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WiMAX is a wireless metropolitan area network technology, and 'Rosedale' is Intel's first generation system on a chip design for WiMAX (802.16) systems.

The first phase of the market rollout is dubbed by Intel as covering 'fixed access' - competing alongside DSL and cable broadband to provide fixed broadband access inside or outside of homes. The next phase - concerned with portability - involves 'nomadic metrozones' where mobile users are seamlessly connected within large scale urban areas (using 802.16e). Finally, full mobility support is scheduled for 2007 with the incorporation of WiMAX chips into handsets such as mobile phones.

According to this phased rollout of WiMAX connectivity, in stage 1 (provision of fixed connectivity, competing principally with ADSL), said Johnson, WiMAX would generally be a 'fill-in' technology, covering the gaps in existing broadband coverage.

Version 'd' of IEEE 802.16 would cover phase one, with versions 'd' and 'e' co-existing for the second and third phases.

Details of the spec, for reference's sake, are that theoretical transfer rates of 75Mbit/sec could be achieved within a range of 30 miles (50km). In practice, the rate will vary according to geographic conditions. In rural areas, 8/10MBits/sec may be achieved within a 10 mile radius, said Johnson. In the more difficult built-up urban areas, throughput will drop to 1-10MBit/sec within a 2-3 mile radius. An interesting statistic to remember should WiMAX be cited as a panacea for urban connectivity.

In terms of the frequency ranges used, only Japan does not allow the 2.5GHz/3.5GHz frequency to be used. Note that sub-channels can be used within the spectrum.

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Also, 700MHz is a proposed spectrum for the future.

Other details covered by Johnson included the concept of fast roaming and handoffs. With full mobility support scheduled for 2007, the process of seamless roaming would have to enable fast handoffs, i.e. 'where you make a connection before you break a connection'. The example given was of traveling in a train, where the next best connection further down the track would be pre-established such that the dropping of the current connection would not be disruptive to the user.

WiMAX power consumption will be in the same region as its Wi-Fi equivalent. With the eventual incorporation of WiMAX chips into handsets such as mobile phones, he said he would expect implementations to be similar to that of Wi-Fi.

Unlike for its Wi-Fi cousin there is no equivalent of the security-focused 802.11i version of the standard. 'All security concerns are addressed from the ground up', said Johnson. 'There is no separate security element to the standard.'

While initial implementations will see Intel using third-party solutions for the radio element of a WiMAX system, by version 'e' Intel will be producing its own WiMAX radios.

What Johnson stressed most of all, was the flexibility that WiMAX could offer to service providers. On the macro level, unlike with 3G technologies, there is no need for massive investment in infrastructure, he claimed. Instead, capital expenditure should follow the model of Wi-Fi hotspots: 'Get clients and then expand the network, not vice versa.'

At a more micro-level, he said a WiMAX network can be flexibly managed for optimal use of bandwidth, for example in changing the amount of throughput that is available for different people at different time. This is a flexibility of distribution that current 'capped broadband' products rather crudely attempt.

He said that WiMAX was crucial to Intel's plans for wireless connectivity, playing its part in getting 'the best connection you can find'.

With WiMAX currently in the sampling phase, Intel's Scott Richardson, General Manager of the Wireless Broadband Division has said that deployment - in terms of base stations and clients - will follow next year. He is pictured below, pointing out the Rosedale chip on a sample board.