Introduction to Wireless LAN

BTN 304 – Wireless LAN

Lecture 1

1
 Outline
 Communication Networks
 LAN (Local Area Network)
 MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
 WAN (Wide Area Network)
 Wireless Network
 Popular 2.4 Ghz Standards
 IEEE 802.11 Family
 Purpose of a Communication
Network
 What is a data network for?
 A network is used to share things, such as:
 Applications
 Printers
 Files
 Wireless networks are used to share the same things that
wired networks do.
 Types of Communication Networks
 Traditional
 Traditional local area network (LAN)
 Traditional wide area network (WAN)
 Higher-speed
 High-speed local area network (LAN)
 Metropolitan area network (MAN)
 High-speed wide area network (WAN)
 Characteristics of WANs
 Covers large geographical areas
 Circuits provided by a common carrier
 Consists of interconnected switching nodes
 Traditional WANs provide modest capacity
 64000 bps common
 Business subscribers using T-1 service – 1.544 Mbps common
 Higher-speed WANs use optical fiber and transmission
technique known as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)
 10s and 100s of Mbps common
 Characteristics of LANs
 LAN interconnects a variety of devices and provides a means
for information exchange among them
 Traditional LANs
 Provide data rates of 1 to 20 Mbps
 High-speed LANS
 Provide data rates of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps
 Differences between LANs and
WANs
 Scope of a LAN is smaller
 LAN interconnects devices within a single building or cluster of
buildings
 LAN usually owned by organization that owns the attached
devices
 For WANs, most of network assets are not owned by same
organization
 Internal data rate of LAN is much greater
 The Need for MANs
 Traditional point-to-point and switched network techniques
used in WANs are inadequate for growing needs of
organizations
 Need for high capacity and low costs over large area
 MAN provides:
 Service to customers in metropolitan areas
 Required capacity
 Lower cost and greater efficiency than equivalent service from
telephone company
 Speed and Distance of
Communications Networks
 Wireless Network
 Can be used in any of these three types of networks:
 LAN, MAN, and WAN
 Many wireless networks that are used to connect end users to
a central site as in a last mile solution are called wide area
networks by some.
 This is not the case, despite popular usage
 Any network of that type is clearly a MAN
 The only case where a wireless network is truly used as part
of a WAN, are the long range point-to-point microwave
connections used to span long distances
 Nature of Wireless Network
Wireless networks are fundamentally different
from those that use wires.

Wireless signals are unbounded and dynamic

A wireless signal’s environment is quite similar to

a microclimate as used when discussing the
weather
 Nature of Wireless Network
Weather and wireless networks are very similar,
both suffer from the same problem.
For the weather we know about the behavior of
large weather systems and climate in general
We can then predict that in the summer the weather
will be hot
During the monsoon, it will rain often
 Nature of Wireless Network
Problem with radio frequency networks as we have with
the weather network
How radio frequency signals traverse the environment
We cannot accurately predict what they will do or not
do from a base station antenna to an end user’s site a
few kilometers away
The usual way of handling this problem for both the
weather and radio frequency networks is a fade margin
 What Is Wireless Networking?
The use of infra-red (IR) or radio frequency (RF)
signals to share information and resources
between devices
A hot computer industry buzzword:
 Wireless Broadband, 3G wireless, 4G, WAP, iMode,
Bluetooth, WiFi
Mobile Internet, Pervasive Computing,
Nomadic Computing, M-commerce
 Ubiquitous; Global; Revolutionary
 What is Wireless Networking?
 Is a network set up by using
radio signal frequency to
communicate among
computers and other
network devices.
 Sometimes it’s also referred
to as WiFi network or
WLAN.
 Two Popular 2.4 GHz Standards:
 IEEE 802.11  Bluetooth
 Fast (11b)  Slow
 High Power  Low Power
 Long range  Short range
 Single-purpose  Flexible
 Ethernet replacement  Cable replacement
 Easily Available
 Apple Airport, iBook, G4
 Cisco Aironet 350
 WLANs: IEEE 802.11 Family
802.11 working group
 Specify an open-air interface between a wireless client and
a base station or access point, as well as among wireless
clients

IEEE 802.11a
 Up to 54 Mbps in the 5 GHz band
 Uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)
 WLANs: IEEE 802.11 Family
IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi)
 11 Mbps (with fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps) in the 2.4
GHz band
 Uses DSSS

IEEE 802.11g
 20+ Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band
 IEEE 802.11b
802.11 standard’s 2 Mbps bandwidth not sufficient
for most network applications
802.11b amendment added two higher speeds (5.5
Mbps and 11 Mbps) to original 802.11 standard
 Uses ISM band
Supports wireless devices up to 115 meters (375 feet)
apart
 Radio waves decrease in power over distance
 802.11b standard specifies that, when devices out of range to
transmit at 11 Mbps, devices drop transmission speed to 5.5
Mbps
 IEEE 802.11a
IEEE 802.11a standard specifies maximum rated
speed of 54 Mbps
 Also supports 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9,and 6 Mbps transmissions
using U-NII band
802.11a and 802.11b published at same time
 802.11a came to market later due to technical issues and high
production cost
Range of 802.11a is less than that of 802.11b
 IEEE 802.11g
Effort to combine best features of 802.11a and
802.11b
 Data transfer rates to 54 Mbps
 Support devices up to 115 meters apart
802.11g standard specifies that devices operate
entirely in ISM frequency
 Projected IEEE 802.11n
Currently in evaluation stage
Top speed of 802.11n standard will be anywhere
from 100 Mbps to 500 Mbps
Ratification may not occur until 2006
 Devices based on standard may appear prior to that
 802.11 pre-N
 Pros and Cons of 802.11:
Pro:
 High bandwidth (up to 11 Mbps)
 Two modes of operation: infrastructure vs. ad hoc

Con:
 Incompatibility between old and new cards
 Signal blocked by reinforced concrete or tinted glass

 No standard for hand-off between base stations

 Some channel numbers overlap spectrum

 High power consumption in laptops

 Bluetooth
Cable replacement technology
Created by Ericsson
PAN - Personal Area Network
 1-2 Mbps connections
 1600 hops per second FHSS
 Includes synchronous, asynchronous, voice
connections
Small, low-power, short-range, cheap, versatile
radios
Used as Internet connection, phone, or headset
Master/slave configuration and scheduling
 Future of Wireless
 Higher data rates
 Better security
 Wider selection of products
 Lower prices
 Zero configuration networking
 More end-user focus
 Better software
 Less visible
 More popular
 Wireless Internet Technologies
Mobile devices (e.g., laptops, PDAs, cell phones,
wearable computers)
Wireless network access
 Bluetooth (1 Mbps, up to 3 meters)
 IEEE 802.11b (11 Mbps, up to 100 meters)
 IEEE 802.11a (55 Mbps, up to 20 meters)

Operating modes:
 Infrastructure mode (access point)
 Ad hoc mode

Wireless Web, WiFi “hot spots”

Elements of a wireless network
Ad hoc mode
 no base stations
 nodes can only
transmit to other
nodes within link
coverage
 nodes organize
themselves into a
network: route
among themselves
 Wireless Link Characteristics
Differences from wired link ….
decreased signal strength: radio signal attenuates as it
propagates through matter (path loss)
 interference from other sources: standardized
wireless network frequencies (e.g., 2.4 GHz) shared
by other devices (e.g., phone); devices (motors)
interfere as well
 multipath propagation: radio signal reflects off
objects ground, arriving destination at slightly
different times
…. make communication across (even a point to point)
wireless link much more “difficult”
 Fixed Wireless
Microwave
 Traditionally used in point-to-point communications
 Initially, 1 GHz range, more recently in the 40 GHz region

Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS)

 Operates around 30 GHz
 Point-to-multipoint, with applications including Internet
access and telephony
 Fixed Wireless
Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service
(MMDS)
 Operates around 2.5 GHz
 Initially, for TV distribution
 More recently, wireless residential Internet service
 Growth in Wireless Systems
 Rapid growth in cellular/PCS voice services over
the last decade
 Cell phones everywhere!
 Wireless data is a fast growing market with lots of
exciting action
 WLAN rapidly growing
 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g, Bluetooth
 Wide area wireless data also growing
 support for data in 2.5G and 3G wireless
 Wireless broadband
 Location-based services, WAP
 Favorable Technology Trends
 Availability of a pervasive data network (Internet)
 Innovative Internet-based applications and services
particularly useful to mobile users
 personalized information retrieval, access to airline reservations
systems, online trading
 Terminal devices
 compact size, low power, ease of use
 next generation will have built-in wireless interfaces
 Emerging wide-area wireless packet data services
 aggregate data rates of several 100 kbps
 TCP/IP-friendly link layer protocols
 Evolution in Information Systems
 Wired  wireless, e.g. wired phones  cellular
 More freedom of location and time
 Voice telephony, data  multimedia
 Intelligent telecom  networked computing
 Intelligence at the edges of the network
 Programmable servers intermixed with switching infrastructure for
rapid service deployment
 Networked computing is becoming pervasive
 Personal  networked  mobile  pervasive
 More flexible resource usage, more freedom of location and time,
more efficient flow of information
 Moving beyond phones and PCs
 Embedded devices & sensor-based smart spaces
 WLAN Devices:
Wireless Network Interface Card
Network interface card (NIC): Connects
computer to network so that it can send and receive
data
Wireless NICs perform same function, but without
wires
When wireless NICs transmit:
 Change computer’s internal data from parallel to serial
transmission
 Divide data into packets and attach sending and receiving
computer’s address
 Determine when to send packet
 Transmit packet
 WLAN Devices:
Wireless Network Interface Card

Network interface card for a wired network

 WLAN Devices:
Wireless Network Interface Card

Wireless NICs for desktop computers: (a) PCI network interface

card, (b) standalone USB device, (c) USB key
 WLAN Devices:
Wireless Network Interface Card

Wireless NICs for laptop computers: (a) CardBus card; (b) Mini PCI
card
 WLAN Devices:
Wireless Network Interface Card
For smaller devices, several options:
 CardBus or Type II PC Card
 May require a sled
 CompactFlash (CF) card: Consists of small circuit board
containing flash memory chips and dedicated controller chip
 Small and consume little power
 SDIO (Secure Digital I/O) or SDIO NOW! Card: Provides
high-speed data input/output with low power consumption
 WLAN Devices:
Wireless Network Interface Card
A movement towards integrating wireless NICs
 Would eliminate need for external wireless NICs
Software drivers necessary to allow wireless NIC
and operating system (OS) to interface
 Windows XP and PDA OSs have built-in drivers
 WLAN Devices: Access Point
Three major parts:
 Antenna and radio transmitter/receiver
 RJ-45 wired network interface
 Special bridging software
 To interface wireless devices to other devices
Two basic function:
 Base station for wireless network
 Bridge between wireless and wired networks
 WLAN Devices: Access Point

An access point acts as a bridge between the wireless network and

a wired network
 WLAN Devices: Access Point
Range depends on several factors:
 Type of wireless network supported
 Walls, doors, and other solid objects
Number of wireless clients that single AP can
support varies:
 Theoretically over 100 clients
 No more than 50 for light network use
 No more than 20 for heavy network use
Power over Ethernet (PoE): Power delivered to
AP through unused wires in standard unshielded
twisted pair (UTP) Ethernet cable
 WLAN Devices: Remote Wireless Bridge

Bridge: Connects two network segments together

 Even if they use different types of physical media

Remote wireless bridge: Connects two or more

wired or wireless networks together
 Transmit at higher power than WLAN APs
 Use directional antennas to focus transmission in single
direction
 Delay spread: Minimize spread of signal so that it can reach
farther distances
 Have software enabling selection of clearest transmission
channel and avoidance of noise and interference
 WLAN Devices: Remote Wireless Bridge

Point-to-point remote wireless bridge

 WLAN Devices: Remote Wireless Bridge

Point-to-multipoint remote wireless bridge

 WLAN Devices: Remote Wireless Bridge

Four modes:
 Access point mode: Functions as standard AP
 Root mode: Root bridge can only communicate with other
bridges not in root mode
 Non-root mode: Can only transmit to another bridge in root
mode
 Repeater mode: Extend distance between LAN segments
 Placed between two other bridges
Distance between buildings using remote wireless
bridges can be up to 18 miles at 11 Mbps or 25 miles
transmitting 2 Mbps
 WLAN Devices: Remote Wireless Bridge

Root and non-root modes

 WLAN Devices: Remote Wireless Bridge

Repeater mode
 WLAN Devices: Wireless Gateway
Combines wireless management and security in
single appliance
 Authentication
 Encryption
 Intrusion detection and malicious program protection
 Bandwidth management
 Centralized network management
 End of Lecture 1

- Introduction to Wireless LAN-

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