Background on IEEE 802.16 and WiMAX
The IEEE 802.16 group was formed in 1998 to develop an air-interface standard for wireless broadband.
The group’s initial focus was the development of a LOS-based point-to-multipoint wireless broadband system for operation in the 10GHz–66GHz millimeter wave band. The resulting standard—the original 802.16 standard, completed in December 2001—was based on a single-carrier physical (PHY) layer with a burst time division multiplexed (TDM) MAC layer. Many of the concepts related to the MAC layer were adapted for wireless from the popular cable modem DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) standard.
Reproduced from the book Fundamentals of WiMax: Understanding Broadband Wireless Networking. 33 Copyright© 2006, Prentice Hall. Reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240. Written permission from Pearson Education, Inc. is required for all other uses.
