re: Clearwire Paves Way for LTE in USThe smoke is finally clearing on how mobile WiMAX ( specifically OFDMA-TDD) will be used in future mobile devices..or more precisely how the prime spectrum for WiMAX the 2.5 GHz band will be used. Evan as the WRC07 had adopted OFDMA-TDD as one of the air interfaces which could be used in 3G networks, there were no 3GPP standards which would have permitted it. On the other hand the Mobile WiMAX itself has been handicapped in its use in mobile devices in the absence of full protocol stacks having been specified up to the application layer. Now the smoke seems to be lifting as Clearwire has now asked the 3GPP to formulate LTE standards in the 2.5 GHz band.Unlike what one might expect, this decision will impact the use of 2.5 GHz spectrum worldwide even as 3GPP provides a standards support for new use of this spectrum.
re: Clearwire Paves Way for LTE in USGood points. From US perspective, it certainly looks like Clearwire and Sprint and doing more than just thinking about TD-LTE. Michelle
re: Clearwire Paves Way for LTE in USThanks, Hyung!
It's an important development for Clearwire and for TD-LTE.
So, now I'm wondering about the likelihood of the IEEE and 3GPP working together on next-gen WiMax and LTE (802.16m and LTE-Advanced). Is there any chance of that happening?
In my personal view, the chance of LTE and WiMAX being merged even in the future is slim. Technically, even though there are many commonalities between the two standards (OFDM, MIMO, all-IP architecture, etc.), the details, especially at the Physical Layer-level, are pretty divergent (ex. LTE uses SC-FDMA for uplink whereas WiMAX ODFMA). A harmonization may happen in the network level for seamless handover between the two networks but it's pretty much a dual mode type of service just done in a more efficient way. From this perspective, in order for a complete harmonization to happen, one camp pretty much has to dich their previous developments, which seems unlikely. From a political/market perspective, almost all major players in LTE are not active participants of WiMAX (Samsung is an exception), so there is usually some resistence towards WiMAX from the LTE camp. I think VZW CTO's comment during the recent CTIA Wireless 2010 in response to Sprint and Clearwire's call for LTE/WiMAX union (Clearwire CEO mentions that WiMAX could join LTE as one, Verizon Wireless CTO says no way) is somewhat telling of this sentiment. - Hyung
I appreciate your citing of my blog LTE watch as the source! This is an excellent in-depth article, by the way. - Hyung