IEEE announces development of IMT-advanced candidate

In a statement to the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R), IEEE has announced its intention to submit a candidate radio interface technology meeting the enhanced technical requirements of the ITU-R IMT-Advanced project. The proposal is based on IEEE Project 802.16m, the “Advanced Air Interface” specification under development by the IEEE 802.16â„? Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access.

The IEEE 802.16m project, authorized in December 2006, has been progressing through a series of milestone documents. The 802.16m System Description Document, a “Stage 2” description of the high level design, is nearly complete. It provides the basis for the detailed content of the draft IEEE 802.16m standard, development of which began in late 2008.

The IEEE 802.16m project represents the next advance in the development of IEEE Standard 802.16. The standard, which has specified the air interface of broadband wireless access systems since 2001, introduced full mobility with the IEEE 802.16e amendment approved in 2005. The 802.16m amendment will provide for backward compatibility with legacy 802.16e infrastructure and terminal equipment.

IEEE Standard 802.16 is already incorporated in a number of ITU recommendations. In particular, the version of the standard popularly known as Mobile WiMAX and supported by the WiMAX Forum was incorporated into the ITU-R IMT-2000 recommendation in 2007. Systems based on the standard have been deployed worldwide.

The interest generated in IEEE Project 802.16m is testament to the keen industry awareness of the ITU-R IMT-Advanced program. The IMT-Advanced activity is further testament to IEEE’s close cooperation with ITU-R and its commitment to contribute to its success in enabling worldwide adoption of advanced mobile broadband technologies.