Mobile WiMAX MIMO performance analysis: Downlink and uplink

Demand for broadband services continues to grow. Conventional high-speed broadband solutions are based on wired-access technologies, such as digital subscriber line (DSL). This type of solution is difficult to deploy in remote areas, and furthermore it lacks support for terminal mobility. Broadband wireless access (BWA) offers a flexible and cost-effective solution to these problems. The WiMAX standard has emerged to harmonize the wide variety of different BWA technologies. The most recent WiMAX standard (802.16e) supports broadband applications to mobile terminals and laptops. This paper analyses the performance of a mobile WiMAX system operating in an urban microcell. As an extension to the basic SISO mode, a number of 2 times 2 MIMO extensions are analysed. Simulated packet error rate and throughput results are presented for each link-speed. The paper highlights the trade-off between peak error-free throughput and robust operation at low SNR.