WiMax over other technology

Over the last few years many types of broadband access technologies such as DSL (Digital subscriber loop) technology, HFC (Hybrid fiber coaxial) network, FBWAN (Fixed broadband wireless access network) have been implemented.
DSL is based on the wired technology, it is quite impossible to provide service to many locations such as rural areas, home users. Besides, an xDSL local loop provides services over long distance decreasing data rate that is a great problem for communication. Moreover, The DSL uses amplifiers, repeaters which are costly and risky and hard to maintain.
Some service providers are using WLL (Wireless Local Loop) for providing services in remote areas. WLL provides bandwidth from 35kbps to 70kbps for voice and data, which is inadequate for broadband services.
WiMAX has the following advantages over other technologies.
• Flexible Architecture: WiMax supports several system architectures, including Point- to-Point, Point-to-Multipoint, and ubiquitous coverage
• High Security: WiMax supports AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and 3DES (Triple DES, where DES is the Data Encryption Standard). By encrypting the links between the BS and the SS, WiMax provides subscribers with privacy and security across the broadband wireless interface. Security also provides operators with strong protection against theft of service.
• Quick Deployment: Compared with the deployment of wired solutions, WiMax requires little or no external plant construction.
• Interoperability: WiMax makes it easier for end-users to transport and use their SS at different locations, or with different service providers. Interoperability protects the early Investment of an operator since it can select equipment from different equipment vendors.
• Portability: WiMax SS is powered up, it identifies itself, determines the characteristics of the link with the BS, as long as the SS is registered in the system database, and then negotiates its transmission characteristics accordingly.
• Mobility: The IEEE 802.16e amendment has added key features in support of mobility. Improvements have been made to the OFDM and OFDMA physical layers to support devices and services in a mobile environment. These improvements, which include Scaleable OFDMA, MIMO, and support for idle/sleep mode and hand-off, will allow full mobility at speeds up to 160 km/hr.
• Cost-effective: WiMax will drive costs down dramatically, and the resultant competitive pricing will provide considerable cost savings for service providers and end-users.
• Wider Coverage: WiMax dynamically supports multiple modulation levels, Including BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM. WiMax systems are able to cover a large geographic area when the path between the BS and the SS is unobstructed.
• High Capacity: WiMax uses higher modulation (64-QAM) and channel bandwidth of currently 7 MHz. WiMax systems can provide significant bandwidth to end-users [27-29]