. 3GPP LTE and WiMAX-m are concentrating much effort on MIMO-AAS, mobile multi-hop relay networking and related developments needed to deliver 10X and higher Co-Channel reuse multiples.

Since the evolution of core air-link technologies has approached the practical limits imposed by Shannon's Theorem, the evolution of wireless has embarked on pursuit of the 3X to 10X+ greater bandwidth and network efficiency gains that are expected by advances in the spatial and smart wireless broadband networking technologies. What will clearly define 4G more than either WCDMA or OFDMA wireless link methods will be wireless networks that more effectively adapt to and take advantage of available spectrum.

Survey:

A survey from In-Stat reveals that when consumers had a choice of WiMAX, WiFi, or 3G, they resoundingly preferred WiMAX. The report cites a “significant preference” for the long distance WiMAX protocol. And, more than 50% of those surveyed said that they would ditch their current broadband provider for a provider than offered a bundled broadband internet and wireless phone service. Looks like Sprint’s move to get a head start on deploying WiMAX networks may turn out to pay off in the long run - if the results of this survey come to materialize. WiMAX will take some time to become fully available and reliable in the States, but when it does, we’ll all be glad that Fujitsu is working on making WiMAX phones last longer between charges.