DeviceGuru

WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX are poised to ramp up rapidly over the next five years. Nearly two billion dollars in annual chipset revenues are expected by 2012 — roughly 75 percent from base-station chipsets, and 25 percent from client device chipsets — according to a market study just published by In-Stat.

Specifically, WiMAX user terminal chipset revenues will reach nearly $500 million by 2012, up from $27 million in 2007, while WiMAX base-station semiconductor revenues swell from $130 million to around $1.4 billion, In-Stat reports.

The market’s growth over the five-year period will be driven primarily by embedded Mobile WiMAX in mobile PCs, the market analyst firm adds. Additionally, WiMAX customer premise equipment (CPE), external clients, and dual-mode cellular/WiMAX handsets, are expected to contribute significant to the WiMAX chipset market’s growth.

Other findings from In-Stat include:

• A multitude of chipset companies completely focused on the Mobile WiMAX market are expected to commercially release products in 2008, including Altair, Amicus, ApaceWave, Comsys, NextWave, Redpine Signals and XROnet.
• WiMAX Radio Frequency IC (RFIC) chip vendors–Maxim, PMC-Sierra, NXP, and Analog Devices–experienced solid wins over the course of 2007. Other WiMAX radio chip vendors include Sierra Monolithics, Atmel, and AsicAhead.
• The WiMAX base station semiconductor market is dominated by picoChip, TI, Freescale, Sequans, and Runcom.
• Intel’s combination Mobile WiMAX and Wi-Fi Echo Peak module, which will launch as an option to the company’s Montevina mobile processor platform release in 2008, is expected to drive the adoption of embedded WiMAX into mobile PCs.

What’s WiMAX?

According to the WiMAX Forum…

“WiMAX is based upon the IEEE 801.16 standard enabling the delivery of wireless broadband services anytime, anywhere. WiMAX products can accommodate fixed and mobile usage models. The IEEE 802.16 standard was developed to deliver non-line-of-sight (LoS) connectivity between a subscriber station and base station with typical cell radius of three to ten kilometers. All base stations and subscriber stations claiming to be WiMAX compliant must go through a rigorous WiMAX Forum Certified testing process. WiMAX Forum Certified systems can be expected to deliver capacity of up to 40 Mbps per channel. This is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support hundreds of businesses with T-1 speed connectivity and thousands of residences with DSL speed connectivity. The WiMAX Forum expects mobile network deployments to provide up to 15 Mbps of capacity within a typical cell radius of up to three kilometers. WiMAX technology already has been incorporated in notebook computers and PDAs to deliver high speed mobile Internet services anytime, anywhere.”

The WiMAX Forum notes that WiMAX is also called “Mobile WiMAX,” since the same infrastructure can serve both fixed and mobile applications. Mobile WiMAX is based on the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard, and offers “fixed, nomadic, portable, and mobile capabilities,” the Forum adds.

WiMAX/WiFi synergy

Intel and Motorola have authored an informative whitepaper (PDF download) that compares WiMAX and WiFi, and suggests how they can complement each other, as illustrated in the diagram below.

Using handheld devices in mobile, portable, and public hotspot environments
(Click to enlarge; source: Intel/Motorola whitepaper)

Intel, in particular plans to introduce an integrated WiFi/WiMAX module as an option with “Montevina,” its next-generation “Centrino” silicon platform for laptops. Additionally, the company says it will introduce Mobile WiMAX silicon targeting mobile Internet and consumer electronic devices early this year.

Market report availability

In-Stat’s report, “WiMAX Chipset Market 2006-2012: Faith in Mobile WiMAX Drives Expected Volume Growth” (#IN0703847WT), is available for approximately $3,500. The report covers the worldwide market for WiMAX chipsets including the competitive landscape. It forecasts user terminal chipsets by product category, and base station semiconductor revenue through 2012. For further details, visit In-Stat’s website.