Multihop Communication in Relay Enhanced IEEE 802.16 Networks

The introduction of relay stations into metropolitan area networks allows providing ubiquitous broadband access economically to everyone, even to subscribers in remote places. IEEE 802.16, also known as WiMAX, is one of the most promising technologies that currently integrate relays for multihop communication. Such a relay enhanced IEEE 802.16 network can provide ubiquitous radio coverage, achieve high QoS requirements, and it can be economically deployed and operated. This paper presents two concepts to integrate multihop communication into the IEEE 802.16 system. The first concept follows a centralized approach where the base station has full control over the relay-enhanced cell. The second concept follows a semi-distributed approach where a relay station controls the associated subscriber itself. Both concepts are standard-compliant so that legacy subscriber stations can participate without modification