IEEE 802.20

IEEE 802.20 or Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) was a specification by the standard association of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for mobile wireless Internet access networks. The main standard was published in 2008.^[1]

Overview

The baseline specifications proposed for this specification aimed considerably higher than those available on mobile architectures of the early 2000s. It was hoped to create a standard that would allow low-cost, always-on, and truly mobile broadband wireless networks, sometimes nicknamed as MobileFi.^[2]

IEEE 802.20 was specified according to a layered architecture, which is consistent with other IEEE 802 computer network specifications. The scope of the working group consisted of the physical layer (PHY), medium access control (MAC), and logical link control (LLC) layers. The air interface operated in bands below 3.5 GHz and with a peak data rate of over 80 Mbit/s.

The goals of 802.20 and 802.16e, the so-called "mobile WiMAX", were similar. A draft 802.20 specification was balloted and approved on January 18, 2006.

The IEEE approved 802.20-2008, Physical and Media Access Specification on June 12, 2008. This was made freely available from the IEEE 802 website.^[3]

Technical description

The standard's proposed benefits:

• IP roaming & handoff (at more than 1 Mbit/s)
• New MAC and PHY with IP and adaptive antennas
• Optimized for full mobility up to vehicular speeds of 250 km/h
• Operates in Licensed Bands (below 3.5 GHz)
• Utilizes Packet Architecture
• Low Latency

Some technical details were:

• Bandwidths of 5, 10, and 20 MHz.
• Peak data rates of 80 Mbit/s.
• Spectral efficiency above 1 bit/sec/Hz using multiple input/multiple output technology (MIMO).
• Layered frequency hopping allocates OFDM carriers to near, middle, and far-away handsets, improving SNR (works best for SISO handsets.)
• Supports low-bit rates efficiently, carrying up to 100 phone calls per MHz.
• Hybrid ARQ with up to 6 transmissions and several choices for interleaving.
• Basic slot period of 913 microseconds carrying 8 OFDM symbols.
• One of the first standards to support both TDM (FL,RL) and separate-frequency (FL, RL) deployments.

History

The 802.20 working group was proposed in response to products using technology originally develoepd by ArrayComm marketed under the iBurst brand name. The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions adopted iBurst as ATIS-0700004-2005.^[4][5] The Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) Working Group was approved by IEEE Standards Board on December 11, 2002 to prepare a formal specification for a packet-based air interface designed for Internet Protocol-based services. At its height, the group had 175 participants.^[6]

On June 8, 2006, the IEEE-SA Standards Board directed that all activities of the 802.20 Working Group be temporarily suspended until October 1, 2006.^[7] The decision came from complaints of a lack of transparency, and that the group's chair, Jerry Upton, was favoring Qualcomm.^[8] The unprecedented step came after other working groups had also been subject to related allegations of large companies undermining the standard process.^[9] Intel and Motorola had filed appeals, claiming they were not given time to prepare proposals. These claims were cited in a 2007 lawsuit filed by Broadcom against Qualcomm.^[10]

On September 15, 2006, the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved a plan to enable the working group to move towards completion and approval by reorganizing.^[11] The chair at the November 2006 meeting was Arnold Greenspan.^[12] On July 17, 2007, the IEEE 802 Executive Committee along with its 802.20 Oversight Committee approved a change to voting in the 802.20 working group. Instead of a vote per attending individual, each entity would have a single vote.^[13][14]

On June 12, 2008, the IEEE approved the base standard to be published.^[1] Additional supporting standards included IEEE 802.20.2-2010, a protocol conformance statement, 802.20.3-2010, minimum performance characteristics, an amendment 802.20a-2010 for a Management Information Base and some corrections, and amendment 802.20b-2010 to support bridging.^[3]

802.20 standard was put to hibernation on March 2011 due to lack of activity.

In 2004 another wireless standard group had been formed as IEEE 802.22, for wireless regional networks using unused television station frequencies.^[15] Trials such as those in Holland by T-Mobile International in 2004 were announced as "Pre-standard 802.20". These were based on an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing technology known as FLASH-OFDM developed by Falrion.^[16] However, other service providers soon adopted 802.16e (the mobile version of WiMAX).^[17]

In September 2008, the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses in Japan adopted the 802.20-2008 standard as ARIB STD-T97. Kyocera markets products supporting the standard under the iBurst name. As of March 2011^[update], Kyocera claimed 15 operators offered service in 12 countries.^[4]

References

External links

• "IEEE 802.20: Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA)". Official web site. http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/20/. Retrieved August 20, 2011. 
• IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area networks — Part 20: Air Interface for Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Systems Supporting Vehicular Mobility — Physical and Media Access Control Layer Specification. IEEE Standards Association. August 29, 2008. ISBN 973-07381-5766-5. http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/download/802.20-2008.pdf.