IEEE 802.16

IEEE 802.16 is a series of wireless broadband standards written by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It intends to offer the fundamental lower network layers of a type of WPAN which focuses on low-cost, low-speed ubiquitous communication between devices.

The IEEE Standards Board established a working group in 1999 to develop standards for broadband for wireless metropolitan area networks. The Workgroup is a unit of the IEEE 802 local area network and metropolitan area network standards committee. Although the 802.16 family of standards is officially called WirelessMAN in IEEE, it has been commercialized under the name WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) by the WiMAX Forum industry alliance. The Forum promotes and certifies compatibility and interoperability of products based on the IEEE 802.16 standards.