1.

Wireless local area networks (WLAN)

• WLAN is one in which a mobile user can connect to a Local Area
Network {LAN) through a wireless connection.
• A wireless local area network {WLAN) provides wireless
network communication over short distances using radio or
infrared signals..instead of traditional network cabling.
• A WLAN can be built using any of several different wireless
network protocols, most commonly either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
• Thus, wireless LANs combine data connectivity with user mobility.
• The primary component of a wireless LAN:
(i) wireless interface card
(ii) antenna.
• This interface card can be connected to the mobile unit as well as to
the fixed network.
• Wireless LANs have limited range. So, they are designed to be
used only in local environments such as a building, park, office,
commercial complexes, etc.
• A WLAN can contain as few as two devices up to one hundred and
more.
• The IEEE 802.11 group of standards specify the technologies for
wireless LANs.
• For path sharing, 802.11 standard uses the Ethernet protocol and
CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision
avoidance).
• It also uses an encryption method i.e. wired equivalent privacy
algorithm.

1.1 Advantages of wireless local area network

The following are some specific advantages of wireless LANs over wired
LANs:

• Wireless LANs support mobility:

This improves the real-time access to information even
when the user is moving from one place to another within
the range of an access point (AP).
• Different topologies Available:
 Different wireless networks are configured in two different
modes:
(i) ad-hoc mode and
(ii) infrastructure mode.
"Ad-hoc" mode provides peer-to-peer communication
between wireless devices. "Infrastructure" mode provides
communication between wireless device and a central node,
which in turn can communicate with wired nodes on that
LAN.
• Flexible architecture:
It is easier to add or remove workstations within the radio
coverage.
Radio waves can penetrate walls, senders and
receivers can be placed anywhere. Easy to setup
anywhere.
• Cost effective:
Installation expenses can be significantly lower compared to
Wired LAN.

1.2 Disadvantages of wireless local area network

• Less security:
Wireless LANs are less secure than wired LANs, because
wireless communication signals travel through the air and
can easily be intercepted by others using the same
frequency band and by multipath fading.
Automatic repeat request (ARQ) and forward error-
correction (FEC) techniques are used to increase
reliability.
• Low data rates:
The data transfer rate decreases with increase in the number of
devices.
• Need for energy efficient:
In mobile applications, battery power is a scarce resource.
Therefore, the devices must be designed to be energy efficient.
• Limited coverage:
Devices will only operate at a limited distance from an
AP(Access point).
Factors affecting range between the AP and the user
a) Standard used
b) Buildings
c) other obstacles
1.3 WLAN topologies
• Wireless network topology is the configuration in which a mobile terminal
(MT) communicates with another.
• WLANs can be built with either of the following topologies:
a) Peer-to-peer (ad-hoc) topology
b) Infrastructure topology

(i) Ad-hoc network topology (or peer-to-peer network topology)

• It applies to reconfigurable networks that can operate without need for a fixed
infrastructure.
• Easiest WLAN mode to configure
• Requires the least hardware.
• An ad-hoc mode WLAN is comprised of two or more computers
communicating directly with each other using wireless network cards.
• Each node participates in routing by forwarding to data for other nodes.

laptop Tablet

Figure 1.1Ad-hoc Network Topology

• These networks are primarily used by the military and also in a few
commercial applications for voice and data transmission.

(ii) Infrastructure network topology

• In the infrastructure topology, ther;e is a fixed (wired) infrastructure that
supports communication
between Mobile Terminals and
between Mobile Terminals and fixed terminals.
• They are often designed for large coverage areas and multiple base station or AP
operations.
• In this WLAN mode, a hardware or software AP is configured as part of the
WLAN design.
• This AP then provides connectivity for all of the systems on the WLAN.
• The wireless network card on each computer is configured to use a specific
AP to connect to a specific WLAN and all traffic to other computers on the
WLAN is directed through the AP.
• Access point: The AP is a wireless LAN transceiver or "base station" that can
connect one or many wireless devices simultaneously to the Internet.
In infrastructure mode, there may be multiple APs to cover a large area or
only a single AP for a small area such as a single home or small building.

Figure 1.2: Infrastructure network topology

Note: All standardized cellular mobile telephone and wireless data systems use an
infrastructure network topology to serve MTs operating within the coverage area of
any base station. Infrastructure topology uses APs to bridge traffic onto a wired
(Ethernet or token ring) or a wireless backbone.

:_,.. .YI
2. Bluetooth
• Bluetooth is a short-range (<10 m) and low bit rate (<1 Mbps) wireless
communication technology
that connects portable devices such as cell phones, handheld devices, and
notebook computers.
• Bluetooth refers not only to a technology but also to a standard and a
specification.
• The main aim of Bluetooth technology is to guarantee interoperability
between different applications on devices in the same area that may run
over different sytems.
• Bluetooth is also known as wireless personal area network (WPAN) for
short-range and mobility applications around a room in the office or at
home.
• Bluetooth is designed to be a small form-factor, low-cost and low-power
radio communication technology.
 • Modulation Used: Gaussian frequency shift keying
• Transmission power 1-100 mW
• Bluetooth technology supports raw data transfer speed of 1 Mbps in the 2.4
GHz ISM band (2.400- 2.483 GHz) and communication at a range of up to
10 m.

Note: ISM means Industrial, Scientific and Medical frequency band

• This band consists of 79 channels each of 1 MHz bandwidth, with a lower guard
band of 2 MHz and
upper guard band of 3.5 MHz.
• Bluetooth uses a "fast frequency hopping (FH)" radio technique.
 changing its operating frequency 1,600
times a second.
• This technique enables it to carry on working even in areas of high
interference, an important point, considering that it has to share its radio
spectrum with many other devices, including microwave ovens and wireless
local area networks (WLANs).
• Bluetooth supports the adhoc networking between different mobile
wireless devices for spontaneous networking and immediate communication.
• The following are some of the capabilities of Bluetooth:
Make calls from a wireless headset connected remotely to a
cell phone
Eliminate cable linking computers to printers, keyboards, and
the mouse
Connect MP3 players to other machines to download music in
a wireless fashion
Call home from a remote location to turn applications on and
off, set the alarm, and monitor activity
 Two supported network types are
(i) piconet
(ii) scatternet
• Piconet is a network consisting of one master and up to seven slaves.
• This means that generally one Bluetooth device can be connected to up to
seven other Bluetooth devices at the same time.
• Scatternet is a network formed by several piconets.
• A complete Bluetooth system will require the following elements:
(i) A radio frequency (RF) portion for receiving and transmitting data
(ii) A module with a baseband microprocessor
 (iii) Memory
(iv) An interface to the host device (such as a mobile phone)
•
2.1 Bluetooth network topology
• The three types of network configurations for Bluetooth devices are as following:
•
• Single point-to-point (piconet)
(i) In this topology, the network consists of one master and one slave device.
•
• Multipoint (piconet):
(i) Such a topology combines one master device and up to seven slave devices in an
adhoc network
•
• Scatternet:
(i) A Scatternet is a group of piconets linked via a slave device in one piconet
that plays a master role in the other piconet
(ii)Slaves in one piconet can participate in another piconet as either a master
or slave through timdivision multiplexing.

• s

(i) Bluetooth protocol stack (Bluetooth protocol architecture)

 Figure 39: Bluetooth
protocol architecture
• Radio: Specification of the air interface, i.e., frequencies, modulation, and
transmit power Baseband: Description of basic connection establishment,
packet formats, timing, and basic QoS parameters
 Link manager protocol: Link set-up and management between devices
including security functions and parameter negotiation
 Logical link control and adaptation protocol (L2CAP): Adaptation of higher
layers to the baseband (connectionless and connection-oriented services). It is
positioned over the baseband layer and beside the LMP.
 Service discovery protocol(SDP): Device discovery in close proximity plus
querying of service characteristics. SDP defines how a Bluetooth client's
application shall act to discover available Bluetooth server's services and their
Bluetooth characteristics.
 Audio: By using different usage models, audio transmission can be done
between one or more Bluetooth units.

 Cable replacement protocol: This is the RFCOMM protocol, whose purpose

is to emulate a serial port. The protocol covers applications that use serial ports
of the kind used in PCs. Thus, RFCOMM emulates RS-232 control and data
 signals over the Bluetooth baseband. It provides transport capabilities for upper
level services, such as OBEX.
 PPP: (point-to-point protocol) is accomplished to run over RFCOMM to
design point-to-point connections.
• It is a packet-oriented protocol that uses serial mechanism to convert the

information packet stream to serial data stream.

 TCP/UDP/IP: The TCP/UDP/IP standards provide the operation of

Bluetooth units to communicate with the others connected to the Internet,
which can act as a link to the Internet.
 UDP/IP/PPP configuration is applicable for wireless application protocol (WAP)
as transport.
 OBEX protocol lrDA object exchange protocol (lrOBEX) is an optional
application layer protocol that
• supports IR communication to exchange a wide variety of data.

 Content formats vCard and vCalendar are transferred by OBEX.

 WAP: WAP is a wireless protocol specification that works across a wide area
wireless network technology. Bluetooth, which can be used to provide a
bearer for transporting data WAP client and server, can be used with regard to
WAP. The temporary networking capability of Bluetooth gives unique
possibilities for a WAP client.

2.2 Advantages of Bluetooth technology

 Wireless (no cables)
 No set-up needed
 Low power consumption (1-100 mW)
 It can pass through walls within the range
 Devices can be mobile
 Industry-wide support
 Easier to synchronize owing to it being omnidirectional and no line-of-sight
(LOS) requirement
•
2.3 Disadvantages of Bluetooth technology
 Short-range wireless radio technology- operating over a range of 10 m
 Small throughput rates - data rate up to 1.0 Mbps
 Mostly for personal use
 Fairly expensive
 3. Personal Area networks (PAN}
• PAN represents the interconnection of information technology devices
within the range of an individual person typically within 10m
• This like a person while travelling with a laptop, Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA) and a portable printer could interconnect them without
having to plug in anything or by using some form of wireless technology.
• This kind of PAN also could be interconnected without wires to the Internet.
• The basic difference between PAN and WAN is that PAN is centred around
one person while the latter serves multiple users.
• The PANs can be constructed with cables or wireless USB
• Firewire technology links together a wired PAN
• Wireless PAN uses Bluetooth or Infrared connections.
Bluetooth is wireless PAN which uses the IEEE 802.15 standard.

4. Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

(WIMAX)
•
(i) Overview of WIMAX Technologies
 WiMAX stands for Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access.
 WiMax handle a larger inter-operable network.
 WiMax can be used to provide internet services such as mobile data and WiFi
spots.
 This technology enables universal delivery of wireless broadband service for
fixed mobile users.
 The technology is based on the IEEE 802.16a standard and uses OFDMA
 Also known as wireless metropolitan area networks {WMANs)
• Reason: This technology provides broadband wireless connectivity across

a large geographical area such as a metro city.

 The IEEE 802.16 defines the WMAN technology that is branded as WiMAX.
 The 802.16 includes two sets
of standards:
 802.16d for fixed WiMAX
and 802.16e for mobile
WiMAX.
 WiMAX also offers an alternative to satellite Internet services for rural
areas and allows mobility of the customer equipment.
 Mobile WiMAX
• It is based on the IEEE 802.lGe standard which provides mobility and
roaming access.
 • The IEEE 802.16e standard uses orthogonal frequency division multiple
access (OFDMA} as air interface and Its main aim is to give better
performance in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments.
• Here, the spectrum is divided into many sub-carriers

• Gives better performance in non-line-of-sight(NLOS)

environments. Each sub-carrier then uses QPSK or
QAM for modulation.
 WiMAX eliminates the constraints of Wi-Fi.
 Unlike Wi-Fi, WiMAX is intended to work outdoors over long distances.
 WiMAX is a more complex technology and has to handle issues of
importance such as QOS guarantee, carrier-class reliability, and NLOS.
 WiMAX is not intended to replace Wi-Fi. Instead, the two technologies
complement each other.
•
• Note: OFDMA: Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is a
multi-user version of the popular orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)
digital modulation scheme. Multiple access is achieved in OFDMA by assigning
subsets of subcarriers to individual users. means Industrial, Scientific and Medical
frequency band

•
 WiMax uses licensed or unlicensed spectrum to deliver connection to network.
 WiMAX offer 70Mbps
 The original 802.16a standard specified transmissions in the range 10 - 66 GHz.
 but 802.16d allowed lower frequencies in the range 2 to 11 GHz.
 Different bands are available for WiMAX applications in different parts of the
world.
 The frequencies commonly used are 3.5 and 5.8 GHz for 802.16d and
• 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5 GHz for 802.16e.
•
4.1 WIMAX architecture
 The network reference model envisions a unified network architecture to
support fixed, nomadic, and mobile WiMAX network.
It is based on an IP service model.
1) Mobile station (MS)
It is for the end user to access the mobile network.
It is a portable station that is able to move to wide areas and perform
data and voice communication.
MS are mobile stations which are consumer's smartphones, tablets, PC.
GSM, frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple
access (TDMA), CDMA, and W-CDMA devices are the examples of MS.
2) Access service network {ASN)
It is owned by NAP (Network Service Provider)
It Includes
o Base Stations(BS): To provide interface to mobile stations
o ASN Gateway (GW) is an aggregation traffic layer and form

the radio access network.

It provides all the access services with full mobility and efficient
scalability.
ASN-Gateway controls the access in the network and coordinates
between data and networking elements.
3) Connectivity service network (CSN)
CSN provides set of functions related to network offering IP services for
connectivity to WiMAX clients.
CSN provides connection with the internet, ASP, private and public
networks.
Additional functions of CSN are:
o CSN provides per user policy management
o Ensures QoS (Quality of Service) and security
o Support for roaming between different NSPs
o Location management between ASNs
o Mobility and roaming between ASNs.
AAA means Authentication, Authorization and Accounting server; used
to services which demand subscription
PSTN is public telephone network,
OSS/BSS are operation system support and business operation system
 3G PP/3G PP2 are third generation standard
MIP-HA
o It is Mobile IP Home Agent which is a router to keep information

about the device's location.

o It serves as an anchor point for subscribers, providing secure

roaming with QOS capabilities.

4.2 WIMAX spectrum allocation

• The IEEE 802.16 WiMAX standard allows data transmission using
multiple wireless broadband frequency ranges.
• The original 802.16a standard specified transmissions in the range 10 - 66 GHz,
• but 802.16d allowed lower frequencies in the range 2 to 11 GHz.
• The lower frequencies used in the later specifications means that the
signals suffer less from attenuation and therefore they provide improved
range and better coverage within buildings.
• This brings many benefits to those using these data links within buildings
and means that external antennas are not required.
Different bands are available for WiMAX applications in different parts of the
world.
The frequencies commonly used are
o 3.5 and 5.8 GHz for 802.16d and 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5 GHz for 802.16e but
the use depends upon the countries

4.3 Advantages of WIMAX

• Multi-functionality: WiMAX Technology perform a variety of task at a time
such as offering high speed internet, providing telephone service,
transformation of data, video streaming, voice application etc.
• It supports very high-speed voice and data transfer over longer distances.
• Single WIMAX BS serves hundreds of users.
• It is considered to be cheaper alternative to broadband wired
technologies viz. ADSL, Cable modem etc.
• Much faster deployment of the new user as compared to wired networks
• Higher speed can be achieved.
• Higher coverage range and cellular like performance are achieved with mobile
WIMAX.
• It works on an unlicensed frequency spectrum
• Cellular like performance is achieved with mobile WiMAX

4.4 Disadvantages of WIMAX

• LOS (Line of Sight) connection is needed for subscribers located at the far
distant from the WiMAX BS.
 • Bad weather conditions such as rain will interrupt the WIMAX signal and
often cause loss of connection.
• Wimax is power consuming technology and requires significant electrical
support.
• High initial cost is needed as it is not backward compatible with any of the
wireless cellular technologies. Fresh WIMAX BS and towers are required to
be installed. This leads to higher initial costs and higher operational costs due
to skilled man power requirements.
• As WiMAX offer 70Mbps in range with moving station but in practice it is
quite different because it is possible only in specify or ideal circumstances. If
a user staying away from the specified environment then speed can drop
considerably.
• Lack of Quality: The WiMAX network has lack of quality service because
there are hundreds of people trying to get access at the same tower so due to
heavy traffic it is very hard to maintain high quality.

Note: Wi-Fi vs WiMAX {Not mentioned directly in Sylfabus)

WIFI WIMAX

Wifi is defined under IEEE 802.llx standards WiMax is defined under IEEE
802.16x standards where x stands for various WiFi versions. where x stands for various
WiMax versions.

WiFi is for LAN (Local Area Network) WiMax is for MAN (Metropolitan
Area Network) applications. applications.

WiFi does not guarantee any Quality of Service WiMax guarantee Quality of
Service (QoS). (QoS).

WiFi network range is around 100 meters. WiMax network can reach about 50-90 km.

WiFi MAC layer uses CSMA/CA protocol which is WiMax is connection oriented
in nature. not connection oriented.

WiFi is short range technology. WiMax is long range technology.

WiFi connection can transmit upto 54 mbps. WiMax connection can transmit upto 70 mbps.