This course compares the WiMAX and LTE fourth-generation (4G) technologies and their performance. An overview of the IEEE 802.16 standards (802.16d/e/j/m/n/p) and WiMAX Forum (Fixed WiMAX vs. Mobile WiMAX, Interoperability certification and Core network) is presented along with the 3GPP standards for LTE and LTE-Advanced as well as LTE network architecture. For WiMAX, the MAC, call flow, 2D resource map, QoS, and scheduling are presented. For LTE, both control plane and data plane protocols for Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) are presented. The topics include protocol architecture, bearer management, signaling, radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), and MAC. In addition, the role of universal subscriber identity module (USIM), eNodeB, mobility management entity (MME), serving gateway (S-GW), packet data network gateway (P-GW), and home subscription server (HSS) as well as the call flow across these various nodes will be presented. The 2D resource grid along with QoS and scheduling will be explained in detail. The voice over LTE (VoLTE), self-organizing network (SON), LTE-direct, and LTE-Advanced [including coordinated multipoint (CoMP), carrier aggregation, and Intercell interference coordination (ICIC)] will be presented. Finally, spectrum considerations as well as the concept of white space and dynamic spectrum access (DSA) will be discussed. LTE security will be discussed in detail. The course will also highlight some of the Open Source LTE projects, and will discuss the experimental results from various testbeds.
Course Prerequisite(s)
EN.605.202 Data Structures; EN.605.671 Principles of Data Communications Networks or EN.635.611 Principles of Network Engineering and another course in the Data Communications and Networking track.