The IEEE 802.16m task group has begun work on a new specification that will offer speeds of up to 1Gbps while maintaining backwards compatibility with 802.16e-2005 mobile WiMAX. The IEEE 802.16m task group has begun work on a new specification that will offer speeds of up to 1Gbps while maintaining backwards compatibility with 802.16e-2005 mobile WiMAX. The working group is targeting the finalization of the technology development phase of the standard by the end of 2007. Based on the current schedule, the standard should be finalized by the end of 2009.
The advantage of this new specification is that cellular companies can use 802.16m to merge 3G and existing 802.16 into a single standard and offer the same services currently possible on wired networks. Also, with the higher speed WiMAX available, one specification can satisfy the needs of both mobile and fixed applications. 802.16m will have enough bandwidth for supporting mobile phone, television and Internet services.
Of course it generally takes longer to develop new technology such as 802.16m than what’s originally planned, but at least the 802.16 working group is continuing the advancement of the specification. This evolutionary process is critical for enabling the survivability of the 802.16 standard as a whole. Over the past couple decades, I’ve seen other technologies, such as infrared-based 802.11, 802.4 (token bus) and 802.5 (token ring) die because of the lack of continual updates to the standards. Others, such as 802.3 (Ethernet) and 802.11 (WiFi) have had much more success due to continual revisions to the standards. Mobile WiMAX seems to be following this trend.
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