ENSC 833: NETWORK PROTOCOLS AND PERFORMANCE

Team Members: Avneet Kaur & Charanjot Singh

Project:  Simulation and Performance analysis of WiMAX and Wi-Fi while streaming Audio and Video content.

Abstract:

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperatability for Microwave Access) is an IEEE 802.16 standard wireless technology used to provide very high data rate over large areas to a large number of users where broadband is unavailable. Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is based on the IEEE 802.11 standard used for data transmission in small areas. WiMAX and Wi-Fi are quite similar to each other on infrastructure level but speed and distance are main differentiating factors. WiMAX provides a faster and longer distance network to users than Wi-Fi. The speed of WiMAX may reach up to 70 Mbps compared to Wi-Fi that can only achieve 50 Mbps. As the radio technology develops, the speed of Wi-Fi continues to increase. The fastest speed of Wi-Fi is when using IEEE 802.11n standard, because it has doubled spectrum and bandwidth. The speed may be up to 300 Mbps. However, setup for WiMAX is more expensive than for Wi-Fi, because WiMAX needs outdoor facilities such as base stations for its implementation. The main difference between these two systems is their range. There is no doubt that WiMAX coverage is larger than Wi-Fi. WiMAX may cover up to 50 kilometers while Wi-Fi only covers 30 to 100 meters.

In order to compare the two technologies fairly, the same conditions should be applied. In this project an attempt has been made to compare the WiMAX and Wi-Fi capabilities over the same distance, which eliminates their differences and analyze their features which cause them to have different applications draws our interest. We plan to analyze the quality of service such as throughput, jitter and delay of the two networks by having the same conditions. The comparison will be implemented by streaming a high resolution video and audio content using video conferencing application.

References:

  1. Will Hrudey's M.Eng. Project: ''Streaming video and audio content over mobile WiMAX networks'' and presentation slides, May 2009. Available online: Streaming video and audio content over mobile WiMAX networks

  2. W. Hrudey and Lj. Trajkovic, "Mobile WiMAX MAC and PHY Layer Optimization for IPTV," Special issue on Recent Advances in Simulation and Mathematical Modeling of Wireless Networks, Mathematical and Computer Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 53, March 2011, pp. 2119-2135. Available online: Mobile WiMAX MAC and PHY Layer Optimization for IPTV

  3. R. Paul, S. Lally, and L. Trajkovic, "Simulation and performance evaluation of Wi-Fi and WiMAX using OPNET," OPNETWORK 2011, Washington, DC, Aug. 2011. Available online: Simulation and performance evaluation of Wi-Fi and WiMAX using OPNET

  4. R. Gill, T. Farah, and Lj. Trajkovic, "Comparison of WiMAX and ADSL performance when streaming audio and video content," OPNETWORK 2011, Washington, DC, Aug. 2011. Available Online: Comparison of WiMAX and ADSL performance when streaming audio and video content

  5. J. Chen, D. Luo and B. Sun’s ENSC 427 Final project report: “The comparison of Capability between Wi-Fi and WiMAX”, Spring 2014. Available online: The comparison of Capability between Wi-Fi and WiMAX

  6. T. Lan, Y. Wang, and J. Zuo’s ENSC 427 Final project report: “Evaluation and Comparison of WiMAX (802.16a) and Wi-Fi (802.11a)”, Spring 2014. Available online: Evaluation and Comparison of WiMAX (802.16a) and Wi-Fi (802.11a)

  7. Microsoft TechNet, March 28 2003, “What is QoS” [Online] Available: What is QoS

  8. Wikipedia, March 9, 2014, “Multipath propagation” [Online] Available: Multipath propagation