The IEEE 802.16 Standards and the WiMAX Technology

This chapter provides a brief overview of IEEE 802.16e and its later version IEEE 802.16‐2009 as well as IEEE 802.16j‐2009 standards. These are the parts of IEEE 802.16 standards that are of interest for the study of AeroMACS networks. Mobile WiMAX technology, driven from IEEE 802.16e standards, is reviewed with the objective of providing technical background information for AeroMACS networks. WiMAX Forum's recent release on system profiles and certification profiles is also discussed. The IEEE‐802.16 standard is a large suite of wireless broadband standards composed and authored by the IEEE standard groups. The WiMAX network reference model (NRM) is a logical representation of the network architecture. The NRM identifies functional entities and reference points (RPs) over which interoperability is achieved between functional entities. Multicast and broadcast services (MCBCS), as opposed to point‐to‐point unicast features, refer to downlink point‐to‐multipoint transmission of multimedia packets from WiMAX BSs to multiple receiving terminals in the designated MCBCS area.