History of WiMAX:
Growth of
personal broadband services is inevitable, given a seemingly insatiable
consumer appetite for high-speed data, instant communications, and instant
video. The urgency of having these services is pushing the development of new
technology solutions, such as WiMAX, to provide services anywhere and at
anytime in a metropolitan area, even if the subscriber is on the go. WiMAX
has been called a wireless replacement for wired digital-subscriber-line (DSL)
technology, which provides high-speed Internet services, but WiMAX is much more
than just an alternative to DSL or cable-modem broadband access. WiMAX is
designed to do for the Internet what cellular technology did for
telephones–provide access anywhere at any time.
The latest
version of the WiMAX standard addresses the mobile services required to free
users from the tethers of a predetermined location. Of course, as with any new
technology comes the need to test its hardware–in the research labs, for
product qualification and conformance testing to the standard, on the
production line, and for troubleshooting and maintenance. Fortunately, Anritsu Company
has developed high-performance measurement solutions ideally suited for WiMAX
fixed and mobile equipment testing, including the Anritsu Signature MS2781B High-Performance
Signal Analyzer, the MS2690A/MS2691A Signal Analyzers, the MG3700A Vector
Signal Generator, and the BTS Master MT8222A handheld base station
analyzer.Several of these instruments were used in the second public mobile
WiMAX Forum PlugFest, an interoperability showcase hosted by AT4 wireless Labs
(Malaga, Spain). The instruments were among the measurement equipment provided
by leading test and measurement manufacturers to allow manufacturers of mobile
WiMAX communications products the opportunity to evaluate their equipment in an
open environment. More recently (May 13-19, 2007), WiMAX Forum members gathered
in Sophia Antipolis, France for the third public mobile WiMAX Forum where some
of the important features of mobile WiMAX, such as beam forming for smart
antennas and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) operation, were evaluated.