Wireless LAN (WLAN)

Advantages and Disadvantages of WLAN:

1. Advantages:
2. Disadvantages:
General Architecture of WLAN:
Infrastructure-based WLAN

Here communication typically takes place only between the wireless nodes and Aps, but not directly
between the wireless nodes. The AP does not only control medium access, but also works as a bridge
to the other wireless or wired networks.

Ad-hoc WLAN

Ad-hoc WLAN does not need any infrastructure or AP to control medium access, instead each node
can communicate directly with other wireless nodes.

Note:
The two basic variants of WLAN viz. the infrastructure-based and ad-hoc, does not always come in
their pure form. There are WLANS (e.g. IEEE 802.11) that rely on access points and infrastructure for
basic services, but that also allow for direct communication between the wireless nodes.
Architecture of IEEE 802.11
Architecture of Bluetooth:
1. Piconet
2. Scatternet:
The Bluetooth Protocol Stack:

The protocol architecture stack of Bluetooth consists of the following:

• Core Protocols − This includes Bluetooth Radio, Baseband, Link Manager Protocol (LMP), Logical
Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP), and Service Discovery Protocol (SDP).
• Cable Replacement Protocol − This includes only a single protocol viz. the Radio Frequency
Communication (RFCOMM).
• Telephony Control Protocol − This includes the Telephone Control Specification – binary (TCS-
BIN) protocol.
• Adopted Protocols − These are the protocols that are adopted from standard models. The
commonly adopted protocols used in Bluetooth are Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Internet
Protocol (IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), OBEX (Object Exchange Protocol), vCard, vCalendar
etc..
Functions of the Core Protocols:

1. Radio: It specifies the details of the air interface, including frequency band, frequency hopping
pattern, modulation technique and transmit power. It defines two types of physical links:
asynchronous connectionless and synchronous connection-oriented.

2. Baseband: It defines the technique of connection establishment within a piconet, addressing,

packet format, timing and power control algorithms.

3. Link Manager Protocol (LMP): It is responsible for establishing link between Bluetooth devices
as well as maintaining the link between them. This protocol also includes specification for
authentication, pairing and encryption, synchronization, negotiation of packet sizes between devices
etc..

4. Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP): It provides specification for adaption
of upper layer frames to baseband layer frame format. L2CAP provides support for both connection-
oriented and connectionless services.

5. Service Discovery Protocol (SDP): SDP takes care of device discovery in close proximity plus
discovery of services available on another Bluetooth-enabled device.

Functions of the Cable Replacement Protocol:

RFCOMM: Serial ports are popular to provide serial communication between devices. Bluetooth uses
RFCOMM on top of L2CAP, which emulates a serial line interface following the RS-232 standards. This
allows for a simple replacement of serial line cables and enables many legacy applications and
protocols to run over Bluetooth. RFCOMM functions as virtual serial port and does transport of binary
digital data bits. It supports multiple serial ports over a single physical channel.

Functions of Telephony Control Protocol:

Telephone Control Specification – binary (TCS-BIN): This defines a bit-oriented protocol that
specifies call control signalling for establishing speech and data calls between Bluetooth devices. It
also describes mobility and group management procedures.

Functions of the Adopted Protocols:

Q) Describe briefly the utility/application of Bluetooth technology.