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Network Transition from WiMAX to LTE

Shyam S. Wagle, Minesh Ade, and M. Ghazanfar Ullah

Abstract— LTE and WiMAX are the key fundamental technologies of 4G wireless technology. Both technologies use the same
fundamental wireless standard known as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing). Peak data rate of currently using
WiMAX 802.16e is less than the LTE relelease 8 but comapritively WiMAX 802.16m is similar to the LTE-Advanced (Release
10). In present scenario, LTE is supported by big telecommunication companies and international standard bodies whereas
WiMAX is supported by IEEE and computer companies but the important thing WiMAX is waning support from the
telecommunication companies. Different surveyes and view of the telecommunication operators show that most of the telecom
operators are interested towards the LTE. In this paper we are suggesting some technical issues to all the WiMAX operators
who are interested towards the LTE. Network transition from one technology to the another technology depends on the
operator’s future plan, interest, subscriber’s needs and capacity of operator’s investment for the network but we refer towards
the TD-LTE for existing WiMAX operators to compete in future 4G wireless technology.

Index Terms—Integration, LTE, Network Transition, WiMAX

——————————  ——————————

1 INTRODUCTION

T HIS paper is mainly concentrated with the Telecom

opetators who have already launched WiMAX tech-
nology but they are interested in LTE due to the ab-
ruptly diverted market trend towards the LTE. The sur-
prising case is that the operators started WiMAX in the
past few months are interested to start the LTE in their
network and they are planning towards LTE as possible.
The main issue of every telecom opetators who are plan-
ning towards LTE but they have already WiMAX net-
work with them is financial issue in establishing both
WiMAX and LTE network. Our paper will be helful for
those operators who are interested in LTE.
WiMAX and LTE share most of the Radio Access Net-
work (RAN) and core network, so the transition path to
LTE will be smoother than, for instance, the transition
path from HSPA to LTE. Most of the WiMAX base sta-
tions and product on the market are based on 802.16e [5].
Duplex mode of 802.16e is TDD. So, technically network
trasnsition from WiMAX to TD-LTE is seemed to be suit-
able because both use TDD duplexing. The most common
version of LTE, the one deployed by most mobile opera-
tors, uses FDD paired spectrum, with one channel used
for uplink transmission and one for downlink transmis-
sion. A second version of LTE, TD-LTE uses TDD spec-
trum in which operators are interested to implement in
their network too. The transition path from WiMAX to
TD-LTE is more straightforward and easily implementing
than the FDD LTE. The same spectrum band can be used
and infrastructure equipment upgrades are possible (al-
though not necessarily available, depending on the ven-
dor and on the version of the equipment) [2]. For opera-
————————————————
 Shyam S. Wagle is with the Department of E&C, Institute of Engineering, WiMAX standard increases coverage capacity and service
Tribhuwan University, Nepal.
 Minesh Ade is with the Department of Computer Application, SIBACA-
Pune University, India.
 M. Ghazanfar Ullah is with the Department of Computer System Engi-
neering, UIT-Hamdard University, Pakistan.
tors trying network transition from WiMAX to FDD LTE
will be difficult and expensive because FDD LTE requires
new spectrum and getting new FDD spectrum is more
costly than the TDD spectrum.
In this paper we recommend to the operators who are
using WiMAX 802.16e version and older version of Wi-
MAX to switchover their networks towards the TD-LTE if
they are interested in LTE for competing in future 4G
wireless market.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 briefly dis-
cusses about the background of the WiMAX and LTE
with their new features and comparision between the
WiMAX and LTE in the current scenario. Section 3
presents migrating factors of WiMAX operators towards
LTE. Sections 5 and 6 present the solution of network mi-
gration from WiMAX to LTE for the WiMAX operators
and Conclusion.
2 BACKGROUND
2.1 WiMAX
WiMAX is a telecommunication protocol which provides
fixed and full mobile internet access. It uses IEEE 802.16
standards, established by the IEEE Standards Board in
1999 for the global deployment of wireless broadband
networks [3], [4]. From 802.16, the standard was amended
many times and changed to 802.16a, 802.16c, 802.16d, and
802.16e—the most popularly used standard for WiMAX
today. Revisions of the standard have gone up the alpha-
bet all the way to 802.16m, with the most advanced ver-
sion expected to be completed by December 2009 and
approved by March 2010. Each amended version of the
performance. Accroding to WiMAX Forum, 592 WiMAX
Networks have been commercially deployed in 149 coun-
tries (www.wimaxforum.org). But networks are not in-
creasing worldwide as they are expecting.
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2.2 LTE
3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) [1], is the latest stan-
dard in the mobile network technology tree that pro-
duced the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA network
technologies. It is a project of the 3rd Generation Partner-
ship Project (3GPP), operating under a name trademarked
by one of the associations within the partnership, the Eu-
ropean Telecommunications Standards Institute. It is the
latest step of 3GPP in moving forward from the cellular
3G services to LTE. LTE may also be referred more for-
mally as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-
UTRA) and Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN). Even though 3GPP created
standards for GSM/UMTS family, the LTE standards
are completely new, with exceptions where it made sense.
The main objectives of LTE are: 1) Increased downlink
and uplink peak data rates, 2) Scalable bandwidth, 3) Im-
proved spectral efficiency, 4) All IP network and 5) A
standard’s based interface that can support a multitude of
user types.
LTE networks are intended to bridge the functional data
exchange gap between very high data rate fixed
wireless Local Area Networks (LAN) and very high
mobility cellular networks. The first version of LTE is do-
cumented in Release 8 of the 3GPP specifications. It de-
fines a new physical layer radio access technology based
on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
(OFDMA) for the downlink, similar in concept to the PHY
layer of Mobile WiMAX, and uses SC-FDMA (single Car-
rier Frequency Division Multiple Access) for the uplink.
In September 2009, 3GPP submitted its LTE-Advanced
proposal for IMT-Advanced, officially called “document
3GPP Release 10.”
2.3 LTE- WiMax Comparision
Table 1 shows the general technical specification [5], [6] of
the LTE and WiMAX with comparisions. Both LTE and
WiMAX use orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
(OFDMA) in the Downlind but LTE uses Single Carrier
Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA). So, in
the LTE uplink signal achieves saving power capacity
without degrading system flexibility and performance.
There is provision of both TDD and FDD in WiMAX
802.16m (R2.0) but current market of WiMAX is based on
802.16e. So, in this case we can say WiMAX uses TDD and
LTE uses both TDD and FDD. User mobility and Data
rate is higher in LTE than the commercial WiMAX. The
latency requirement in the WiMAX and LTE specifica-
tions is small enough to support real-time applications,
such as voice applications. A voice application could tole-
rate a delay of between 50 and 200 ms without the user
perceiving a decrease in quality. Low latency is thus es-
sential in these mobile broadband standards. The low
latency is also coupled with high data rates to satisfy
bandwidth-intensive applications. Both standards sup-
port mobility in that users can carry the device travelling
at speeds of up to 350 km/h. So, users on a high-speed
train, for example, could connect to a 4G network.
The main difference between WiMAX and LTE is that
WiMAX benefits from its earlier development and dep-
67
loyment, while LTE has the advantage of being devel-
oped by telecommunications companies who get to
choose which technology to deploy. WiMAX jump started
the mobile broadband market. According to the WiMAX
Forum, WiMAX has about 592 deployments worldwide
with more than 10 million subscribers. Also, WiMAX has
spectrum allocated for it in 149 countries, and many tele-
communications companies are involved in WiMAX ac-
tivities. However, now that LTE’s development has
picked up, some telecommunications companies have
backed away from WiMAX. Recently, Cisco announced
that it will discontinue offering WiMAX base stations and
will focus on radioagnostic IP core solutions. Alcatel-
Lucent made a similar announcement. However, compa-
nies such as Clearwire that have invested in WiMAX
don’t have to discontinue their offerings. WiMAX could
coexist in the broadband arena with LTE.
We expect the ITU to make its recommendations for IMT-
Advanced this summer [5]. However, this doesn’t neces-
sarily mean that WiMAX or LTE will prevail at that time,
as we’ve learned from previous ITU recommendations.
The IMT-2000 (3G) recommended several independent
technologies that meet the same goals. For example, in
2007, ITU added OFDM as part of 3G at the request of
IEEE. Thus, ITU can include multiple standards in its rec-
ommendation, which means the real battle between Wi-
MAX and LTE will be how successfully they’re deployed
and used.
LTE supports handover and roaming with the 3GGP mo-
bile networks but with WiMAX these services are not
easy to achieve. From telecom operator point of view, the
roaming service generates numerous benefits for opera-
tors. It extends the coverage of the operator using the
network of other carriers, it generates more benefits of
visitors from other carriers and it provides to users an
important service i.e. user can travel far away from his
operator.
3 FACTORS FOR MIGRATING TOWARDS LTE
In fact both WiMAX and LTE can play vital roles in future
wireless network. Upto certain time we can say that LTE
and WiMAX play different roles as access and backhaul
respectively i.e. LTE provides the access technology of
choice and WiMAX provides an ideal backhaul technolo-
gy for 4G networks [2]. In future, there will not need to be
categorized into different access and backhaul networks.
Finally they will be 4G access networks. In current scena-
rio, WiMAX is well matured technology but LTE is in
starting phase.
Talking about the outlook of WiMAX and LTE, they are
quite similar for adoption of current 4G technologies but
we have to consider different aspects while chosing the
technology. In current scenario, more than 592 WiMAX
networks are deployed worldwide in 149 countries whe-
reas only few LTE networks are deployed worldwide.
But, important issue while chosing WiMAX and LTE is
their current technical supports. Major telecom compa-
nies like Cisco, Alcatel-lucent [5] have announced that
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TABLE 1
LTE AND WIMAX TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION [5]
LTE (3GPP R8) LTE- Advanced WiMAX WiMAX
(3GPP R10) 802.16e 802.16m
(R1.0) (R2.0)
Physical layer DL: OFDMA DL: OFDMA DL : OFDMA DL: OFDMA
UL : SC-FDMA UL: SC-FDMA UL : OFDMA UL: OFDMA
Duplex mode FDD and TDD FDD and TDD TDD FDD and TDD
User Mobility 350 km/h 350 km/h 60 to 120 km/h 350 km/h

1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15,20 Aggregates compo-

Channel Bandwidth MHZ nents of R8 3.5, 5, 7, 8.75, 10 MHZ 5,10,20, 40 MHZ

DL: 302 Mbps DL: 1 Gbps DL: 46 Mbps DL: 350 Mbps
Peak Data Rates UL: 75 Mbps UL: 300 Mbps UL: 4 Mbps UL: 200 Mbps

DL: 1.91bps/Hz DL: 30 bps/Hz DL: 1.91bps/Hz DL: 2.6 bps/Hz

Spectral Efficiency UL: 0.72 bps/Hz UL: 15 bps/Hz UL: 0.84 bps/Hz UL: 1.3 bps/Hz

Link Layer < 5 ms Link Layer < 5 ms Link Layer = 20 ms Link Layer< 10ms
Latency Handoff < 50ms Handoff < 50ms Handoff =35 to 50ms Handoff < 30ms

80 users per sec- >80 users per sec- 20 users per sec- >30 users per sec-
VOIP Capacity tor/MHz (FDD) tor/MHz (FDD) tor/MHz (TDD) tor/MHz (TDD)

will discontinue offering WiMAX base stations and will
focus on radio agnostic IP core solutions. LTE is sup-
ported by big telecommunication companies and interna-
tional standard bodies whereas WiMAX is supported by
IEEE and computer companies but the important thing is
WiMAX is waning support from the telecommunication
companies. LTE provides full mobility but WiMax needs
a mobile target with a speed lower than 120 km/h whe-
reas LTE still operates with a target up to 350 km/h. LTE
supports handover and roaming with the 3GGP mobile
networks but with WiMAX these services are not easy to
achieve. Power consumption is also the important factor
while chosing technology. Power consumption is less in
LTE comparision with WiMAX because LTE uses SC-
FDMA modulation in Uplink channel.
So, due to those above metioned new features and current
trends, existing WiMAX operators and other telecom op-
erators are interested in LTE network.
4 SOLUTION OF NETWORK MIGRATION FROM
WIMAX TO LTE
According to many recent surveyes and reader forums,
[2] the operators using WiMAX 802.16e standard should
upgrade their existing WiMAX standard for competing
with new 4G technologies. Currently WiMAX Forum
[www.wimaxforum.org] is working on preparing specifi-
cation of the WiMAX 802.16m. So, operators have two
choices for sustaining in current competitive 4G market.
Either they can upgrade current 802.16e (Release 1.0) to
802.16m (Release 2.0) or they can migrate to the LTE.
They have opportunity to upgrade from 802.16e to
802.16m for few years and after then towards the LTE but
this rapidly growing telecommunication market and ra-
pidly changing technology might not wait for them for
1or 2 years more. So, second option might not be favora-
ble for any operators who really want to compete with the
new 4G wireless technology.
In our opinion, in current competitive market, it will be
better to upgrade their network towards LTE.
The way of migration towards LTE depends on the opera-
tor capacity of investment and revenue earning from after
migrating towards LTE, number of subscribers of that
operator etc. but we suggest some fundamental issues
while deciding network transition from WiMAX to LTE.
4.1 Spectrum Selection
Technically operators are free to use both FDD LTE and
TD-LTE but in commercial point of viewTD-LTE is more
suitable for the operators who are implementing WiMAX
802.16e because both TD-LTE and 802.16e uses TDD dup-
lexing mode sothat network transition will be easy and
cost effective. Using the same spectrum band, there will
be easy in equipment upgrading from one technology to
another technology. Moving towards FDD LTE is better
in one scenario i.e. equipments are commercially availa-
ble in the market but it arises issues of frequency spec-
trum. Getting new spectrum is expensive and difficult too
in comparision to getting commercially few available
types of equipment.
4.2 Base Stations
Base station architecture consists of baseband, radio,
transport, clock/synchronization and power modules.
WiMAX and LTE use OFDMA as access technology on
the downlink. There might be problem in clock synchro-
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nization but most of the base stations can be upgraded
from WiMAX to TD-LTE. Upgrading towards FDD LTE
will be difficult because in FDD LTE it uses paired FDD
spectrum, with one channel used for uplink transmission
and one for downlink transmission.
4.3 End Devices
End devices used in the current WiMAX market do not
support either TD-LTE or FDD LTE. Finally all the end
equipments used in the WiMAX network will be replaced
but we suggest for operators to run both existing WiMAX
and TD-LTE for certain period using all the possible
common networks of the existing WiMAX sothat in that
period operators can encourage their subscribers to use
multimode devices. So, using multimode devices by the
subscribers, operators can move their network from Wi-
MAX to LTE as well as in that period subscriber can expe-
rience real taste of WiMAX and LTE.
4.4 Network Integration
The main important part of the network transition is net-
work integration. Both WiMAX and LTE use IP backbone
for the access part. So, there is not any problem in access
part, it is easily upgradable but we have to careful about
the core elements. The deployment of an integrated archi-
tecture that allows users to seamlessly switch between
these two types of networks would present several ad-
vantages to both users and service providers [7]. By offer-
ing integrated LTE/WiMAX services, users would benefit
from the enhanced performance and high data rate of
such combined service. For the providers, this could capi-
talize on their investment, attract a wider user base and
ultimately facilitate the ubiquitous introduction of high
speed wireless data. The required LTE access network
Fig.1 WiMAX-LTE Integrating Architecture [7]
may be owned either by the WiMAX operator or by any
other party, which then requires proper rules and Service
Level Agreements (SLAs) set up for smooth interworking
on the basis of business and roaming agreements between
the LTE and mobile WiMAX operators.
In [7], authors proposed integrating architecture of the
69
WiMAX and LTE. In Fig.1, the Mobile WiMAX supports
access to a variety of IP multimedia services via WiMAX
radio access technologies which is called Access Service
Network (ASN). The ASN is owned by a Network Access
Provider (NAP) and comprises one or more BS and one or
more ASN gateways (ASN-GW) that form the radio
access network. Access control and traffic routing for
Mobile Stations (MSs) in Mobile WiMAX is entirely han-
dled by the Connectivity Service Network (CSN), which
is owned by a Network Service Provider (NSP), and pro-
vides IP connectivity and all the IP core network func-
tions. The LTE network may be owned either by the NAP
or by any other part in which case the interworking is
enabled and governed by appropriate business and roam-
ing agreement.
3GPP and Mobile WiMAX accesses are integrated
through the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). 3GPP access
connections are supported by the Serving Gateway
(SGW), and Mobile WiMAX accesses are connected to the
Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW). Specifically, the
legacy serving GPRS support node (SGSN) is connected
to the SGW. New logical entities are also added to the
system architecture. The ANDSF is an entity that facili-
tates the discovery of the target access. The target access
supported by the ANDSF can be either a 3GPP or Mobile
WiMAX cell. This entity is introduced by 3GPP in order
to minimize the impacts on the use of radio signals. The
use of radio signals for neighbour cell discovery requires
the User Equipment (UE) to utilize multiple antennas,
which result in power consumption. Moreover, if the cell
information is not broadcast, the UE is unable to acquire
the appropriate target cell information. Optionally, the
ANDSF can provide additional information about neigh-
bour cells, such as QoS capabilities, which cannot be dis-
tributed by radio signals due to high data demand.
Integration architecture proposed in Fig.1 is basically in-
terworking between WiMAX and LTE. In network transi-
tion from WiMAX to LTE we can run parallel both net-
work utilizing all the existing elements of the WiMAX
including certains elements of the LTE sothat it solves the
problem of service interruption in switchover the system
and subscribers get experience from both technology for
certain period.
4.5 Network Management System
Network management is also the important factor to be
considered while moving from one network to the other
network. There might be some difficulty in handling by
the same network management system after moving from
WiMAX to LTE but we can use existing network man-
agement system. Existing network management system
can use after switching towards the LTE and it can be
used for traffic handling from one network to the other
network during switchover.
5 CONCLUSION
Although WiMAX and LTE are based on the same
fundamental wireless standard, they have difference in
performance like peak data rate, user mobility, power
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consumption, handover, roaming facilities etc. But the
main difference between two technologies is: LTE is
increasing its momentum in the current 4G wireless
technology and WiMAX is losing the current market
day by day. In this scenario, any of the operators wants
to sustain in the market for the future. Due to compete-
ion in the 4G wireless technology of WiMAX and LTE
in the current market, WiMAX operators are in confu-
sion of their future.
We recommend current WiMAX operators to move
their network towards the TD-LTE sothat they can
survive in the current 4G wireless technology, they can
save cost in migrating their network from one technol-
ogy to another technology and they can use same spec-
trum after migrating to the new technology.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by Erasmus Mundus Mobility for
Life 2010 scholarship program awarded by European
Commission.
REFERENCES
[1] 3GPPLong Term Evolution (LTE), http://www.3GPP.org/LTE.
[2] Readers Forum, http://www.rcrwireless.com.
[3] Z. Abichar, Y. Peng, and J.M. Chang, “WiMAX: The Emergence of
Wireless Broadband,” IT Professional, July/Aug. 2006, pp. 44–48.
[4] IEEE 802.16e-2005, IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area
Networks Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile Broadband
Wireless Access Systems, Amendment 2, IEEE, 2005.
[5] Zakhia Abichar, J. Moris Chang and Chau-Yun Hso, “WiMax
vs. LTE: Who Will Lead the the Broadband Mobile Internet?,”
IT Professional, May/June 2010 , pp. 26-32.
[6] Ronny Yongho Kim, Inuk Jung, Xiangying Yang and Chao-
Chin Chou, “Advanced Handover Schemes in IMT-Advanced
Systems,” IEEE communication Magazine, August 2010, pp. 78-
85.
70
[7] Tara A. Yahiya and Hakima Chaouchi, “On the Integration of
LTE and Mobile WiMAXNetworks," 19th Intrnational Confe-
rence on Computer communication and Networks, April 2010.
Shyam S. Wagle received Bachelor Degree in
Electronics and Communication Engineering from
Tribhuwan University in 2006.He is doing Master
of Engineering in Information and Communication
Engineering in IOE, Tribhuwan University, Nepal.
He is associated with Nepal Telecom as a Tele-
com Engineer from 2008. His research interests
include NGN, IMS, LTE, Multimedia Communication related to cur-
rent IP based technologies. He received scholarship for his Master
Thesis from EU and currently he is working as a Research Associate
in National Technical University of Athens, Greece as a part of his
master thesis.
Minesh Ade is currently perusing Post Doc-
torate from National Technical University of
Athens, Greece. He has received Ph.D., Mas-
ters and Bachelor degrees from SRTM Univer-
sity, India in Computers. He has been an Asso-
ciate Professor and Head of Research and
Development with Sinhgad Technical Educa-
tion Society’s SIBACA, Lonavala, Pune Univer-
sity, India. He has published around 14 journals and conference
papers at international and national level. He has also worked in
Mumbai University from year 2002 to 2008. His general research
interests lie in internet security, Green IT, wireless and telecommuni-
cation, design, and analysis of communication networks, multimedia
communication. PBL, e-Agriculture. His current research directions
include robust network routing, peer-to-peer IPTV systems, overlay
networks, and network measurement. He is guiding around 30 post-
graduate projects every year since 2005 in Mumbai University and
Pune University. He is a member of IEEE, GISFY and CSI.
M. Ghazanfar Ullah is graduated from the NED
University of Engineering & Technology in Com-
puter Systems Engineering in 1996. Immediately
after the graduation he joined a software house as
a software developer where he served for 2 years
before joining the academia. He is associated with
Usman Institute of Technology – Pakistan as an
associate professor. Currently he is on scholarship
to do his research work in the field of image and video processing at
National Technical University of Athens – Greece.