WIMAX ARCHITUCTURE

Architecture
The WiMAX Forum WiMAX Architecture

The WiMAX Forum has defined an architecture that defines how a WiMAX network connects with other networks, and a variety of other aspects of operating such a network, including address allocation, authentication, etc. An overview of the architecture is given in the illustration. This defines the following components:

* SS/MS: the Subscriber Station/Mobile Station
* ASN: the Access Service Network [8]
* BS: Base station, belongs to ASN
* ASN-GW: belongs to ASN
* CSN: the Connectivity Service Network
* HA: Home Agent, belongs to CSN
* AAA: AAA Server, belongs to CSN
* NAP: a Network Access Provider
* NSP: a Network Service Provider

plus a number of interconnections (or reference points) between these, labeled R1 to R5 and R8.

It's important to note that the functional architecture can be designed into various hardware configurations rather than fixed configurations. For example, the architecture is flexible to allow various scale and functionality of remote/mobile stations and collaborative aggregations of femto, pico, and mini RS/MS.