WI-FI History and Current Technology

Back in 1991 Wi-Fi was invented by NCR Corporation/AT&T (later on Lucent & Agere Systems) in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. Initially meant for cashier systems the first wireless products were brought on the market under the name WaveLAN with speeds of 1Mbps/2Mbps. Vic Hayes who is the inventor of Wi-Fi has been named 'father of Wi-Fi' and was with his team involved in designing standards such as IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g. In 2003, Vic retired from Agere Systems. Agere Systems suffered from strong competition in the market even though their products were cutting edge, as many opted for cheaper Wi-Fi solutions. Agere's 802.11abg all-in-one chipset (code named: WARP) never hit the market, Agere Systems decided to quit the Wi-Fi market in late 2004.

WIMAX Current History and Technology

WiMAX is not a single technology; it is a family of interoperable technologies. In 2001, the original specification, IEEE 802.16, was completed and intended primarily for telecom backhaul applications in point-to-point line-of-sight configurations using spectrum above 10 GHz. This original version of IEEE 802.16 uses a radio interface based on a single-carrier waveform.
 
The next major step in the evolution of IEEE 802.16 occurred in 2004, with the release of the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard. It added multiple radio interfaces, including one based on OFDM-256 and one based on OFDMA. IEEE 802.16-2004 also supports point-to-multipoint communications, sub-10 GHz operation, and non-line-of-sight communications. Like the original version of the standard, operation is fixed, meaning that subscriber stations are typically immobile. Potential applications include wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP) service, local telephony bypass, as an alternative to cable modem or DSL service, and for cellular backhaul for connections from cellular base stations to operator infrastructure networks. Vendors can design equipment for either licensed or unlicensed bands. Also, vendors are now delivering IEEE 802.16-2004-certified equipment. This standard does not compete directly with cellular-data and private Wi-Fi networks; thus, it can provide complementary services. In addition to operator-hosted access solutions, private entities such as municipal governments, universities and corporations will be able to use this version of WiMAX in unlicensed bands (e.g. 5.8 GHz) for local connectivity, though there has been little or no development in this area.
 
The IEEE has also completed a mobile-broadband standard – IEEE 802.16e-2005 – that adds mobility capabilities including support for radio operation while mobile, handovers across base stations, and handovers across operators. Unlike IEEE 802.16-2004, which operates in both licensed and unlicensed bands, IEEE 802.16e-2005 (referred to as mobile WiMAX) makes the most sense in licensed bands. Operators began to deploy mobile WiMAX networks in 2008. Current WiMAX profiles emphasize TDD operation. Mobile WiMAX networks are not backwards-compatible with IEEE 802.16-2004 networks.