Wireless IPTVoverWiMAX:Challenges andApplications

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) isgaining recog- nition asa viable alternative forthedelivery ofvideoby telecommunications andcablecompanies. Itfeatures bandwidth efficiencies, andmanagement; therefore, itisideally suited for broadcast, multicast, unicast interactive andmultimedia services (IMS-IPmultimedia). Corenetworks arepacket-based, however, access networks arenotalways packet-based. Furthermore, they arewiredaseither fiber-coax orfiber-twisted pairtopologies. Design, construction, andmaintenance costs ofsuchtopologies areexorbitant, makingtheIPTVdeployment economically un- viable, especially inunderdeveloped countries andruralareas. WorldwideInteroperability forMicrowave Access(WiMAX) offers awireless solution intheaccess networks thatcansupport IPTV services. WiMAX iscapable ofveryhighdatarates, longer reach, andoperates innon-line ofsight (NLOS)modesin licensed andlicense exemptfrequencies. Bandwidth isscalable andmanaged. Contents areencrypted forsecured transmission andmobility issupported atvehicular speeds. Installation and maintenance costsofWiMAX systemsareata fraction of thecostsofwiredaccess networks. Taking advantage ofthese features, IPTVservices canbedesigned, delivered, andmanaged costeffectively without compromising thevideo andaudio quality. Inthispaper, we present IPTVoverWiMAX implementation insuchscenarios. We identify challenges anddiscuss waysto overcome them,especially those inmediumaccess control (MAC), Physical Layer(PHY)andradiosub-systems. Despite ofthese challenges, itisobserved thatIPTVoverWiMAX isveryfeasible.