IEEE Announces Development of IMT-Advanced Candidate

Proposal Based on IEEE 802.16m Project
PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(Business Wire)--
In a statement to the Radiocommunication Sector of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU-R), IEEE has announced its intention to submit a
candidate radio interface technology meeting the enhanced technical requirements
of the ITU-R IMT-Advanced project. The proposal is based on IEEE Project
802.16m, the "Advanced Air Interface" specification under development by the
IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access.

The IEEE 802.16m project, authorized in December 2006, has been progressing
through a series of milestone documents. The 802.16m System Description
Document, a "Stage 2" description of the high level design, is nearly complete.
It provides the basis for the detailed content of the draft IEEE 802.16m
standard, development of which began in late 2008.

The IEEE 802.16m project represents the next advance in the development of IEEE
Standard 802.16. The standard, which has specified the air interface of
broadband wireless access systems since 2001, introduced full mobility with the
IEEE 802.16e amendment approved in 2005. The 802.16m amendment will provide for
backward compatibility with legacy 802.16e infrastructure and terminal
equipment.

IEEE Standard 802.16 is already incorporated in a number of ITU recommendations.
In particular, the version of the standard popularly known as Mobile WiMAX and
supported by the WiMAX Forum was incorporated into the ITU-R IMT-2000
recommendation in 2007. Systems based on the standard have been deployed
worldwide.

The interest generated in IEEE Project 802.16m is testament to the keen industry
awareness of the ITU-R IMT-Advanced program. The IMT-Advanced activity is
further testament to IEEE`s close cooperation with ITU-R and its commitment to
contribute to its success in enabling worldwide adoption of advanced mobile
broadband technologies.

About the IEEE 802.16 Working Group

The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access has completed over a
dozen standards projects since 2001 toward the development and evolution of the
IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN Standard for Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks. The
Working Group currently has approximately 500 individual members from 18
countries and a portfolio of four active projects. It meets six times a year,
around the globe. For details, see http://wirelessman.org.

About the IEEE Standards Association

The IEEE Standards Association, a globally recognized standards-setting body,
develops consensus standards through an open process that engages industry and
brings together a broad stakeholder community. IEEE standards set specifications
and best practices based on current scientific and technological knowledge. The
IEEE-SA has a portfolio of over 900 active standards and more than 400 standards
under development. For information on the IEEE-SA, see:
http://standards.ieee.org.

About the IEEE

The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) is the
world`s largest technical professional society. Through its more than 375,000
members in 160 countries, the organization is a leading authority on a wide
variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and
telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer
electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology, the IEEE publishes 30
percent of the world`s literature in the electrical and electronics engineering
and computer science fields, and has developed over 900 active industry
standards. The organization annually sponsors more than 850 conferences
worldwide. Additional information about the IEEE can be found at
http://www.ieee.org.

IEEE-SA
Karen McCabe, +1 732-562-3824
Marketing Director
k.mccabe@ieee.org

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