WiFi Overview

Abdus Salam ICTP, February 2005

Radio Based Computer Networking for
Research and Training
in Developing Countries
Ermanno Pietrosemoli
Latin American Networking School
(Fundacin EsLaRed) ULA
Mrida Venezuela
www.eslared.org.ve

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WiFi Overview
Agenda

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802.11 Standards
802.11 Terminology
DSSS Channel Allocation
Medium Access Control
Power Considerations
Scanning
Configuration
Interference

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Wireless Data Transmission flavors

Packet Radio over VHF or HF

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN)
Wireless Local Loop (WLL, LMDS)
Free Space Optics
Satellite Transmission

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Wi-Fi Technology Overview

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Wireless networks where borne as LANs,

but for developing countries applications
they are more useful as MANs or even
WANs
The enormous success of this technology
has led to a dramatic price reduction of the
radios +modem, from $750 in 1992 to $30
in 2004, while transmission speed has
increased up to 108 Mbps on the same 20
MHz channel
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Wi-Fi Technology Overview: Standards

IEEE 802.11
1 and 2 Mbps, Frequency Hopping, DSSS (915 or
2400 MHz ) or IR, Ratified in 1977

IEEE 802.11 a up to 54 Mbps, 5 GHz, OFDM

IEEE 802.11 b up to 11 Mbps, 2.4 GHz, DSSS
Both ratified in 1999

IEEE 802.11g up to 54 Mbps, 2.4 GHz, OFDM,

downward compatible with 802.11b, Ratified in
2003

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Elements of a Transmission
System
Transmitter
Connecting cable or waveguide
Antennas
Receiver
Power Supply, Grounding and
Lightning Protection
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System Configuration

Sub Station
Point to Point

Sub Station
Point to Point

Base Station
Point to Multipoin

Access Point

Sub Station
Point to Point

IEEE 802 .11 Terminology

Station (STA) Architecture:

Device that contains IEEE 802.11

conformant MAC and PHY
interface to the wireless medium,
but does not provide access to a
distribution system
Most often end-stations available
in terminals (work-stations,
laptops etc.)

Radio
Radio
Hardware
Hardware

PC-Card
PC-Card
Hardware
Hardware

802.11 frame format

WMAC controller with
WMAC controller with
Station Firmware
Station Firmware
(WNIC-STA)
(WNIC-STA)

802.3 frame format

Driver
Driver
Software
Software
(STADr)
(STADr)

Platform
Platform
Computer
Computer

Ethernet V2.0 / 802.3

frame format
Protocol Stack
Protocol Stack

IEEE 802 .11 Terminology

Access-Point (AP) Architecture:

Device that contains IEEE 802.11

conformant MAC and PHY
interface to the wireless medium,
and provide access to a
distribution system for associated
stations
Most often infra-structure
products that connect to wired
backbones

Radio
Radio
Hardware
Hardware

PC-Card
PC-Card
Hardware
Hardware

802.11 frame format

WMAC controller with
WMAC controller with
Station Firmware
Station Firmware
(WNIC-STA)
(WNIC-STA)

802.3 frame format

Driver
Driver
Software
Software
(STADr)
(STADr)

Platform
Platform
Computer
Computer

Ethernet V2.0 / 802.3

frame format
Protocol Stack
Protocol Stack

IEEE 802 .11 Terminology

BSS
A set of stations controlled by a single
Coordination Function (the logical function that
determines when a station can transmit or
receive)

Similar to a cell in mobile phone terminology

A BSS can have an Access-Point (both in
standalone networks and in building-wide
configurations), or can run without and AccessPoint (in standalone networks only)
Diameter of the cell is app. twice the coveragedistance between two wireless stations

Basic Service Set (BSS)

BSS

IEEE 802 .11 Terminology

Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS):

A Basic Service Set (BSS) which forms a selfcontained network in which no access to a
Distribution System is available
A BSS without an Access-Point
One of the stations in the IBSS can be configured
to initiate the network and assume the
Coordination Function
Diameter of the cell determined by coverage
distance between two wireless stations

Independent Basic Service Set

(IBSS)

IBSS

IEEE 802 .11 Terminology

Extended Service Set (ESS):

A set of one or more Basic Service Sets

interconnected by a Distribution System (DS)
Traffic always flows via Access-Point

Distribution System (DS):

A system to interconnect a set of Basic Service Sets

Integrated;

A single Access-Point in a
standalone network
Wired; Using cable to interconnect the
Access-Points
Wireless; Using wireless to interconnect the
Access-Points

Extended Service Set (ESS)

single BSS (with integrated DS)

BSS

Extended Service Set (ESS)

BSSs with wired Distribution System (DS)

BSS

Di
st
Sy ribu
st tio
em n

BSS

Extended Service Set (ESS)

BSSs and wireless Distribution System (DS)

BSS

Di
st
Sy ribu
st tio
em n

BSS

IEEE 802 .11 Terminology

Service Set Identifier (SSID):

Network name

32 octets long

One network (ESS or IBSS) has one SSID

IEEE 802 .11 Terminology

Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID)

cell identifier

6 octets long (MAC address format)

One BSS has one SSID

Value of BSSID is the same as the MAC address

of the radio in the Access-Point

MAC Management Frames

Beacon

Timestamp, Beacon Interval, Capabilities, SSID,

Supported Rates, parameters
Traffic Indication Map

Probe

SSID, Capabilities, Supported Rates

Probe Response

Timestamp, Beacon Interval, Capabilities, SSID,

Supported Rates, parameters
same for Beacon except for TIM

MAC Management Frames

(contd)

Association Request

Association Response

Capability, Status Code, Station ID, Supported

Rates

Re-association Request

Capability, Listen Interval, SSID, Supported

Rates

Capability, Listen Interval, SSID, Supported

Rates, Current AP Address

Re-association Response

Capability, Status Code, Station ID, Supported

Rates

Channel Overlapping

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IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control Logic

Ready to transmit a frame

medium free?

No

Yes
Wait IFS

Still free?

Yes
Transmit Frame

No

Wait for the end of

current tr.

Wait IFS
Still free?

No

Yes
Exponential Backoff

Transmit Frame
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Operational processes
Inter-Frame Spacing

Free access when medium

is free longer than DIFS

DIFS

Contention Window

PIFS

DIFS

Busy Medium

SIFS

Backoff-Window

Next Frame

Slot time
Defer Access

Select Slot and Decrement Backoff as long as medium is idle.

Inter frame spacing required for MAC protocol traffic

SIFS = Short interframe space

PIFS = PCF interframe space
DIFS = DCF interframe space

Back-off timer expressed in terms of number of time

slots
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Operational processes
Data Frames and their ACK

DIFS

Data

Src

SIFS

Ack

Dest

DIFS

Next MPDU

Other

Backoff after Defer

Defer Access

Contention Window

Acknowledgment are to arrive within the SIFS

The DCF interframe space is observed before
medium is considered free for use

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Channel Reservation
Sending
Client

Receiving
Client

Access Point

Request to send (RTS)

data

Clear to send (CTS)

Acknowledgment (ACK)

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802.11b spectral mask

Transmit
Spectrum
Mask

0 dBr

Unfiltered
Sinx/x

-30 dBr
-50 dBr
fc -22 MHz

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fc -11 MHz

fc

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fc +11 MHz

fc +22 Mhz

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Control Frames

Request to send (RTS)

Clear to send (CTS)
Acknowledgement (ACK)
Power-Save Poll (PS Poll)
Contention-Free End (CF End)
CF End + CF Ack

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Management Frames

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Association request frame

Association response frame
Reassociation request frame
Reassociation response frame
Probe request frame
Probe response frame
Beacon frame
ATIM frame
Disassociation frame
Authentication frame
Deauthentication frame
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LLC
Contention-free Service
Contention Service
Mac
Layer

Point
Coordination
Function (PCF)
Distributed Coordination Function
(DCF)
2.4 GHz
frequency
hopping
spread
spectrum
1 Mbps
2 Mbps

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2.4 GHz
direct
sequence
spread
spectrum
1 Mbps
2 Mbps

IEEE 802.11

5 GHz
orthogonal
FDM
6,9.12.
18,24,36
48,54 Mbps

2.4 GHz
direct
sequence
spread
spectrum
5.5 Mbps
11 Mbps

IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11b

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2.4 GHz
DSS
54 Mbps
5.5 Mbps
11 Mbps

IEEE 802.11g

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Frames spacing intervals for DSSS

Short Interframe Spacing

(SIFS) 10 s
Point Coordination Function Interframe
Space
(PIFS) 30 s
Distributed Coordination Function
Interframe Space
(DIFS) 50 s

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Fragmentation

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Dynamic transmission rate

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Traffic Indication Map (TIM)

The TIM is used an as indicator of which sleeping stations
have packets queued at the access point. This information
is passed in each beacon to all associated stations. While
sleeping, synchronized stations power up their receivers,
listen for the beacon, check the TIM to see if they are
listed, then, if they are not listed, they power down their
receivers and continue sleeping.
.

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Operational processes
Association

To establish relationship with Access-Point

Stations scan frequency band to and select AccessPoint with best communications quality

Access-Point maintains list of associate stations in

MAC FW

Active Scan (sending a Probe request on specific channels

and assess response)
Passive Scan (assessing communications quality from
beacon message)

Record station capability (data-rate)

To allow inter-BSS relay

Stations MAC address is also maintained in bridge

learn table associated with the port it is located on

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Configuration Parameters
Basic parameters (Station)

Network Name (SSID)

ASCII string to identify the network that the station

wants to connect to.

Station Name (SSID)

ASCII string to provide a user friendly station

identification, when used in diagnostic purposes (in
Windows systems: equal to computer name)

Type of Operation

To identify the kind of network that the station will

be part of

Network centered around APs

IBSS (peer-to-peer network)

Configuration Parameters
Advanced parameters (Station)

MAC Address

Physical address of the card:

Universal; factory installed (default)

Local; user-defined (6 Hexadecimal characters)

Distance between APs

To specify the coverage of a cell in terms of the

distance between the Access-Points

Large
Medium
Small

Configuration Parameters
Advanced parameters (Station)

Interference Robustness

Check box to enable/disable data-rate fallback delaymechanism to allow improved performance in presence of
microwave ovens or other interference signals

RTS/CTS Medium Reservation

Check box to enable/disable the RTS/CTS handshake.

Card Power Management

Check box to enable/disable Power Management

Configuration Parameters
Encryption parameters (Station)

Enable Encryption

To enable/disable Encryption

Encryption keys

Four fields to store up to four different encryption keys

Entries take up to 5 ASCII or 10 hexa-decimal values (when
using 64 WEP)

Encryption key index

Index identifying which of the four keys is the active one

Configuration Parameters
Basic parameters (AP)

Network Name (SSID)

ASCII string to identify the network that the AccessPoint is part of (similar to Domain-ID in WaveLAN
pre-IEEE). Only available in Access Point mode.

Frequency (channel)

To indicate the frequency channel that the AP500/1000 will use for its cell. The channel is
selected from the set that is allowed in the regulatory
domain.

Configuration Parameters
Advanced parameters (AP)

Interference Robustness

Check box to enable/disable data-rate fallback delaymechanism to allow improved performance in presence of
Interference

DTIM

Power Management related parameter to specify the timing

of the delivery of multicast traffic to stations that have
indicated to receive multicast messages while under power
management.
Example:
DTIM=1 means multicast traffic when it arrives at the AP is
passed through after every beacon
DTIM=3 means multicast traffic is passed through after every
3rd beacon message

Configuration Parameters
Security parameters

Closed System (AP)

To enable rejection of association requests from

stations with Network Name set to ANY

Enable Encryption

To enable/disable Encryption

Encryption keys

Four fields to store up to four different encryption

keys

Encryption key index

Index identifying which of the four keys is the active

one

Configuration Parameters
Advanced parameters

Medium Reservation

To enable/disable the RTS/CTS handshake.

Threshold value 0-2346 (value=2347 disables Medium

Reservation)

Distance between APs

To specify the coverage of a cell in terms of the

distance between the Access-Points

Large
Medium
Small

Multicast Rate

To specify data-rate used for transmitting Multicast

frames

Interference

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Interference

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Channel 11

Channel 3
2422 GHz

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Channel 6
2437

Channel
11
2462

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Proxim Mp11.a

Power over Ethernet

Max 36 W, Typ. 7.5W
Turbo mode gives 108 Mbps
rate adaptive to 6 Mbps
Max Out 18 dBm
Built in attenuator to control int.
Spanning tree protocol included
Radius support

OFDM

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Supported Channels for 802.11a

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Enterprise Gateway

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Common options that most wireless

residential gateways include are:

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Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)

Network Address Translation (NAT)
Port Address Translation (PAT)
Ethernet switching
Virtual Servers
Print Serving
Fail-over routing
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server and Client
Configurable Firewall

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Enterprise Gateway Features

Enterprise wireless gateways do have features, such
as Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), that are not
found in any access points. RBAC allows an
administrator to assign a certain level of wireless
network access to a particular job position in the
company. If the person doing that job is replaced, the
new person automatically gains the same network
rights as the replaced person. Having the ability to
limit a wireless user's access to corporate resources,
as part of the "role", can be a useful security feature.

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Enterprise Gateway Features

Class of service is typically supported, and an
administrator can assign levels of service to a
particular user or role. For example, a guest
account might be able to use only 500 kbps
on the wireless network whereas an
administrator might be allowed 2 Mbps
connectivity.

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Configuration and Management

of EG
Enterprise wireless gateways are installed in the main
data path on the wired LAN segment just past the
access point(s)
They are configured through console ports using telnet,
internal HTTP or HTTPS servers, etc.
Centralized management of only a few devices is one
big advantage of using enterprise wireless gateways.
An administrator, from a single console, can easily
manage a large wireless deployment using only a few
central devices instead of a very large number of
access points.
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Configuration and Management

of EWG
Enterprise wireless gateways are normally upgraded
through use of TFTP in the same fashion as many
switches and routers on the market today.
Configuration backups can often be automated so
that the administrator won't have to spend additional
management time backing up or recovering from lost
configuration files. Enterprise wireless gateways are
mostly manufactured as rack-mountable 1U or 2U
devices that can fit into your existing data center
design.

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Power over distance

Gt
Tx

Gr
Rx

At

Ar

Pt
L= 32.4 +20 log(d/km)+20 log(f/MHz)
Free Space Loss

Pr

dBm
Threshold
km
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Power Limits
PtMP links have a central point of connection and two or
more non-central connection points. PtMP links are
typically configured in a star topology. The central
connection point may or may not have an omnidirectional
antenna It is important to note that when an
omnidirectional antenna is used, the FCC automatically
considers the link a PtMP link.
Regarding the setup of a PtMP link, the FCC limits the
EIRP to 4 Watts in both the 2.4 GHz ISM band and upper
5 GHz UNII band. The power limit set for the intentional
radiator (the device transmitting the RF signal) in each of
these bands is 1 Watt. If the transmitting wireless LAN
devices are adjustable with respect to their output power,
then the system can be customized to the needs of the
user.
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Power Limits
Suppose a radio transmitting at 1 Watt (+30 dBm) is
connected directly to a 12 dBi omnidirectional antenna.
The total output power at the antenna is about 16 Watts,
which is well above the 4 Watt limit. The FCC stipulates
that for each 3 dBi above the antenna's initial 6 dBi of
gain, the power at the intentional radiator must be
reduced by 3 dB below the initial +30 dBm. For the
example, since the antenna gain is 12 dBi, the power at
the intentional radiator must be reduced by 6 dB. This
reduction will result in an intentional radiator power of
+24 dBm (30 dBm 6 dB), or 250 mW and an EIRP of
36 dBm (24 dBm + 12 dBi), or 4 Watts. The power at the
intentional radiator must never be more than 1 Watt and
the EIRP must never be above 4 Watts for a PtMP
connection.
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Power Limits

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Power Limits

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Power Limits

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Power Limits

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IEEE 802.11g

802.11g provides the same maximum speed of 802.11a, coupled

with backwards compatibility for 802.11b devices. This
backwards compatibility makes upgrading wireless LANs simple
and inexpensive.
IEEE 802.11g specifies operation in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. To
achieve the higher data rates found in 802.11a, 802.11g
compliant devices utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation technology. These devices can
automatically switch to QPSK modulation in order to
communicate with the slower 802.11b- and 802.11- compatible
devices. There is no reason to keep purchasing 802.11b only
devices nowadays, since for all practical purposes 802.11g is a
superset of b, offering higher speed and some multipath inmunity
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Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance

The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA)

promotes and tests for wireless LAN interoperability of
802.11b devices and 802.11a devices. WECAs
mission is to certify interoperability of Wi-Fi (IEEE
802.11) products and to promote Wi-Fi as the global
wireless LAN standard across all market segments.
As an administrator, you must resolve conflicts among
wireless LAN devices that result from interference,
incompatibility, or other problems.

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Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance

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Supported Rates
802.11b compliant device supports 11, 5.5, 2, & 1Mbps.
802.11g can extend the capabilities to 54 Mbps as does
802.11a.
Some vendors offer enhancements over the standards
that reach 108 Mbps and even 150 Mbps, but this often
increases the interference problem

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Thanks for your attention

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