Quality of service (QoS) in wimax

The WiMAX technology provides wireless QoS-enabled broadband access for fixed and mobile users at the metropolitan level. It is end-to-end IP based and provides a rich set of QoS support for multimedia-based ubiquitous computing. The main contribution of WiMAX in terms of technology has been over its radio interface, which is based on the IEEE 802.16-2004 and 802.16e protocols. It is a two layer protocol stack, which provides a very robust QoS framework. At the physical layer, it focuses on optimising the use of radio resources. In the MAC layer, the main focus is on efficient scheduling and allocation of bandwidth to meet the QoS requirements of IP sessions. This chapter investigates the WiMAX architecture, its components, and the QoS support provided by the IEEE 802.16 protocol stack. It also examines mobility management issues, end-to-end QoS, and current and future application areas of the technology.