But IT is a broad and complex field and there is always a breadth and depth of knowledge that will be left to experts.  However, this course allowed me to have more comfort with the terminology and application of some of the concepts that initially seemed much more foreign.  I also look forward to incorporating some of my group’s suggestions into my blog.

Hint – if you still are not sure where this word comes from, go to youtube and search for bomchikawawa and axe.

Check out this post to find out my favorite way to find out information!

I also like to read or watch videos that have a context/story behind them beyond the factual information.

This past week, I experienced an example of viral networking that led me to a blog that has a good purpose and which would have been much harder to implement a number of years ago.

Oberlin College Professor Jed Deppman was diagnosed with colon cancer in August 2008.  His family set up a blog to keep the community and those who care about him informed about what’s going on and give them the ability to leave comments or notes.  You can check out the blog HERE.

I learned about the blog through facebook.  My friend Azadeh Pourzand wrote a note on facebook, entitled, “To those of us Obies who love Jed Deppman.”  She tagged a number of friends who would be notified of the note.  The note showed up in my newsfeed – I read her note and she linked to the blog.

I think this is an example of, even with the scares of Epic 2015, the wonderful ways that internet can serve as a conduit to communication and bringing people together.

What’s in a name?

WIMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. However, it has nothing to do with how you heat your food.

You may also have heard of WiMax being referred to as IEEE 802.16, which refers to the Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers’ working group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards.

You may also hear of WiMax referred to by its official name, WirelessMAN, for Wirless Metropolitan Area Networks. (You’ve heard of a LAN line? This is a MAN line).

Why WiMax?

• High Speed internet access (currently offered through broadband access)
• Wireless access (making it less expensive to extend to suburban and rural areas)
• Broad coverage (like you get with your cell phone instead of with small WiFi hotspots)

What’s it look like?

This is a WiMax transmitting tower. Photo courtesy of Intel.

WiFi HotSpots are literally spots. But WiMax-

• Can provide non-line-of-site wireless coverage in a 25 square miles range.
• Can provide coverage via line-of-sight antennas to a 2800 square mile range.

The increased range is due to the frequencies used and the power of the transmitter.

IEEE 802.16 Specifications

• Range – 30-mile (50-km) radius from base station
• Speed – 70 megabits per second
• Line-of-sight not needed between user and base station
• Frequency bands – 2 to 11 GHz and 10 to 66 GHz (licensed and unlicensed bands)
• Defines both the MAC and PHY layers and allows multiple PHY-layer specification

Great! What should we do?

1. Figure out who is going to pay for it

2. Make sure it’s not going to give us cancer.

3. Tell all your friends.

4. Elect a president who knows how to use the internet.

What’s next?

Now that we’ve seen PAN (the Personal Area Network – like Bluetooth), LAN (Local Area Network), CAN (Campus Area Network), and now we have the emerging MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), what’s next?

Picture your internet working like today’s cell phone networks – travel across the country and have access to the network the entire time.

The answer is GAN! The Global Area Network. IEEE 802.20