WiMAX fractional frequency reuse for rural environments

WiMAX paves the way for wireless DSL to play a significant role in the broadband wireless access market, especially for rural areas with low population density. Conventional cellular planning methods can be used for point-to-multi-point network design. As an alternative, the Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR) planning strategy has been recently proposed for cellular systems based on the OFDMA/OFDM radio interface (e.g., WiMAX). In this article we analyze the FFR scheme in rural areas evaluating the increase of the overall system capacity. FFR performances are reported in terms of the average number of bits that can be transmitted per symbol in the area. Finally, comparisons with classical frequency reuse planning are analyzed taking into consideration rural environment characteristics. We show that the FFR scheme can provide extra capacity, slightly penalizing the users at the cell edge. © 2008 IEEE.