WiMAX, femto forums release femtocell standard
The WiMAX Forum and the Femto Forum jointly published the first WiMAX femtocell standard, letting vendors start developing standardized femtocells and associated network equipment based on the IEEE 802.16e radio interface and profiles. The standard will impact all elements of the WiMAX femtocell network including: the MS (mobile station), WFAP (WiMAX femtocell access point), security gateway, femto gateway, self-organizing network (SON) server, AAA server, WFAP management server and other core service network functions.
The specifications incorporate a security framework that allows WiMAX networks to support a large number of access points via standard commercial IPSec based security gateways. This phase of specifications also contains simple self-organizing network (SON) capabilities to allow automatic configuration of large numbers of femtocells. Future revisions will further enhance the SON capabilities to standardize automatic interference management between femtocells and macro base stations.
The standard also incorporates support for three usage models to support different deployment scenarios such as residential, enterprise and outdoor environments. The ‘Open Model’ allows the femtocell to operate like a normal WiMAX base station by allowing anyone to use the service; ‘Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) Closed’ allows a limited number of pre-allocated subscribers to use the femtocell. The Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) Open extends the previous model to allow the subscriber to add users themselves.
The WiMAX Forum aims to start certifying compatible products early next year.
Source:
Business Wire