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WiMAX, LTE, and 3G/3.5G-Intro
How WiMAX works

Wireless Broadband Technologies: How Wimax Works

b. How WiMAX works

1. A WiMAX Mobile station (MS) could be a Wireless USB modem, laptop with WiMAX capability, an MRT Mobile Radio Transmitter for your vehicle, and of course a WiMAX subscriber unit for home or office.

WiMAX subscriber units can either be indoor or outdoor depending on the distance to the nearest WiMAX base station tower, or if there are obstructions within the subscriber's service area. These WiMAX access point devices are what is WiMAX version of a Cable Modem Wireless Router or DSL Modem Wireless Router depending on what you're used to.

When needed (SU-O) subscriber unit outdoor antennas can be mounted and connected by cable to (SU-I) subscriber unit indoor devices to providing stronger signals inside the customer location when tall buildings or trees restrict signals from the local service towers.

2. How WiMAX works and performs as your network packets enter a WiMAX access point really depends on whether you're in a metropolitan area where fixed base station towers are located or entering on Mobile base station towers, which handle subscribers connecting in rural communities, and on upgraded mobile towers interweaved through city service areas.

The Fixed towers which are connected with home or office subscriber units, such as a WiMAX ISP provided indoor or outdoor subscriber unit operate on high power output transmissions providing 3.5GHz signals out to distances of 25 miles when passing through Fixed towers arranged in cells forming a mesh topology.

The Mobile towers accommodate smaller form factor CPE devices such as laptops with WiMAX wireless mini cards, cellular phones, and mobile hotspot devices, and are basically upgraded mobile phone communication towers with added support for fast connection relay between mobile towers as customers are traveling through service areas.

Mobile towers operate entirely different then fixed towers due to handheld devices being limited on battery and processing power. If you're unsure which towers you're connecting to, just look at the specifications of your WiMAX CPE device. 802.16d will connect with fixed towers, and 802.16e equipment connects and operates on Mobile towers.

3. Now that your network packet has entered the WiMAX wireless network whether on fixed or mobile towers cells, it's headed on the shortest path possible to your WiMAX Internet service provider's network on a connection known as the "Backhaul"

Just as your Mobile station whether it be a WiMAX subscriber unit located on or inside your home or a handheld device that connects to WiMAX mobile towers on the front-end, your ISP is connected to the WiMAX Fixed and Mobile tower array via the backhaul system. The backhaul connected to your ISP is like the default gateway address on your local area network. It gives the network packets on the WiMAX tower array a destination address to reach, so they'll pass through your ISP and out on the Internet.

The WiMAX wireless Internet solution is a very ingenious network topology of mixed telecommunication towers. The tower array not only allows for fixed and mobile communications between subscriber and ISP, but even supports roaming between ISP networks contributing to the term WiMAX Interoperability.