IEEE Communications Magazine

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Mobile WiMAX: A Technology Update

Fixed WiMAX based on 802.16d has been deployed to provide wireless broadband services to customer premise since 2006 for places that cable modem or DSL broadband access is not available or is too expensive to deploy. With a goal towards mobile Internet as a primary application, the scope of the WiMAX industry has been expanded from fixed to low and high mobility applications and deployment scenarios. The release 1.0 radio system profile, certification testing and release 1.0 network specifications supporting Mobile WiMAX were all completed in early 2007. Almost all major telecom equipment vendors showcased their mobile WiMAX products in trade shows like CTIA 2007. Several successful WiMAX Plugfests involving over 40 equipment vendors to test interoperability among their mobile WiMAX base stations and mobile devices have been staged. Many service providers in the U.S and worldwide have been conducting mobile WiMAX trials. The global roaming effort led by the WiMAX Forum started to gain attention with regional WiMAX spectrum licenses (e.g. in Taiwan in 2007) and the need for quick WiMAX deployment in large areas (e.g. Sprint and Clearwire roaming partnership in the U.S.). With the certification of mobile WiMAX products starting by end of 2007, one can expect that 2008 will be a year with major initial mobile WiMAX deployment and key end-to-end technology advances derived from practical implementation.

Over the past few years, a significant amount of technical contributions have been made in WiMAX standards and technologies. . However, further research and development are still required for mobile WiMAX to be widely deployed in a cost-effective manner. . This includes the recently started development of IEEE802.16m standard which is expected to serve as the underlying radio access technology in the evolution of mobile WiMAX. The two-fold purposes of this special issue are to provide (1) an overview on up-to-date standards and technologies in key mobile WiMAX areas and (2) expert insights on upcoming mobile WiMAX issues and solutions. We solicit original unpublished manuscripts not currently being considered elsewhere for publication. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following as they apply to the current status of mobile WiMAX or its evolution in the near future :

Schedule
Manuscript submission: March 1, 2008
Notification of acceptance: June 1, 2008
Final manuscripts due: August 1, 2008
Publication date: October 1, 2008

Submission
Articles should be tutorial in nature and should be written in a style comprehensible to readers outside the specialty of the field. All submissions will be reviewed based on technical merit, relevance and readability. Articles should have no more than 4,500 words, no more than 6 tables/figures, and no more than 15 references. Authors must follow the IEEE Communications Magazine's guidelines for preparation of the manuscript. Complete guidelines for prospective authors can be found at www.comsoc.org/pubs/commag/sub_guidelines.html. All articles to be considered for publication must be submitted through IEEE Manuscript Central (http://commag-ieee.manuscriptcentral.com). Select "October 2008/WiMAX -- A Technology Update" from the drop down menu in order to have your manuscript submitted to this feature topic.

Guest Editors
Dr. Ming Lai
Telcordia Technologies, Inc.
NVC-2Z489
331 Newman Springs Road
Red Bank, New Jersey, 07701-5699, U.S.A.
E-mail: mlai@telcordia.com

Dr. Kamran Etemad
Intel Corporation
10629 Beechknoll Lane
Potomac, MD 20854, U.S.A.
E-mail: kamran.etemad@intel.com