WiMAX is a prevalent technology at NXTcomm08.  It was mentioned in many
keynotes, it appears on many booths and is the subject of an all day
workshop today.  However, despite the term’s popularity, several
knowledgeable people asked me what exactly it was – besides being the next
big thing.

I couldn’t find a general, consistent definition of WiMAX but technically it
refers to any wireless technology that has been blessed by the Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) Forum.  WiMAX – which can be
thought of as WiFi’s big brother - is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard,
also known as WirelessMAN.  The WiMAX Forum describes WiMAX as “a
standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless
broadband access.”

But this is where things can get murky because the standard doesn’t specify
many of the parameters the telecom industry generally likes to use to
describe a wireless technology, making WiMAX something of a generic term for
wireless broadband. Fortunately, the WiMAX Forum and the companies who have
a stake in the technology, appear committed to making sure that all the
possible implementations of the technology are compatible each other.

Perhaps the most important thing to know about WiMAX is that it operates in
a licensed – as opposed to unlicensed – bans of the radio spectrum.  The FCC
limits the power of products in the unlicensed spectrum, keeping
transmissions from traveling too far.  Operating in a licensed band prevents
“the tragedy of the commons” that occurs when so many people are using a
finite resource that everyone’s experience is diminished.  WiMAX products
will have to be certified by the WiMAX Forum and will operate at a higher
power on a radio frequency set aside for it by the FCC. This should
guarantee impressive range, speed and reliability of WiMAX broadband
products.

I for one am looking forward to having a WiMAX transceiver chip embedded in
my skull to get around this clunky “meat” interface we are stuck with for
now – but that’s just me.