WIRELESS NETWORKING

By
Pradip Paudyal
Ppaudyal@nta.gov.np
COMPUTERS FOR THE NEXT CENTURY?
 Computers are integrated
 small, cheap, portable, replaceable - no more separate
devices
 Advances in technology
 more computing power in smaller devices
 flat, lightweight displays with low power
consumption
 new user interfaces due to small dimensions
 more bandwidth per cubic meter
 multiple wireless interfaces: wireless LANs, wireless
WANs, regional wireless telecommunication
networks etc
MOBILE COMMUNICATION
 Aspects of mobility:
 user mobility: users communicate (wireless) “anytime,
anywhere, with anyone”
 device portability: devices can be connected anytime,
anywhere to the network
 The demand for mobile communication creates the
need for integration of wireless networks into existing
fixed networks:
 local area networks: standardization of IEEE 802.11,
ETSI (HIPERLAN)
 Internet: Mobile IP extension of the internet protocol IP
 wide area networks: e.g., internetworking of GSM and
ISDN
CHARACTERISTICS OF WIRELESS LANS

 Advantages
 very flexible within the reception area
 Ad-hoc networks without previous planning possible
 (almost) no wiring difficulties (e.g. historic buildings,
firewalls)
 more robust against disasters like, e.g., earthquakes, fire -
or users pulling a plug...
 Disadvantages
 typically very low bandwidth compared to wired networks

 products have to follow many national restrictions if

working wireless, it takes a vary long time to establish
global solutions like, e.g., IMT-2000
 Interfenece
TYPICAL APPLICATION: ROAD TRAFFIC

UMTS, WLAN,
DAB, GSM,
TETRA, ...

Personal Travel Assistant,

PDA, laptop,
GSM, UMTS, WLAN,
Bluetooth, ...

1.4.1
WIRELESS NETWORKS IN COMPARISON TO
FIXED NETWORKS
 Higher loss-rates due to interference
 emissions of, e.g., engines, lightning
 Restrictive regulations of frequencies
 frequencies have to be coordinated, useful frequencies
are almost all occupied
 Low transmission rates
 local some Mbit/s, regional currently, e.g., 9.6kbit/s with
GSM
 Higher delays, higher jitter
 connection setup time with GSM in the second range,
several hundred milliseconds for other wireless systems
 Lower security, simpler active attacking
 radio interface accessible for everyone, base station can
be simulated, thus attracting calls from mobile phones
 Always shared medium
 secure access mechanisms important
WORLDWIDE WIRELESS SUBSCRIBERS
(PREDICTION)
700

600

500
Americas
400 Europe
Japan
300 others
total
200

100

0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
EARLY HISTORY OF WIRELESS
COMMUNICATION
 Many people in history used light for communication
 flags...
 150 BC smoke signals for communication;
(Greece)
 1794, optical telegraph
 Here electromagnetic waves are
of special importance:
 1831 Faraday demonstrates electromagnetic
induction
 J. Maxwell (1831-79): theory of electromagnetic
Fields, wave equations (1864)
 H. Hertz (1857-94): demonstrates
with an experiment the wave character
of electrical transmission through space
(1886, in Karlsruhe, Germany, at the
location of today’s University of Karlsruhe)
DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS NETWORK

 First Generation Wireless Network

 Based on analog technology
 FM modulation
 E.g. Advanced mobile phone service (AMPS),
Cordless system
EXAMPLE OF CELLULAR NETWORK
DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS NETWORK
 Second Generation Wireless System
 Digital modulation and advanced call processing
capabilities
 E.g. Global System for Mobile (GSM), Digital
European Cordless Telephone (DECT)
 Introduction of BSC
 Voice and data services
 Mobile assisted hand-off (MAHO)
 Third Generation Wireless System
 Wide range of application and universal access
 Voice, data and video communication
 Use of Broadband Integrated Service Digital Network
(BISDN)
 E.g. IMT 2000, Universal Mobile Telecommunication
System (UMTS)
AREAS OF RESEARCH IN MOBILE
COMMUNICATION

 Wireless Communication
 transmission quality (bandwidth, error rate, delay)
 modulation, coding, interference
 media access, regulations
 ...

 Mobility
 location dependent services
 location transparency
 quality of service support (delay, jitter, security)
 ...
 Portability
 power consumption
 limited computing power, sizes of display, ...
DESIGN GOALS FOR WIRELESS LANS

 global, seamless operation

 low power for battery use
 no special permissions or licenses needed to use the
LAN {ISM band, 2.4 GHz}
 robust transmission technology
 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.
COMPARISON: INFRARED VS. RADIO
TRANSMISSION
Infrared
 uses IR diodes, diffuse light,
multiple reflections (walls,
furniture etc.) Direct light in
case of LOS
Advantages
 simple, cheap, available in
many mobile devices
 no licenses needed
 simple shielding possible
Disadvantages
 interference by sunlight, heat
sources etc.
 low bandwidth
Example
 IrDA (Infrared Data
Association) (115 Kbps , 1.152
& 4 Mbps),
Radio
 typically using the license free
ISM band at 2.4 GHz
Advantages
 experience from wireless WAN
and mobile phones can be used
 coverage of larger areas
possible (radio can penetrate
walls, furniture etc.)
Disadvantages
 very limited license free
frequency bands
 shielding more difficult,
interference with other
electrical devices
Example
 IEEE802.11, HIPERLAN,
Bluetooth
 COMPARISON: INFRASTRUCTURE VS. AD-HOC
NETWORKS
infrastructure
network
AP: Access Point
AP

AP wired network
AP

ad-hoc network
HIDDEN NODE AND EXPOSED NODE PROBLEM
 Hidden terminals
 A sends to B, C cannot receive A
 C wants to send to B, C senses a “free” medium (CS fails)
 collision at B, A cannot receive the collision (CD fails)
 A is “hidden” for C

A B C
 Exposed terminals
 B sends to A, C wants to send to another terminal (not A or
B)
 C has to wait, CS signals a medium in use
 but A is outside the radio range of C, therefore waiting is not
necessary
 C is “exposed” to B
NEAR AND FAR TERMINALS
 Terminals A and B send, C receives
 signal strength decreases proportional to the square of
the distance

A B C
 the signal of terminal B therefore drowns out A’s signal
 C cannot receive A

 Also severe problem for CDMA-networks - precise

power control needed!
IEEE STANDARD 802.11
fixed terminal
mobile terminal

server

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
 802.11 - LAYERS AND FUNCTIONS
MAC
 Medium access mechanisms,
fragmentation (Segmentation),
encryption
MAC Management
 synchronization, roaming,
MAC Information Base (MIB),
power management
PLCP Physical Layer Convergence Protocol
 clear channel assessment
signal (carrier sense)
PMD Physical Medium Dependent
 modulation, coding
PHY Management
 channel selection, MIB
Station Management
 coordination of all management
functions

Station Management
LLC (Logical Link Control)
DLC

MAC (Medium Access Control) MAC Management

PLCP (Physical Layer
Convergence Protocol)
PHY

PHY Management
PMD (Physical Medium
Dependent)
RADIO TRANSMISSION
 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM)
 a frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) scheme utilized as a
digital multi-carrier modulation method
 FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum)
 spreading, despreading
 Operating at 1Mbps/2Mbps
 DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum)
 DBPSK modulation for 1 Mbit/s (Differential Binary Phase Shift
Keying), DQPSK for 2 Mbit/s (Differential Quadrature PSK)
 chipping sequence: +1, -1, +1, +1, -1, +1, +1, +1, -1, -1, -1 (Barker
code)
 max. radiated power 1 W (USA), 100 mW (EU), min. 1mW
 Infrared
 850-950 nm, diffuse light, typ. 10 m range
 carrier detection and synchronization.
802.11 - MAC MANAGEMENT
 Synchronization
 try to find a LAN, try to stay within a LAN
 timer.
 Beacon.
 Power management
 sleep-mode without missing a message
 periodic sleep, frame buffering, traffic measurements
 Association/Re-association
 integration into a LAN
 roaming, i.e. change networks by changing access points
 scanning, i.e. active search for a network
 MIB - Management Information Base
 managing, read, write
POWER MANAGEMENT

Idea: switch the transceiver off if not needed

States of a station: sleep and awake
 Timing Synchronization Function (TSF)
 stations wake up at the same time
 Infrastructure
 Traffic Indication Map (TIM)
 list of unicast receivers transmitted by AP
 Delivery Traffic Indication Map (DTIM)
 list of broadcast/multicast receivers transmitted by AP
 Ad-hoc
 Ad-hoc Traffic Indication Map (ATIM)
 announcement of receivers by stations buffering frames
 more complicated - no central AP
 collision of ATIMs possible (scalability?)
802.11 - ROAMING
No or bad connection? Then perform:
 Scanning
 scan the environment, i.e., listen into the medium for beacon
signals or send probes into the medium and wait for an
answer
 Re-association Request
 station sends a request to one or several AP(s)
 Re-association Response
 success: AP has answered, station can now participate
 failure: continue scanning
 AP accepts Re-association Request
 signal the new station to the distribution system
 the distribution system updates its data base (i.e., location
information)
 typically, the distribution system now informs the old AP so it
can release resources
Fast roaming – 802.11r : e.g. for vehicle-to-roadside networks
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

 IEEE 802.11a
 compatible MAC, but now 5 GHz band
 transmission rates up to 20 Mbit/s
 close cooperation with BRAN (Broadband Radio Access
Network; European Standard)
 IEEE 802.11b
 higher data rates at 2.4 GHz
 proprietary solutions already offer 10 Mbit/s
 IEEE WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Networks)
 market potential
 compatibility
 low cost/power, small form factor
 technical/economic feasibility
IMPORTANT STANDARDS
 Thank You……???????????????