IEEE 802.

11
Wireless LAN
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication and file may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without prior written permission
of Professor Nen-Fu Huang
Wireless LAN - 1

Wireless LAN
Architecture
Four major differences between

Wireless LAN and Wired LANs:

Destination Address Does not
Equal Destination Location.
In wired LANs an address is

equivalent to a physical address. In

802.11 the addressable unit is a
station (STA). The STA is a message
destination, but not a fixed location.
Wireless LAN - 2

Wireless LAN
Architecture
The Media Impacts the Design
The PHY layers used in 802.11 are

fundamentally different from wired media.

802.11 PHYs:
Have limited physical point to point connection
ranges.
Use a shared medium.
Are unprotected from outside signals.
Are significantly less reliable than wired PHYs.
Have dynamic topologies.

Wireless LAN - 3

Wireless LAN
Architecture
Impact of Handling Mobile Stations
A portable station is one that is moved

from location to location, but is only

used while at a fixed location.
Mobile stations actually access the LAN
while in motion.
Propagation effects blur the distinction
between portable and mobile stations.

Wireless LAN - 4

Wireless LAN
Architecture
Interaction With Other 802 Layers
802.11 is required to appear to higher

layers (LLC) as a current 802 style LAN.

Station mobility has to be handled within
the MAC layer.
To meet reliability assumptions (that LLC
makes about lower layers), it is necessary
for 802.11 to incorporate functionality
which is untraditional for MAC layers.

Wireless LAN - 5

IEEE 802.11 reference

model

Wireless LAN - 6

802.11Wireless LAN
Characteristics

1-54 Mbps (or upper?)

IEEE 802.11 CSMA/CA Frame

Transmission Medium: Radio

CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access

with Collision Avoidance) Protocol

Provides priority scheme

Provides delay guaranteed

transmission service. (PCF

reservation-based)

Wireless LAN - 7

802.11Wirelss LAN
Characteristics
Bandwidth Fairness is not

guaranteed. By employing the

CSMA/CA protocol, the bandwidth
employed by each station may be
different.
In the past, not well-suited for
multimedia communications due to
the relative low transmission rate
(1-2 Mbps). Now?
Wireless LAN - 8

802.11
Architecture
Wireless Medium (WM):
The medium used to implement a wireless LAN.
Components

Station (STA):
Any device that contains an 802.11 conformant

MAC and PHY interface to the wireless medium.

Station Services (SS):

The set of services that support transport of

MSDUs (MAC Service Data Units) between

Stations within a BSS.

Wireless LAN - 9

802.11
Architecture
Basic Service Set (BSS):
Components
A
set of STAs controlled by a single CF

(Co-ordination Function).
The BSS is the basic building block of an
802.11 LAN. The member stations of a BSS
can communicate to each other directly.
If a station moves out of it's BSS coverage
area, it can no longer directly
communicate with other members of the
BSS.

Wireless LAN - 10

802.11
Architecture
The
Independent BSS as an Ad-Hoc
Components

Network
This mode of operation is
possible when 802.11 LAN
stations are close enough to form
a direct connection (without preplanning).

Wireless LAN - 11

802.11
Architecture
STA to AP Association is Dynamic
TheComponents
association between a station and a BSS is
dynamic (STAs turn on, turn off, come within range

and go out of range).

To become a member of an infrastructure BSS a
station must become Associated.

Distributed System Concepts:

A BSS may also form a component of an extended

form of an 802.11 network with multiple BSSs.

The architecture component used to interconnect
BSSs is the Distributed System.

Wireless LAN - 12

802.11
Architecture
Distribution System (DS):
Components

A system used to interconnect a set of BSSs to create an

ESS.

Distribution System Medium (DSM):

The medium used by a DS (for BSS interconnections)
802.11 logically separates the WM from the DSM. Each

logical medium is used for different purposes, by a

different component of the architecture.
The DS enables mobile device support by providing the
logical services necessary to handle address to
destination mapping and seamless integration of multiple
BSSs.

Wireless LAN - 13

802.11 Architecture
Components
Distribution System Services (DSS):
The set of services provided by the DS

which enable the MAC to transport MSDUs

between BSSs within an ESS.

Access Point (AP):

Any entity that has STA functionality and

provides access to the DS.

An AP is a STA which provides access to
the DS by providing DS services in addition
to Station Services.

Wireless LAN - 14

802.11
Architecture
ESS
Components
STA 1

BSS 2
STA 4

BSS 1 STA 2

AP

STA 3

AP

Distributed
System

AP: Access Point

Wireless LAN - 15

802.11 Architecture
Components
ESS: The large coverage network
The DS and BSSs allow 802.11 to create a wireless

network of arbitrary size and complexity.

Extended Service Set (ESS):

A set of interconnected BSSs appears as a single
BSS.
The ESS network appears the same to an LLC layer
as an independent BSS network.
Stations within an ESS can communicate and
mobile stations may move from one BSS to
another (within the same ESS) transparently to
LLC.

Wireless LAN - 16

802.11 Architecture
Components
Basic Service Area (BSA):
The area within which members of
a BSS can communicate.
Extended Service Area (ESA):
The area within which members of

a ESS can communicate. An ESA is

larger than or equal to a BSA.

Wireless LAN - 17

802.11
Architecture
Components

STA 1
STA 2

AP

BSS 1

STA 3

AP

STA 5
STA 4

BSS 2

STA 7

AP

STA
6

BSS 3

AP: Access Point

Wireless LAN - 18

Area Concepts,
a signal strength
(intensity) map

A square room
a metal desk

(lower left)
an open door-way
(top right)

A static snapshot
change dynamically

as stations and
objects in the
environment move

Variability of field

strength even in a
static environment.
Wireless LAN - 19

802.11 Architecture
Components
The following are possible
The BSSs may partially overlap. This is commonly used

to arrange contiguous coverage within a physical

volume.
The BSSs could be physically disjoint.
The BSSs may be physically collocated.
This might be done to provide redundancy.
One (or more) independent BSS, or ESS networks may
be physically present in the same space as one (or
more) ESS networks.

An ad-hoc network is operating in a location which also has

an ESS network.
Physically adjacent 802.11 networks have been set up by
different organizations.

Wireless LAN - 20

Integration with
Wired LANs
To integrate the 802.11

architecture with a traditional

wired LAN, a logical
architecture component
(Portal) is introduced.
All data from non-802.11
LANs enters the 802.11
architecture via a portal.
Wireless LAN - 21

Integration with
Wired LANs
ESS

STA 1
BSS 1

BSS 2
STA 4

STA 2
AP

STA 3
AP

DS

Portal

IEEE 802.X

Wireless LAN - 22

Potrals and
Bridges
Bridges were originally designed

to provide range extension

between like-type MAC layers.
In 802.11, arbitrary range
(coverage) is provided by the
ESS architecture (via the DS and
APs) making the PHY range
extension aspects of bridges
unnecessary.
Wireless LAN - 23

Bridge
mode and
router
mode?

Potrals and
Bridges
Bridges
are also used to interconnect MAC

layers of different types. Bridging to the

802.11 architecture raises the questions of
which logical medium to bridge to; the DSM
or the WM ?
The portal must also consider the dynamic
membership of BSSs and the mapping of
address and location required by mobility.
Physically, a portal may, or may not, include
bridging functionality depending on the
physical implementation of the DS.

Wireless LAN - 24

Logical Service
Interface

The DS may not be identical to an existing wired

LAN and can be created from many different

technologies including current 802.x wired LANs.
802.11 does not constrain the DS to be either
Data Link or Network Layer based. Nor constrain
a DS to be either centralized or distributed.
802.11 specifies services instead of specific DS
implementations. Two categories of services are
defined: Station Service (SS) and Distribution
System Service (DSS).

Wireless LAN - 25

Logical Service
Interface
The complete set of 802.11

architectural services are:

Authentication
Association
Disassociation
Distribution
Integration
Reassociation

Wireless LAN - 26

Logical Service
Interface
ESS

802.11
MAC/PHY
STA 1
STA 2
SS
BSS 1
AP

DSS

BSS 2

802.11
MAC/PHY
STA 3

DS

STA
SS 4

AP

Portal

IEEE 802.X

Wireless LAN - 27

Logical Service
Interface

Station Service (SS):

Present in every 802.11 station,

including APs.
Are specified for use by MAC layer
entities.
The SS subset is:
Authentication
Privacy
Wireless LAN - 28

Logical Service
Interface

Distribution System Services

Used to cross media and address space logical

boundaries.
Provided by the DS.
They are accessed via a STA which also provides DSS.
The DSS subset is:

Association
Disassociation
Distribution
Integration
Reassociation

Wireless LAN - 29

Multiple Logical
Address Spaces
The WM, DSM, and an integrated

wired LAN may all be different

physical media. Each of these
components may be operating within
different address spaces.
802.11 only uses and specifies the use
of WM address space.
Each 802.11 PHY operates in a single
medium: WM.
Wireless LAN - 30

Multiple Logical
Address Spaces
802.11 has chosen to use the

IEEE 802 48-bit address space.

A multiple address space
example is one where DS uses
network layer addressing (IP
address). In this case the WM
address space and the DS
address space would be different.
Wireless LAN - 31

Overview of the
Services

There are nine services specified by

802.11. Six to support MSDU delivery

between stations and three to control
802.11 access and confidentiality.
Each of the services is supported by
one or more MAC frames.
Some of the services are supported
by MAC Management messages and
some by MAC Data messages.
Wireless LAN - 32

Overview of the
Services

802.11 MAC layer uses three types

of messages:

Data : handled via the MAC data

service path.
Management: handled via the MAC
Management Service data path.
Control

The following examples assume an

ESS network environment.

Wireless LAN - 33

Distribution of
Message Within a
1. Distribution:
DS
The service which (by using Association

information) delivers MSDUs within the

DS.
Consider a data message being sent from
STA1 to STA4 via STA2 (Input AP) and STA3
(Output AP). The input AP gives the message
to the Distribution Service of the DS.
How the message is delivered within the DS
is not specified by 802.11.

Wireless LAN - 34

Distribution of
Message Within a
All
802.11 is required to provide the DS
DS
with enough information for the DS to

be able to determine the "output" point

which corresponds to the desired
recipient. The necessary information is
provided to the DS by the three
Association related services.
Association
Reassociation
Disassociation

Wireless LAN - 35

Distribution of
Message Within a
2.DS
Integration:

The service which enables delivery

of MSDUs between the DS and an

existing network.
If the Distribution Service determines
that the intended recipient of a
message is a member of an
integrated LAN, the "output" point
would be a Portal instead of an AP.

Wireless LAN - 36

Distribution of
Message Within a
Messages which are distributed to a
DS
Portal cause the DS to invoke the

Integration service (conceptually after

the Distribution Service).
The Integration service is responsible
for accomplishing whatever is needed
to deliver a message from the DS to
the integrated LAN media, including
any required media or address
translation.
Wireless LAN - 37

Services Which
Support the
The
Distribution
Service
information required
for

the Distribution service to

operate is provided by the
Association services.
Before a data message can be
handled by the Distribution
service, a STA must be
"Associated".
Wireless LAN - 38

Services Which
Support the
3. Mobility types:
Distribution
Service
No-transition
Static - no motion
Local movement: movement within a Basic
Service Area

BSS-transition: movement from one BSS in one

ESS to another BSS within the same ESS.

ESS-transition: movement from one BSS in one
ESS to another BSS in an independent ESS.
Different Association services support the

different categories of mobility.

Wireless LAN - 39

Services Which
Support the
Distribution Service
4. Association:
The service which establishes an initial

Association between a station and an AP.

Before a STA is allowed to send via an AP, it
must first become associated with the AP.
At any given time, a mobile STA may be
associated with no more than one AP. This
ensures that the DS can determine which AP
is serving a specified STA.

Wireless LAN - 40

Services Which
Support
the
An AP may be associated with many mobile
STAs
at one time.
Distribution
Service
A station learns what APs are present and

requests to establish an association by invoking

the Association service.
Association is always initiated by the mobile
STA.
Association is sufficient to support no-transition
mobility.
Association is necessary, but not sufficient, to
support BSS-transition mobility.

Wireless LAN - 41

Services Which
Support the
5. Distribution
Reassociation :
Service
The service which enables an established

Association (of a STA) to be transferred from one

AP to another AP (within an ESS).

The Reassociation Service is invoked to

"move" a current association from one AP to

another. This keeps the DS informed of the
current mapping between AP and STA as the
station moves from BSS to BSS within an ESS.
Reassociation is always initiated by the
mobile STA.

Wireless LAN - 42

Services Which
Support
the
6. Disassociation :
Distribution
Service
The
service which deletes an existing
Association.

The Disassociation Service is invoked whenever an

existing Association must be terminated, and can be

invoked by either party to an Association (mobile STA or
AP).
Disassociation is a notification (not a request) and can
not be refused by either party to the association.
APs might need to disassociate STAs to enable the AP to
be removed from a network for service or for other
reasons.
STAs are encouraged to Disassociate whenever they
leave a network.

Wireless LAN - 43

Access and
Confidentiality
Two services are required for 802.11 to provide
Control
Services
functionality equivalent to that which is

inherent to wired LANs.

Wired LAN design assume the closed, nonshared nature of wired media. The open, shared
medium nature of an 802.11 LAN violates those
assumptions.
Authentication : used instead of the wired

media physical connection.

Privacy : used to provide the confidential
aspects of closed wired media.
Wireless LAN - 44

Access and
Confidentiality Control
7. Authentication / 8. Deauthentication:
Services
The service used to establish the identity of Stations to each

other.

In a wired LAN, access to a physical connection conveys

authority to connect to the LAN. This is not a valid

assumption for a wireless LAN.
An equivalent ability to control LAN access is provided via
the Authentication service, which is used by all stations to
establish their identity with stations they wish to
communicate with.
If a mutually acceptable level of authentication has not
been established between two stations, an association
shall not be established.

Wireless LAN - 45

Authentication
Service

802.11 supports a general

authentication ability which is

sufficient to handle authentication
protocols ranging from unsecured to
public key cryptographic
authentication schemes.
802.11 provides link level (not end-toend or user-to-user) authentication
between 802.11 stations.

Wireless LAN - 46

Authentication
Service

802.11 authentication is simply used to bring

the wireless link up to the assumed physical

standards of a wired link. If desired, an
802.11 network can be run without
authentication.
802.11 provides support for
challenge/response (C/R) authentication. The
three steps of a C/R exchange are:
Assertion of identity
Challenge of Assertion
Response to Challenge

Wireless LAN - 47

Authentication
Service
Examples of a C/R exchange

are:
An open system example:
(a) Assertion: I'm station 4.
(b) Challenge: Null.
(c) Response: Null.
(d) Result: Station becomes
Authenticated.

Wireless LAN - 48

Authentication
Service

A password based example:

(a) Assertion: I'm station 4.
(b) Challenge: Prove your
identity.
(c) Response: Here is my
password.
(d) Result: If password OK,
station
becomes
Authenticated.
Wireless LAN - 49

Authentication
Service

A Cryptographic challenge/response

based example:

(a) Assertion: I'm station 4.

(b) Challenge: Here is some information (X)

I encrypted with your public key, what
is it ?
(c) Response: The contents of the challenge
is X (only station 4's private key could
have recovered the challenge contents).
(d) Result: OK, I believe that you are
station
4.

Wireless LAN - 50

Authentication
Service
802.11
uses 802.10 services to perform the

actual challenge and response calculations.

A Management Information Base (MIB)
function is provided to support inquires into
the authentication algorithms supported by
a STA.
802.11 requires mutually acceptable,
successful, bi-directional authentication.
A STA can be authenticated with many other
STAs (and hence APs) at any given instant.

Wireless LAN - 51

Authentication
Service

The Authentication service (could be time

consuming) can be invoked independently

of the Association service.
Pre-authentication is typically done by a
STA while it is already associated with an
AP which it previously authenticated with.
Authentication is required before an
Association can be established.
Time-consuming. It may impact the speed
with which a STA can reassociate
between AP
Wireless LAN - 52

Privacy Service
9. Privacy:
The service used to prevent the contents of
messages from being reading by other than
the intended recipient.
In a wired LAN only those stations

physically connected to the wire can

hear LAN traffic. This is not true for the
802.11 wireless LAN.
802.11 provides the ability to encrypt
the contents of messages.
Wireless LAN - 53

Privacy Service
IEEE 802.10 SDE clause 2 is used to perform

the encryption. A MIB function is provided

to inquire the encryption algorithms
supported by a station.
A mutually acceptable privacy algorithm
must be agreed upon before an Association
can be established.
The default privacy algorithm for all 802.11
stations is in the clear. If the privacy service
is not invoked to set up a privacy algorithm,
all messages will be sent unencrypted.

Wireless LAN - 54

Privacy Service
If a privacy algorithm is set up,

then the algorithm will be used for

all subsequent Reassociation.
802.11 specifies an optional privacy
algorithm that is designed to
satisfy the goal of wired LAN
"equivalent" privacy.

Wireless LAN - 55

Relationship Between
Services
For a station, two state variables are

required to keep track:

Authentication State : Unauthenticated and

Authenticated
Association State : Unassociated and Associated

Three station states are possible:

State 1 : Initial start state, Unauthenticated,

Unassociated.
State 2 : Authenticated, not Associated.
State 3 : Authenticated and Associated

Wireless LAN - 56

Relationship Between
Services
These states determine the

802.11 frame types (grouped

into classes) which may be sent
by a station.
State 1 : Only Class 1 frames are

allowed.
State 2 : Either Class1 or Class 2
are allowed.
State 3 : All frames are allowed.

Wireless LAN - 57

Relationship Between
State Variables and
Class 1 frames
Services
State 1:
Unauthenticated,
Unassociated

Successful
Authentication
State 2:
Authenticated,
Unassociated

Successful
Association

DeAuthentication
Time out
State 3:
Authenticated,
Associated

Disassociation
Notification
Classes 1,2 frames
Classes 1,2,3 frame
Wireless LAN - 58

Frame Types
Class 1 frames
Control Frames

(1) RTS
Optional
(2) CTS
RTS
(3) ACK
(4) CF-End
CTS
Management Frames
(1) Probe Request/Response
(2) Beacon
Data
(3) Authentication
(4) ATIM
ACK
Data Frame
(1)Direct data frames only
(FC control bits To DS and from DS both
false)
Wireless LAN - 59

Frame Types
Class 2 Frames
Management Frames
(1) Association Request/Response
(2) Reassociation Request/Response
(3) Disassociation Request/Response

Wireless LAN - 60

Frame Types
Class 3 Frames
Data Frames

Indirect data frames allowed (FC control bits

"To DS and from DS" may be set to utilize DS
Services)

Management Frames
Deauthentication Request/Response
Control Frame

Power-saving poll

Wireless LAN - 61

Differences Between ESS

and Independent BSS
LANs

An independent BSS (IBSS) is often

used to support an "Ad-Hoc" network,
in which a STA communicates directly
with one or more other STAs.
IBSS is a logical subset of an EBSS
and consists of STAs which are
directly connected.
Since there is no physical DS, there
cannot be a Portal, an integrated
wired LAN, or the DS Services.
Wireless LAN - 62

Differences Between
ESS and Independent
BSS
LANs
In an IBSS, only class 1 and class
2 frames are allowed since there
is no DS in an IBSS.
The services which apply to an
IBSS are the Station Services.
STA
1

STA
2
802.11
MAC/PHY

IBSS

STA 3

Wireless LAN - 63

Frame and MPDU

Formats
Each frame should consist of three

basic components:

A MAC Header, which includes control

information, addressing, sequencing

fragmentation identification and
duration.
A variable length Frame Body
An IEEE 32-bit CRC frame check
sequence
Wireless LAN - 64

Frame and MPDU

Formats

P.34, The
last 3rd
line, 2304
P.39, Fig
12

MAC Header
2

Frame Duration/
Addr 2Addr 3
Contro Conn ID Addr 1
l

To
Protocol
Type Subtype
DS
Version
2

2 security

SequenceAddr 4 FCS
Control

From MoreRetry Power

WEPRsvd
DS Frag
Mang.
1

Wireless LAN - 65

Frame Fields
Frame Control Field :
Protocol Version, Type, Subtype, ToDS, From DS,
Last Fragment, Retry, Power Management and
Element Present.
Retry : Indicates that the frame is a
retransmission of an earlier frame. A station may
use this indication to eliminate duplicate frames.
Power Management : Indicates power
management state and buffered traffic state of
the station

00
01
10
11

=
=
=
=

Active Mode (CAM or TAM), with more buffered frames

PSP - Power Save, Polling
PSNP - Power Save, No Polling
Active Mode (CAM or TAM), without more buffered frames

Wireless LAN - 66

Frame Fields
Frame Control Field :
Duration or Connection ID : Used to distribute a
value (us) that shall update the Network
Allocation Vector in stations receiving the frame.

During the contention free period, this field

may be replaced with a connection ID field.
Only contention free time-bounded data
used a connection ID; contention based
data and contention free asynchronous
data do not use connection IDs.

Wireless LAN - 67

Frame Fields
Address Fields : Indicate the BSSID, SA, DA, TA

(Transmitter address), RA (Receiver address),

each of 48-bit address.
Sequence Control
Dialog Token (12-bit) : An incrementing value.

The same value shall be used for all fragments of

the same MSDU.
Fragment Number (4-bit) : Indicates the number
of each individual fragment.
Frame Body: 0 - 2304 bytes.
CRC (4 octets)

Wireless LAN - 68

Frame Fields
MSDU

MAC
HDR FrameCRC
Body

Fragment 1
Fragment 4

MAC Frame
CRC
HDR Body

MAC Frame
HDR Body

Fragment 2

C
R
C

MAC Frame
HDR Body CRC

Fragment 3

Wireless LAN - 69

Format of Individual
Frame Types
Control Frames
Immediately previous frame means a frame, the

reception of which concluded within the prior

SIFS interval.

RTS Frame Format

In an infrastructure LAN, the DA shall be the

address of the AP with which the station is

associated.
In an ad hoc LAN, the DA shall be the destination
of the subsequent data or management frame.

Wireless LAN - 70

Format of Individual
Frame Types

CTS Frame Format

The DA shall be taken from the source address

field of the RTS frame to which the CTS is a

response.

ACK Frame Format

The DA shall be the address contained in the

Address 2 field of the immediately previous Data

or Management frame.

Poll Frame Format

The BSS ID shall be the address of the AP. The

AID shall be the value assigned by the AP in the

Associate Response frame.

Wireless LAN - 71

Format of Individual Frame

Types
MAC Header
Frame
Control

Duration

DA

SA

FCS

RTS Frame

MAC Header
Frame
Control

Duration

DA

FCS

CTS Frame

MAC Header
Frame
Control

Duration

DA

FCS

ACK Frame

MAC Header
Frame
Control

AID

BSS ID

SA

FCS

PS-Poll Frame
Wireless LAN - 72

Format of Individual Frame

Types
Data Frames
The contents of the Address fields shall be

dependent upon the values of the To DS and From DS

bits.
A station shall use the contents of Address 1 to
perform address matching for receive decisions.
The DA shall be the destination of the frame (MSDU).
The RA shall be the address of the AP in the wireless
DS that is the next immediate intended recipient of
the frame.
The TA shall be the address of the AP in the wireless
DS that is transmitting the frame.

Wireless LAN - 73

Format of Individual Frame

Types
The BSSID
The AP address, if the station is an AP or
associated with an AP.
The BSS ID of the ad hoc LAN, if the station is a
member of an ad hoc LAN.

Data Subtype
During the contention period: 0000
During the contention free period

0000, 0011, 0110, and 0111 shall only be sent by a PCF.

0000, 0001, 0100, and 0101 may be sent by any CFaware station.

Wireless LAN - 74

Data Frames
MAC Header
Frame
Control

Fragmen Addr 4
Sequence
FCS
Durati Addr 1
Addr 2Addr 3
t
Number
on/
Number
Conn ID

To DS From DS

Addr 1

Addr 2

DA

SA

DA

BSSID

BSSID

RA

SA
TA

Addr 3

Addr 4

BSSID

N/A

SA

N/A

DA

N/A

DA

SA
Wireless LAN - 75

Format of Individual
Frame Types
Management Frames
The BSSID
The AP address, if the station is an AP or
associated with an AP.
The BSS ID of the ad hoc LAN, if the
station is a member of an ad hoc LAN.

The Frame body shall be the information

elements:

MAC Header
Frame
Control

Dura
tion

BSS
ID

SA

DA

Sequenc Fragment
e
Number
Number

FCS

Wireless LAN - 76

Management
Frames (Frame
Body)

BEACON Frame: Time stamp,

weight, beacon interval, DTIM

period, DTIM count, channel sync
information, ESS ID, TIM and
broadcast indicator.
ATIM Frame: Null
Disassociation Frame: Null
Association Request Frame: The
privacy algorithm number and the
supported rates.
Wireless LAN - 77

Management
Frames (Frame
Body)
Association Response Frame: A status

value, an error indication, the supported

rates and the station ID assigned (SID).
Reassociation Request Frame: The
current AP address and the privacy
algorithm number.
Reassociation Response Frame: A status
value, an error indication, the supported
rates and the station ID assigned (SID).

Wireless LAN - 78

Management
Frames (Frame
Body)
Probe Request Frame: The supported rates.
Probe Response Frame: Time stamp,

weight, beacon interval, DTIM period, DTIM

count, channel sync information, supported
rates, and ESS ID.
Privacy Request Frame: A supported
algorithm list.
Privacy Response Frame: A status value, an
error indication, and a privacy algorithm
number.

Wireless LAN - 79

Management
Frames (Frame
Authentication Frame : A transaction
Body)
sequence
(TS) and additional information
dependent upon the value of the TS:

TS = 1: The supported algorithm list.

TS = 2: A status value, an error indication, an identity
assertion and the selected authentication algorithm
number.
TS = 3: An identity challenge and an identity assertion.
TS = 4: A challenge response and an identity
challenge.
TS = 5: A challenge result and a challenge response.
TS = 6: A challenge result.

Wireless LAN - 80

Frame Exchange
Sequences
The following frame sequences are possible:
Data
Data - ACK
RTS - CTS - Data - ACK
Data - ACK - Data - ACK (Fragmented MSDU)
RTS - CTS - Data - ACK - Data - ACK (Fragmented
MSDU)
Poll - Data - ACK
Poll - Data - ACK - Data - ACK (Fragmented MSDU)
Poll - ACK (No data)
ATIM - ACK
Request - ACK
Response - ACK

Wireless LAN - 81

MAC Architecture

( )

( )

Point Coordination
Function (PCF)
MAC
Exten
t
Distributed Coordination
Function (DCF)

Wireless LAN - 82

MAC Architecture
Distributed Coordination Function

(DCF)

The fundamental access method for the

802.11 MAC, known as Carrier Sense

Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance
(CSMA/CA).
Shall be implemented in all stations
and APs.
Used within both ad hoc and
infrastructure configurations.
Wireless LAN - 83

MAC Architecture
Point Coordination Function (PCF)
An alternative access method
Shall be implemented on top of the DCF
A point coordinator (polling master) is used
to determine which station currently has
the right to transmit.
Shall be built up from the DCF through the
use of an access priority mechanism.
Different accesses of traffic can be defined
through the use of different values of IFS.

Wireless LAN - 84

MAC Architecture
Shall use a Point IFS (PIFS) <

Distributed IFS (DIFS)

Point coordinated traffic shall have

higher priority to access the medium,

which may be used to provide a
contention-free access method.
The priority access of the PIFS
allows the point coordinator to seize
control of the medium away from the
other stations.
Wireless LAN - 85

MAC Architecture
Coexistence of DCF and PCF
Both the DCF and PCF shall coexist
without interference.
They are integrated in a superframe
in which a contention-free burst
occurs at the beginning, followed by
a contention period.

Wireless LAN - 86

MAC Architecture

Super Frame

Wireless LAN - 87

Distributed
Coordination
Function
Allows
for automatic medium sharing

between PHYs through the use of

CSMA/CA and a random backoff time
following a busy medium condition.
All directed traffic uses immediate
positive ack (ACK frame) where
retransmission is scheduled by the
sender if no ACK is received.
Carrier Sense shall be performed both
through physical and virtual mechanisms.
Wireless LAN - 88

Distributed
Coordination
The virtual Carrier Sense mechanism is achieved by
Function
distributing
medium busy reservation information

through an exchange of special small RTS and CTS

frames (contain a during field) prior to the actual data
frame. Unicast only, not used in multicast/broadcast.
The use of RTS/CTS is under control of RTS_Threshold
(payload length, under which without any RTS/CTS
prefix).
All stations are required to be able to receive any
frame transmitted on a given set of rates, and must
be able to transmit at (at least) one of these rates.
This assures that the Virtual Carrier Sense mechanism
still works on multiple rates environments.

Wireless LAN - 89

Distributed
Coordination
Function
Physical
Carrier Sense Mechanism
A physical carrier sense mechanism shall

be provided by the PHY.

Virtual Carrier Sense Mechanism

Provided by the MAC, named Net

Allocation Vector (NAV), which maintains a

prediction of future traffic based on
duration information announced in
RTS/CTS frames.

Wireless LAN - 90

Distributed
Coordination
MAC-Level
Acknowledgments (Positive
Function
Acknowledgment)
To allow detection of a lost or errored frame an ACK

frame shall be returned immediately following a

successfully received frame. The gap between the
received frame and ACK frame shall be SIFS.
The frame types should be acknowledged with an ACK
frame:

Data
Poll
Request
Response

The lack of an ACK frame means that an error has

occurred.

Wireless LAN - 91

Distributed Coordination
Function -Inter-Frame Space (IFS)
A station shall determine that the medium is free

through the use of carrier sense function for the

interval specified.
Three different IFS's are defined to provide
priority levels.
Short-IFS (SIFS)
Shall be used for an ACK frame, a CTS frame, by a

station responding to any polling, and between

frames in the sequences described in Page 41.
Any STA intending to send only these frame types
shall be allowed to transmit after the SIFS time has
elapsed following a busy medium.

Wireless LAN - 92

Distributed Coordination
Function -Inter-Frame Space (IFS)

PCF-IFS (PIFS)

Shall be used only by the PCF to send any of the

Contention Free Period frames.

The PCF shall be allowed to transmit after it
detects the medium free for the period PIFS, at the
start of and during a CF-Burst.

DCF-IFS (DIFS)
Shall be used by the DCF to transmit asynchronous

MPDUs.
A STA using the DCF is allowed to transmit after it
detects the medium free for the period DIFS, as
long as it is not in a backoff period.

Wireless LAN - 93

Distributed Coordination
Function -Random Backoff Time
Before transmitting asynchronous MPDUs, a STA

shall use the carrier sense function to determine

the medium state.
If busy, the STA shall defer until after a DIFS gap
is detected, and then generate a random backoff
period for an additional deferral time (resolve
contention).
Backoff time = INT(CW * Random()) * Slot time

Wireless LAN - 94

Distributed Coordination
Function -Random
TimeCWmin and
Where
CW = AnBackoff
integer between
CWmax

Random() =
Slot Time = Transmitter turn-on delay +
medium propagation delay
CWmax

medium busy detect

response time
CWmin

15

31

63

127

255

255

Wireless LAN - 95

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure

CSMA/CA Protocol
Used when there is no PCF detected and when in the

Contention Period of a Superframe when using a

PCF.
Basic Access
A STA with a pending MPDU may transmit when it

detects a free medium for greater than or equal to a

DIFS time.
If the medium is busy when a STA desires to initiate a
Data, Poll, Request, or Response MPDU transfer, and
only a DCF is being used (or a Contention Period
portion of a Superframe is active), the Random
Backoff Time algorithm shall be followed.

Wireless LAN - 96

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
Immediate access when
DIFS
medium is free >= DIFS
PIFS
DIFS

Contention
Window

SIFS
Busy Medium

Back
offWindow
Slot time

Next Frame

Defer Access

Wireless LAN - 97

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure

Backoff Procedure

A backoff time is selected first. The Backoff Timer

shall be frozen while the medium is sensed busy

and shall decrement only when the medium is
free (resume whenever free period > DIFS).
Transmission shall commence whenever the
Backoff Timer reaches zero.
A STA that has just transmitted a frame and has
another frame ready to transmit (queued), shall
perform the backoff procedure (fairness
concern).
Tends toward fair access on a FCFS basis.

Wireless LAN - 98

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access
Procedure
DIFS
A
B

Frame
Backoff

9 us

19 us

Frame

4 us
2 us

Frame
10 us

15 us

Frame
5 us

7 us

Frame
2 us

CWindow = Contention Window

= Backoff( )
= Remaining Backoff( )
Wireless LAN - 99

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
RTS/CTS Recovery Procedure and

Retransmit Limits

After an RTS is transmitted, if the CTS fails in any

manner within a predetermined CTS_Timeout (T1), then

a new RTS shall be generated (the CW shall be doubled).
This procedure shall continue until the RTS_ReTransmit_Counter reaches an RTS_Re-Transmit_Limit.
The same backoff mechanism shall be used when no ACK
is received within a predetermined ACK_Window(T3)
after a directed DATA frame has been transmitted.
This procedure shall be continue until the ACK_ReTransmit_Counter reaches an ACK_Re-Transmit_Limit.

Wireless LAN - 100

Distributed Coordination
Function -- DCF Access
Procedure

Setting the NAV Through Use of

RTS/CTS Frames

RTS and CTS frames contain a

Duration field based on the

medium occupancy time of the
MPDU from the end of the RTS or
CTS frame until the end of the
ACK frame.

Wireless LAN - 101

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
T3

T1
DIFS

Data

RTS

SIFS

SIFS

CTS

SIFS

ACK

DIFS

NAV (RTS)
NAV (CTS)
Defer
Access

Contenti
on
Back offWindo
Window

Next Frame

Back off
after
Defer
Wireless LAN - 102

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
Control of the Channel
The IFS is used to provide an efficient MSDU delivery

mechanism.
Once a station has contended for the channel, it will
continue to send fragments until either all fragments of a
MSDU have been sent, an ack is not received, or the
station can not send any additional fragments due to a
dwell time boundary.
If the source station does not receive an ack frame, it will
attempt to retransmit the fragment at a later time
(according to the backoff algorithm).
When the time arrives to retransmit the fragment, the
source station will contend for access in the contention
window.

Wireless LAN - 103

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
DIFS
Fragment

PIFS

Burst
SIFS SIFS

Src

Dst

Fragment 1

SIFS SIFS

Fragment 2

Ack
1

SIFS SIFS
Back
offWindo
w

Fragment 3

Ack
2

Ack
3

Wireless LAN - 104

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Usage
Access
RTS/CTS
withProcedure
Fragmentation
The RTS/CTS frames defines the duration of the first

frame and ack. The duration field in the data and

ack frames specifies the total duration of the next
fragment and ack.
The last Fragment and ACK will have the duration
set to zero.
Each Fragment and ACK acts as a virtual RTS and
CTS.
In the case where an ack is not received by the
source station, the NAV will be marked busy for
next frame exchange. This is the worst case
situation.

Wireless LAN - 105

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
RTS/CTS Usage with Fragmentation
If the ack is not sent by the destination,

stations that can only hear the destination

will not update their NAV and be free to
access the channel.
All stations will be free to access the channel
after the NAV from Frame 1 has expired.
The source must wait until the NAV
(Fragment 1) expires before attempting to
contend for the channel after not receiving
the ack.

Wireless LAN - 106

RTS/CTS Usage with

Fragmentation
DIFS

PIFS
SIFS
Other

NAV(RTS)
NAV(Frag 2)
NAV(CTS)

Back
offWindow

NAV(Frag 1)
NAV(ACK 1)

NAV(ACK 2)
SIFS

SIFS SIFS

Fragment
1

RTS

Src
CTS

Dst

SIFS

SIFS SIFS

Fragment 2

Ack
1

SIFS

Fragment 3

Ack
2

Ack
3

Wireless LAN - 107

RTS/CTS Usage with

Fragmentation
DIFS
PIFS
SIFS
Other

NAV(RTS)

NAV(Fragment 1)

NAV(CTS)
SIFS SIFS
Src

Fragment 1

RTS

Dst

SIFS

NAV(ACK 1)

Backoff
Windo
w

CTS

Ack 1

Wireless LAN - 108

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
Directed MPDU Transfer Procedure

Using RTS/CTS (see Page 52)

STA shall use an RTS/CTS exchange for

directed frames only when the length of

the MPDU is greater than the
RTS_Threshold (a managed object within
the MAC MIB, 0... Max MPDU length).

Directed MPDU Transfer Procedure

Without RTS/CTS

Wireless LAN - 109

Distributed Coordination
Function -DCF Access Procedure
DIFS

Data
SI
F
S

ACK

DIFS

Contention
Window
Backoff
Windo
w

Defer Access

Next Frame

Backoff after
Defer
Wireless LAN - 110

Point Coordination
Function(PCF)
The PCF provides contention free services.
It is an option for a station to become the Point

Coordinator(PC), which generates the

Superframe (SF).
Not all stations must be capable of becoming
the PC and transmitting PCF data frames.
The SF consists of a Contention Free (CF) period
and a Contention Period.
The length of a SF is a manageable parameter
and that of the CF period may be variable on a
per SF basis.

Wireless LAN - 111

Point Coordination
Function(PCF)

Wireless LAN - 112

Point Coordination
Function
-PCF
Access
Procedure
The PCF protocol is based on a polling

scheme controlled by one special STA

per BSS called the Point Coordinator.
The PC gains control of the medium at
the beginning of the SF and maintains
control for the entire CF period by
waiting a shorter time between
transmissions.
CF-Down Frames and CF-UP Frames.

Wireless LAN - 113

Point Coordination
Function
-- PCF Access Procedure

At the beginning of the SF, the PCF

shall sense the medium. If it is free

the PCF shall wait a PIFS time and
transmit
a Data frame with the CF-Poll

Subtype bit set, to the next station

on the polling list, or
a CF-End frame, if a null CF period
is desired.
Wireless LAN - 114

Point Coordination
Function
-- PCF
PCF
Access
Procedure
The
uses
the PCF priority
level of the

CSMA/CA protocol. The shorter PIFS gap

causes a burst traffic with inter-frame gaps
that are shorter than the DIFS gap needed
by stations using the Contention period.
Each station, except the station with the
PCF, shall preset it's NAV to the maximum
CF-Period length at the beginning of every
SF. The PCF shall transmit a CF-End frame,
at the end of the CF-Period, to reset the
NAV of all stations in the BSS.

Wireless LAN - 115

Point Coordination
Function
-- PCF Transfer
PCF Transfers When the PCF Station
Procedure
is Transmitter or Recipient
Stations shall respond to the CF-Poll

immediately when a frame is queued, by

sending this frame after an SIFS gap. This
results in a burst of Contention Free traffic
(CF-Burst).
For services that require MAC level ack, the
ack is preferably done through the CF-Ack
bit in the Subtype field of the responding
CF-Up frame.
Wireless LAN - 116

Point Coordination
Function
-- PCF Transfer
Procedure

PIFS

SIFS

CF-D1

SIFS

CF-D2
CF-U1

SIFS

PIFS

SIFS

CF-D3 CF-D4
CF-U2

SIFS

CF-End
CF-U4

SIFS

NAV
CF-

NAV

Dx = Down Traffic
Ux = Up Traffic
Wireless LAN - 117

Point Coordination
Function
-- PCF Transfer
PCF Transfers When the PCF Station is
Procedure
Neither
Transmitter nor Recipient
A CF-aware station, when polled by the PCF,

may send a Data frame to any station in the

BSS an SIFS period after receiving the CF-Poll.
If the recipient of this transmission is not the
PCF station, the Data frame is received and
acknowledged in the same manner as a
contention-based Data frame.
The PCF resumes (CF-Down) transmissions an
SIFS period after the ACK frame. If not
acknowledged, a PIFS period is employed.
Wireless LAN - 118

Point Coordination
Function
-- PCF Transfer

Procedure
PIFS

CF-D1

CF-D2
S-To-S ACK

SIFS SIFS

SIFS

SIFS

CF-End
CF-U2

SIFS

NAV
CF-

NAV
Dx = Down Traffic
Ux = Up Traffic
Wireless LAN - 119