Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) as we all know that it is the present wireless technology that is serving the generation of mobile and laptop user for that sake let us put it as (devices with wireless capability).We are already overwhelmed with it .Have any of us thought what would happen if the range of Wi-Fi is much greater than the present, greater bandwidth, greater speed and provides uninterrupted connectivity and all at low cost!!.
Technologists put a different name and call it “worldwide interoperability for microwave access forum (Wi MAX)” it has capacity to provide wireless broad band over a range of 30miles.It is amazing right? It is designated as Wi-MAX 802.16 IEEE standard.
How is it implemented?
It can be imagined similar to that of a cellular phone networks, consisting of a base station that is mounted on a building or a tower that communicates to multiple subscribers. It does not require line-of-sight communication so it can very well serve that area of coverage which is +1 advantage of it.
It has shared data rate up-to 75mbps, such that a single base station can support 60 businesses with T1 connectivity and 100’s of residents with DSL connectivity with 20 MHz channel bandwidth.
The main advantage offered by 802.16 is:
- The ability to quickly provision service, even in areas that are hard for wired infrastructure to reach
- The avoidance of steep installation costs
- The ability to overcome the physical limitations of traditional wired infrastructure
- The ability to complement and interface with other wireless broadband technologies such as 802.11 Wi-Fi and 3G
In the year 2003 after two years Wi-MAX was introduced 802.16a standard was adopted, which is the modification of 802.16.
Applications of Wi-Max
Coming to the application part of Wi-MAX as I earlier mentioned about the improving the broad band facility, which can be seen as primary application.
802.16 standard provides portability for instant configuration and providing connectivity for 802.11 wireless standard (Wi-Fi) for temporary period of time. More over it can be implemented over the areas where proving wired DSL connection may be tedious and also time consuming.
In country like India where the rural population merely access internet setting up of Wi-MAX networks may prove beneficial as they provide access relatively larger range with higher data rates and with less signal interference. And one more added advantage is that Microwave range has not been exploited and its potentials are yet to be unleashed.
