1. Enter the Hot Zone.
- Author
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Schwartz, Ephraim
- Subjects
- *
COMPUTER network protocols , *COMPUTER networks ,IEE WiMax & Mesh Networks Forum (2005 : London, England) - Abstract
This article focuses on the effort of WiMax Forum to expand its Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) capabilities in the U.S. WiMax is not long-distance Wi-Fi. In fact, WiMax networks are not interoperable with Wi-Fi networks. For the most part, WiMax will use the licensed spectrum, which means service providers will have to pay the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for bandwidth. WiMax can also work in the unlicensed spectrum above 5 Gigahertz, but those frequencies require line of sight and work only at shorter distances, according to Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMax Forum. Using those bands would effectively negate the long-distance value of WiMax. But using licensed spectrum does give operators the right to use greater output power. Thus, the first WiMax specification is for 75 Megabit per second at distances as far as 30 miles, although actual data throughput for individual users will vary depending on distance. Given that range, Resnick says that metropolitan zones based on WiMax will eventually compete with current Wi-Fi locations. Because the available spectrum for WiMax is so broad, the WiMax Forum is in the process of creating so-called profiles that address subsets of the full WiMax functionality, targeted at specific markets.
- Published
- 2004