VoIP capacity estimation in mobile WiMAX networks

The IEEE 802.16 standard which has emerged as a broadband wireless access technology, promises to deliver high data rates over large areas to a large number of users in the near future. We present a simple analytical method for VoIP capacity estimation in IEEE 802.16e mobile WiMAX networks. Various overheads that impact the capacity are explained and methods to reduce these overheads are also presented. The analysis process helps explain various features of mobile WiMAX. It is shown that proper use of overhead reducing mechanisms and proper scheduling can make an order of magnitude difference in performance. The paper gives the maximum number of voice sessions using multiple VoIP codecs. Via simulation using ns2, the results of the analytical calculations will be validated using simple scheduler.