Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) Architectures for Broadband Access: Integration of EPON and WiMAX

Many of the features of EPON and WiMAX are complementary. In this paper authors proposed four basic architectures for the integration of EPON and WiMAX, which employs an EPON as a backhaul to interconnect multiple WiMAX base stations. The integration takes advantage of the high capacity of fiber communication as well as the mobile and Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) features of wireless communication. In this paper, authors recap these basic architectures and relevant operational issues. Authors further propose more integrated architectures that are extended from the four basic architectures. In addition, more design and operational issues relevant to the architectures are discussed.