The IEEE Standards Association yesterday announced the approval of the IEEE 802.16m standard, the next generation of WiMAX. It will offer “the performance improvements necessary to support future advanced services and applications for next generation broadband mobile communications,” including download speeds up to 300Mbps.
A globally relevant standard, IEEE 802.16m incorporates innovative communications technologies such as multi-user MIMO, multicarrier operation, and cooperative communications. It supports femto-cells, self-organizing networks, and relays. Major worldwide governmental and industrial organizations, including ARIB, TTA, and the WiMAX Forum, are adopting this standard
It remains to be seen which carriers will adopt the standard. Clearwire, owned in part by Sprint Nextel, is facing financial difficulties and may not be in a position to deploy the standard any time soon. A large numbers of other carriers have also opted for LTE (Long-Term Evolution), a different 4G standard, and likely have no plans to migrate to WiMAX.
The standard was in the works for four years and over twenty countries were involved.