Wireless Basic Principle

WLAN Signal Transmission

WLAN signals are transmitted in two ways:

o Radiation
o Conduction

Radiation Conduction
 Band & Channel

Wired channels are based on cables and WLAN wireless channels can be seen as RF.

Channels use wireless RF signals as medium to transfer signals.

Modulation Demodulation

Radio Radio
Signal
transmissio Channel/Media receiving Signal host
source
n device device

Signal source (sending) > channel > signal host (receiving)

Band & Channel

Bands refer to a certain range of frequencies.

APs use 2.4 and 5.8 GHz. Here 2.4 and 5.8 GHz refer
to the 2.4 and 5.8 GHz bands. The 2.4 GHz band refers
Band to the frequencies in the range of 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz. A
band includes multiple channels.

A signal of an AP uses a specific channel of a band.

If an AP uses the 2.4 GHz band, it uses the frequencies in

the range of 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz.
Channel 14 channels are available in this band. The center
frequency of each channel is 5 MHz apart from each other,
and the bandwidth of each channel is 22 MHz.
 Wireless Bandwidth

Bandwidth: refers to the data volume that can be transferred within a specified time period. That is,
the capability of a channel to transfer data, which is often measured in hertz (Hz).

Band: each band has a specified bandwidth, which is the width of all the available frequencies.
Example:
o Channels for cell phones have a bandwidth of 20 kHz while more complicated TV signals need a 6-MHz bandwidth. Radio
spectra are strictly controlled by governmental authorities and granted as a license.

Channel: a metaphor for the link between the signal transmitter and receiver in wireless
communications. In fact, no physical connection exists between the transmitter and receiver of radio
waves which may have multiple transmission paths.

Generally, WLANs use the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. The bandwidth of each channel is 20 MHz and there
is a 5-MHz margin between the two channels.

Wireless devices can use only specific frequency bands.

Electromagnetic Wave Frequency Distribution

AM broadcast FM broadcast Cellular phone

Very Super Infrared Visible Ultraviolet

Ultra low Very low Low Medium High Ultra high X-ray
high high ray light ray

Audio Short-wave radio TV signal IrDA

communication

2.4 to 2.4835 GHz

5 GHz
83.5 MHz
(IEEE 802.11a)
(IEEE 802.11b/g/n)
Channel Reuse in the 2.4 GHz Band

APs use 20 or 40 MHz bandwidth. That is, the APs occupy 20 or 40 MHz bandwidth when transferring data.

The 2.4 GHz band contains 13 channels which overlap adjacent channels. Therefore, WLANs in the same area
often use channel 1, 6, and 11 to ensure that APs do not interfere with each other.

As shown in the figure below, the bandwidth of channel 1, 6, and 11 is 20 MHz. If the bandwidth is extended to 40
MHz, only two channels are available for non-interfering communication between APs.

2.417 2.427 2.437 2.447 2.457 2.467

5 10
4 9 14
3 8 13
2 7 12
1 6 11 Frequency (GHz)

2.412 2.422 2.432 2.442 2.452 2.462 2.472 2.484

Governments-granted 2.4 GHz Band

The U.S./
Channel Frequency (GHz) Europe China Japan
Canada
1 2.412 √ √ √ √
2 2.417 √ √ √ √
3 2.422 √ √ √ √
4 2.427 √ √ √ √
5 2.432 √ √ √ √
6 2.437 √ √ √ √
7 2.442 √ √ √ √
8 2.447 √ √ √ √
9 2.452 √ √ √ √
10 2.457 √ √ √ √
11 2.462 √ √ √ √
12 2.467 √ √ √
13 2.472 √ √ √
14 2.484 √
Channel Division in the 5.8 GHz Band (China)

WLAN devices use the 5.8 GHz band containing the frequencies in the range of 5.725 to 5.850 GHz.

The available bandwidth of the 5.8 GHz band is 125 MHz (5,725 to 5,850 MHz). There are 25
channels in the band with each channel occupying 5 MHz. Five of the 25 channels do not overlap
other channels, as shown in the figure below.

Channel Center Frequency (MHz) High/Low Frequency (MHz)

149 5745 5735/5755

153 5765 5755/5775

157 5785 5775/5795

161 5805 5795/5815

165 5825 5715/5835

 2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz

Advantages of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi

o 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi uses the 2.4 GHz band and has better signals compared with 5 GHz Wi-Fi. A basic physical feature of electromagnetic
waves: The longer the wavelength, the less the attenuation. 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi has relatively low frequencies and longer wavelengths.
Therefore, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi signals attenuate less than 5 GHz Wi-Fi when penetrating obstacles, and therefore can travel longer distances.

Disadvantages of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi

o 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi has a relatively narrow bandwidth and is mainly used by home appliances and wireless devices. It has a high interference
due to a large number of devices using the band.

Advantages of 5 GHz Wi-Fi

o 5 GHz Wi-Fi has greater bandwidth. It features stable connectivity and little interference because of the small number of devices using the
band. It also supports higher wireless connection speed. Example: IEEE 802.11ac

Disadvantages of 5 GHz Wi-Fi

o 5 GHz Wi-Fi signals have high frequencies that attenuate significantly in the air and when penetrating obstacles. Generally, 5 GHz signals
cover a smaller area than 2.4 GHz signals. 5 GHz signals have poor capability in penetrating walls and attenuate greater than 2.4 GHz
signals. 5 GHz Wi-Fi is suitable for small indoor WLANs and outdoor wireless bridges with no worries for WLAN accesses by unknown
sources.
 WLAN Communication Mode

Station
o PCs, PDAs, or Wi-Fi mobile phones with wireless network interface cards (NICs) installed

Transmission medium
o Air

Wireless access point (AP)

o WLAN signal access device
AP
Distributed system Station

o Communication system used to connect APs and other network devices

Distributed
system
 SSID

Service set identifier (SSID): An SSID identifies an available WLAN. All devices in the same basic
service set (BSS) use the same SSID to communicate with each other. APs broadcast SSIDs, and the
scanning function of a client can be used to view the SSID of the current area.

AP

STA
SSID ＝ office
STA

STA
 BSSID

A BSS contains STAs that communicate with each other.

BSSID: identifies a BSS, is represented using the MAC address of the AP, and cannot be modified. In an AP, BSSIDs have a one-
to-one mapping relationship with SSIDs.
ESS: In an extended service set (ESS), APs have the same SSID but different BSSIDs. If an AP supports multiple SSIDs
simultaneously, different BSSIDs are assigned for the AP to map these SSIDs.
If an STA moves out of the coverage of a BSS, the STA can no longer communicate with other STAs in the BSS. Roaming is not
supported.

BSS1 BSS2

AP AP

SSID SSID SSID SSID

SSID SSID

00d0f81187 X 00d0f8A21C
 ESSID

Multiple BSSs form an ESS. STAs in an ESS can communicate with each other.
ESSID: identifies an ESS, which can be manually modified. BSSs with the same SSID can be connected to form a large virtual BSS.
If an STA moves out of the coverage of an ESS, the STA can still communicate with other STAs in the BSS. Roaming is supported.
ESSID identifies the same network as the SSID does.

ESS0
BSS1
BSS2
AP
AP
SSID SSID
SSID SSID

SSID
SSID
Student
Student
Interaction Process Between an AP and a STA

STA-1 AP

Scanning

Authentication

STA-2
Association

① RTS

② CTS ② CTS

③ Frame

④ ACK
WLAN Access Process: Three Phases

Scanning

Authentication

Association
Step 1: Scanning

STA AP

Step 2: Authentication

Step 3: Association

Step 4: Data sending/receiving