Wireless Technologies for the Last-mile

WiFi
WiFi was originally designed as an alternative to Ethernet to wireless LAN functionality. The IEEE802.11 standard, on which WiFi technology is based, has undergone many iterations over the years and newer versions are capable of supporting high-speed wireless access. All versions of WiFi operate in unlicensed spectrum bands. The following table captures the capabilities of various versions of WiFi. 802.11 Version Frequency Band (GHz) a b g n ac
Source: Wikipedia Note: IEEE802.11ac standard is still in draft stage, so some details are yet to be finalised.

Peak data Rate (Mbps) 54 11 54 150 160

Indoor Range (m) 35 38 38 70 TBC

Outdoor Range (m) 120 140 140 250 TBC

5 2.4 2.4 2.4, 5 5

3G
The term 3G is used to refer to a number of wireless technologies. The UMTS system was standardized by 3GPP in the late 90s and comes in several flavours such as WCDMA, HSPA and TDSCDMA (used in China only). The CDMA2000 system was standardized by 3GPP2 and later evolved to the EV-DO technology. As per ITU, EDGE and WiMAX (version 1.0) are also 3G technologies. All of these have been designed for cellular systems, with coverage ranging from a few hundred metres to several kilometres. All these technologies can operate on multiple frequency bands. A comparison of these technologies is provided in the table below. Technology EDGE Evolved-EDGE UMTS HSPA HSPA+ EV-DO Rev. A EV-DO Rev. B WiMAX 1.0
Source: Rohde & Schwarz The figures provided in the table above are for the specific channel bandwidth mentioned. HSPA, EV-DO and WiMAX can use other channel bandwidths also, for which the corresponding data rates will be different.

Channel Bandwidth 200 kHz 200 kHz 5 MHz 5 MHz 5 MHz 1.25 MHz 5 MHz 20 MHz

Peak UL Datarate(Mbps) 0.474 0.947 0.384 5.76 11.5 1.28 4.9 56

Peak DL data-date (Mbps) 0.474 1.89 0.384 14.4 42 3.1 14.7 128

4G
LTE/LTE-Advanced and WiMAX 2.0 are considered as 4G wireless access technologies. While LTE standard has been developed by 3GPP, WiMAX is based on the IEEE802.16m standard. Both these are capable of supporting very high data rates and user mobility up to 500 km/h. These technologies can provide coverage up to 100 km. These can operate over a large number of spectrum bands. At the same time, the channel bandwidth is also scalable (from 1.4 MHz to 100 MHz). Both technologies support TDD and FDD modes of operation. The data rates of these technologies are provided in the table below. Technology LTE LTE-Advanced WiMAX 2.0
Source: Rohde & Schwarz The figures provided in the table above are for the specific channel bandwidth mentioned. LTE and WiMAX can use other channel bandwidths also, for which the corresponding data rates will be different. All these technologies (WiFi, 3G and 4G) are being used globally for providing last-mile access. The particular technology to be used depends on the deployment scenario, usage model, availability of spectrum etc.

Channel bandwidth (MHz) 20 100 20

UL Data Rate (Mbps) 75 500 135

DL Data Rate (Mbps) 300 1000 300