Scalable OFDMA Physical Layer in IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN---2

Scalable OFDMA Physical Layer in IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN
INTRODUCTION
The IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN standard [1] provides specifications for an air interface for fixed, portable, and mobile broadband wireless access systems. The standard includes requirements for high data rate Line of Sight (LOS) operation in the 10-66 GHz range for fixed wireless networks as well as requirements for Non Line of Sight (NLOS) fixed, portable, and mobile systems operating in sub 11 GHz licensed and licensed-exempt bands.
Because of its superior performance in multipath fading wireless channels, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signaling is recommended in OFDM and WirelessMAN OFDMA Physical (PHY) layer modes of the 802.16 standard for operation in sub 11 GHz NLOS applications. OFDM technology has been recommended in other wireless standards such as Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) [2] and Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) [3]-[4], and it has been successfully implemented in the compliant solutions.
Amendments for PHY and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers for mobile operation are being developed (working drafts [5] are being debated at the time of publication of this paper) by TGe of the 802.16 Working Group. The task group‘s responsibility is to develop enhancement specifications to the standard to support Subscriber Stations (SS) moving at vehicular speeds and thereby specify a system for combined fixed and mobile broadband wireless access. Functions to support optional PHY layer structures, mobile-specific MAC enhancements, higher-layer handoff between Base Stations (BS) or sectors, and security features are among those specified. Operation in mobile mode is limited to licensed bands suitable for mobility between 2 and 6 GHz.
Unlike many other OFDM-based systems such as WLAN, the 802.16 standard supports variable bandwidth sizes between 1.25 and 20 MHz for NLOS operations. This feature, along with the requirement for support of combined fixed and mobile usage models, makes the need for a scalable design of OFDM signaling inevitable. More specifically, neither one of the two OFDM-based modes of the 802.16 standard, WirelessMAN OFDM and OFDMA (without scalability option), can deliver the kind of performance required for operation in vehicular mobility multipath fading environments for all bandwidths in the specified range, without scalability enhancements that guarantee fixed subcarrier spacing for OFDM signals.
The concept of scalable OFDMA is introduced to the IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN OFDMA mode by the 802.16 TGe and has been the subject of many contributions to the standards committee [6]-[9]. Other features such as AMC subchannels, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (H-ARQ), high-efficiency Uplink (UL) subchannel structures, Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) diversity, enhanced Advanced Antenna Systems (AAS), and coverage enhancing safety channels were introduced [10]-[14] simultaneously to enhance coverage and capacity of mobile systems while providing the tools to trade off mobility with capacity.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In the next section we cover multicarrier system requirements, drivers of scalability, and design tradeoffs. We follow that with a discussion in the following six sections of the OFDMA frame structure, subcarrier allocation modes, Downlink (DL) and UL MAP messaging, diversity options, ranging in OFDMA, and channel coding options.
Note that although the IEEE P802.16-REVd was ratified shortly before the submission of this paper, the IEEE P802.16e was still in draft stage at the time of submission, and the contents of this paper therefore are based on proposed contributions to the working group.