As the demand for broadband services continues to grow worldwide, traditional solutions, such as digital cable and fiber optics, are often difficult and expensive to implement, especially in rural and remote areas. The emerging WiMAX system satisfies the growing need for high data-rate applications such as voiceover IP, video conferencing, interactive gaming, and multimedia streaming. WiMAX deployments not only serve residential and enterprise users but can also be deployed as a backhaul for Wi-Fi hotspots or 3G cellular towers. By providing affordable wireless broadband access, the technology of WiMAX will revolutionize broadband communications in the developed world and bridge the digital divide in developing countries.

Part of the WiMAX Handbook, this volume focuses on the technologies behind WiMAX, its performance capabilities, and its control mechanisms. The book introduces programmable baseband processors suited for WiMAX systems, describes an innovative methodology for the design of multi-band WiMAX antennas, addresses space-time block codes, and reviews space-frequency/space-time-frequency code design criteria. It also proposes a combined call admission control and scheduling scheme, focuses on the performance analysis of the IEEE 802.16 mesh mode, and analyzes the performance of both single-input-single-output and space-time-block-coded OFDM systems in mobile environments. The final section establishes a framework of an ideal reservation period controller, examines the ecosystem in which scheduling for IEEE 802.16e systems must be performed, and presents a fuzzy logic controller for admission control.

With the revolutionary technology of WiMAX, the lives of many will undoubtedly improve, thereby leading to greater economic empowerment.