RF Power Control

RF power control is a process of adjusting the power level of a mobile radio as it moves closer and further away from a transmitter. RF power control is typically accomplished by sensing the received signal strength level to determine the necessary power level adjustments. The base stati then sends power control messages to the mobile device to increase or decrease the mobile device’s output power level. The WiMAX system uses various forms of RF power control including open loop power control and closed loop power control.

Open loop power control is a process of adjusting the transmission power level for the subscriber station using the received power level. Open loop power control in the WiMAX system is used when the subscriber station initially attempts to accessing the system. When accessing the WiMAX system, the subscriber station calculates its’ initial transmit power level using parameters that are broadcasted from the WiMAX system along with the signal strength that it receives. The smaller the signal strength it receives, the larger the initial transmit power level it uses when accessing the WiMAX system.

Closed loop power control is a process of adjusting the transmission power level for the mobile radio using the power level control commands from another transmitter that is receiving its signal (e.g. from a radio base station). The WiMAX system uses closed loop power control to continually adjust the transmitter level of the subscriber station as it moves, or as the signal level varies (such as when signal fading occurs or when obstructions move).

Figure 1 reveals how the radio signal power level output of a subscriber station is first determined by the received signal power level and is then adjusted by commands received from the base station to reduce the average transmitted power from the subscriber station. This lower power reduces interference to nearby cell sites and helps to ensure the signal level received by the base station from all the subscriber stations is approximately the same. As the subscriber station moves closer to the base station, less power is required from the subscriber station and it is commanded to reduce its transmitter output power level. The base station transmitter power level can also be reduced.

Figure 1: WiMax Power Control

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS)

Dynamic frequency selection is a process that allows devices or users to request, select or change an operating frequency at various times. Dynamic frequency selection involves sensing and assigning communication channels (such as radio frequencies) to transmitters (such as a radio base station) as they are required. The use of dynamic frequency selection in a WiMAX system allows for interference avoidance.

Interference avoidance is a process that adapts the access channel sharing method so that the transmission does not occur on specific frequency bandwidths. Using interference avoidance, devices that operate within the same frequency band and within the same physical area can detect the presence of each other and adjust their communication system to reduce the amount of interference caused by each other. This reduced level of interference increases the amount of successful transmissions therefore increases the efficiency and increases the overall data transmission rate. Dynamic frequency selection is used by WiMAX systems that operate in unlicensed frequency bands.

Ranging (Dynamic Time Alignment) | WiMAX Radio

Ranging is a dynamic time alignment process that allows a radio system base station to receive transmitted signals from mobile communication devices in an exact time slot, even though not all mobile communication devices are the same distance from the base station. Ranging keeps different mobile device transmit bursts from colliding or overlapping. Ranging is necessary because subscriber stations may be moving or have been moved, and their radio waves’ arrival time at the base station depends on their changing distance from the base station. The greater the distance, the more delay in the signal’s arrival time. Transmission delay is approximately 3 microseconds per km (or 5 microseconds per mile). To perform time alignment, a subscriber station can advance or delay its transmission timing relative to the reference message that it receives on the downlink channel.

Figure 1: WiMax Adaptive Time Division Duplex (ATDD) Transmission

The WiMAX system uses two types of ranging: initial ranging and periodic ranging. During initial ranging, the WiMAX subscriber station transmits a brief ranging request message that allows the system to send back a ranging response message with the amount of timing offset that the subscriber station must use when it begins transmitting. After the subscriber station has attached to the system, the base station will continually send time alignment messages (periodic ranging) to the subscriber station to adjust (fine tune) its timing advance as it moves in the radio coverage area.

Initial ranging is the process of time aligning with a communication system before establishing a communication session. The initial ranging process involves synchronizing to an incoming transmission channel, sending a request at a particular time interval relative to the received channel and obtaining a response that allows for the time synchronization with the device or system.

Periodic ranging is the process of continuous time alignment with a communication system during a communication session. The periodic ranging process involves maintaining synchronization with an incoming transmission channel, periodically transmitting messages (such as sending user data) and receiving time alignment information from the other device or system.

If the subscriber station is continually communicating with the base station (receiving or transmitting data), the system can sense changes in the timing and send time alignment messages along with other packets of data to the subscriber station. If a significant amount of time has elapsed since a subscriber device has communicated with the system, the BS must initiate polling requests to reinitiate the ranging process.

Figure 2 shows how the relative transmitter timing in a subscriber station (relative to the received signal) is dynamically adjusted to account for the combined receive and transmit delays as the WiMAX radio is located at different distances from the base station antenna. In this example, the subscriber station uses a received burst to determine when its burst transmission should start. As the subscriber station moves away from the tower, the transmission time increases therefore causing the transmitted bursts to slip outside its time slot when it is received at the base station (possibly causing overlap to transmissions from other radios.) When the base station receiver detects the change in slot period reception, it sends commands to the subscriber station to advance its relative transmission time as it moves away from the base station and to be delayed as it moves closer.

Figure 2: WiMax Ranging