Second-gen WiMAX standard will be built for peak throughput of over 300Mbps, with lower latency and increased VoIP capability for the ‘landline replacement’ market.
IDF Beijing 2010 | If the history of the Internet has taught us anything, it’s that faster is never quite fast enough. No matter how thick those pipes are, we find a way to fill ‘em.
So while WiMax is capable of delivering ADSL-grade wireless broadband, we know that one day – and probably sooner rather than later – even its peak speed of 30Mbps won’t be enough.
That’s why Intel is beating the drum for the second-gen WiMAX 2 standard, which will be to WiMAX what ADSL2+ is to vanilla ADSL.
WiMAX 2 is set to offer ten times the peak throughput of WiMAX, with a ceiling of 300Mbps. This will hopefully be reflected in real-world speeds, which for current WiMAX are typically 4-6Mbps downstream and 1-2MBps upstream in US markets according to Intel.
But WiMAX 2 is also about making it scale better to handle higher capacity, reduce latency and increase VoIP performance.
Intel says it is working with Samsung and Motorola in the WiMA 2 Collaboration Initiative, which will focus on backward-compatibility with first-generation WiMAX (802.16e) technology as well as accelerate development and adoption of the new 802.16m standard, which is expected to be finalised by the end of this year.