The prospects for wireless data communication appeared as early as
1985 when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its resered industrial! scienti"c and medical (#S$) radio spectrum %ands for unlicensed use. &oweer! the idea was not fully e'plored until (une 199) when the #nstitute of *lectrical and *lectronics *n+ineers (#***) formally directed its ,-./$-. Standards Committee (#*** 801) to study the feasi%ility of hain+ an "over-the-air interface between wireless clients and base stations". Su%se2uently! the "ndin+s of the committee was compiled and later came to %e 3nown as the 801.11 Standard 4 a document that speci"ed +uidelines! protocols! interopera%ility amon+ wireless deices and other technical data related to the technolo+y. 5ireless Fidelity or 5iFi was %orn. Upon its inception! 5iFi e'perienced some deployment issues such as low data transfer rates! interference from other wireless streams! etc. %ut these and more were 2uic3ly and systematically addressed ia a series of architectural reisions such as 801.11a! 801.11%! etc. From the end user6s perspectie! the ca%lin+ mess had %een drastically reduced and restricted only to mission critical systems such as serers! %ac3ups! etc. 5or3stations were no lon+er in the con"nes of a ca%led networ3 and could %e moed a%out anywhere within the ran+e of the transmitter (7100m) and theoretically! up to 158 wireless deices could lin3 up to a sin+le transmitter. 9y early 100:! the technolo+y had proen its worth as was re;ected %y mar3et response. $any %usiness outlets %e+an proidin+ free access to the net ia 5iFi (a.3.a &otSpots) as a part of their own alue added serice. #n the four year span %etween 199) and 1000! internet usa+e had increased %y a%out 500< and that6s a%out 80million new users lin3in+ up eery year. The cause of this %alloonin+ of the =lo%al #nternet Community can %e lar+ely attri%uted to the una%ated online adent of actiities such as %an3in+! shoppin+! education! meetin+s! etc. that were traditionally terrestrial. This coupled to the fact that more and more people are continuously moin+ a%out %etween places and need access to arious online serices without comprisin+ on mo%ility. Thus the feature of %ein+ connected anytime>anywhere was fast %ecomin+ a need. The +oal here was to proide %road%and we% access %eyond the con"nes of an enclosure (room! o?ce) or the limited ran+e of a @&otSpot6. This presented an imminent challen+e to the #*** 801 Standards Committee! which in 1001 released the #*** 801.1A Standard that addressed these re2uirements. 5orldwide #nteropera%ility for $icrowae -ccess (5i$-B) is a wireless architecture that went lie around mid>1008! %ased on the #*** 801.1A Standard (1001). -part from its o%ious ran+e adanta+e oer 5iFi! 5i$-B is more tolerant of interference! more %andwidth e?cient! proides +reater ran+e (upto 503m) and %etter +lo%al support due to ease of deployment and ia%le economic model -s mentioned earlier! the mi+ration from static internet to mo%ile internet is not an easy tas3 simply %ecause current mo%ile technolo+y caters mainly to oice and small data e'chan+es such as short messa+in+ serice (S$S) and with recent hardware improements some audio>ideo as well. The underlyin+ pro%lem here is that transmission issues arise at hi+h ehicular speeds and that6s where the latest reision of 5i$-B! 3nown as 801.1Am or $o%ile 5i$-B 1.0 has a clear adanta+e. -lthou+h e'pected only around early 1011! %ut it already promises impressie "+ures such as data access rates of upto 1 =%ps from within a ehicle that6s moin+ at up to :50 3m/h. 5ith this impressie speci"cation sheet and more! 5i$-B is fast %ecomin+ the choice medium for cost>eCectie deliery of hi+h speed %road%and access to remote and emer+in+ re+ions of the world. WiMAX Technology The technolo+y itself is not an entirely new concept. #t is an adaptation of 5i9DE (Wireless Broad%and)! an air modulation techni2ue that was already %ein+ used in South Forea with much success. 5ith the formation of 5i$-B ForumG a international non>pro"t or+anisation! in (une 1001! 5i9DE and other related technolo+ies mer+ed and 5i$-B was esta%lished. The forum directly administers the standards for 5i$-B deployment worldwide %y certifyin+ %road%and wireless products for compati%ility and inter>opera%ility. For certi"cation! these products must pass throu+h any one of the si' Wi$-B Forum Desi+nated Certi"cation La%oratories (5FHC,s) worldwideG -T8 5ireless (Spain I U.S)! Telecommunications Technolo+y -ssociation (TT- > S.Forea)! China -cademy of Telecommunications Desearch (C-TD > China)! -danced Hata Technolo+y Corporation (-HTC > Taiwan) and S#D#$ J-S! $alaysia. -fter successful testin+! only then can such deices carry the K5i$-B Forum Certi"edK mar3! else they can only display L5i$-B DeadyM or L5i$-B Compati%leM. 5i$-B was initially deployed as a "'ed .on>,ine>Ef>Si+ht (.,ES) serice. Unli3e traditional %road%and! it did not re2uire a pre>e'istin+ land line telephony serice to carry data si+nals %etween #SN and end user. -s with cellular networ3s! the set up consists of strate+ically located transmission %ase stations and as lon+ as the 5i$-B receier was within the transmission Oone! connectiity was possi%le. From a technical perspectie! "'ed 5i$-B can %e considered as a 5iFi on steroids. 9oth are microwaes! their receier>transmitter systems share similar architecture e'cept for the former %ein+ more powerful in eery sense. #n cellular networ3s! the receier is not con"ned to one Oone and is a%le to moe %etween Oones as one %ase station transfers coera+e to another %ase station as the receier traels %etween Oones. Unli3e cellular systems! "'ed 5i$-B architecture did not showcase this feature and as the demands +rew for a truly mo%ile internet! the 5i$-B Forum then esta%lished the 801.1Ae architecture or $o%ile 5i$-B. This is the current standard and will %e around until its replacement! $o%ile 5i$-B 1.0 arries around early 1011. The followin+ ta%le summarises the pertinent diCerences %etween the : types of 5i$-B architectures. Followin+ that! each type is %rie;y outlined. Fixed WiMAX o For "'ed and nomadic applications (outdoor and indoor). Caters for day>to>day moement seen in homes/o?ces e.+. 1 st ;oor to 1 nd ;oor! hall to +arden! etc. o N&P technolo+y 4 EFH$ 15A o A8J-$! 1AJ-$! JNSF! and 9NSF modulation schemes o 1.15$&O to 10$&O channel %andwidths o 5i$-B pro"les for 1.5=&O! :.5=&O and 5.8=&O o THH/FHH/&H>FHH o Supports %oth point>to>point and point>to>multipoint access o Juality of Serice (JoS) leels 4 %est eCort! non>real>time pollin+ serice! real>time pollin+ serice! unsolicited +rant serice Mobile WiMAX o For porta%ility and mo%ility (includin+ handoC and roamin+) as seen in we%>ena%led deices such as note%oo3s! mo%iles! etc. Caters for on>the>moe pedestrians and ehicles. o N&P technolo+y 4 scala%le EFH$- 118! 511! 1018! 1088 o #mproes .,ES coera+e %y utiliOin+ adanced antenna diersity schemes! and &y%rid>-utomatic Detransmission De2uest (&-DJ) o #ncreases system +ain %y use of denser su%>channeliOation! there%y improin+ indoor penetration o #ntroduces hi+h>performance codin+ techni2ues such as Tur%o Codin+ and ,ow>Hensity Narity Chec3 (,HNC)! enhancin+ security and .,ES performance o #ntroduces downlin3 su%>channeliOation! allowin+ administrators to trade coera+e for capacity or ice ersa o #mproes coera+e %y introducin+ -daptie -ntenna Systems (--S) and $ultiple #nput $ultiple Eutput ($#$E) technolo+y o *liminates channel %andwidth dependencies on su%>carrier spacin+! allowin+ for e2ual performance under any DF channel spacin+ (1.1$&O to 18$&O) o Desistance to multipath interference can %e enhanced %y employin+ *nhanced Fast Fourier Transform or FFT al+orithm! which showcases +reater tolerance for delay spreads. The Market for WiMAX $id>1008 saw $alaysia6s "rst deployment of 5i$-B. The serice was proided %y Nac3et =reen 9hd under the la%el N1 5i$-B. Since then! a num%er of companies hae %e+un proidin+ 5i$-B serice! namely D*Htone #nternational 9hd! PT, e>Solutions 9hd and -siaspace Hotcom Sdn 9hd. The $alaysian Communication and $ultimedia Commission ($C$C) administers the use of the airspace and has allocated the 1.:=&O to 1.8=&O spectrum with a 15$&O %andwidth to these proiders. The many features of 5i$-B mentioned earlier (deployment! ran+e! data rates and mo%ility) helps it to position itself as a worthwhile alternatie to other wireless solutions currently in the mar3et such as pu%lic hotspots! :=! etc. $o%ile 5i$-B howeer! faces a diCerent playin+ "eld alto+ether with the launch of TH>,T* (Time>Diision Lon+>Term Eolution) or 8= for short as %oth are head>to>head in terms of performance and furthermore! 8= is heaily patronised %y $o%ile Telco proiders! as its easier to up+rade to 8= support compared to switchin+ oer in the case of 5i$-B. ,i3ewise for cellular manufacturers who hae to inest more in DIH to incorporate 5i$-B technolo+y in their handhelds. Ene feature that is in faour of $o%ile 5i$-B is Qo#N (Voice oer Internet Protocol) i.e. the a%ility to utilise the #nternet Nrotocol to ma3e oice calls to land lines or handhelds. Microstrip - microstrip has %een considered for use in the desi+n of this deice. #t is a planar transmission line or simply statedG an electrical transmission line that carries microwae +rade fre2uency si+nals throu+h circuit %oard interconnections and is easily fa%ricated %y photolitho+raphic processes or more commonly %y usin+ printed circuit %oard technolo+y. #n its simplest form! it consists of a conductin+ strip which is separated from a +round plane %y a dielectric layer 3nown as the su%strate. See "+ure oppositeR $icrowae components such as antennas! couplers! "lters! power diiders etc. can %e formed from microstrips. #t all depends on the pattern of metalliOation on the su%strate. Ene occurrence that is particularly important in this desi+n conte't is that of @microstrip losses. ,osses here mean the loss in ener+y when resistiity is encountered in a material placed in a aryin+ electric "eld. Three possi%le types of losses can occur in a microstrip lineR dielectric su%strate loss! conductor loss and radiation loss. Dielectric Substrate Loss: is de"ned as a loss of ener+y which eentually produces a rise in temperature of a dielectric placed in an alternatin+ electrical "eld. ,osses can %e minimised %yG (a) usin+ thic3er su%strates with lower dielectric constants ( r ) e.+. alumina! 2uartO! or sapphire as these will produce wider and thus lower loss transmission lines. &oweer this will cause increased radiation at hi+her fre2uencies! +eneration of hi+her order modes in the lines and discontinuitiesG (%) Su%strates with smoother ed+es. Conductor Loss: is a result of seeral factors related to the metallic material composin+ the +round plane and walls! amon+ which are conductiity! s3in eCects and surface rou+hness. 5ith "nite conductiity! there is a non>uniform current density startin+ at the surface and e'ponentially decayin+ into the %ul3 of conductie metal. This is the alle+ed s3in eCect and its eCects can %e isualiOed %y an appro'imation consistin+ of a uniform current density ;owin+ in a layer near the surface of the metallic elements to a uniform s3in depth! S. To minimiOe conductor loss while simultaneously minimiOin+ the amount of metallic material ;an3in+ the dielectric! the conductor thic3ness should %e +reater than appro'imately three to "e times the s3in depth. The fa%rication process of microstrip deices creates scratches and %umps on the metal surfaces. The inside surfaces of the strip conductor and the +round plane facin+ the su%strate repeat the shape of the su%strate. The current! concentrated in the metal surface ne't to the su%strate! follows the uneen surface of the su%strate and encounters a +reater resistance compared to the case of a smooth su%strate. -s the rou+hness of the surface increases! the len+ths of the current path increases and cause the losses to increase. Radiation Loss: increased radiation such as that which results from the use of low r dielectrics contri%utes to this form of loss. Dadiation losses depend on the dielectric constant! the su%strate thic3ness and the circuit +eometry and can %e minimised %y the use of hi+h dielectric constant su%strate materials as most of the *$ "eld is concentrated in the electric "eld %etween the conductie strip and the +round plane. Since microstrip losses are multi>factorial! a handsome trade>oC must %e considered %etween the aforementioned factors to achiee a microstrip with low net loss. Solid State Devices Hiodes! Transistors! Chips! etc. are referred to as solid state deices due to their solid desi+n and construction characteristics which are ery unli3e +lass tu%es of the acuum tu%e era that were suscepti%le to %urn> outs! %rea3s! etc. These aforementioned deices howeer! account for Tust a small part of the pantheon of solid state electronic deices in the mar3et. Bipolar transistor This %ipolar transistor was Tointly deeloped %y Shoc3ley! 9ardeen and 9rittain in 1988. #t is widely used in hi+h fre2uency applications such as in microwaes. For e'ample! the Si %ipolar Tunction transistor (9(T) is useful for fre2uencies ran+in+ from Ultra &i+h Fre2uencies (U&F) (i.e. hundreds of me+ahertO) to the B %and (8>11=&O) while -l=a-s/=a-s heteroTunction %ipolar transistor is useful to oer 100=&O. The maTority of %ipolar transistors are either fa%ricated from Si or =a-s %ased epita'ial material and sport a more or less +eneral structural desi+n consistin+ of three separately doped re+ions and two Tunctions that are close enou+h for interactions to occur %etween them. The doped re+ions are 3nown as the emitter! %ase and collector and %ased on the dopin+ style! can %e either pnp or npn. For hi+h fre2uency applications! npn is preferred %ecause the operation of the deice is dependent upon the a%ility of minority carriers to diCuse across the %ase re+ion for which electrons are %est suited as they hae superior transport characteristics. -ppearance wise! the %ase is ery thin! and its dopin+ is moderate unli3e other elements. The %ase proides the %ase current and thus is the control element of the entire deice and without it there will %e no current ;ow in the circuit. -s a current>controlled deice! its current +ain U (hfe) is a function #c/#%. #n linear %ias condition! the emitter>%ase Tunction is forward %iased and the collector>%ase Tunction is reerse %iased. Under these conditions! the collector current is appro'imately 95< to 99< of the emitter current. The deice is considered to %e a conentional ampli"er. Silicon %ipolar .N. deices hae an upper cut>oC fre2uency at a%out 15=&O. &oweer! at hi+her fre2uencies "eld>eCect transistor (F*T) is more prefera%le. The primary limitations at hi+her fre2uencies that e'ist in %ipolar transistor are %ase and emitter resistance! capacitance and transit time. &eteroTunction %ipolar transistors hae %een desi+ned with much hi+her ma'imum fre2uencies. The improements are %y scalin+ down the siOe of the deice and narrowin+ widths of the elements within the transistor. Further improement is chan+in+ the conentional construction +eometry in the way to control widths and other pro%lem associated with hi+h fre2uency wor3. Ene of popular +eometric is the inter>di+ital construction which yields thin wide>area low>resistance %ase re+ions that increase the operatin+ fre2uencies. The pitch! or emitter>to> emitter centreline spacin+! controls the hi+h performance aspects of transistor. Finer pitches result in more +ain and a lower noise "+ure at hi+her fre2uencies. The num%er of emitter "n+ers controls the current>handlin+ a%ility of the deice and is a measure of output power capa%ility. Heices with lar+er num%ers of "n+ers are suita%le for power applications such as transmitter sta+es while deices with small num%ers of "n+ers operate at lower %iases and are often the choice of %attery>operated applications V1W. Field Efect transistor (FET This type of transistor relies on an electric "eld to control the shape of a channel. The shape determines the conductiity of a channel of one type of char+e carrier in a semiconductor material. F*T deices are maTority>char+e>carriers and consist of an actie channel throu+h which maTority char+e carriers! electrons or holes! ;ow from the source to the drain. Source and drain terminal conductors are connected to semiconductor throu+h Ehmic contacts. The conductiity of the channel is a function of potential applied to the +ate. -n F*T has three terminals! Source (S) throu+h which the maTority carriers enter the channel. Conentional current enterin+ the channel at S is desi+nated %y # =S G Hrain (H) throu+h which the maTority carriers leae the channel. Conentional current enterin+ the channel at H is desi+nated %y # HS . Hrain to Source olta+e is Q HS G =ate (=) the terminal that modulates the channel conductiity. 9y applyin+ olta+e Q =S to =! one can control # HS . To contrast their sin+le>carrier>type operation with the dual> carrier>type operation of %ipolar (Tunction) transistors (9(Ts)! F*Ts are sometimes called unipolar transistors. #t is interestin+ to note that the concept of the F*T predates the 9(T! thou+h it was not physically implemented until after 9(Ts due to the limitations of semiconductor materials and the relatie ease of manufacturin+ 9(Ts compared to F*Ts at that time. There are a num%er of F*T ariants currently aaila%le in the mar3et. The most popular of these in the conte't of microwae applications! are mentioned %elowR o !"nction FET (!FET The (F*T is the most common type of "eld>eCect transistor in use today and has a rather simpli"ed desi+n as well. #t can %e made to function as an electronic switch or resistor %y controllin+ the olta+e at its terminals. The electrical principle %ehind its function is simpleG The space %etween KsourceK and KdrainK terminals acts as a semiconductin+ channel for electric char+e and when a %ias olta+e is set at the K+ateK terminal! the channel @narrows6 so as to impede or totally stop current ;ow as shown. Further e'planation follows. The (F*T wor3s on the depletion re+ion. The re+ion in this matter is an .> type material! while the +ate is of N>type material. The +ate lead connects to the N>type material. Deerse %ias is normally applied to the +ate>source Tunction. The applied electric "eld e'tends into the depletion re+ion and controls the leel of current reachin+ the drain. o Metal#$xide#%e&icond"ctor FET (M$%FET The $ESF*T is another common F*T %ased transistor used primarily in amplifyin+ or switchin+ circuits. #t consists of an o'ide>insulated +ate electrode which induces a conductin+ channel %etween the LsourceM and LdrainM contacts when a olta+e is applied to it. The channel can %e of n>type or p>type and is accordin+ly called an n$ESF*T or a p$ESF*T (also commonly n$ES! p$ES). The "+ures %elow illustrate this function in an n$ES deice. #n an n$ES deice! the source and drain are XnYX re+ions and the %ody is a XpX re+ion. 5hen su?cient +ate olta+e is reached! holes in the %ody are drien away from the o'ide +ate! formin+ an inersion layer or n>channel at the interface %etween the p re+ion and the o'ide. This conductin+ channel e'tends %etween the source and the drain! and current is conducted throu+h it when a olta+e is applied %etween source and drain contacts. #ncreasin+ the olta+e on the +ate leads to a hi+her electron density in the inersion layer and therefore increases the current ;ow %etween the source and drain. o Metal %e&icond"ctor FET (ME%FET Hesi+n>wise! $*SF*Ts resem%le (F*Ts. #nstead of usin+ a p>n Tunction +ate! a Schott3y (metal>semiconductor) Tunction is used. - useful feature of $*SF*Ts is that they can operate in microwae fre2uency re+ions of up to 85 =&O! and therefore are commonly used for communications and radar. The introduction of =a-s has further enhanced the hi+h fre2uency opera%ility of $*SF*Ts! %y hain+ hi+her>mo%ility carriers and smaller siOed transistor which in turn has led to low>noise characteristics and improed temperature sta%ility durin+ hi+h power operations. The most crucial desi+n aspect of the $*SF*Ts is the +ate width and len+th. These considerations decide their performance characteristics in hi+h fre2uency applications. =enerally! shorter +ate len+ths result in superior performance. =ate width! on the other hand determines the deices electrical properties such as trans>conductance (+ m )! saturated drain current (# dss )! Nower producin+ capa%ility! S>parameters and optimum operatin+ fre2uency. *ach type of +ate dimensions +ies rise to a particular mas3 type! and its common practice to mi' and match mas3 types to diCerent processes to e'tract desired performance characteristics. o 'i() Electron Mobilit* Transistor ('EMT There are two hi+h performance F*Ts aaila%le nowadays which are the hi+h electron mo%ility transistor (&*$T) and the pseudomorphic hi+h electron mo%ility transistor (p&*$T). The &*$T has hi+h power +ain and capa%le to operate at fre2uency up to 100=&O with low noise leels. The deice is %uilt usin+ ion implantation! molecular %eam epita'y ($9*)! or metal or+anic chemical apor deposition ($ECQH). The p&*$T uses the $9* material to create a =a-s>-l=a-s>#n-l=a-s structure that results in superior mo%ility to standard &*$T deices. This process is optimiOed for the lowest noise "+ure for critical receier applications. .owadays! the p&*$T has %een one of popular choice for most radio applications utiliOin+ fre2uencies in microwae fre2uency re+ion V1W.