The WiMAX Forum is conducting its 3^rd WiMAX plugfest in Sophia Antipolis, France, this time testing the smart antenna technologies that will make up the second phase of the Forum’s certification rounds.

Running one week, from last Sunday to this Saturday, 33 base station, chipset and CPE vendors are testing interoperability between their equipment. The plugfest results in certification unto itself, but it allows vendors to see if their equipment works with others under the guidelines set out by the Forum and the 802.16e standard laid out by the IEEE. Once the plugfest is concluded, the Forum is expected to announce a date for Phase 2 certification this summer or fall, after which the first certified Mobile WiMAX gear can be commercially released on the market.

The plugfest will test equipment using multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) and beamforming technologies. MIMO uses dual transmit and receive paths to create a higher-capacity and more durable link between CPE and base station, while beamforming steers a signal from the base station to the receiver, also creating a stronger higher-capacity link. Both technologies are targeted at taking Mobile WiMAX to the next level, supplying broadband capacities that exceed 3G networks while still allowing for full mobility. MIMO, however, has received the most attention in the last year, particularly after Sprint placed its stamp of approval on the technology last summer.

The plugfest consists of the usual suspects—almost all of the major WiMAX vendors are participating. There are a few notable exceptions though. Neither WiMAX trailblazer Alvarion nor Nokia-Siemens Networks, which won part of Sprint’s massive deployment contract, were included on the Forum’s list. It was still developing its MIMO solution late last year, and may not have a smart antenna technology ready in time. However, Alvarion has focused primarily on fixed broadband and wireline replacement deployments—which it has been quite successful at—not mobile deployments where MIMO sees most of its benefit. Nokia-Siemens launched its solution fairly late, announcing commercial availability of its Flexi base station last fall at WiMAX World, just before Sprint revealed it as the third vendor alongside Motorola and Samsung. As part of its deal with Sprint though, Nokia is required to deploy MIMO-based networks in Texas as part of its trial launch.

The companies participating in the plugfest are Airspan Networks, Alcatel–Lucent, ApaceWave Technologies, Aperto Networks, Beceem, Fujitsu, GCT Semiconductor, Intel, Motorola, Navini Networks, NEC, Nortel Networks, PicoChip, Posdata, Redline Communications, Runcom Technologies Ltd., Samsung, Sanyo, Sequans Communications, SOMA Networks, Telsima, Wavesat Wireless Inc., XRONet and ZTE Corporation. Also, nine test equipment vendors supported the event: Aeroflex, Agilent, Anite Telecoms Ltd., AT4 wireless, Anritsu Limited, Azimuth Systems, Elektrobit, Rohde & Schwarz and Sanjole.