While you’re waiting for WiMAX or other 4G data technologies to roll out, you might be interested in knowing that a new, faster still, WiMAX2, is on its way.
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is slowly making its way into businesses and homes. With its promise of average speeds of 4 to 6Mbps (Megabits per second) and coverage areas of square miles instead of square yards, WiMAX has long promised to be the next generation of Wireless networking. Now, faced with competition from LTE (Long-Term Evolution), WiMAX supporters are upping the ante with WiMAX2.
According to the WiMAX Forum, the industry trade group that supports WiMAX, the new WiMAX will be more than 50 percent faster than today’s WiMAX while remaining compliant with the existing IEEE 802.16e standard. WiMAX 2 is built on the still evolving IEEE 802.16m standard. If it works the way its designers want it to, WiMAX2 equipment will be backward compatible with existing WiMAX hardware while delivering double the peak data rates while increasing the average and cell edge end user performance by 50 percent.
So, how are they going to pull this trick off? Here’s the techie details.