Overview of IEEE 802.

11 WLAN

A wireless LAN (WLAN) [1] is a data transmission system designed to provide location-
independent network access between computing devices by using radio waves rather than a cable
infrastructure. In the corporate enterprise, wireless LANs are usually implemented as the final
link between the existing wired network and a group of client computers, giving these users
wireless access to the full resources and services of the corporate network across a building or
campus setting.

WLANs are on the verge of becoming a mainstream connectivity solution for a broad range of
business customers. The wireless market is expanding rapidly as businesses discover the
productivity benefits of going wire-free. wireless LANs have been primarily implemented in
vertical applications such as manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and retail stores. The majority
of future wireless LAN growth is expected in healthcare facilities, educational institutions, and
corporate enterprise office spaces. In the corporation, conference rooms, public areas, and branch
offices are likely venues for WLANs.

The widespread acceptance of WLANs depends on industry standardization to ensure product

compatibility and reliability among the various manufacturers. The Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ratified the original 802.11 specification in 1997 as the standard
for wireless LANs. That version of 802.11 provides for 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps data rates and a set
of fundamental signaling methods and other services.

The most critical issue affecting WLAN demand has been limited throughput. The data rates
supported by the original 802.11 standard are too slow to support most general business
requirements and have slowed adoption of WLANs. Recognizing the critical need to support
higher data-transmission rates, the IEEE recently ratified the 802.11b standard(also known as
802.11 High Rate) for transmissions of up to 11 Mbps. Global regulatory bodies and vendor
alliances have endorsed this new high-rate standard, which promises to open new markets for
WLANs in large enterprise, small office, and home environments. With 802.11b, WLANs will
be able to achieve wireless performance and throughput comparable to wired Ethernet.

Outside of the standards bodies, wireless industry leaders have united to form the Wireless
Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA).WECA’s mission is to certify cross-vendor
interoperability and compatibility of IEEE802.11b wireless networking products and to promote
that standard for the enterprise, the small business, and the home.
Overview, 802.11 Architecture
2.2 communication modes

2.2.1 Distributed Coordination Function (DCF)

DCF is the basic medium access mechanism for both add hoc and infrastructure mode. DCF is a
distributed medium access scheme based on carrier sense multiple accesses with collision
avoidance CSMA/CA protocol. It provides asynchronous transmission in WLAN and its
implementation is mandatory in all 802.11. In DCF a STA must sense the medium before
initiating a packet transmission. i.e in this mode each station (STA) checks whether the medium
is idle before attempting to transmit. The two-carrier sensing mechanisms possible here are:
physical (PHY) carrier sensing at the air interface and virtual carrier sensing at the PHY MAC
layer. The PHY carrier sensing helps to detect the presence of other STA’s by analyzing all
detected packets and channel activities via relative signal strength from other STA. Virtual
carrier sensing can be used by a STA to inform all other STA’s in the same BSS how long the
channel will be reserved for its frame transmission. To get this the sender can set a duration field
in the MAC header of data frame. If the medium has been sensed idle for DIFS (Distributed Inter
frame Space) period the source station can transmit the packet immediately. In the same time the
other station differ their transmission by adjusting their NAVs and then start the backoff process.
Decrement the backoff interval counter while the medium is idle. The STA’s now computes a
random time interval called backoff time selected from the Contention Window (CW).Its value
is; Backof fTime *Random()=aSlotTime Where Random() - is a pseudorandom integer drawn
from auniform distribution over the interval [0,CW].The range ofCW is; min max
aCW<=CW<=CWaSlotTime- is the value of the correspondingly named PHY characteristic. In
fig.1 it is clear that every time when the transmission fails the CW size increases. This is because
the STA wants to avoidcollision with frames transmitted by others and if it uses increased CW
size the collision probability will decrease. The receiving station sends an Acknowledgement
(ACK) packet after a specified time called the Short Inter Frame Space (SIFS) [7] and the CW is
reset to a fixed minimum value min CW. The ACK transmitted after SIFS is smaller than DIFS.

If the sender does not receive the ACK, the MAC layer retransmits the frame until it receives the
ACK or discards the frame after the number of retransmissions reaches its limit. Other STAs
reuse the backoff process after the DIFS idle time. Once the backoff interval has expires the STA
begins the transmission. If the transmission is not successful, a collision is considered to have
occurred. In this case the CW is doubled and new backoff procedures start again with the latest
backoff counter value. The updated new CW value is CW = 2(CW +1) −1 , with an upper limitof
max CW . This reduces the collision probability in case of many STA’s attempting to access the
channel.
2.2.2Point Coordination Function (PCF)

PCF uses a centralized polling method, which requires the AP as a point coordinator (PC). PCF
supports time bound service in IEEE 802.11 standard to let STA’s have contention free access to
the wireless medium, coordinated by the PC.The PCF provides synchronous service that
basically implements polling based access. It has a higher priority than the DCF, because the
period during which the PCF is used protected form the DCF contention via, the Network
Allocation Vector (NAV) set. If a BSS is set up with PCF enabled the channel access time is
divided into periodic intervals named as beacon intervals. A beacon frame is approximately
50bytes long, with about half of that being a common frame header and cyclic redundancy check
(CRC) field. As with other frames the header includes source and destination MAC addresses as
well as other information’s regarding the communication process. The destination address is
always set to all ones, which is the broadcast medium access control address. This forces all
other stations on the applicable channel to receive and process each beacon frame. The beacon
interval is composed of a contention free period (CFP) and a contention period (CP). During the
CFP the PC maintains a list of registered STA’s and polls each STA according to its list. The
polled station will get the permission for data transformation. Since every STA is permitted to a
maximum length of frame to transmit the maximum CFP duration for all the STAs can be known
and decided by the PC, which is called CFP_max_duration. The time used by the PC to generate
beacon frames is called target beacon transmission time (TBTT). In the beacon the PC denotes
the next TBTT and broadcast it to all the other STAs in the BSS. To avoid the interrupting of
PCF frame the DCF STAs, a PC waits for a PCF Inter frame Space (PIFS), which is shorter than
DIFS to start the PCF. Then all other stations set their NAVs to the values of
CFP_max_duration time or the remaining duration of CFP in case of delayed beacon. During the
CP the DCF scheme is used and the beacon interval must allow at least on DCF data frame to be
transmitted.
2.3 Overview of MAC
The 802.11 standard specifies a common medium access control (MAC) Layer, which provides a
variety of functions that support the operation of 802.11-based wireless LANs. In general, the
MAC Layer manages and maintains communications between 802.11 stations (radio network
cards and access points) by coordinating access to a shared radio channel and utilizing protocols
that enhance communications over a wireless medium. Often it is viewed as the "brains" of the
network, the 802.11. MAC Layer uses an 802.11 Physical (PHY) Layer, such as 802.11b or
802.11a, to perform the tasks of carrier sensing, transmission, and receiving of 802.11 frames.

Medium access basics

The station must first gain access to the medium before transmitting frames, which is a radio
channel that stations share. The 802.11 standard defines two forms of medium access, distributed
coordination function (DCF) and point coordination function (PCF). DCF is mandatory and
based on the CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance) protocol. With
DCF, 802.11 stations contend for access and attempt to send frames when there is no other
station transmitting. If another station is sending a frame, stations are polite and wait until the
channel is free.

As a condition to accessing the medium, the MAC Layer checks the value of its network
allocation vector (NAV), which is a counter resident at each station that represents the amount of
time that the previous frame needs to send its frame. The NAV must be zero before a station can
attempt to send a frame. Prior to transmitting a frame, a station calculates the amount of time
necessary to send the frame based on the frame's length and data rate. The station places a value
representing this time in the duration field in the header of the frame. When stations receive the
frame, they examine this duration field value and use it as the basis for setting their
corresponding NAVs. This process reserves the medium for the sending station.

An important aspect of the DCF is a random back off timer that a station uses if it detects a busy
medium. If the channel is in use, the station must wait a random period of time before attempting
to access the medium again. This ensures that multiple stations wanting to send data don't
transmit at the same time. The random delay causes stations to wait different periods of time and
avoids all of them sensing the medium at exactly the same time, finding the channel idle,
transmitting, and colliding with each other. The back off timer significantly reduces the number
of collisions and corresponding retransmissions, especially when the number of active users
increases.

With radio-based LANs, a transmitting station can't listen for collisions while sending data,
mainly because the station can't have it's receiver on while transmitting the frame. As a result,
the receiving station needs to send an acknowledgement (ACK) if it detects no errors in the
received frame. If the sending station doesn't receive an ACK after a specified period of time, the
sending station will assume that there was a collision (or RF interference) and retransmit the
frame.
The 802.11 standard defines the optional point coordination function (PCF) for supporting
time-bounded delivery of data frames where the access point grants access to an individual
station to the medium by polling the station during the contention free period. Stations can't
transmit frames unless the access point polls them first. The period of time for PCF-based data
traffic (if enabled) occurs alternately between contention (DCF) periods.

The access point polls stations according to a polling list, then switches to a contention period
when stations use DCF. This process enables support for both synchronous (i.e., video
application) and asynchronous (i.e., e-mail and Web browsing applications) modes of operation.

No known wireless NICs or access points on the market today, however, implement PCF.

Figure 1-802.11 MAC Architecture[ ]

2.3.1Reference model of MAC

IEEE 802.11 standard covers the MAC sub-layer and the PHY layer of the OSI network
reference model for WLANs. The MAC sub-layer defines two medium access coordination
functions, the basic DCF and the optional PCF. 802.11 can operate both in contention based DCF
mode and contention free PCF mode. Basic Service Set (BSS) where a group of station’s
(STA’s) coordinated by DCF and PCF. It is also considered as the coverage area provided by a
single access point (AP). By using radio channel the AP and the mobile station can communicate
with an acceptable minimum quality. The quality can be determined based on the Signal to Noise
Ratio (SNR) and other derived matrices such as Frame Error Ratio (FER). In an extended service
set (ESS) all or part of these coverage areas can overlap so that a mobile station can select the
AP to use; these regions are called re-association or hand off area. The area covered by BSS is
known as basic service area (BSA). The core of the IEEE 802.11 standard is the BSS. In 802.11
there are two ways to organize stations of WLAN’s: the infrastructure and ad hoc mode.

2.4Quality of Services of IEEE 802.11

A wide range of enterprise organizations have realized significant productivity increase by

deploying mobile data applications using WLAN networks. WLAN technologies are more
popular because of simplicity, flexibility and cost effectiveness. Users are now requiring
receiving high end web services such as streaming video and audio even when they are moving
in office or traveling around the campus. Among these the real time applications such as
multimedia services provided by wireless mode requires a good amount of quality of services [5]
[7] support like; guaranteed bandwidth, delay, jitter and error rate. QoS has different meanings;
from the user’s perception of the service to a set of network parameters needed to achieve a
particular service quality.
IEEE 802.11 is designed for best effort services in WLAN. It specify two MAC mechanisms: the
mandatory distributed coordination function (DCF) and optional point coordination function
(PCF). Both these mechanisms are not equipped with full-fledged built in system for supporting
real time services makes it very difficult to provide the required QoS[7]. The main requirement
of IEEE 802.11 WLAN is to guarantee the QoS requirements due to unaware functions such as
dedicated bandwidth, controlled jitter and latency. To enhance the QoS support in 802.11 the
IEEE 802.11 working group has developed a new standard known as the IEEE 802.11e which
introduces the Hybrid Coordination Functions (HCF) with two medium access mechanisms;
contention-based channel access and controlled channel access. The contention based channel
access is referred to as enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) and controlled channel
access is referred as HCF controlled channel access (HCCA). In this paper we made a
comparison of the QoS support provided by both EDCA and HCCA mechanisms ofIEEE802.11e
standard. We organized the rest of this paper as follows; section 2.0 provides the background of
IEEE 802.11 standard for WLAN, section 3.0 we explain the QoS enhancement mechanism used
in IEEE 802.11e standard, section 4.0 gives details about the EDCA and its significance in QoS
and section 5.0 explains the QoS support provided by HCCA in WLAN followed with
conclusion

IEEE 802.11e and QOS

The IEEE standard 802.11e provides QoS in two forms [11]. There are priority based effort
services and parameterized Qos.priority based effort is similar to diffserv.and the second one is
used for the benefit of application which requires QoS for different flows. These services in
IEEE802.11e are achieved by enhancing the DCF and PCF functionality, and by providing a
signaling mechanism for parameterized QoS. As the enhanced DCF and PCF (EPCF) are used in
IEEE 802.11e ,it also included the enhanced MAC protocol[1][7].Both EDCF and EPCF are
commonly referred as Hybrid Coordinated Functions (HCF) [9]. The priority based effort service
is provided by EDCF for traffic category. Through different back off instances the transmission
of different traffic category is done which are corresponded by frames. In transmission,
scheduling of frames for every traffic category has an associate of independent back off instance.
It is done in the same way as DCF. By providing different probabilities for different categories
for winning the channel contention the differentiation in the priority is achieved. The probability
can be changed by varying the values of Arbitration Inter Frame Space (AIFS), where AFIS is
the listen interval for channel contention. AIFS is analogous to DIFS period in DCF. AIFS value
determines the priority for each traffic category, with lower AIFS values, the listen interval
required for channel contention is lower and hence the probability of winning the channel
contention is higher.

Hybrid Coordinate Function (HCF)

IEEE 802.11e defines a single coordination function called hybrid coordination function (HCF)
[7] used only in QoS enhance Basic Service Set (QBSS). It provides a hybrid access method
approach to achieve a better QoS [7] performance. The HCF combines the contention based and
contention free medium access method and replaces the legacy DCF and PCF in a QoS Station
(QSTA) [1]. The HCF is composed of two channel access mechanisms:
1) A contention based channel access referred to as the enhanced distributed channel access
(EDCA) [3]; which provides distributed access method; it can be viewed as an enhancement of
DCF and can be used in both infrastructure mode and ad hoc network.
2) A controlled channel access referred to as the HCF controlled channel access (HCCA) [1],
which is controlled by the hybrid coordinator (HC). It provides centralized access method and
can be only used in infrastructure network [1]. IEEE 802.11e defines other new features to give
better QoS performance. A transmission opportunity (TXOP) [3] is a bounded time interval
reserved for a specific STA. If the frame length is shorter than the TXOP, the station is allowed
to send as many frames as it can during its TXOPs. If the frame length is larger than the TXOP,
the station must fragment
Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA)

EDCA is designed for providing prioritized QoS through enhancing the contention-based DCF in
MAC layer. By using 8 different user priorities, it provides differentiated, distributed access to
the wireless medium. Specific user priority value is assigned to each data packet before entering
the MAC layer [4]. The EDCA mechanism defines four different first-in first-out (FIFO) queues,
called access categories (ACs) that provide support for the delivery of traffic. Each data packet
from the higher layer along with a specific user priority value should be mapped into a
corresponding AC. Different kinds of applications (e.g., video traffic, background traffic, best
effort traffic and voice traffic) can be directed into different access categories. For each AC, an
enhanced variant of the DCF, called an enhanced distributed channel access function (EDCAF),
contends for TXOPs using a set of EDCA parameters from the EDCA Parameter Set element or
from the default values for the parameters when no EDCA Parameter Set element is received
with which the QSTA is associated. Each AIFS is an IF interval with arbitrary length as follows:
AIFS [AC] = SIFS + AIFSN [AC] × slot time
Where, AIFSN [AC] is called the arbitration IF number and determined by the AC and the
physical settings, and the slot time is the duration of a time slot. The timing relationship of
EDCA is shown in Fig 1. The AC with the smallest AIFS has the highest priority. The purpose of
using different contention parameters for different queues is to give a low-priority class a longer
waiting time than a high-priority class, so the high-priority class is likely to access the medium
earlier than the low-priority class. An internal collision occurs when more than one AC finishes
the back off at the same time. In such a case, a virtual collision handler allows only the highest-
priority AC to transmit frames, and the others calculate a back off with increased CW
values.TXOP-Transmission opportunity is defined in IEEE 802.11e as the interval of time when
a particular station has the right to initiate transmissions [5].

HCF CONTROLLED Channel Access (Hcca)

HCCA uses another approach to guarantee QoS [1][7]. Instead of waiting for idle time for
transmission and using a mechanism, it relies on a centralized control in the access point
(functioning as the HC- Hybrid Coordinator) that can guarantee the time and duration of the
transmission for each of the connected stations. A HC is needed, because which has the highest
channel access priority to contend the channel and allocate transmission opportunity (TXOP) to
stations. In a WLAN having HCF polling mode, a HC act as the major control STA. The AP
usually takes up the function of HC in the infrastructure mode, where as in an ad-hoc wireless
network a HC should be decided by some algorithms.

The HC in a QoS access point (QAP) receives the traffic requirements sent by the QSTAs. If the
traffic can be scheduled in the HCCA mode, the QSTA receives a downlink frame notifying the
acceptance of the traffic. Then a virtual connection called traffic streams (TS) is established and
the QSTA receives a TXOP of certain duration each time it is polled by the QAP. Thus a QSTA
can use the channel and send the packets.
With the QoS request the QAP determines the minimum of all the service intervals (SIs) required
by different traffic streams applying for HCCA. Then it computes the highest sub-multiple of the
super-fame duration. Which is inferior to the minimum of all SIs. Thus the super-frame is
divided into several SIs and QSTAs are polled according to round robin algorithm during each
SI. Once the SI is determined, the QAP computes the different TXOPs which are to be allocated
to the QSTAs. TXOP reflects the time duration to transmit the number of packets arriving during
a SI in a TS queue.

2.5 IEEE 802.11 and 802.11e Features and Standards

The 802.11 standard

• Provides MAC and PHY functionality for wireless connectivity of fixed, portable and
moving stations moving at pedestrian and vehicular speeds within a local area.

Specific features of the 802.11 standard include the following:

• Accommodation of transmission rates of 1, 2, 11, and 54 Mbps

• Operates at either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz unlicensed ISM bands
• Support Multicast/broadcast services
• Network management services
• Registration and authentication services
• In certain modes, could support of asynchronous and time-bounded delivery service
2.6 IEEE802.11 MAC Layer Functions

The following summarizes primary 802.11 MAC functions, especially as they relate to
infrastructure wireless LANs:

Scanning: The 802.11 standard defines both passive and active scanning; whereby, a radio NIC
searches for access points. Passive scanning is mandatory where each NIC scans individual
channels to find the best access point signal. Periodically, access points broadcast a beacon, and
the radio NIC receives these beacons while scanning and takes note of the corresponding signal
strengths. The beacons contain information about the access point, including service set identifier
(SSID), supported data rates, etc. The radio NIC can use this information along with the signal
strength to compare access points and decide upon which one to use.

Optional active scanning is similar, except the radio NIC initiates the process by broadcasting a
probe frame, and all access points within range respond with a probe response. Active scanning
enables a radio NIC to receive immediate response from access points, without waiting for a
beacon transmission. The issue, however, is that active scanning imposes additional overhead on
the network because of the transmission of probe and corresponding response frames.

Authentication: Authentication is the process of proving identity, and the 802.11 standard
specifies two forms: Open system authentication and shared key authentication. Open system
authentication is mandatory, and it's a two step process. A radio NIC first initiates the process by
sending an authentication request frame to the access point. The access point replies with an
authentication response frame containing approval or disapproval of authentication indicated in
the Status Code field in the frame body.

Shared key authentication is an optional four step process that bases authentication on whether
the authenticating device has the correct WEP(wired equivalent privacy) key. The radio NIC
starts by sending an authentication request frame to the access point. The access point then
places challenge text into the frame body of a response frame and sends it to the radio NIC. The
radio NIC uses its WEP key to encrypt the challenge text and then sends it back to the access
point in another authentication frame. The access point decrypts the challenge text and compares
it to the initial text. If the text is equivalent, then the access point assumes that the radio NIC has
the correct key. The access point finishes the sequence by sending an authentication frame to the
radio NIC with the approval or disapproval.

Association: Once authenticated, the radio NIC must associate with the access point before
sending data frames. Association is necessary to synchronize the radio NIC and access point with
important information, such as supported data rates. The radio NIC initiates the association by
sending an association request frame containing elements such as SSID and supported data rates.
The access point responds by sending an association response frame containing an association ID
along with other information regarding the access point. Once the radio NIC and access point
complete the association process, they can send data frames to each other.

WEP: With the optional WEP enabled, the wireless NIC will encrypt the body (not header) of
each frame before transmission using a common key, and the receiving station will decrypt the
frame upon receipt using the common key. The 802.11 standard specifies a 40-bit key and no key
distribution method, which makes 802.11 wireless LANs vulnerable to eavesdroppers. The
802.11i committee, however, is improving 802.11 securities by incorporating 802.1X and
stronger encryption into the standard.

RTS/CTS: The optional request-to send and clear-to-send (RTS/CTS) function allows the access
point to control use of the medium for stations activating RTS/CTS. With most radio NICs, users
can set a maximum frame length threshold whereby the radio NIC will activate RTS/CTS. For
example, a frame length of 1,000 bytes will trigger RTS/CTS for all frames larger than 1,000
bytes. The use of RTS/CTS alleviates hidden node problems, that is, where two or more radio
NICs can't hear each other and they are associated with the same access point.

If the radio NIC activates RTS/CTS, it will first send a RTS frame to access point before sending
a data frame. The access point will then respond with a CTS frame, indicating that the radio NIC
can send the data frame. With the CTS frame, the access point will provide a value in the
duration field of the frame header that holds off other stations from transmitting until after the
radio NIC initiating the RTS can send its data frame. This avoids collisions between hidden
nodes. The RTS/CTS handshake continues for each frame, as long as the frame size exceeds the
threshold set in the corresponding radio NIC.

Power Save Mode: The optional power save mode that a user can turn on or off enables the
radio NIC to conserve battery power when there is no need to send data. With power save mode
on, the radio NIC indicates its desire to enter "sleep" state to the access point via a status bit
located in the header of each frame. The access point takes note of each radio NIC wishing to
enter power save mode, and buffers packets corresponding to the sleeping station.

In order to still receive data frames, the sleeping NIC must wake up periodically (at the right
time) to receive regular beacon transmissions coming from the access point. These beacons
identify whether sleeping stations have frames buffered at the access point and waiting for
delivery to their respective destinations. The radio NICs having awaiting frames will request
them from the access point. After receiving the frames, the radio NIC can go back to sleep.

Fragmentation: The optional fragmentation function enables an 802.11 station to divide data
packets into smaller frames. This is done to avoid needing to retransmit large frames in the
presence of RF interference. The bits errors resulting from RF interference are likely to affect a
single frame, and it requires less overhead to retransmit a smaller frame rather than a larger one.
As with RTS/CTS, users can generally set a maximum frame length threshold whereby the radio
NIC will activate fragmentation. If the frame size is larger than the threshold, the radio NIC will
break the packet into multiple frames, with each frame no larger than the threshold value.

Reference

802.11 Arbitration, Marcus Burton, CWNE #78,CWNP,Inc.September 2009,Version 1.0

MAC Layer Introduction & the IEEE802.11 standard, Alhussein Abouzeid ECSE,
RPI September 15th, 2005

802.11Mac Layer Defined by Jim Geier June 4,20002

3.1 Classification of IEEE802.11

IEEE 802.11: The WLAN standard was originally 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s, 2.4 GHz RF and
infrared [IR] standard (1997); all the others listed below are Amendments to this standard, except
for Recommended Practices 802.11F and 802.11T.

802.11a uses the 5 GHz U-NII band, which offered at least 19 non-overlapping channels rather
than the 3 offered in the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band [2].

802.11b and 802.11g use the 2.4 GHz ISM band, operating in the United States under Part 15 of
the US Federal Communications Commission Rules and Regulations. Because of this choice of
frequency band, 802.11b and g equipment may occasionally suffer interference from microwave
ovens, cordless telephones and Bluetooth devices. Spread spectrum modulation is used in both
802.11 and Bluetooth to control their interference and susceptibility to interference. Bluetooth
uses a frequency hopping spread spectrum signaling method (FHSS), while 802.11b and 802.11g
use the direct sequence spread spectrum signaling (DSSS) and orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM) methods, respectively. Better or worse performance with higher or lower
frequencies (channels) may be realized, depending on the environment.

The used segment of the radio frequency spectrum varies between countries. In the US, 802.11a
and 802.11g devices may be operated without a license, as allowed in Part 15 of the FCC Rules
and Regulations. Frequencies used by channels one through six (802.11b) falls within the
2.4 GHz amateur radio band. Licensed amateur radio operators may operate 802.11b/g devices
under Part 97 of the FCC Rules and Regulations, allowing increased power output but not
commercial content or encryption[3].

802.11-1997 (802.11 legacy)

The original version of the standard IEEE 802.11 was released in 1997 and clarified in 1999.It
specified two net bit rates of 1 or 2 megabits per second (Mbit/s), plus forward error correction
code. The three alternative physical layer technologies are specified by IEEE 802.11: diffuse
infrared operating at 1 Mbit/s; frequency-hopping spread spectrum operating at 1 Mbit/s or 2
Mbit/s; and direct-sequence spread spectrum operating at 1 Mbit/s or 2 Mbit/s. The latter two
radio technologies used microwave transmission over the Industrial Scientific Medical frequency
band at 2.4 GHz. Some earlier WLAN technologies used lower frequencies, such as the U.S.
900 MHz ISM band.

Legacy 802.11 with direct-sequence spread spectrum was rapidly supplanted and popularized by
802.11b.

802.11a

IEEE 802.11a-1999

The 802.11a standard uses the same data link layer protocol and frame format as the original
standard, but an OFDM based air interface (physical layer). It operates in the 5 GHz band with a
maximum net data rate of 54 Mbit/s, plus error correction code, which yields realistic net
achievable throughput in the mid-20 Mbit/s.

Since the 2.4 GHz band is heavily used to the point of being crowded, using the relatively
unused 5 GHz band gives 802.11a a significant advantage. However, this high carrier frequency
also brings a disadvantage: the effective overall range of 802.11a is less than that of 802.11b/g.
In theory, 802.11a signals are absorbed more readily by walls and other solid objects in their path
due to their smaller wavelength and, as a result, cannot penetrate as far as those of 802.11b. In
practice, 802.11b typically has a higher range at low speeds (802.11b will reduce speed to 5
Mbit/s or even 1 Mbit/s at low signal strengths). However, at higher speeds, 802.11a often has
the same or greater range due to less interference.

802.11b

IEEE 802.11b-1999

802.11b has a maximum raw data rate of 11 Mbit/s and uses the same media access method
defined in the original standard. 802.11b products appeared on the market in early 2000, since
802.11b is a direct extension of the modulation technique defined in the original standard. The
dramatic increase in throughput of 802.11b (compared to the original standard) along with
simultaneous substantial price reductions led to the rapid acceptance of 802.11b as the definitive
wireless LAN technology.

802.11b devices suffer interference from other products operating in the 2.4 GHz band. Devices
operating in the 2.4 GHz range include: microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, baby monitors and
cordless telephones.

802.11g

IEEE 802.11g-2003
802.11g works in the 2.4 GHz band (like 802.11b), but uses the same OFDM based transmission
scheme as 802.11a. It operates at a maximum physical layer bit rate of 54 Mbit/s exclusive of
forward error correction codes, or about 22 Mbit/s average throughputs [7]. 802.11g hardware is
fully backwards compatible with 802.11b hardware and therefore is encumbered with legacy
issues that reduce throughput when compared to 802.11a by ~21%.

The then-proposed 802.11g standard was rapidly adopted by consumers starting in January 2003,
well before ratification, due to the desire for higher data rates as well as to reductions in
manufacturing costs. By summer 2003, most dual-band 802.11a/b products became dual-
band/tri-mode, supporting a and b/g in a single mobile adapter card or access point. Details of
making b and g work well together occupied much of the lingering technical process; in an
802.11g network, however, activity of an 802.11b participant will reduce the data rate of the
overall 802.11g network.

Like 802.11b, 802.11g devices suffer interference from other products operating in the 2.4 GHz
band, for example wireless keyboards.

802.11-2007

In 2003, task group TGma was authorized to "roll up" many of the amendments to the 1999
version of the 802.11 standard. REVma or 802.11ma, as it was called, created a single document
that merged 8 amendments (802.11a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j) with the base standard. Upon approval on
March 8, 2007, 802.11REVma was renamed to the current base standard IEEE 802.11-2007[8].

802.11n

IEEE 802.11n-2009

802.11n is a recent amendment .By adding multiple-input multiple-output antennas (MIMO) and
many other newer features to 802.11 the standards are improved. The IEEE has approved the
amendment and it was published in October 2009[9][10].Prior to the final ratification, enterprises
were already migrating to 802.11n networks based on the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification of
products conforming to a 2007 draft of the 802.11n proposal.
3.2 Distributed Coordination Function of IEEE 802.11
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)[1-4], which provides higher flexibility and
convenience than their wired counter part.it is developed to provide high bandwidth access for
users in a limited geographical area. The standard of 802.11[1-2] for WLANs included the
detailed specifications both for Medium Access Control(MAC) and Physical Layer(PHY).In
WLANs, the physical media, which is shared by all stations and has limited connection range,
has significant differences when compared to wired media. The IEEE 802.11 standards include d
the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) and optional Point Coordination Function (PCF).

In 802.11, the DCF is the fundamental access method used to support asynchronous data transfer
on a best effort basis. The DCF supports all the stations in a basic service set (BSS) as it is
specified in the standards. The DCF is based on Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Avoidance (CSMA/CA). The station will be unable to listen to the channel while transmitting in
the case of CSMA/CD .so it is not used.In 802.11CS is performed both at physical layer, which
is also referred to as physical carrier sensing, and at the MAC layer, which is known as virtual
carrier sensing. The PCF in the 802.11 is a polling-based protocol, which is designed to support
collision free and real time services.

There are two techniques used for packet transmitting in DCF. The default one is a two-way
handshaking mechanism, also known as basic access method. A positive MAC
acknowledgement (ACK) is transmitted by the destination station to signal the successful packet
transmission. The other optional one is a four-way handshaking mechanism, which uses request-
to-send/clear-to-send (RTS/CTS) technique to reserve the channel before data transmission. This
techniques are introduced to reduce the performance degradation due to hidden terminal.
However, the drawback of RTS/CTS mechanism is increased overhead for short data frames.

In DCF, a binary slotted exponential backoff is used with CSMA/CA. Whenever a backoff
occurs, the backoff time is set from a uniform distribution over the interval [0,CW], while the
Contention Window(CW) will be doubled for a retry and reset for a new packet

To analyze resetting CW, the modeling of 802.11 has been examined. The theoretical
throughput limit of 802.11 based on a p-persistent variant is given in [5]. However, it doesn’t
take the effect of the Contention Window(CW) and binary slotted exponential back-off
procedure used by DCF into consideration. Unlike those ones, [6, 7] use Markov process to
analyze the saturated throughput of 802.11. The Markov model in [7] can be regarded as an
extension of the model in [6] and it takes the retransmission limit of MAC frames into account.
The basic access method

In 802.11, it uses the inter-frame space (IFS) time between the transmissions of frames to control
the priority access to the wireless medium. Totally three IFS intervals have been specified by
802.11 standards: short IFS (SIFS), point coordination function IFS (PIFS), and DCF-IFS
(DIFS). The SIFS is the smallest and the DIFS is the largest.

The station may proceed with its transmission if the medium is sensed to be idle for an interval
larger than the Distributed Inter Frame Space (DIFS). If the medium is busy, the station defers
until after a DIFS is detected and then generate a random back-off period before transmitting.
The back-off timer counter is decreased as long as the channel is sensed idle, frozen when the
channel is sensed busy, and resumed when the channel is sensed idle again for more than a DIFS.
A station can initiate a transmission when the back off timer reaches zero. The back-off time is
uniformly chosenin the range (0, w-1). Also (w-1) is known as Contention Window (CW), which
is an integer with the range determined by the PHY characteristics CWmin and CWmax. After
each unsuccessful transmission, w is doubled, up to value 2m.W, where W equals to (CWmin+1)
and 2m.W equals to (CWmax+1).

After receiving the packet correctly, the destination station waits for a SIFS interval immediately
following the reception of the data frame and transmits a MAC ACK back to the source station,
indicating that the data frame has been received correctly. If the data is assumed to be lost in that
case the source does not receives an ACK then the source retransmits along with CW doubled
When the data frame is transmitted, all the other stations hearing the data frame adjust their
Network Allocation Vector(NAV), which is used for virtual CS at the MAC layer, based on the
duration field value in the data frame, which includes the SIFS and the ACK following the data
frame.

The RTS/CTS access method

In 802.11[1], DCF also provides an optional way of transmitting data frames that involve
transmission of special short RTS and CTS frames prior to the transmission of actual data frame.
When the destination receives the RTS frame, it will transmit a CTS frame after SIFS interval
immediately following the reception of the RTS frame. The source station is allowed to transmit
its packet only if it receives the CTScorrectly. If a collision occurs with RTS frames, less
bandwidth is wasted when compared with the situation where larger data frames are in collision.
Reference

[1]IEEE 802.11-2007: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer
(PHY) specifications".IEEE. 2007-03-08.http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.11.html.

[2]"ARRLWeb: Part 97 - Amateur Radio Service". American Radio Relay League.

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/news/part97/.

[3]Wireless networking in the Developing World: A practical guide to planning and building
low-cost telecommunications infrastructure (2nd ed.). Hacker Friendly LLC. 2007. pp. 425.
http://wndw.net/pdf/wndw2-en/wndw2-ebook.pdf. Page 14

[4]IEEE 802.11-2007

[5]http://standards.ieee.org/announcements/ieee802.11n_2009amendment_ratified.html

[6]IEEE 802.11n-2009—Amendment 5: Enhancements for Higher Throughput.IEEE_SA 29

October 2009.

[7] IEEE standard for Wireless LAN Medium Access Control(MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY)
specifications, ISO/IEC8802-11:1999(E), Aug. 1999
[8] B.P. Crow, J.G. Kim, IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks, IEEE Communications
magazine, Sept. 1997
[9] G. Anastasi, L.Lenzini QoS provided by IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN to advanced data
applications: a simulation analysis. pp. 99-108, Wireless Networks 6 (2000)
[10] G.Bianchi. L.Fratta, M.Oliveri. Performance Evaluation and Enhancement of the
CSMA/CA MAC Protocol for 802.11Wireless LANs. Proc. PIMRC.1996. pp.392-396, Oct.1996
[11] F.Cali, M.Conti, E.Gregori. Dynamic Tuning of the IEEE 802.11 Protocol to Achieve a
Theoretical Throughput Limit, IEEE/ACM Trans. On Networking, V8, N6, Dec. 2000
[12] G.Bianchi. Performance Analysis of the IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function.
IEEE Journal on Selected Area in Comm. V18, N3, March 2000
[13] Haitao Wu, Yong Peng, Keping Long, Shiduan Cheng, Asimple model of IEEE 802.11
Wireless LAN, Proceedings of ICII.2001, pp.514-519, Oct. 2001