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IEEE Proposes Fourth-Generation “Gigabit WiMAX”

7:00 am on February 26, 2007 | Category: WiMAX, Wireless Technology

The IEEE is beginning to look beyond its current 802.16e Mobile WiMAX standard, and says it hopes to standardize a higher bandwidth, 1-Gbps version of the technology by 2009.

This proposed specification, code-named Gigabit WiMAX, would use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology to boost bandwidth capability while maintaining backward compatibility with existing wireless broadband standards.

Engineers say that Gigabit WiMAX will comply with the International Telecommunications Union’s requirements for 4G wireless networks, meaning that it could be used to integrate 3G cellular data technology and 802.16e into a single fourth-generation wireless broadband standard. The converged technology could then be used to deliver a myriad of new high-bandwidth applications and services to mobile devices.

Many wireless industry analysts, however, believe that the IEEE’s timeline of developing a specification by year’s end and commercializing it in 2009, is unrealistic.

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