MacroMAX is a family of single mode (IEEE 802.16-2004 or 802.16e-2005) highly integrated macro-cell base stations with all-in-one packaging of RF and base-band components. MacroMAX includes integrated dual RF transceivers to support two channel diversity and MIMO.

 

MacroMAX family comprises of two products:

 

• MacroMAXe - an all outdoor solution for Mobile WiMAX applications to minimise physical footprint and operator OPEX
• MacroMAXd - an all indoor solution for Fixed WiMAX applications.

 

 

MacroMAXe

 

• Fully integrated macro-cell Base Station with 2x2 MIMO
• Compact and light-weight form factor for optimum OPEX performance
• Support for 2x10MHz or 1x20MHz channels
• Advanced RF features for optimized coverage and throughput

 

MacroMAXe is a class-leading 2nd generation Mobile WiMAX base station which employs the software defined radio (SDR) technology first developed for HiperMAX, together with dual radio transceivers, antennas and GPS receiver all in a highly integrated, physically small and light, all outdoor package.

 

MacroMAXe has been designed and optimized for the 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz Mobile WiMAX bands and will be Wave 2 certified in these bands. The product has been designed to address the markets needs thru to 2011 and beyond by supporting the current and future air interfaces thanks to its SDR technology.

 

MacroMAXe is a remarkable base station product bringing together state-of-the-art technologies in a compact all outdoor package. Thanks to its small footprint MacroMAXe minimises site OPEX expenditure. MacroMAXe is small in size but big in performance. Thanks to the efficient power amplifier technology employed in its RF implementation, MacroMAXe implements dual 40dBm (10W) radios for 2x2MIMO delivering up to 60dBm EiRP with the integrated antennas.

 

MacroMAXe initially supports 5MHz and 10MHz channel sizes. However, the product is capable of supporting 20MHz channels (Mobile WiMAX profile Rel. 1.5) as well. MacroMAXe has been designed to support either 2x10MHz (using dual PHY/MAC) or 1x20MHz channel.

 

MacroMAXe has been conceived for deployment in 3-sector configuration, which is the optimum configuration for Mobile WiMAX deployments. MacroMAXe design also incorporates an Ethernet switch which enables the traffic from 3 sectors to beaggregated for backhaul and network interfacing. MacroMAXe fully supports the interoperable R6 reference point for interworking with ASN Gateways either in a distributed or centralized network configuration.

 

In licensed band deployments available spectrum is a scarce and valuable resource. Therefore it must be used efficiently. In order to achieve frequency reuse factor of one (N=1) the best balance between spectral efficiency and interference mitigation must be achieved. This is realized through Fractional Frequency Reuse for which MacroMAXe has been optimized. Fractional Frequency Reuse controls co-channel interference to support frequency reuse of one with minimal degradation in spectral efficiency. MacroMAXe can also be deployed using traditional frequency reuse plans.

 

MacroMAXd

 

MacroMAXd is a WiMAX Forum™ certified base station product; one of the first to achieve certification. MacroMAXd has been shipped to customers since 2H 2005.

 

MacroMAXd has been designed to deliver the best link budget with the highest capacity and net throughput; all essential qualities for macro-cell deployments used in typical wireless rollouts. It is available in the 3.4- 3.6GHz band in the 3.5F1 profile.

 

Each MacroMAXd sector comprises of a 4U high rack mountable shelf, which contains the baseband processor and the RF unit. The baseband is a single card that is directly connected to the RF, PA and LNA, which in turn is connected to appropriate mast installed antennas via external feeders.

 

Two separate antennas enable the link budget to be further increased through the use of multi-channel transmit diversity and receive diversity. A compact rack supports up to three sectors with diversity a full rack supports up to 4 sectors.

 

Both MacroMAXe and MacroMAXd base stations are managed by Netspan, Airspan’s SNMP based element management platform.