Validating physical access layer of WiMAX using SystemVerilog

WiMax employs orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) as one of its physical access layer schemes. OFDMA is a derivative of frequency division multiplexing (FDM). In OFDMA, data is first divided up into parallel chunks. The parallel data is then transmitted on several frequencies simultaneously, with the added twist that the signal is also spread out over time domain. For those designing WiMax solutions, the verification of the latest wireless communication standard can be daunting. In this paper, we look at some of the challenges of physical access layer validation and discuss how SystemVerilog testbench constructs can be used to create random yet valid frames for WiMAX OFDMA to validate the physical access layer protocols.