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First Mobile WiMAX Certifications Considered a Teaser of What is to Come
By Jeff Orr, Senior Analyst - Consumer Electronics
Contact the author at
jeff@maravedis-bwa.com
Twenty-seven months after the first WiMAX products achieved certification, the
first Mobile WiMAX product certifications have been announced. Mobile WiMAX is
the term commonly associated with products derived from the IEEE 802.16e-2005
and ETSI HiperMAN standards. These identical protocols utilize Scalable
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (SOFDMA) for portable and mobile
application support. Broadband speeds (over 1 Mbps) are achieved using wider
frequency channels (5-10 MHz) and improved overall performance through support
for smart antenna techniques such as beamforming and multiple in, multiple out (MIMO)
chains.
The first products certified for portable and mobile applications use the 2.3
GHz “WiBro” profile specific to South Korea. Four initial base stations and four
mobile subscriber products have passed certification. Most countries are
awaiting products using the 2.5 GHz frequency band, including Japan, Malaysia,
Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States.
The WiMAX Forum Certification Program Release 1.0 has been in place since 2005
when the program guidelines were approved for products based on the IEEE
802.16-2004 standard. The first WiMAX Forum Certified products, which started
receiving approvals in January 2006, utilized this earlier specification. The
test suite for 802.16-2004 contains a couple hundred procedures. 802.16e-2005
adds the ability to handoff a device from one base station to another and
increases the depth of testing to about 1,000 test cases at maturity.
Certification Program Release 1.0 Wave 1 testing is the first for 802.16e-2005
products. The certification waves are incremental sets of requirements within
the overall program release. Wave 1 testing for Mobile WiMAX in Release 1.0 is
specific to the WiBro profile at 2.3 GHz. Wave 2 testing adds numerous
additional testing requirements (namely beamforming and MIMO support) and is the
focus of additional profiles including those at 2.5 GHz.
Figure 1
WiMAX Forum Release 1.0 Wave 2 Testing Roadmap
Source: M-Skylink presentation using WiMAX Forum data
Adding to the complexity of the certification process, the Wave 2 testing has
been split into two Phases. Wave 2 Phase 1 testing was announced in December
2007. It contains anywhere from 42-82% of the various tests outlined for Release
1.0 Wave 2 requirements. Phase 2 incorporates all of the test procedures for
Base Station and Mobile Station certification of PCT, RCT, and IOT. The on-going
prioritization, reprioritization, and reclassifying of test procedures suggests
that WiMAX Forum Certification Working Group is conceding how complex a program
it has undertaken. Other industry certification groups have opted for less
ambitious goals for this reason.
Network operators typically conduct their own testing to qualify devices on the
network. The process is expensive and time-consuming. Operators would prefer to
rely on a 3rd party certification and focus on qualifying devices, services, and
applications. This trend is indicative of the open access movement announcement
by 3G operators in 2007, which will utilize minimal device testing and place the
burden of support on device and application vendors instead of mobile operators.
Only a finite number of certification profiles have been authorized for
802.16e-2005 systems. Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) support and additional
spectrum bands are desirable for future market expansion. 3G operators have
existing spectrum allocations that are optimized for FDD support. WiMAX Forum
member companies can submit concepts for new profiles, but the Certification
Program Release 1.0 does have some limitations. It does not support FDD. An
interim Certification Program release, dubbed “1.x”, incorporates FDD within its
scope and is also where the 700 MHz profile will most likely emerge. Timing on
the interim certification program is anticipated for sometime during 2009.
Certification is implemented through a series of approved certification labs.
Labs are currently approved for China, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the
United States. Future lab locations include: India, Japan, and South America. A
second Taiwan lab is expected during Q3’2008 to support the more than 1,000
devices forecasted by WiMAX Forum to become certified through 2011.
The process to achieve the WiMAX Forum Certified mark is more complex and
time-consuming than other contemporary wireless protocols. WiMAX Forum
certification labs perform radio Protocol Conformance Testing (PCT), Radio
Conformance Testing (RCT), and Interoperability Testing (IOT) on each base
station and subscriber station. Unlike other industry groups that provide device
certification, the WiMAX Forum is unique in its approach to validate conformance
to the technical standard and perform vendor interoperability tests. 3G
organizations, for example, only perform testing on the devices. The Wi-Fi
Alliance only tests device interoperability. The WiMAX group decided early in
the organization’s foundation that it needed assurance for why devices
communicated properly with each other so the first subscriber station and the
1,000th station would interoperate without requiring regression testing.
WiMAX Forum Certification is detailed in the recent Maravedis report,
“WiMAX, LTE and Broadband Wireless
(Sub-11GHz) Worldwide Market Trends 2008-2014 - 5th Edition”.
For more information you can contact the author:
jeff@maravedis-bwa.com
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