Sangar N.

Qadir

Wireless and mobile Networks

Wireless and Mobile Networks
Background:
# wireless (mobile) phone subscribers now
exceeds # wired phone subscribers!
computer nets: laptops, palmtops, PDAs,
Internet-enabled phone promise anytime
Internet access
two important (but different) challenges
communication over wireless link
handling mobile user who changes point of
attachment to network
outline
Wireless
Wireless links, characteristics
CDMA
IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs (wi-fi)
Cellular architecture
Mobility
Principles: addressing and routing to mobile
users
Applications - LAN Extension
Saves installation of LAN cabling
Eases relocation and other modifications to
network structure
However, increasing reliance on twisted pair
cabling for LANs
Most older buildings already wired with Cat 3 cable
Newer buildings are prewired with Cat 5
Wireless LAN to replace wired LANs has not
happened
In some environments, role for the wireless LAN
Buildings with large open areas

Servers and stationary workstations

Single Cell Wireless LAN
Configuration
Multi-Cell Wireless LAN
Configuration
Infrastructure Wireless LAN
Elements of a wireless network

wireless hosts
laptop, PDA, IP phone
run applications
may be stationary
(non-mobile) or mobile
network wireless does not
infrastructure always mean mobility
Elements of a wireless network
base station
typically connected to
wired network
relay - responsible
for sending packets
between wired
network network and wireless
infrastructure host(s) in its area
e.g., cell towers
802.11 access
points
Elements of a wireless network
wireless link
typically used to
connect mobile(s) to
base station
also used as backbone
link
network multiple access
infrastructure protocol coordinates
link access
various data rates,
transmission distance
Elements of a wireless network
infrastructure mode
base station connects
mobiles into wired
network
handoff: mobile
changes base station
network providing connection
infrastructure into wired network
Elements of a wireless network
Ad hoc mode
no base stations
nodes can only
transmit to other
nodes within link
coverage
nodes organize
themselves into a
network: route among
themselves
 Characteristics of selected wireless link
standards
54 Mbps 802.11{a,g}
5-11 Mbps 802.11b .11 p-to-p link
1 Mbps
802.15

3G
384 Kbps UMTS/WCDMA, CDMA2000
2G
56 Kbps IS-95 CDMA, GSM

Indoor Outdoor Mid range Long range

outdoor outdoor

10 30m 50 200m 200m 4Km 5Km 20Km

Wireless Link Characteristics
Differences from wired link .

decreased signal strength: radio signal

attenuates as it propagates through matter
(path loss)
interference from other sources: standardized
wireless network frequencies (e.g., 2.4 GHz)
shared by other devices (e.g., phone); devices
(motors) interfere as well
multipath propagation: radio signal reflects off
objects ground, arriving ad destination at
slightly different times

. make communication across (even a point to point)

wireless link much more difficult
Wireless network characteristics
Multiple wireless senders and receivers create
additional problems (beyond multiple access):

A B C
C

As signal Cs signal
B strength strength
A

Hidden terminal problem
B, A hear each other
B, C hear each other
A, C can not hear each other
means A, C unaware of their
interference at B
space
Signal fading:
B, A hear each other
B, C hear each other
A, C can not hear each other
interferring at B
IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN
802.11b 802.11a
2.4-5 GHz unlicensed 5-6 GHz range
radio spectrum up to 54 Mbps
up to 11 Mbps
802.11g
direct sequence spread
2.4-5 GHz range
spectrum (DSSS) in
up to 54 Mbps
physical layer
all hosts use same All use CSMA/CA for
chipping code multiple access
widely deployed, using All have base-station
base stations
and ad-hoc network
versions
802.11 LAN architecture
wireless host communicates
Internet with base station
base station = access
point (AP)
Basic Service Set (BSS)
(aka cell) in infrastructure
hub, switch
or router mode contains:
AP
wireless hosts
access point (AP): base
BSS 1
station
AP
ad hoc mode: hosts only

BSS 2
802.11: Channels, association
802.11b: 2.4GHz-2.485GHz spectrum divided into
11 channels at different frequencies
AP admin chooses frequency for AP
interference possible: channel can be same as
that chosen by neighboring AP!
host: must associate with an AP
scans channels, listening for beacon frames
containing APs name (SSID) and MAC address
selects AP to associate with
may perform authentication
will typically run DHCP to get IP address in APs
subnet
IEEE 802.11: multiple access
avoid collisions: 2+ nodes transmitting at same time
802.11: CSMA - sense before transmitting
dont collide with ongoing transmission by other node

802.11: no collision detection!

difficult to receive (sense collisions) when transmitting due
to weak received signals (fading)
cant sense all collisions in any case: hidden terminal, fading
goal: avoid collisions: CSMA/C(ollision)A(voidance)

A B C
C
As signal Cs signal
B strength strength
A
space
 802.11 frame: addressing

2 2 6 6 6 2 6 0 - 2312 4
frame address address address seq address
duration payload CRC
control 1 2 3 control 4

Address 4: used only

in ad hoc mode
Address 1: MAC address
of wireless host or AP Address 3: MAC address
to receive this frame of router interface to
which AP is attached
Address 2: MAC address
of wireless host or AP
transmitting this frame
802.11 frame: addressing

Internet
H1 R1 router
AP

R1 MAC addr AP MAC addr

dest. address source address

802.3 frame

AP MAC addr H1 MAC addr R1 MAC addr

address 1 address 2 address 3

802.11 frame
802.11 frame: more
frame seq #
duration of reserved
(for reliable ARQ)
transmission time (RTS/CTS)

2 2 6 6 6 2 6 0 - 2312 4
frame address address address seq address
duration payload CRC
control 1 2 3 control 4

2 2 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Protocol To From More Power More
Type Subtype Retry WEP Rsvd
version AP AP frag mgt data

frame type
(RTS, CTS, ACK, data)
Control Frames
Assist in reliable data delivery
Request to Send (RTS)
First frame in four-way frame exchange
Clear to Send (CTS)
Second frame in four-way exchange
Acknowledgment (ACK)
Management Frames
Used to manage communications between
stations and APs
E.g. management of associations
Requests, response, reassociation,
disassociation, and authentication
Beacon frame
Timestamp, beacon interval, SSID, TIM
Medium Access Control
CSMA/CA
MAC layer covers three functional areas
Reliable data delivery
Access control
Security
Beyond our scope
IEEE 802.11 MAC Protocol: CSMA/CA
802.11 sender
1 if sense channel idle for DIFS then sender receiver
transmit entire frame (no CD)
DIFS
2 if sense channel busy then
start random backoff time
timer counts down while channel idle data
transmit when timer expires
if no ACK, increase random backoff
SIFS
interval, repeat 2
ACK
802.11 receiver
- if frame received OK
return ACK after SIFS (ACK needed due
to hidden terminal problem)
6: Wireless and Mobile Networks 6-26
Four Frame Exchange
Basic data transfer involves exchange of two
frames
To further enhance reliability, four-frame
exchange may be used
Source issues a Request to Send (RTS) frame to
destination
Destination responds with Clear to Send (CTS)
After receiving CTS, source transmits data
Destination responds with ACK
RTS alerts all stations within range of source that
exchange is under way
CTS alerts all stations within range of destination
Stations refrain from transmission to avoid
collision
RTS/CTS exchange is required function of MAC
but may be disabled
 Collision Avoidance: RTS-CTS exchange
A B
AP

reservation collision

DATA (A)
defer

time
802.11a
5-GHz band
Uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(OFDM)
Not spread spectrum
Also called multicarrier modulation
Multiple carrier signals at different frequencies
Some bits on each channel
Similar to FDM but all subchannels dedicated to single
source
Data rates 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps
Up to 52 subcarriers modulated using BPSK,
QPSK, 16-QAM, or 64-QAM
Depending on rate
Subcarrier frequency spacing 0.3125 MHz
Convolutional code at rate of 1/2, 2/3, or 3/4 provides
forward error correction
802.11b
Extension of 802.11 DS-SS scheme
5.5 and 11 Mbps
Chipping rate 11 MHz
Same as original DS-SS scheme
Same occupied bandwidth
Complementary code keying (CCK) modulation to achieve
higher data rate in same bandwidth at same chipping rate
CCK modulation complex
Overview on next slide
Input data treated in blocks of 8 bits at 1.375 MHz
8 bits/symbol 1.375 MHz = 11 Mbps
Six of these bits mapped into one of 64 code sequences
Output of mapping, plus two additional bits, forms input to
QPSK modulator
802.11g
Higher-speed extension to 802.11b
Combines physical layer encoding
techniques used in 802.11a and 802.11b to
provide service at a variety of data rates
802.11n (Ultranet)
Standards in discussion now; should be
completed by the end of 2006
REAL throughput of at least 100mbps
4 5 times faster than 802.11g/a
20 times faster than 802.11b!
Better distance than 802.11a/b/g
Being designed with speed and security
in mind
Perfect compliment for WWW2
Wi-Fi Security
As networks become important to doing
business, security has become an
increasingly prominent worry.
WEP was initially marketed as the security
solution for wireless LANs. But the
security in WEP was not strong and can be
break by hackers.
Afterward, WAP and WAP2 was designed
to overcome the weakness of WEP.
802.1x also is a type of Wi-Fi security for
more robust authentication.
WEP
To protect data, WEP requires the use of
the RC4 cipher, which is a symmetric
(secret-key) stream cipher.
Generally, speaking, a stream cipher uses a
stream of bits, called the key-stream. The
key-stream is then combined with the
message to produce the cipher-text. To
recover the original message, the receiver
processes the cipher-text with an identical
key-stream. RC4 uses the exclusive OR
(XOR) operation to combine the keys-
tream and the cipher-text
 Most stream ciphers operate by taking a relatively
short secret key and expanding it into a
pseudorandom keystream the same length as the
message. The pseudorandom number generator
(PRNG) is a set of rules used to expand the key
into a keystream. To recover the data, both sides
must share the same secret key and use the same
algorithm to expand the key into a pseudorandom
sequence.
WEP DATA PROCESSING
Before encryption, the frame is run through an integrity
check algorithm, generating a hash called an integrity check
value (ICV). The ICV protects the contents against
tampering by ensuring that the frame has not changed in
transit. The frame and the ICV are both encrypted, so the
ICV is not available to casual attackers.
WEP specifies the use of a 40-bit secret key. The secret
WEP key is combined with a 24-bit initialization vector (IV)
to create a 64-bit RC4 key; the first 24 bits of the RC4 key
are the IV, followed by the 40-bit WEP key. RC4 takes the
64 input bits and generates a keystream equal to the length
of the frame body plus the IV. The keystream is then
XORed with the frame body and the IV to cipher it. To
enable the receiver to decrypt the frame, the IV is placed in
the header of the frame.
Problems withWEP
Cryptographers have identified many flaws in
WEP. The designers specified the use of RC4,
which is widely accepted as a strong cryptographic
cipher. Attackers, however, are not limited to a
full-frontal assault on the cryptographic
algorithms they can attack any weak point in the
cryptographic system. Methods of defeating WEP
have come from every angle. One vendor shipped
access points that exposed the secret WEP keys
through SNMP, allowing an attacker to ask for
just the key. Most of the press, though, has been
devoted to flaws beyond implementation errors,
which are much harder to correct.
Voice over Wi-Fi
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a
technology that allows you to make voice calls
using a broadband Internet connection instead of
a regular (or analog) phone line. Some VoIP
services may only allow you to call other people
using the same service, but others may allow you
to call anyone who has a telephone number -
including local, long distance, mobile, and
international numbers. Also, while some VoIP
services only work over your computer or a special
VoIP phone, other services allow you to use a
traditional phone connected to a VoIP adapter.
 How VoIP / Internet Voice Works
VoIP
services convert your voice into a digital
signal that travels over the Internet. If
you are calling a regular phone number, the
signal is converted to a regular telephone
signal before it reaches the destination.
VoIP can allow you to make a call directly
from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a
traditional phone connected to a special
adapter. In addition, wireless "hot spots" in
locations such as airports, parks, and cafes
allow you to connect to the Internet and
may enable you to use VoIP service
wirelessly.