WiFi MAC Protocol

History

WiFi is used to describe the underlying technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications WiFi developed by Kyle Brown IEEE 802.11 denotes a set of Wireless LAN/WLAN standards developed by working group 11 of the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee (IEEE 802)
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First WiFi

Intended for cashiers Called WaveLAN

Vic Hayes

Father of WiFi Helped design IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g

MAC Protocol
MAC stands for Medium Access Control Used to provide the data link layer of the Ethernet LAN system Job is to add a 14 byte header (Protocol Control Information (PCI)) before the data and append a 4-byte Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) after the data

Network-Level Architecture

Network-Level Architecture Cont.

IEEE 802.11 Standard

PHY/MAC standard for wireless LANs

First standardized in 1997 Meet great success starting in 1999

IEEE 802.11a: high speed extension to the 5GHz band 802.11b/g: high speed extension to the 2.4GHz band 802.11e: Quality of service (QoS) enhancement (still active) 802.11i: Security enhancement 802.11s: Mesh-networking support
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Several working groups

Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

Protocols
Protocols Release Date
1997

Op. Frequency
2.4 2.5 GHz

Date Rate (Typ)

1 Mbit/s

Date Rate (Max)

2 Mbit/s

Range (indoor)
?

Legacy

802.11a

1999

5.15-5.35/5.475.725/5.7255.875 GHz

25 Mbit/s

54 Mbit/s

~30 meters (~100 feet)

802.11b

1999

2.4 2.5 GHz

6.5 Mbit/s

11 Mbit/s

~50 meters (~150 feet)

802.11g

2003

2.4 2.5 GHz

11 Mbit/s

54 Mbit/s

~30 meters (~100 feet)

802.11n

2006 (draft)

2.4 GHz or 5GHz bands

200 Mbit/s

540 Mbit/s

~50 meters (~160 feet)

Protocols

IEEE 802.11 Group Standards

IEEE 802.11 IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11b The original 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s , 2.4 GHz RF and IR standard (1999) 54 Mbit/s, 5 GHz standard (1999, shipping products in 2001) Enhancements to 802.11 to support 5.5 and 11 Mbit/s (1999)

IEEE 802.11c

Bridge operation procedures; included in the IEEE 802.1D standard (2001)

IEEE 802.11d
IEEE 802.11e IEEE 802.11f

International (country-to-country) roaming extensions (2001)

Enhancements: QoS, including packet bursting (2005) Inter-Access Point Protocol (2003) Withdrawn February 2006

IEEE 802.11g

54 Mbit/s, 2.4 GHz standard (backwards compatible with b) (2003)

IEEE 802.11h IEEE 802.11i IEEE 802.11j

Spectrum Managed 802.11a (5 GHz) for European compatibility (2004) Enhanced security (2004) Extensions for Japan (2004)
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IEEE 802.11 Group Standards Cont.

IEEE 802.11k
IEEE 802.11l IEEE 802.11m IEEE 802.11n IEEE 802.11o IEEE 802.11p IEEE 802.11q IEEE 802.11r IEEE 802.11s IEEE 802.11T IEEE 802.11u IEEE 802.11v IEEE 802.11w IEEE 802.11x IEEE 802.11y

Radio resource measurement enhancements

(reserved and will not be used) Maintenance of the standard; odds and ends. Higher throughput improvements using MIMO (multiple input, multiple output antennas) (reserved and will not be used) WAVE - Wireless Access for the Vehicular Environment (such as ambulances and passenger cars) (reserved and will not be used, can be confused with 802.1Q VLAN trunking) Fast roaming Working "Task Group r" ESS Mesh Networking Wireless Performance Prediction (WPP) - test methods and metrics Recommendation Interworking with non-802 networks (for example, cellular) Wireless network management Protected Management Frames (reserved and will not be used) 3650-3700 Operation in the U.S.
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802.11 Protocol Entities

12 Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

MAC in Detail

Channel access mechanism

Distributed Coordination Function (DCF)

Carrier

sense multiple access (CSMA) with immediate MAC-level ACK RTS/CTS(4-way handshaking) exchange (optional)

RTS stands for Request-to-Send CTS stands for Clear-to-Send

Point Coordination Function (PCF)

Polled

access through AP and distributed access Contention-free period (CFP) and contention period (CP) Seldom implemented in practice

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Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

CSMA/CA Explained

Reduce collision probability where mostly needed

Stations are waiting for medium to become free Select Random Backoff after a Defer, resolving contention to avoid collisions Exponential Backoff window increases for retransmissions Backoff timer elapses only when medium is idle To allow immediate responses and PCF coexistence
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Efficient Backoff algorithm stable at high loads

Implement different fixed priority levels

Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

CSMA/CA + ACK Protocol

Defer access based on Carrier Sense

Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) from PHY and Virtual Carrier Sense state

Direct access when medium is sensed free longer then DIFS, otherwise defer and backoff Reciever of directed frames to return an ACK immediately when CRC correct

When no ACK received then retransmit frame after a random backoff (up to maximum limit)

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Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

CSMA/CD

CSMA stands for Carrier Sense Multiple Access CD stands for Collision Detection Allows for Retransmission Back-Off

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RTS/CTS Based Access

Duration field in RTS and CTS frames distribute Medium Reservation information which is stored in a Net Allocation Vector (NAV) Defer on either NAV or CCA indicating Medium Busy Use RTS/CTS is optional but must be implemented Use is controlled by a RTS_Threshold parameter per station

To limit overhead for short frames

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Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

Frame Formats

MAC Header format differs per Type:

Control Frames (several fields are omitted) Management Frames Data Frames
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Includes Sequence Control Field for filtering of duplicates caused by ACK mechanism

Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

Address Field Description

Addr 1 = All stations filter on this address. Addr 2 = Transmitter Address (TA)

Identifies transmitter to address the ACK frame to

Addr 3 = Dependent on To and From DS bits Addr 4 = Only needed to identify the original source of WDS (Wireless Distribution System) frames

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Slide taken from: http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol%2C%20powerpoint

Applications
Wireless Access Point (WAP) Wireless Routers Wireless Ethernet Bridge Range Extender

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Gaming Applications
Nintendo DS Sony PSP Xbox 360 Playstation 3 Nintendo Wii

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Problems / Performance Issues

Interruption by other devices High power consumption When setup the network defaults to open mode Large area coverage

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Security Issues
WEP encryption is breakable Spoofing authorized MAC addresses Wardriving and Warchalking

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Question Summary / Conclusion

What is WiFi MAC Protocol?

It is the underlying technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications that provides the data link layer of the Ethernet LAN system.

Who came up with WiFi MAC Protocol?

The IEEE Task Groups and created the IEEE 802.11 or IEEE 802.11x Committee, however IEEE only sets specifications. WiFi Alliance runs the certification program.
DCF uses carrier sense multiple access with immediate MAC-level ACK and contains RTS/CTS optional exchange. PCF uses polled access through AP and distributed access; cotains a contention-free period and a contention 24 period; and is seldom implemented in practice.

What is the difference between DCF and PCF?

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wi-Fi_logo.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/ima/rm5/images/cashier_lg.jpg http://www.art-events.de/systeme/images/wlan3.jpeg http://www.aria.co.uk/mainimages/wpn802a.jpg http://media.pugetsoundsoftware.com/ask-leo.com/images/wireless2bad.png http://www.circuitcity.com/IMAGE/product/detail/dlk/EC.DLK.DWLG710.JPG http://www.wsdmag.com/Files/32/8624/Figure_01.gif http://www.os2warp.be/wireless/wireless_comparison.jpg http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/50th/IEEE.logo.GIF http://tab.computer.org/tcca/images/ieee.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bd/Blue_infrared_light.jpg/300px-Blue_infrared_light.jpg https://weather.unisys.com/satellite/images/sat_ir_us.gif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#802.11_legacy http://microwave.gotovim.ru/pics/microvawe.jpg http://reviews.cnet.com/i/qg/tvpc/power_tv.jpg http://acni.dnsalias.net/sites/batist/Picture%20Library/1/Open-door.jpg http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe257/Spring05/lecture/lecture3.pdf#search='802.11e%20MAC%20protocol% 2C%20powerpoint http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~cpyue/PatrickWebFiles/AR5110.jpg http://www.personaltelco.net/albums/album26/DSC00152.jpg http://www.blurtek.com/uploaded_images/belkin-n-726511.jpg http://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/eg3561/dl-pages/crc.html http://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/eg3561/lan-pages/csma-cd.html http://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/eg3561/lan-pages/mac.html http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/9858/31043/01443506.pdf

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