What is a wireless LAN?

Wireless LAN (WLAN) - provides all the

features and benefits of traditional LAN
technologies such as Ethernet and Token Ring,
but without the limitations of wires or cables.
How WLAN work
WLAN, like a LAN, requires a physical medium
to transmit signals.
Instead of using UTP, WLANs use:
Infrared light (IR)
802.11 does include an IR specification
limitations, easily blocked, no real 802.11
products (IrDA)
Radio frequencies (RFs)
Can penetrate most office obstructions
Why Wireless?
Infrared light
Three types of radio transmission within the unlicensed
2.4-GHz frequency bands:
Frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) 802.11b
(not used)
Direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) 802.11b
Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)
802.11g
One type of radio transmission within the unlicensed 5-
GHz frequency bands:
Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)
802.11a
802.11 PHY (Physical Layer) Technologies
5
Wireless LAN Market
Implications
Over the last decade, the networking and
wireless communities expected each year to
become the year of the WLAN.
Implications (Cont)
WLAN technology had some false starts in the
1990s, for a variety of reasons. Immature
technology, security concerns, and slow
connectivity speeds kept WLAN technology
from becoming a viable alternative to wired
LANs.
WLAN growth and applications
Dont know the source of this and there is considerable
debate whether 802.11a will win out over 802.11b/g
Momentum is Building in Wireless LANs
Wireless LANs are an addictive technology
Strong commitment to Wireless LANs by
technology heavy-weights
Cisco, IBM, Intel, Microsoft
Embedded market is growing
Laptop PCs with wireless inside
PDAs are next
Momentum is Building in Wireless LANs (Cont)
The WLAN market is expanding from Industry-
Specific Applications, to Universities, Homes, &
Offices
Professional installers and technicians will be in
demand
Wireless LANs Are Taking Off
$1.7
$2.6
$3.3
$6.0
$9.0
$10.3
$0.0
$1.0
$2.0
$3.0
$4.0
$5.0
$6.0
$7.0
$8.0
$9.0
$10.0
$11.0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
($ Billions)
Source: Forward Concepts, 2003
Worldwide WLAN Market
*includes embedded clients, add-on client
cards, & infrastructure equipment for both
the business and consumer segments
CAGR = 43%
Wireless LANs Are Taking Off (Cont)
Future Growth Due To:
Standards
High Bandwidth Needs
Low Cost
Embedded in Laptops
Variety of Devices
Voice + Data
Multiple Applications
Security Issues Solved
Ease of Deployment
Network Mgmt. Tools
Enterprise Adoption
CWNA
IEEE 802.3 VS IEEE 802.11 ..
FCC
Wi Fi Alliance
Introduction to Wireless LANS
The Wireless LAN market
History of Wireless LANs
The first Wireless Data Network was ALOHAnet,
developed at the university of Hawaii to link sites on
different islands.
Mid-to-Late 90s: 802.11 & Home RF
Late 1990s:
IEEE ratified 802.11b
Wi-Fi Alliance: Formed to certify interoperability of
WLAN products based on IEEE 802.11
specification
Cisco Systems: Acquired Aironet, a maker of
802.11 products
Introduction to Wireless LANS (Cont)
WLAN uses Radio Frequencies
FCC Regulates WLAN devices use of the RF spectrum
IEEE 802.11 The original WLAN standard
Ratified in 1997
1 & 2 Mbps data transfer rates
2.4 GHz FHSS & DSSS
Infrared Transmission
Introduction to Wireless LANS (Cont)
IEEE 802.11b 802.11 Modified
2.4 GHz DSSS
11 Mbps
Widely Promoted as Wi-Fi by the Wi-Fi Alliance
Ratified by IEEE in 1999 as an amendment to
original IEEE 802.11 standard
Introduction to Wireless LANS (Cont)
IEEE 802.11a Lack of compatibility with
802.11b
5 GHz UNII frequency bands
Ratified by IEEE in 1999 as an amendment to
original IEEE 802.11 standard
Introduction to Wireless LANS (Cont)
IEEE 802.11g Backward compatible to
802.11b
It was ratified by IEEE in June, 2003
2.4 GHz DSSS
WLAN organizations and Standards
FCC
Independent US Government Agency
Established by Communications Act 1934 and is
charged with regulating interstate and international
communications by radio, television, wire, satellite,
and cable.
FCC create regulations within which WLAN devices
must operate.
FCC mandates where on the RF spectrum WLANs can
operate, at what power, using which transmission
technologies
The website for FCC is www.fcc.gov
FCC (Cont)
Licence-free Bands
WLANs Can use ISM bands
No Requirement for FCC system certificate for
end-users however manufacturer would have
applied for a certificate for the system before
selling.
FCC (Cont)
ISM bands are centered at
915 MHz (902 928 MHz)
2.4 GHz (2.4000 2.4835 GHz)
5.8 GHz (5.725 5.875 GHz)
802.11 series of standards do not currently
use the 915 MHz and 5.8 GHz ISM bands
802.11a specifies use of UNII-3 band
FCC (Cont)
FCC also specifies three UNII bands. Each one
of these UNII bands is in the 5 GHz range
UNII 5.15 5.25 GHz Limited to 40mW power
output. For only indoor use.
UNII 5.25 5.35 GHz Limited to 200mW
power output. Allowed to be used indoors as
well as outdoors.
UNII 5.725 5.825 GHz Limited to 800mW
power output. For outdoor, long-distance
links.
IEEE www.ieee.org
IEEE is the key standards maker for most
things related to Information Technology in the
US and even the world at large. It defines many
technology standards, such as:
Public Cryptography (IEEE 1363)
FireWire (IEEE 1394)
Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) and
Wireless LANs (IEEE 802.11)
IEEE
Through 802.11 committee IEEE develop
standards for WLAN operation within the frame
work of regulatory guidelines
The base IEEE standard for WLAN currently in
use is 802.11 1999 edition.
The original IEEE standard was ratified in 1997
and later updated in 1999.
Each document that amend the base standards
is identified by a lower case letter.
IEEE has also published recommendations.
These recommendations are identified by an
upper case letter.
IEEE 802.11 Base Standard
It was the first 802.11 standard.
It describes DSSS, FHSS and infrared Physical
layers
Operates at 1 & 2 Mbps only
802.11 FHSS and DSSS products operate in the
2.4 GHz ISM band between 2.4000 and 2.4835
IEEE 802.11b Supplement
802.11b supplement specifies DSSS systems
that operate at 1,2,5.5 and 11 Mbps
802.11b does not describe any FHSS systems.
802.11b devices will interoperate with 802.11
DSSS devices by default, meaning they are
backward compatible and support both 2 and 1
Mbps data rates
IEEE 802.11b Supplement (Cont)
The higher data rate of 802.11b is the result of
using a different coding technique.
802.11b compliant products operate only in the
2.4 GHz ISM band between 2.4000 and 2.483
GHz
IEEE 802.11a Supplement
802.11a describes WLAN device operation in
the UNII bands
It uses OFDM technology to support data rates
upto 54 Mbps
Use of UNII bands makes this standard
incompatible with other 802.11 standards.
(systems using 5 GHz frequencies will not
communicate with systems using 2.4 GHz
frequencies.
6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 46 and 54 Mbps data rates
are supported using OFDM technology
IEEE 802.11g Supplement
It provides the same speeds as by 802.11a
It also uses same OFDM technology as 802.11a
802.11g devices provide backward
compatibility for 802.11b devices through use
of DSSS technology
It operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band.
This specification allows a single access point
to serve both 802.11g and 802.11b stations
IEEE 802.11e Supplement
IEEE 802.11e amendment to the 802.11 base
standard defines a set of Quality of Service
(QoS) extensions to the 802.11 MAC layer that
are designed to provide higher quality and
more consistent voice and video transmission.
IEEE 802.11F Recommended Practice
802.11F defines the inter-access-point
protocol (IAPP)
By using suggested method of
Allowing access points to discover each
other and
Allowing access points to hand off stations
to each other,
Clients will be able to roam seamlessly
between 802.11F-compliant access points.
IEEE 802.11F Recommended Practice (Cont)
802.11F was ratified in 2003
802.11F does not address roaming in a time
efficient manner
Time sensitive application like VoWLAN require
very fast handoff times (typically < 150ms)
For this reason most vendors have their own
mechanisms for supporting fast handoff of
clients, creating a vendor interoperability
problem
IEEE 802.11i Supplement
802.11i supplement addresses the relative
weakness of 802.11s built in security
mechanism: WEP.
802.11i includes the use of 802.1x for port-
based authentication and use of thought to be
unbreakable AES encryption algorithms,
instead of WEPs RC4 encryption algorithm
802.11i significantly increases the strength of
802.11s security
IEEE 802.11i Supplement (Cont)
Legacy equipments are not upgradeable to
802.11i compliance due to the extreme
processor requirements imposed by the
complex AES algorithm
802.11i introduces two new cipher suites
TKIP: is intended to be a field upgradeable to
software patch to legacy RC4 based
hardware,
CCMP: is expected to be implemented on
newer AES based hardware.
IEEE 802.11h Supplement
802.11h amendment allows an 802.11a device
to conform to regulatory requirements of the 5
GHz band in Europe.
Specifically it describes mechanisms for
dynamic frequency selection (DFS) and
transmission power control (TPC) which are
mandated by European regulations
DFS requirement is to avoid interference
between 802.11a transmitters and radar
systems that might be in use in the area.
IEEE 802.11h Supplement (Cont)
802.11h defines services that allow for the
following
A station can associate with an AP based on
the channels that the AP supports. If the AP
and the station do not have compatible
channel sets the station will not attempt to
associate with AP
The AP can test for the presence of radar on
the channel. If the AP detects a radar, it may
move to a different channel to avoid
interfering to the radar.
IEEE 802.11h Supplement (Cont)
The AP can quit the channel so that it can
test for the presence of radar without the
added noise of stations transmissions
The AP can select a new channel and
announce that channel to the stations on the
BSS, so the BSS can be gradually moved to
the new channel when interference is
detected.
IEEE 802.11h Supplement (Cont)
The TPC requirement essentially allows the AP
to mandate maximum power output
requirements to the stations. In that way an AP
can be configured with the appropriate power
output rules for the regulatory domain, and
802.h compliant stations that associate with the
AP will automatically comply with those rules
DFS and TPC are implemented through
additions to existing management frames, such
as beacons, probe requests, association
requests and so on.
IEEE 802.11d Supplement
The 802.11d amendment modifies the 802.11 MAC
layer to allow FHSS stations to fine-tune there
physical-layer parameters to comply with the rules
of the country in which the network is being used.
The original 802.11 standard was written with FCC
regulations in mind, but many countries around the
world have different requirements for FHSS
transmitters.
802.11d defines a field that an FHSS AP can
optionally add to its beacons. That field tells the
stations associated with the AP what channels
(frequency ranges), hopping patterns, and power
output they are allowed to use.
802.11s Supplement
When it is ratified, the 802.11s amendment will
define standards for automatically forming mesh
networks with 802.11 access points
Mesh networks offer high reliability since there may
be many paths through the network from one node
to another.
if one node becomes unavailable, packets can just
take a path through a different node.
As this statement implies, dynamic routing is one of
the characteristics of a wireless mesh network
Wi-Fi Alliance
Wi-Fi Alliance promotes and tests for WLAN
interoperability of 802.11b, 802.11a, and
802.11g devices.
The Wi-Fi Alliances mission is to certify
interoperability of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) products
and to promote Wi-Fi as the global WLAN
standard across all market segments.
The Wi-Fi alliances primary task is to certify
that devices compatibly implement the 802.11
standards released by the IEEE.
Wi-Fi Alliance
Wi-Fi alliance grants the products a
certification of interoperability when a product
meets the interoperability requirements as
described in the Wi-Fi alliances test matrix.
It allows the vendor to use Wi-Fi logo on
advertising and packaging for the certified
product.
Wi-Fi certificate assures the end user of a
certain basic level of interoperability with other
WLAN devices from other vendors that also
bear the Wi-Fi logo.
Three Main Role for WLANS
Access Role
Data Link technologies in similar access role are:
Ethernet
DSL
Dial-up
Cable
Distribution Role
Wireless Bridging
Data Link technologies commonly used in Distribution role:
Ethernet
Frame Relay
ATM
Core Role
Three-layer Model
Includes
APs,
wireless
bridges
WLAN uses
Educational / Classroom Use
Health Care
Network Extension to Remote Areas
Industrial Warehousing and Manufacturing
Building to Building Connectivity Bridging
Last Mile Data Delivery WISP
Small Office/Home Office SOHO
Mobile or Temporary Offices
Metro Area WLANs
Public Hotspots