The Impact of Maximum Uplink Bandwidth
on Uplink Traffic in Fixed WiMAX
Toni Janevski, Senior Member, IEEE, Aleksandar Velkoski and Alimpie Velkoski
Abstract — In this paper we analyze the impact of
maximum uplink bandwidth on uplink traffic in Fixed
WiMAX, where the most used QoS parameter for each
subscriber station is the maximum uplink sustained rate.
We show the impact of different traffic and link
parameters, such as maximum uplink bandwidth, traffic
load and type, on the QoS parameters, such as packet delay,
packet delay variations (jitter), packet loss probability and
throughput.
Keywords — Bandwidth, Performance, Uplink, WiMAX.
I. INTRODUCTION
T ODAY there are many telecommunication standards,
some are important as the Internet and GSM for
example, and others are less important. One of the
standards that we expect to have a major impact in the
future is IEEE 802.16 standard, which refers to
broadband wireless access networks. The IEEE 802.16
standard allows us a range of advantages such as great
throughput, better flexibility and scalability and lower
costs to build a network that is particularly important for
operators and countries which have a bad network, or
operators and countries that don't have network. The
interest for this standard by major world producers of
equipment resulted in 2001 to create a WiMAX
(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access)
Forum [1]. The main task of the WiMAX Forum is to
harmonize standards in the field of wireless MAN
networks. The most important advantage of WiMAX
technology is that it can be a profitable, stable wireless
alternative to DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and access
through cable distribution systems in areas where these
technologies are available. Moreover, WiMAX
technology can be a real solution for broadband access in
areas where cable, DSL and FTTH networks are not
available. There are several standards that occur as a
result of work of the IEEE group responsible for the
development of BWA (broadband wireless access). The
most significant standards are IEEE 802.16-2004 [2] and
IEEE 802.16-2005 [3], or also known as Fixed WiMAX
and Mobile WiMAX. Many applications, especially
multimedia applications, such as Internet telephony and
video conferencing, use UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

Dr. Toni Janevski is Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering
and Information Technologies, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University,
Karpos 2 bb, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia, (e-mail:tonij@feit.ukim.edu.mk).
Aleksandar Velkoski is student on Master studies at the Faculty of
Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies, Ss. Cyril and
Methodius University, Karpos 2 bb, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia, (e-mail:
acelimpe@gmail.com).
Alimpie Velkoski is student on Master studies at the Faculty of
Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies, Ss. Cyril and
Methodius University, Karpos 2 bb, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia, (e-mail:
acelimpe@gmail.com).
to exchange message packets (datagram) between
computers or terminals. This protocol does not guarantee
delivery of packages or the same order of delivery of sent
packages. Because of this simplicity UDP protocol is fast
and is used for applications where speed is important and
the arrival of packages and maintaining order is not of
great importance. From this we can conclude that a
significant portion of traffic through the WiMAX
networks will be UDP traffic. The most used QoS
parameter for each subscriber station is the maximum
uplink sustained rate, therefore in this paper we analyze
the impact of maximum uplink bandwidth on uplink
traffic in Fixed WiMAX.
II.THE PHYSICAL LAYER AND MAC LAYER OF THE FIXED
WIMAX
WiMAX is a broadband wireless technology for
metropolitan areas, and as initially defined it can use
frequencies in the range from 10GHz to 66GHz with
single carrier air interface. But usage of higher
frequencies requires LOS (line of sight), i.e., optical
visibility between components that communicate each
other. Therefore fixed WiMAX also uses frequency range
from 2GHz to 11GHz, in which case both LOS and
NLOS are supported. IEEE 802.16-2004 standard refers
to the physical layer and MAC (Medium Access Control)
layer of the OSI system. Typical frequency range for
NLOS WiMAX is 3.5 GHz, at least in Europe.
The physical layer uses two multi-carrier air interfaces
technology for multiplexing, OFDM [4] and OFDMA.
This technique divides the bandwidth into many
orthogonal sub-carriers. In OFDM (Orthogonal
frequency-division multiplexing) input data flow is
divided into several parallel streams, and each of them is
modulated with a conventional modulation scheme on
special orthogonal sub-carrier. By increasing the duration
of symbols we increase the OFDM system resistance of
the intersymbol interference. The resources are used by
the OFDM symbols in aspect of time and through the
sub-carriers in aspect of frequency. Sub-carriers can be
grouped into sub-bandwidth so they can be assigned to
different users. OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiple Access) is a technique that provides
multiplexing of multiple data streams from multiple users
in a single moment for downlink and uplink. Physical
layer of IEEE 802.16-2004 standard supports TDD (Time
Division Duplex) and FDD (Frequency Division Duplex).
More in use is TDD, because devices that support TDD
are with a simpler structure than those that use FDD, and
as well TDD can flexibly handle asymmetric broadband
traffic [5].
The main task of the MAC layer is to provide a
connection between physical layer and upper network and
transport layers. MAC layer can provide special Quality
of Service (QoS) for each connection. The scheduling for
the allocated resources can be frame by frame. To meet
the required quality, the IEEE 802.16 standard applies
adaptive modulation. Adaptive modulation is a feature of
the system when the system changes modulation
depending on the signal/noise ratio during the
transmission.
III. SIMULATION SCENARIOS AND RESULTS
For this performance study of Fixed WiMAX, we have
500 kbps (below 21 ms for 600 kbps), and packet delay
for VBR video traffic is below 38 ms when the sustained
rate is 500 kbps (below 30 ms for 600 kbps). The results
show that the packet delay is always far below 150 ms,
which is acceptable packet delay for the real time video
transmission. Also, packet delay is significantly below 2
seconds for both CBR and VBR video streams, which is a
minimal requirement for the streaming media application.
0,035
0,030
0,025

delay (sec)
used NCTUns-6.0 [6], simulation tool installed on Fedora 0,020
11 operating system. With aim to evaluate the 0,015
performance of Fixed WiMAX, we have developed 0,010
several simulation scenarios using specific conditions 0,005
such as: load, type of traffic, and maximum uplink 0,000
bandwidth. For all simulation scenarios we have used a 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58
single circular WiMAX cell with omnidirectional antenna time (sec)
model at the base station, with elevation of 30 meters
above the ground, and with transmission power of 50 500 kbps 600 kbps 700 kbps 800 kbps
dbm. Elevation of mobile station was set to 1.5 meters, Fig. 1 Packet delay of CBR video, for different data
rates
with transmission power of 23 dbm. The point to multi
point mode was the only mode used in this performance
study. 0,040
Scenario 1: 0,035
0,030
Topology for this scenario consisted of one base
delay (sec)

0,025
station, four hosts (6, 7, 8 and 9) and four subscriber 0,020
stations - SS (1, 2, 3 and 4). A single base station was 0,015
separately connected via the 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet link 0,010
to each of the four hosts. The four subscriber stations 0,005
were static and were located on 200 meters distance from 0,000
the base station. At the same time traffic was generated 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56
from SS 1, 2, 3 and 4 to the hosts 6, 7, 8 and 9
respectively. The generated traffic, for uplink, was UDP time (sec)
traffic with constant bit rate and variable bit rate (CBR
500 kbps 600 kbps 700 kbps 800 kbps
video, VBR video and VoIP), with duration of 60 Fig. 2 Packet delay of VBR video, for different data
seconds. Before starting the simulation we set the rates
maximum uplink bandwidth that this subscriber stations
was allowed to use on 500 kbps, 600 kbps, 700 kbps and
800 kbps, for subscriber nodes 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. 0,005
The results of packet delay and delay variations (jitter) in 0,004
0,004
this simulation scenario showed the impact of different 500 kbps
0,003
delay (sec)

sustained rate on uplink traffic. 0,003 600 kbps

Results of the packet delay for different sustained rate 0,002 700 kbps
for uplink, for each type of generated traffic (CBR video, 0,002 800 kbps
VBR video and VoIP), were measured as shown in Fig.1, 0,001
Fig.2 and Fig.3. For the CBR video, constant bit rate 0,001
traffic with packet size of 1460 bytes and an inter packet 0,000
departure interval of 30,416 ms, i.e. the bit rate was 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56
384kbps. For the VBR video traffic, the lengths of time (sec)
generated packets was modeled with exponential Fig. 3. Packet delay of VoIP, for different rates
distribution (with mean = 800, min = 500, and max =
1200 bytes) and the time between sending consecutive Fig. 3 shows the packet delay of VoIP traffic for
packets was according to uniform distribution (with min different sustained rate for uplink. The results for each bit
= 10ms and max = 30ms). For VoIP traffic we have used rate is significantly below 150ms, the reference value of
constant bit rate with packet size of 200 bytes and an recommended maximum acceptable packet delay for
inter packet departure interval of 20 ms. VoIP services. In Fig. 4 is shown average packet delay of
Fig.1 and Fig.2 show uplink packet delay of the video generated traffic for different sustained rates for uplink.
streams with CBR and VBR bit rates, for different
sustained rates. The results for 800 kbps and 700 kbps
sustained rates is below 22 ms. The packet delay for CBR
video traffic is below 31 ms when the sustained rate is
 0,059302
0,06
0,05

average delay (sec)

0,030
Average delay (sec)

0,04
0,025
CBRvideo 0,03
0,020
VBRvideo 0,02
0,015 0,010490
0,010 VoIP 0,01 0,006333 0,006550 0,007008

0,005 0,00
0,000 2 2,4 2,8 3,2 3,6

500 kbps 600 kbps 700 kbps 800 kbps uplink traffic (Mbps)
Fig. 6. Average delay vs. uplink traffic less then 4 Mbps
Fig. 4 Average packet delay for different sustained rates
9 7,9313
8
7 6,1137

average delay (sec)

6
0,008 5
3,6706
Average jitter (sec)

4
0,006 3
2 1,1376
0,004 1 0,0063 0,0065 0,0070 0,0105 0,0593
0
0,002 2 2,4 2,8 3,2 3,6 4 4,4 4,8 5,2
uplink traffic (Mbps)
0,000
Fig. 7. Average delay vs. uplink traffic
500 kbps 600 kbps 700 kbps 800 kbps
3,8542 3,8094 3,8632 3,8614
CBRvideo VBRvideo VoIP 4,0 3,5850
Fig. 5 Average jitter for different sustained rates
average throughput (Mbps)

3,5 3,1851
3,0 2,7878
2,3903
Fig. 5 shows average jitter for different sustained rates 2,5
1,9908
for uplink for each type of generated traffic. The jitter 2,0
1,5
values for VoIP traffic in this case are always below
1,0
0,064 ms (maximum for telephony is 1ms), which is the
0,5
acceptable value for the VoIP services on WiMAX. Also, 0,0
the jitter values for CBR and VBR video traffic are 2 2,4 2,8 3,2 3,6 4 4,4 4,8 5,2
always below 10 and 22 ms, which is the acceptable uplink traffic (Mbps)
value for the video conference (< 50 ms) and video Fig. 8. Average throughput versus generated uplink
streaming (< 250 ms) on WiMAX, according to the traffic
WiMAX Forum [1].
From the results we can conclude that increased
sustained rate for uplink in this case, reduces delay and 25 22,8561

has no significant impact on jitter. 20 18,0056

packets loss (%)

Scenario 2: 15 12,7002

Topology for this scenario is consisted of one base station 10 7,2234

and one subscriber station. A single base station was 5
connected via a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet link to a host. 0,0033 0,0030 0,0029 0,0028 0,5227
The single subscriber station was located on 200 meters 0
4 4,4 4,8 5,2 5,6 6 6,4 6,8 7,2
distance from the base station. The traffic generated for
uplink traffic (Mbps)
uplink was UDP self similar traffic with duration of 60
seconds. Before starting simulation we set the maximum Fig. 9. Packet loss versus generated uplink traffic
uplink bandwidth for subscriber station on 4000 kbps. We
have increased the generated traffic to see how it would Fig. 8 shows average throughput when we have
affect on the delay, packet lost rate and throughput. increased the generated uplink traffic. The maximum
Results of the average packet delay for different sizes of total received throughput in this simulation case was
uplink traffic, less then 4 Mbps, were measured as shown measured as 3,89 Mbps without any packet loss. The
in Fig. 6. As expected, the increase in uplink traffic results presented in Fig. 9 show that packet losses occur
results in increased packet delay. For uplink traffic bigger when we reach maximum capacity of the uplink
then 3.2 Mbps (80% of uplink sustained rate) the average bandwidth. One can notice that continuing increase of the
delay increases exponentially. uplink traffic (6 Mbps or more) results in higher packet
Also, the average delay versus uplink traffic bigger loss probability.
then sustained rate for the subscriber station is shown in
Fig. 7. We can see that the average delay grows very IV. CONCLUSION
quickly when uplink traffic increases over the maximum In this paper we have performed performance analysis
uplink bandwidth for the subscriber station. of the uplink in Fixed WiMAX, which is very important
for the real-time services, such as telephony, because
initially access links to Internet are created as
asymmetrical due to nature of Internet traffic in the past
two decades, when users where mainly downloading data
from servers in the Internet core networks. However,
today users may also generate heavy (in bytes) content
using consumer electronics, such as cameras, not only
downloading like in the past, as well as there are real-
time conversational services, such as telephony
(represented via VoIP in WiMAX networks), video
conferencing and even services like presence (which are
still not offered as a service from a shelf to the user
masses). Therefore, in this paper we have done
simulation analysis of the QoS in the uplink of Fixed
WiMAX. We continue with several conclusions from the
analysis.
The obtained results showed that increased maximum
uplink sustained rate in Fixed WiMAX increases the
throughput and reduces delay and jitter of generated
uplink traffic. The simulation results show that the Fixed
WiMAX network meets the requirements for data transfer
when using the UDP protocol, which is the basis for all
real-time traffic packets over IP, such as voice, video and
multimedia. The impact of different uplink sustained
rates on uplink traffic when given cell is more loaded
(meaning more subscriber stations) shows no significant
difference with results when cell is less loaded (meaning
less subscriber stations). However, increase of the traffic
load in a single WiMAX over 80% of the uplink link
capacity in the cell leads to higher values for packet
delay and jitter, which are unacceptable for
conversational services, such as voice and video
conferencing. Similarly, packet losses when uplink traffic
load is offered over 80% of the link capacity leads to
higher packet losses, which are more then 2-3% losses
allowed for real-time services. Final outcome of the
analysis presented in this paper is that the uplink in the
Fixed WiMAX can be loaded with maximum 80% of the
capacity with aim to support real-time conversational
services, such as telephony, with given constraints on the
Quality of Service parameters.
REFERENCES
[1] WiMAX Forum, www.wimaxforum.org.
[2] IEEE802.16, IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolean Area
Networks Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless
Access Systems - IEEE Std 802.16-2004 (Revision of IEEE Std
802.16-2001), 2004.
[3] IEEE802.16, IEEE Std 802.16e-2005 and IEEE Std 802.16-
2004/Cor 1-2005, Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile
Broadband Wireless Access Systems, 2006.
[4] David Tse, Pramod Viswanat, “Fundamentals of Wireless
Communication”, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
[5] Syed Ahson, Mohammad Ilyas, “WiMAX Technologies,
Performance Analysis, and QoS”, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis
Group, 2008.
[6] “NCTUns Network Simulator and Emulator”,
http://nsl.csie.nctu.edu.tw/nctuns.html