Simulation of IEEE 802.16e Physical Layer

Abstract

Growth in technology has led to unprecedented demand for high speed Internet access. IEEE 802.16e (Mobile WiMAX) is a wireless communication standard with high data transfer rates and good performance. It not only is efficient as compared to its counterpart technologies today (Wi-Fi and 3G), but also lays the foundation for 4G mobile communication. In 4G wireless communication systems, bandwidth is a precious resource, and service providers are continuously met with the challenge of accommodating more users within a limited allocated bandwidth. To increase data rate of wireless medium with higher performance, Mobile WiMAX uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). This paper describes the simulation of the physical layer of IEEE 802.16e using Simulink in Matlab 7.0 (R2010a). The system performance is evaluated considering the Signal to noise ratio (SNR) and Bit error rate (BER) parameters. I. INTRODUCTION The world is passionately accepting the new wireless communication methods and services. The global demand for multimedia data services has grown at a remarkable pace which has led to the expansion of system capacity in terms of the number of subscribers supported, higher data rate and ubiquitous coverage with high mobility. Broadband wireless access (BWA) systems have evolved as the solution for the persistent demand of these multimedia services. The IEEE 802.16e air interface standard extends its fixed wireless access predecessor, IEEE 802.16-2004, to support mobile broadband wireless access systems. Mobile WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), is a broadband wireless solution that enables wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. It is a wireless digital communications system that is intended for wireless metropolitan area networks. This technology can provide broadband wireless access (BWA) up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 - 10 miles (5 - 15 km) for mobile stations upto 75mph. With WiMAX, WiFi-like data rates are easily supported, but the issue of interference is reduced. WiMAX operates on both licensed and non-licensed frequencies, providing a regulated environment and viable economic model for wireless carriers. IEEE 802.16e can operate in both Line-Of-Sight (LOS) and Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) environments. In NLOS, the PHY specification is extended to 2-11 GHz frequency band which aims to fight with fading and multipath propagation. Mobile WiMAX physical layer is based on Scalable OFDMA technology to support variable channel bandwidth demand (1)-(5).