lWireless Standards & Protocols

Network Startup Resource Center

www.nsrc.org

These materials are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license
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Original Slides: Sebastian Büttrich, NSRC/ITU/wire.less.dk Edit: June 2012
Objectives
• Introduce Core Concepts & Terminology
• Shared Radio Spectrum Bands
• Wi-Fi & 802.11 radio channels
• Channel Access
• Wireless network topologies
• Wi-Fi modes of operation
• Basic wireless routing
What is Shared Spectrum?
• Licenses give an exclusive right to use a frequency
• Radio & TV Stations, Cellular Operators
• Wi-Fi typically operates in shared spectrum
• Many networks on the same frequencies
• Use of shared spectrum is free in most countries
• Free does not always mean unregulated or unlicensed
• “Type Approved Devices”
• Maximum Power Limits & Radar Detect
• General User Radio Licenses
Is Shared Spectrum Important?
• Innovation happens in shared spectrum
• The market size is greater
• No country-specific frequencies to develop for
• Wi-Fi is often faster than cellular
• Wi-Fi is usually cheaper than cellular
Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) Bands

• Spectrum originally set aside for ISM equipment

• Opened for use in the US in the 1990s
• Wi-Fi works in 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz ISM spectrum
• ISM bands also exist at:
• 433 MHz
• 915 MHz
• 24 Ghz
ISM bands
Frequency range Bandwidth Center frequency Availability
6.765 MHz 6.795 MHz 30 kHz 6.780 MHz Subject to local acceptance

13.553 MHz 13.567 MHz 14 kHz 13.560 MHz Worldwide

26.957 MHz 27.283 MHz 326 kHz 27.120 MHz Worldwide

40.660 MHz 40.700 MHz 40 kHz 40.680 MHz Worldwide

433.050 MHz 434.790 MHz 1.74 MHz 433.920 MHz Region 1 only and subject to local acceptance

902.000 MHz 928.000 MHz 26 MHz 915.000 MHz Region 2 only (with some exceptions)

2.400 GHz 2.500 GHz 100 MHz 2.450 GHz Worldwide

5.725 GHz 5.875 GHz 150 MHz 5.800 GHz Worldwide

24.000 GHz 24.250 GHz 250 MHz 24.125 GHz Worldwide

61.000 GHz 61.500 GHz 500 MHz 61.250 GHz Subject to local acceptance

122.000 GHz 123.000 GHz 1 GHz 122.500 GHz Subject to local acceptance

244.000 GHz 246.000 GHz 2 GHz 245.000 GHz Subject to local acceptance

Table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_band
What is Wi-Fi?
• A Wi-Fi Alliance Trademark
• Not a strict technical term
• Wi-Fi is commonly used to refer to the
802.11 family of wireless standards
• Wi-Fi can run in ISM bands
• Wi-Fi is designed for shared spectrum
WiFi can now be found
almost anywhere.
Current 802.11 Standards
Standard Data rate Frequency Channel Access
[Mbps] [GHz]

802.11b 11 2.4 DSSS

802.11g 54 2.4 DSSS, OFDM
802.11a 54 5 OFDM
802.11n 150/300/600 2.4 / 5 DSSS, OFDM,
MIMO
802.11ac 1300 5 OFDM, Mu-MIMO
Emerging 802.11 standards

Standard Data rate Frequency Channel Access

[Mbps]

802.11ad >6000 60 GHz Milimetre waves

Very short range
802.11af 10-100 2.4 TV White Spaces
Non Line of Sight
The Speed of Wi-Fi
• Wi-Fi Data Rates – 11, 54, 1300mbps
• Peak raw radio symbol rates
• Half-duplex, not full duplex!
• Not actual TCP/IP throughput rates
• Lower Speeds are realized due to:
• Protocol overhead
• Adaptive modulation
• Practical Wi-Fi advice, on a perfect link:
• TCP/IP throughput is ½ Wi-Fi data rate
Spectrum Access Schemes
• Channel-based access schemes
• Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
• Time division multiple access (TDMA)
• Code division multiple access (CDMA)
• Space division multiple access (SDMA)
• These can be combined!
• Packet-based access schemes
• Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA)
• Important as they impact performance
802.11 Spectrum Access
WiMax Dynamic TDMA 802.11a DSSS, FHSS
LTE OFDMA / MIMO / 802.11b DSSS, 20 MHz
SC-FDMA channel
3G mobile CDMA 802.11g OFDM, DSSS
2G mobile TDMA 802.11n OFDM, DSSS,
Bluetooth FHSS MIMO, 40MHz
channel
802.11ac OFDM, MU-MIMO,
80MHz channel
Compatibility of Standards
Access Point
802.11a 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n 802.11ac

802.11a Yes @5GHz @5GHz

802.11b
Yes (slower) (slower)
Client

802.11g
(slower) Yes (slower)

802.11n
@5GHz @2.4GHz @2.4GHz Yes (slower)

802.11ac
@5GHz @5GHz Yes
Think In Layers
OSI Model TCP / IP

Application

User
Presentation Application
Space

Session
Software
Transport Transport

Operating
Network Internet Firmware System

Data Link Hardware

Network Interface
Physical
Layers 1 & 2
• WiFi devices must agree on several parameters
• Before they can communicate with each other!

TCP/IP Protocol Stack • Frequency:

5 Application
• Band, Center, Channel Size
• Radio operating mode:
4 Transport
• Managed, Station/Client, Ad-Hoc
3 Internet
• Network name (SSID)
2 Data Link
• Security features:
1 Physical • WPA, WPA2, EAP
802.11 Wi-Fi Channels

• Frequency bands are divided into channels

• 2.4 GHz has 14 overlapping channels of 22 MHz each
• 5.8 GHz has 5 non-overlapping channels of 20 MHz each
• Wi-Fi devices must use the same channel
• Wi-Fi devices send and receive on the same channel
• This kind of connection is called half-duplex.
Non-Overlapping Channels 1,6,11,14

• Not All Countries Allow All Channels!

• Channel 14 is not allowed in the USA
Three Channel Coverage Design

Remember this is theory!

Reality does not look this nice.
Wireless Network Topologies

• Point to Point

• Point to Multipoint

• Multipoint to Multipoint
Point-to-Point
• The simplest connection is a point-to-point link
• These links can work over great distances
Point-to-Multipoint
When more than one node communicates with a
central point, this is a point-to-multipoint network.
Multipoint-to-Multipoint
Any node may communicate with any other
This can be an “ad-hoc” or a planned mesh
Wi-Fi Radio Modes
• Wi-Fi devices can operate in one of these modes
• Master (access point)
• Managed (also known as client or station)
• Ad-hoc (used for mesh networks)
• Monitor (not normally used for communications)
• Only one mode is supported at a time
Master (Infrastructure) Mode
Master mode (also called AP or
infrastructure mode) is used to
provide an infrastructure with an
access point connecting
different clients. The access
point creates a network with a
specified name (called the
SSID) and channel, and offers
network services on it.

WiFi devices in master mode

can only communicate with
devices that are associated with
it in managed mode.
Managed Mode

l Managed mode is sometimes also

referred to as client mode. Wireless
devices in managed mode will join a
network created by a master, and will
automatically change their channel
to match it.
l

l Clients using a given access point

are said to be associated with it.
Managed mode radios do not
communicate with each other
directly, and will only communicate
with an associated master (and only
with one at a time).
Ad-Hoc Mode

Ad-hoc mode is used to

create one to one connections
and mesh networks.
In this case, there is no
master and client.
Devices must must agree on
a network name and channel.
Monitor Mode
Monitor mode is used to passively listen to all radio traffic on
a given channel. This is useful for:

• Analyzing wireless link problems

• Observing spectrum usage
• Security maintenance tasks
Wi-Fi Radio Modes In Action
Wireless Distribution System (WDS)

• Access Points can communicate with each other!

• But there can be many problems
• Cross-vendor compatibility
• Maximum throughput is halved at each hop
• Typically supports only 5 APs at a time
• WDS is rarely needed and not recommended.
Wi-Fi Does Not Route Traffic
• 802.11 Wi-Fi provides a
TCP/IP Protocol Stack
link-local connection. 5 Application
• Wi-Fi does not provide
4 Transport
any routing functionality!
3 Internet
• Routing is implemented by
2 Data Link
higher level protocols.
1 Physical
Bridged Networking
• Appropriate for simple networks
• Advantages
• Very simple configuration
• Roaming works very well
• Disadvantages
• Efficiency falls as nodes are added
• All broadcast traffic is repeated
• Unstable on larger networks
Bridged Access Points
Routed Networking
• Route between nodes for large networks
• Static Routing
• Point-to-point links
• Simple networks
• Dynamic Routing
• RIP is a very old protocol with many problems
• OSPF is a modern protocol for dynamic routing
• RIP and OSPF do not perform well on unstable backbones
• Mesh Routing
• Standards & proprietary protocols available
• Can perform better than OSPF on unstable networks
Routed Networking
• Appropriate for large, campus, or metro networks
• Advantages
• Limited broadcast domains
• More efficient use of radio bandwidth
• Many protocols & bandwidth management tools
• Disadvantages
• More complex configuration
• Roaming between APs is more difficult
Routed Access Points
Frequently
Asked
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions

l How fast?
l How far?
l How many clients?
l Are all my devices compatible?
l What should I buy?
What We Can Do Today

• 10 Mbps over 1 km for $100

• 300 Mbps over 5 km for $200
• 1 Gbps over 10 km for $2000
• Up to 100 km distance (and beyond)
• Simple hotspots for <$50 per AP
• Managed access networks for $100 per AP
How Many Clients?
• How many end users on one AP?
• 100 moderate users
• 10-30 heavy users
• Limitations
• Radio Spectrum
• Slowest Clients
• Backhaul & Core Network
• Access Point CPU / Packets Per Second
Problems For The Future
• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) means 2-4 devices per person
• Power over Ethernet (PoE) at 100mbps is no longer enough
• 1gbps Ethernet is not enough for some 802.11ac access points
• Network security is difficult, and getting more difficult
• How will you manage your users?
Learning More
l Network Startup Resource Center
l http://nsrc.org
l ICTP Wireless | T/ICT4D Lab
l http://wireless.ictp.it/
l Wireless Networking for the Developing World
l http://wndw.net
l ICTP UNESCO Wireless Training Kit
l http://140.105.28.115/groups/wtkit/
Thank you!

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