Samsung Demos 330 Mbps WiMax 2 Mobile Broadband

Samsung Electronics is demonstrating 330-Mbps WiMax 2 at a trade show in Japan this week, as it prepares for next year's commercial debut of end-user products and services for the backward-compatible networking infrastructure.

Partnering with UQ Communications on the demo, Samsung said the IEEE 802.16m technology displays full high-definition 3D videos and four large format displays (LFDs) on the WiMax system and device. The demo has been set up on Samsung's commercial mobile WiMax base station -- the same base station that is deployed by many WiMax operators around the world.

Samsung said it plans to introduce commercial WiMax 2 products and services by the end of 2011, adding that system software and upgraded channel cards can be utilized to move existing WiMax users to WiMax 2.

"Mobile WiMax opened up the era of mobile broadband and is already (the) component of many optimized solutions," said Woonsub Kim, executive VP and head of Samsung Electronics' telecommunications systems business, in a statement. "We strongly believe WiMax 2 will deliver even richer communication services to customers while unlocking a potential opportunity for service providers."

First generation WiMax, in service on many global networks, including nearly 60 Samsung networks, has speeds reaching 40 Mbps. IEEE is expected to issue its final approval for WiMax 2 next month.

One advantage of the new standard is that it is expected to offer easy integration with existing mobile WiMax networks, enabling carriers to upgrade easily. In addition, existing mobile WiMax devices will be able to easily interface with WiMax 2 networks, according to Samsung.

Several vendors are working to provide devices and services that facilitate the move of first-generation WiMax and WiMax 2 products and services to competing 4G technology, long-term evolution (LTE). In addition to Samsung, Motorola, for instance, is developing products and services to ease the way for carriers to upgrade their existing WiMax networks to TD-LTE or to LTE.

For Further Reading

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