WLAN-Wireless LAN

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)

A wireless LAN uses wireless transmission medium. It
transmitsreceives data over electromagnetic waves using radio
frequency (RF).
•As a cable replacement

•Motivating factors:
Mobility
Rapid deployment
Rapid reconfiguration
Small device

• Popularity of wireless LANs has grown rapidly

• WLAN is a high-speed data networking technology that is
being widely deployed in residential network, enterprises, and
public areas around the world.
• The WLAN ranges approximately 100 meters and is often
used in building and on campuses.
 Advantages of WLAN
• Flexibility: Radio waves can penetrate walls, sender
and receivers can be placed anywhere.
• Planning: Allow for communication without
previous planning
• Design: Wireless networks allow for the design of
small, independent devices which can for example be
put into a pocket. Cables not only restrict users
• Robustness: Wireless network can survive disaster
e.g., earthquakes or users pulling a plug.
• Cost: After providing wireless access to the
infrastructure, adding additional users to a wireless
network will not increase the cost.
 Disadvantages of WLAN

• Quality of Service: WLANs typically offer lower

quality than their wired counterparts. The main reasons
for this are the lower bandwidth due to limitation in
radio transmission, higher rates due to interference.
• Restrictions: Several government and non-government
institutions world wide regulate the operation and
restrict frequencies to minimize interference.
• Safety and Security: Using radio waves for data
transmission might interfere with other high-tech
equipment in e.g. hospitals. The open radio interface
makes eavesdropping much easier in WLANs
Types of Transmission Technologies
Today two different basic transmission
technologies can be sued to set up WLANs.
1.Infra red light
Advantages: simple, cheap, available in many
mobile devices, no licenses needed,Electrical
devices do not interfere simple shielding possible

Disadvantage: Low bandwidth,cannot penetrate

walls.
2. Radio Transmission:
Advantages: experience from wireless WLAN and mobile
phones can be used, coverage of larger areas possible (radio
can penetrate walls, furniture etc.).

Disadvantage:
Interferes with other devices, can use only limited frequency.
 Comparison: infrared vs. radio transmission

Infrared Radio
uses IR diodes, diffuse light, multiple typicallyusing the license free ISM
reflections (walls, furniture etc.) band at 2.4 GHz
Advantages Advantages
simple, cheap, available in many experience from wireless WAN and
mobile devices mobile phones can be used
no licenses needed coverage of larger areas possible
simple shielding possible (radio can penetrate walls, furniture
etc.)
Disadvantages
interference by sunlight, heat sources
Disadvantages
etc. limited license free frequency bands
many things shield or absorb IR light shielding more difficult, electrical

low bandwidth interference

Example Example
Many different products
IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
interface available everywhere
 Characteristics of wireless LANs

Advantages
very flexible within reception area
Ad-hoc networks do not need planning
(almost) no wiring difficulties (e.g. historic buildings, firewalls)
qmore robust against disasters like, e.g., earthquakes, fire
Disadvantages
low bandwidth compared to wired networks (1-10 Mbit/s)
many proprietary solutions, especially for higher bit-rates,
standards take
their time (e.g. IEEE 802.11)
many national restrictions for wireless, long time to establish
global solutions like, e.g., IMT-2000
 Design goals for wireless LANs
-global, seamless operation
-low power for battery use
-no special permissions or licenses needed to use the LAN
-robust transmission technology
-simplified spontaneous cooperation at meetings
-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, but also location awareness if necessary
 
 
 Types of Wireless LAN
• Wireless works in two different
modes:
1. Infrastructure
2. Ad-hoc Network:
 Comparison: infrastructure vs. ad-hoc networks

infrastructure
network
AP: Access Point
AP

AP wired network
AP

ad-hoc network
• Typical wireless network: Based on infrastructure.
• Base stations connected to a wired backbone
network.
• Mobile entities communicate wirelessly to
these base stations.

Construct a network without infrastructure, using networking abilities

of the participants
• This is an ad hoc network – a network constructed “for a special
purpose”
• Simplest example: Laptops in a conference room – a single-hop ad hoc
network.
• Typical wireless network: Based
on infrastructure.
• Base stations connected to
a wired backbone network.
• Mobile entities communicate
wirelessly to these base stations.
•Nodes within an ad-hoc network can only
communicate if they can reach each other physically.
•In ad-hoc networks, the complexity is higher because
everY node has to implement medium access
mechanisms, mechanisms to handle hidden or exposed
terminal problems
• Without a central infrastructure, things become
much more difficult
• Problems are due to
1.Lack of central entity for
organization available
2.Limited range of wireless communication
3.Mobility of participants
4.Battery-operated entities
 Elements of Wireless
•
WLAN formation is formedLAN
Every WiFi network consists of these four basic elements. The
from the following parts.
1. Access point – AP: It is wireless gateway and bridge
between wireless networks and wired networks. AP enables
that all connected WiFi devices can exchange information
with the wired network.
2. Wireless Medium: The wireless medium is the radio
frequency (RF) signals that serve for exchanging frames
among stations and wired backbone. There are five types of
wireless medium or five generations of the WiFi, defined by
the 802.11 standard
3. Distribution System – DS: The distribution system has
two
functions:• Connecting access point to the backbone – usually
internet.• Connects two different access points over a wired
network.
4. Stations – Wireless Clients: The stations or wireless clients
are all the devices that support WiFi connection. Together
with access point they are the most important elements of the
WLAN formation.
IEEE 802
 802.11 - Architecture of an infrastructure network

Station (STA)
802.11 LAN terminal
802.x LAN with access mechanisms to
the wireless medium and radio contact
to the access point
STA1 Basic Service Set (BSS)
BSS1
group of stations using the same
Access Portal
radio frequency
Point
Access Point
Distribution System station integrated into the wireless
Access LAN and the distribution system
ESS Point Portal
bridge to other (wired) networks
BSS2
Distribution System
interconnection network to form one
logical network (EES: Extended
STA2 STA3 Service Set) based on several BSS
802.11 LAN
• WLAN is based on cellular architecture
• Each cell/Basic Service Set (BSS) is controlled by a base
station/Access Point (AP).
• The stations and the AP which are within the same radio
coverage form a basic service set (BSS).
• Access Points are connected with backbone called
Distribution System (DS).
• The whole interconnected WLAN through DS form
Extended Service Set (ESS). An extended service set (ESS) is
made up of two or more BSSs with APs – connected through a
distribution system
• Mobile Station (MS) in BSS with no connection to other BSSs
form Independent BSS (IBSS). IBSS is typically an ad
hoc network, where station communicate directly.
 802.11 - Architecture of an
ad-hoc network
802.11 LAN
Direct communication within a limited
range
 Station (STA):
terminal with access mechanisms to
the wireless medium
STA1
 Independent Basic Service Set
IBSS1 STA3
(IBSS):
group of stations using the same radio
frequency
STA2

IBSS2

STA5

STA4 802.11 LAN

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jochen Schiller, http://www.jochenschiller.de/

MC SS05 7.21
 IEEE standard
802.11 fixed
terminal
mobile terminal

infrastructure
network

access point
application application
TCP TCP
IP IP
LLC LLC LLC
802.11 MAC 802.11 MAC 802.3 MAC 802.3 MAC
802.11 PHY 802.11 PHY 802.3 PHY 802.3 PHY

7.22
 802.11 - Layers and functions
MAC PLCP Physical Layer
access mechanisms, fragmentation,
Convergence Protocol
clear channel assessment signal
encryption
(carrier sense)
MAC Management
synchronization, roaming, MIB,
PMD Physical Medium Dependent
modulation, coding
power management
PHY Management
channel selection, MIB
Station Management
coordination of all management
functions
 IEEE 802 Extensions to the OSI
Reference Model
• IEEE 802 is a committee that has developed standards for
a wide range of local area networks (LANs)
Physical layer:-
•Encoding/decoding of signals
•Preamble generation/removal
(for synchronization)
•Bit transmission/reception
• Break the Data Link layer into two sublayers:
1.Logical Link Control (LLC) sublayer :
2.Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer
The data link provides data transfer across the physical link. That
transfer can be reliable or unreliable;
Logical Link Control(LLC):
The LLC provides addressing and control of the data link. It specifies
which mechanisms are to be used for addressing stations over the
transmission medium and for controlling the data exchanged
between the originator and recipient machines.
• Assemble data into a frame with address and error-detection fields
• Disassemble frame and perform address recognition and error
detection
• Govern access to the LAN transmission medium
• Interface to higher levels and performs flow and error control
LLC Services:
•unacknowledged connectionless service: no flow
or error mechanisms, data delivery not
guaranteed . ex: sensor networks
•connection-mode service: include flow and error
control ex: very simple devices
•acknowledged connectionless service: datagrams
are acknowledged but no previous logical
connection is established ex: automated
factory including a central entity communicating
with various devices
Medium Access Control:
•MAC may refer to the sublayer that determines who is allowed to access
the media at any one time
•it refers to a frame structure delivered based on MAC addresses inside.
•The Media Access Control sublayer also determines where one frame of
data ends and the next one starts – frame synchronization.
•LLC frames data in a PDU (protocol data unit)
•The MAC layer receives a block of data from the LLC layer
•MAC layer frames data again
1.MAC control (e.g. priority level)
2.Destination MAC address
3.Source MAC address
4.LLC PDU
5.CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check)
IEEE 802.11
 IEEE 802.11
• WLAN: Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11)
• IEEE 802.11 is the collection of standards setup for wireless
networking.
• The three popular standards: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and
latest one is 802.11n.
• Each standard uses a frequency to connect to the network
• EEE 802.11a (1999) –operates in the 5-GHz band at up to 54 Mbps
• IEEE 802.11b (1999) –operates in the 2.4-Ghz band at 5.5 and 11
Mbps.
• IEEE 802.g (2002) - operates in the 2.4-Ghz band and 54 Mbps
• IEEE 802.n –operates in the 2.4-Ghz band and hundreds of Mbps
IEEE 802.11 System
architecture
• A BSS without an AP is called an ad hoc
network;
• A BSS with an AP is called an infrastructure
network.
• WLAN is based on cellular architecture
• Each cell/Basic Service Set (BSS) is controlled by a
base station/Access Point (AP).
• Access Points are connected with backbone
called Distribution System (DS).
• The whole interconnected WLAN through DS
form Extended Service Set (ESS). An extended
service set (ESS) is made up of two or more BSSs
with APs – connected through a distribution
system
• Mobile Station (MS) in BSS with no connection to
other BSSs form Independent BSS (IBSS). IBSS
is typically an ad hoc network, where station
communicate directly.
An extended service set
 IEEE 802.11
SERVICES
Services are divided into two sections
•Station Services (SS)
•Distribution System Services (DSS)
There are five services provided by the DSS
1.Association
2.Reassociation
3.Disassociation
4.Distribution
5.Integration
• Association: Establishes an initial association between a station
and an AP. Association supports no-transition mobility.
• Reassociation: This service allows the station to switch its
association from one AP to another(mobility).
• Disassociation is when the association between the station and the
AP is terminated.
• Distribution & Integration: Distribution is simply getting the
data from the sender to the intended receiver. The message is sent
to the local AP (input AP), then distributed through the DS to the
AP (output AP) that the recipient is associated with. If the sender
and receiver are in the same BSS, the input and out AP's are the
same. So the distribution service is logically invoked whether the
data is going through the DS or not. Integration is when the output
AP is a portal.
Station services (SS)are:
•Authentication: Authentication Establishes the
identity of stations. However, IEEE 802.11
requires mutually acceptable, successful
authentication before association.
•Deauthentication: De-authentication Invoked to
terminate existing authentication
•Privacy : Privacy Standard provides optional
use of encryption to assure privacy
•MAC Service Data Unit (MSDU) Delivery: Delivers
data to the recepient
IEEE 802.11 protocol
architecture
 1. Physical layer
Functions:
•Includes such functions as encoding/decoding of signals and bit
transmission/reception
•Includes a specification of the transmission medium
•Defines frequency bands and antenna characteristics

Three physical layer specifications:

• Direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) operating in the 2.4
GHz ISM band, at data rates of 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps
•Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) operating in the 2.4 GHz
ISM band, at data rates of 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps
•Infrared at 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps operating at a wavelength between
850 and 950 nm
Physical layer divided into two sublayers:
1.Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer:
• Makes up standards for characteristics of wireless
medium (such as DSSS or FHSS)
• Defines method for transmitting and receiving data
2. Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP)
sublayer:
• Reformats data received from MAC layer into frame
that PMD sublayer can transmit
• “Listens” to determine when data can be sent
 2. MAC layer
Functions :
•On transmission, assemble data into a frame, known as a MAC
protocol data unit (MPDU) with address and error-detection fields.
•On reception, disassemble frame, and perform address recognition
and error detection
•Govern access to the LAN transmission medium

•DCF and PCF medium access types defined in IEEE 802.11 WLAN
standard.
•DCF stands for distributed coordination function and PCF stands for
Point coordination function.
•Distributed Coordination Function ( DCF) based on CSMA/CA
• Point Coordination Function (PCF) based on poll-and-response
mechanism.
DCF(distributed coordination
function )
 DCF(distributed coordination
function )
• The DCF is used in BSS having no access point.
• DCF employs a CSMA/CA protocol for
transmission.
• CSMA/CA refers to Carrier Sense Multiple
Access with Collision Avoidance.
• The carrier sense refers to sensing of the
medium by the station to know whether the
medium is occupied by some other station or
it is free to transmit.
• The following steps are followed in this method.
1. When a station wants to transmit, it senses the channel to see
whether it is free or not.
2. If the channel is not free the station waits for back off time.
3. If the station finds a channel to be idle, the station waits for a period
of time called distributed interframe space (DIFS).
4. The station then sends control frame called request to send (RTS) as
shown in figure.
5. The destination station receives the frame and waits for a short period of
time called short interframe space (SIFS).
6. The destination station then sends a control frame called clear to
send (CTS) to the source station. This frame indicates that the
destination station is ready to receive data.
7. The sender then waits for SIFS time and sends data.
8. The destination waits for SIFS time and sends acknowledgement for
the received frame.
• Collision avoidance
• 802.11 standard uses Network Allocation Vector (NAV) for collision
avoidance.
• The procedure used in NAV is explained below:
1. Whenever a station sends an RTS frame, it includes the duration of
time for which the station will occupy the channel.
2. All other stations that are affected by the transmission creates a
timer caned network allocation vector (NAV).
3. This NAV (created by other stations) specifies for how much time
these stations must not check the channel.
4. Each station before sensing the channel, check its NAV to see if has
expired or not.
5. If its NA V has expired, the station can send data, otherwise it has
to wait.
• There can also be a collision during
handshaking i.e. when RTS or CTS control frames
are exchanged between the sender and
receiver. In this case following procedure is
used for collision avoidance:
1. When two or more stations send RTS to a
station at same time, their control frames
collide.
2. If CTS frame is not received by the sender, it
assumes that there has been a collision.
3. In such a case sender, waits for back off time
and retransmits RTS.
CSMA/CA with Back off
CSMA/CA OPERATION – EXAMPLE 1
CSMA/CA OPERATION – EXAMPLE 2
CSMA/CA OPERATION – EXAMPLE 2
PCF (Point coordination function)
 PCF
• PCF in IEEE 802.11 is based on a polling
scheme. This polling scheme should be either
a simple round robin method or priority-based
scheme.
• In this Access point is used to control the
network activity.
• The station sends an associate request to join the polling list of
AP(acess point).
• Once the AP forms the polling list, then it sends a beacon frame with
CF(contention Free) period and beacon interval to all stations in the
BSA(Basic service area). Beacon frame is transmitted by the
AP(Access Point) . Hence in order for stations to receive beacon frame
they should be nearer to AP.
• The AP sends CF-Poll frame to the first station on the list.
• If there is no response from that station within PIFS timeframe, then
the AP switches to the next station, and continues until it reaches the
end of the list.
• If there is traffic after the PIFS time frame, then the AP polls to next
station after the completion of data transfer.
• A station receives a poll from the AP, then the station transfers the
data to the destination if there is one or idle.
• If a station receives CF-End from AP, then it sets the NAV = 0 and
waits for a poll from AP.
 3. Logical Link Control
•
Responsible not only for detecting errors using
the CRC
•Recovering errors by retransmitting damaged
frames