By Pradip Paudyal

Introduction
In 1997, the IEEE adopted the first standard for WLANs

and revised in 1999. IEEE defines a MAC sublayer, MAC management protocols and services, and three physical (PHY) layers. PHY Layers: IR, FHSS, DSSS with 1-2 Mbps. IEEE 802.11a ; PHY Layer - OFDM at Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (UNII) bands with 54 Mbps IEEE 802.11b ; PHY Layer - DSSS at 2.4 GHz with 11Mbps

Introduction cont
Supports both Asynchronous data transfer and time bound

services Asynchronous: traffic insensitive to time - email, FTP Time bound services: sensitive to time - voice traffic Different MAC strategies to support these classes of traffic Asynchronous traffic is supported through Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) Time bound traffic is supported through Point Coordination Function (PCF) DCF is mandatory, while PCF is optional

Characteristics of wireless LANs

Advantages very flexible within the reception area Ad-hoc networks without previous planning possible (almost) no wiring difficulties (e.g. historic buildings, firewalls) more robust against disasters like, e.g., earthquakes, fire - or users pulling a plug... Disadvantages typically very low bandwidth compared to wired networks products have to follow many national restrictions if working wireless, it takes a vary long time to establish global solutions like, e.g., IMT-2000 Interference

Design goals for wireless LANs

global, seamless operation low power for battery use no special permissions or licenses needed to use

the LAN {ISM band, 2.4 GHz} robust transmission technology easy to use for everyone, simple management protection of investment in wired networks security (no one should be able to read my data), privacy (no one should be able to collect user profiles), safety (low radiation) transparency concerning applications and higher layer protocols.

Architecture
Architecture is designed to support a network where

mobile station is responsible for the decision making. Components: Station (STA) terminal with access mechanisms to the wireless medium and radio contact to the access point Supported services are authentication, privacy, and delivery of the data.

Architecture cont..
Access Point (AP):
Similar to the base station in cellular network Supports range extension by providing network connectivity

between multiple BSSs Multiple BSSs are connected together through a Distribution System (DS) DS is similar to a backbone network

e.g., ethernet-based LAN

BSSs connected by a DS form an Extended Service Set (ESS)

Architecture..
BSS: Basic service set
Group of stations under the direct control of a single co-ordination

function All stations in a BSS can directly communicate with each other, without any infrastructure Portal bridge to other (wired) networks Distribution System interconnection network to form one logical network (EES: Extended Service Set) based on several BSS

Comparison: infrastructure vs. ad-hoc networks

infrastructure network
AP AP wired network

AP: Access Point

AP

ad-hoc network

802.11 - Architecture of an infrastructure network

802.11 LAN 802.x LAN

STA1

BSS1

Access Point

Portal

Distribution System ESS BSS2

Access Point

STA2

802.11 LAN

STA3

802.11 - Architecture of an ad-hoc network

802.11 LAN

Direct communication within a limited range

STA1
BSS1 STA3
Station (STA):

STA2

terminal with access mechanisms to the wireless medium Basic Service Set (BSS): group of stations using the same radio frequency

BSS2

STA5
STA4 802.11 LAN

IEEE standard 802.11

fixed terminal mobile terminal server

infrastructure network
access point

application
TCP IP LLC LLC

application
TCP IP LLC

802.11 MAC
802.11 PHY

802.11 MAC
802.11 PHY

802.3 MAC
802.3 PHY

802.3 MAC
802.3 PHY

802.11 - Layers and functions

MAC

PLCP Physical Layer Convergence Protocol

Medium access mechanisms, fragmentation (Segmentation), encryption synchronization, roaming, MAC Information Base (MIB), power management

clear channel assessment signal (carrier sense)

MAC Management

PMD Physical Medium Dependent

modulation, coding
channel selection coordination of all management functions

PHY Management Station Management

DLC

LLC (Logical Link Control) MAC (Medium Access Control) MAC Management PLCP (Physical Layer Convergence Protocol) PMD (Physical Medium Dependent) PHY Management

Station Management

PHY

Radio Transmission
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) a frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) scheme utilized as a digital multi-carrier modulation method FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) spreading, despreading Operating at 1Mbps/2Mbps DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) chipping sequence: +1, -1, +1, +1, -1, +1, +1, +1, -1, -1, -1 (Barker code) max. radiated power 1 W (USA), 100 mW (EU), min. 1mW Infrared 850-950 nm, diffuse light, typ. 10 m range

Medium Access Control

MAC protocol supplies the functionality required to provide a reliable delivery mechanism for user data over noisy, unreliable wireless media.
MAC Functionality
reliable data delivery fairly control access to the shared wireless medium. protect the data that it delivers.

Challenges 1: Hidden Node and Exposed Node Problem

Hidden terminals A sends to B, C cannot receive A C wants to send to B, C senses a free medium (CS fails) collision at B, A cannot receive the collision (CD fails) A is hidden for C

Exposed terminals B sends to A, C wants to send to another terminal (not A or B) C has to wait, CS signals a medium in use but A is outside the radio range of C, therefore waiting is not necessary C is exposed to B

Challenges 2: Near and Far Terminals

Terminals A and B send, C receives signal strength decreases proportional to the square of the distance

the signal of terminal B therefore drowns out As signal C cannot receive A

Also severe problem for CDMA-networks - precise power

control needed!

802.11 - MAC layer I DFWMAC (Distributed Foundation Wireless Medium Access Control)
Traffic services Asynchronous Data Service (mandatory) {ad hoc}
exchange of

data packets. support of broadcast and multicast.

Time-Bounded Service (optional) {ad hoc / infrastructure}

Access methods

CSMA/CA (mandatory)
collision

avoidance via randomized back-off mechanism minimum distance between consecutive packets ACK packet for acknowledgements (not for broadcasts)

RTS/CTS (optional)
Distributed

Foundation Wireless MAC avoids hidden terminal problem

802.11 - CSMA/CA access method

DIFS DIFS

contention window (randomized back-off mechanism) next frame t slot time

medium busy direct access if medium is free DIFS

Distributed Inter-Frame Space (DIFS) station ready to send starts sensing the medium if the medium is free for the duration of an Inter-Frame Space

(IFS), the station can start sending (IFS depends on service type) if the medium is busy, the station has to wait for a free IFS, then the station must additionally wait a random back-off time (collision avoidance, multiple of slot-time) if another station occupies the medium during the back-off time of the station, the back-off timer stops (fairness)

802.11 - Frame format

Types control frames, management frames, data frames Sequence numbers important against duplicated frames due to lost ACKs Addresses receiver, transmitter (physical), BSS identifier, sender (logical) Miscellaneous sending time, checksum, frame control, data
2 6 6 6 2 6 Duration Address Address Address Sequence Address ID 1 2 3 Control 4 0-2312 Data 4 CRC

bytes

2 Frame Control

version, type, fragmentation, security, DS (ditribution system){2 bits}

802.11 MAC Frames

Management Frames: Used for Station association, dissociation, timing and synchronization, authentication Control Frames: Used for Handshaking during CP (Contention Period ) (RTS/CTS) ACK frames during CP (Contention Period ) Data Frames: Used for Sending data during CP and CFP (Contention Free Period )

802.11 - MAC management

Synchronization try to find a LAN, try to stay within a LAN timer. Beacon. Power management sleep-mode without missing a message periodic sleep, frame buffering, traffic measurements Association/Re-association integration into a LAN roaming, i.e. change networks by changing access points scanning, i.e. active search for a network MIB - Management Information Base managing, read, write

Power management
Idea: switch the transceiver off if not needed States of a station: sleep and awake Timing Synchronization Function (TSF)
stations wake up at the same time

Infrastructure Traffic Indication Map (TIM)

list of

unicast receivers transmitted by AP

Delivery Traffic Indication Map (DTIM) list of broadcast/multicast receivers transmitted by AP

Ad-hoc Ad-hoc Traffic Indication Map (ATIM)

announcement of

receivers by stations buffering frames more complicated - no central AP collision of ATIMs possible (scalability?)

802.11 - Roaming
No or bad connection? Then perform: Scanning
scan the environment, i.e., listen into the medium for beacon

signals or send probes into the medium and wait for an answer

Re-association Request station sends a request to one or several AP(s) Re-association Response success: AP has answered, station can now participate failure: continue scanning AP accepts Re-association Request signal the new station to the distribution system the distribution system updates its data base (i.e., location information) typically, the distribution system now informs the old AP so it can release resources Fast roaming 802.11r : e.g. for vehicle-to-roadside networks

Future developments
IEEE 802.11a compatible MAC, but now 5 GHz band transmission rates up to 20 Mbit/s close cooperation with BRAN (Broadband Radio Access Network; European Standard) IEEE 802.11b higher data rates at 2.4 GHz proprietary solutions already offer 10 Mbit/s IEEE WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Networks) market potential compatibility low cost/power, small form factor technical/economic feasibility

WLAN Security Concerns

Anyone within the geographical network range of an

open, unencrypted wireless network can 'sniff' the traffic, gain unauthorized access to internal network resources. If router security is not activated or if the owner deactivates it for convenience, it creates a free hotspot.
Modern operating systems such as Microsoft Windows

make it fairly easy to set up a PC as a wireless LAN 'base station' using Internet Connection Sharing, thus allowing all the PCs in the home to access the Internet via the 'base' PC.

WLAN Security Options

For closed networks (like home users and
on MAC address

organizations) the most common way is to configure access restrictions in the access points; Encryption, Checks

For commercial providers and large organizations, the

preferred solution is often to have an open and unencrypted, but completely isolated wireless network. -Captive portal which provides for payment and/or authorization -Connect securely to a privileged network using VPN Finally, a general solution may be end-to-end encryption, with independent authentication on all resources that shouldn't be available to the public.

Important Standards

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