Wireless Local Area Networks

Lecture 2

Chapter 2

IEEE 802.11 and NICs

 Overview

• IEEE 802.11 Standard

• Logical Architecture
• Basic Service Set
• Independent Basic Service Set
• Extended Service Set
• 802.11 MAC Layer
• Physical Layer
• Client Adapters and Utilities

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 IEEE 802.11 Standards
• Standardization of networking functions has done much to further the
development of affordable, interoperable networking products.
• This is true for wireless products as well.
• Prior to the development of standards, wireless systems were plagued
with low data rates, incompatibility, and high costs.
• Standardization provides all of the following benefits:
• Interoperability among the products of multiple vendors
• Faster product development
• Stability
• Ability to upgrade
• Cost reduction
• Using products that adhere to standards helps eliminate most
interoperability issues; however, performance and signal degradation
can vary greatly between vendors.
Standards Organisations

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 IEEE and 802.11
• IEEE, founded in 1884, is a nonprofit professional organization
• Plays a critical role in developing standards, publishing technical works,
sponsoring conferences, and providing accreditation in the area of electrical
and electronics technology.
• In the area of networking, the IEEE has
produced many widely used standards
such as the 802.x group of local area
network (LAN).

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 IEEE 802.11
• IEEE 802.11 is the first WLAN standard.
• Today IEEE 802.11 holds the entire market.
• The first 802.11 standard for 1 and 2 Mbps was completed in
1997. Since then new PHY layer supporting 11 Mbps (called
IEEE 802.11b) and 54 Mbps (called IEEE 802.11a) have been
defined.
• The IEEE 802.11 standard supports both infrastructure WLANs
connecting through an AP and ad hoc operation allowing peer-to-
peer communication between terminals.
• WLANs operate in a difficult medium for communication,
compared with wired LANs, as they need to support mobility and
security.
• Bandwidth limitation, frequency regulation, interferences from
other WLANs, power management, and link reliability
management are some other factors that make 802.11 different
from other 802 standards. 6
 IEEE 802.11 Standards Activities
• 802.11a: 5GHz, 54Mbps
• 802.11b: 2.4GHz, 11Mbps
• 802.11d: Multiple regulatory domains
• 802.11e: Quality of Service (QoS)
• 802.11f: Inter-Access Point Protocol (IAPP)
• 802.11g: 2.4GHz, 54Mbps
• 802.11h: Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) and
Transmit Power Control (TPC)
• 802.11i: Security
• 802.11j: Japan 5GHz Channels (4.9-5.1 GHz)
• 802.11k: Measurement
• 802.11m: Maintenance
• 802.11n: High-Speed

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 Four Wireless Technologies
802.11b 802.11a 802.11g 802.11n

Frequency 2.4 GHz 5 GHz 2.4 GHz

5 GHz and/or
Band 2.4 GHz

Availability Worldwide US/AP Worldwide

Maximum 54 Mbps 300 Mbps

11 Mbps 54 Mbps Typ 74 Mbps
Data rate

Cordless Phones Cordless Phones

Other Microwave Ovens HyperLAN Microwave Ovens
Services Wireless Video Devices Wireless Video
(Interference) Bluetooth Devices Bluetooth Devices

The Laws of Radio Dynamics:

Higher Data Rates = Shorter Transmission Range
Higher Power Output = Increased Range, but Lower Battery Life
Higher Frequency Radios = Higher Data Rates but Shorter Ranges
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 IEEE 802.11 Architecture
• 802.11 is a family of protocols, including the original specification, 802.11, 802.11b,
802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11n and others.
• Officially called the IEEE Standard for WLAN MAC and PHY specifications.

• 802.11 is sometimes called wireless Ethernet, because of its shared lineage with
Ethernet, 802.3.
• The wired network side of the network could be Ethernet, Token Ring, etc.(we will always
use Ethernet in our examples)

• Access Points and Bridges act as “translation bridges” between 802.11 and 802.3 (or
other protocol)

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 Wireless LANs

Logical Architectures
 Overview of WLAN Topologies
• Three types of WLAN Topologies:
• Independent Basic Service Sets
(IBSS)
• Basic Service Set (BSS)
• Extended Service Set (ESS)
• Service Set – A logical grouping of
devices.

• WLANs provide network access by broadcasting a signal across a

wireless radio frequency.
• Transmitter prefaces its transmissions with a Service Set Identifier
(SSID)
• A station may receive transmissions from transmitters with the same or
different SSIDs.
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 Independent Basic Service Sets (IBSS)
• IBSS consists of a group of 802.11
stations directly communicating with
each other.
• No Access Point used
• Also known as an ad-hoc network.
• Usage: Few stations setup up for a
specific purpose for a short period of
time. (ex. file transfers)
• All devices equipped with a client
adapter can communicate directly with
each other.
• The primary drawback for this type of network is coverage limitation. This is a
single-hop network and everyone must be able to hear everyone else.

• We will have an IBSS lab, but our main focus will be on BSSs and ESSs.

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 Basic Service Set - 1
• BSS, also known as an Infrastructure
BSS, is connected to a wired
infrastructure, with workstations
accessing a wired LAN through Access
Points:
• Converts 802.11 frames to Ethernet
and visa versa
• Known as a translation bridge
• Stations do not communicate directly, but
via the AP; They are associated with an
AP.
• The process of association means that a station joins a BSS and accepts
operating parameters, such as available data rates. A matching SSID is
generally sufficient to continue with association.
• This configuration is useful with portable or mobile stations.
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 Basic Service Set - 2
• Once the STA moves out of range the station automatically
searches for and associates to another AP. This process is referred
to as roaming.

• APs typically have an uplink port that connects the BSS to a wired
network (usually Ethernet), known as the Distribution System (DS).

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 Extended Service Set - 1
• Multiple BSSs can be connected
together with a layer 2 backbone
network to form an Extended Service
Set (ESS).
• 802.11 does not specify the
backbone network

• The backbone network is also

known as the Distribution System (DS)
and could be wired or wireless.

• Stations are associated with only one AP at a time.

• The SSID is the same for all BSS areas in the ESS (unless
creating multiple BSSs, i.e. one for Marketing and another for
Sales).
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 Extended Service Set - 2
• What if you want to be able to move
between access points without the
latency of re-association and re-
authentication?

• Roaming gives stations true mobility

allowing them to move seamlessly
between BSSs.

• APs need to be able to communicate

between themselves since stations can
only associate with one AP at a time.
• Currently, inter-access point communication can only be achieved with
proprietary, non-standard technologies.
• IEEE 802.11 working group (Task Group F) is working on standardizing
IAPP (Inter-Access Point Protocol).
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Client Adapters
 Introduction
• The Cisco Aironet Wireless WLAN
Adapters, also known as client adapters,
are radio modules that provide data
communication between fixed, portable
or mobile devices.

• The client adapters are fully compatible

when used in devices supporting Plug-
and-Play (PnP) technology.

• The primary function of the client adapters is to transfer data packets

through the wireless infrastructure.

• The adapters operate similarly to a standard network product except

that the cable is replaced with a radio connection.

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 350 Series PC card
• Standard: 802.11b
• Integrated 0 dBi dipole
antenna.
• A PCMCIA card radio
module can be inserted into
any device equipped with an
external Type II or Type III
PC card slot.

• Host devices can include laptops, notebook computers,

personal digital assistants, and hand-held or portable
devices.
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 350 Series LM card
• Standard: 802.11b
• The 350 Series LM card
client adapter, also
referred to as an LM card.

• A PCMCIA card radio module, which can be

inserted into any device equipped with an internal
Type II or Type III PC card slot.
• The primary difference between this and the PC
card adapter is that the LM card does not include a
built-in antenna.
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 350 Series PCI client adapter
• Standard: 802.11b
• A client adapter card
radio module, which can
be inserted into any
device equipped with an
empty PCI expansion
slot, such as a desktop
computer.
• These cards are typically shipped with a 2 dBi dipole
antenna that attaches to an external connector.
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 350 Series Mini-PCI
• Standard: 802.11b
• The Mini-PCI is
available to laptop
manufacturers to
provide integrated
802.11b support.

• The Mini-PCI is also used in the Cisco 1100 AP

and 1200 AP to provide 802.11b.

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 Cisco Aironet 5 GHz 54 Mbps
WLAN card

• Standard: 802.11a.
• Integrated 5-dBi
antenna.

• IEEE 802.11a-
compliant CardBus
Type II adapter.
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Parts of the client adapter

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Status RF traffic LED Status

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Supporting different Operating
Systems

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 Downloading Drivers and Software
[Link]

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Aironet Desktop Utility (ADU)
 ADU Overview
• Two client utilities are available for use with the client adapters:
Aironet Desktop Utility (ADU) and Aironet System Tray Utility
(ASTU).
• These utilities are optional applications that interact with the client
adapter’s radio to adjust settings and display information.
• ADU enables you to create configuration profiles for your client
adapter and perform user-level diagnostics. ADU performs a variety
of functions
• ASTU, which is accessible from an icon in the Windows system
tray, provides a small subset of the features available through ADU.
Specifically, it enables you to view status information about your
client.

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 ADU
• You will see all these features and settings during the first few
labs.

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 Managing Profiles
• The profile manager feature within ADU allows the creation
and management of up to 16 profiles for the client adapter.

• These profiles enable use of the client adapter in different

locations, each of which requires different configuration
settings. For example, profiles can be created for the office,
at home, and public areas such as airports.

• Once the profiles are created, a user can easily switch

between them without having to reconfigure the client
adapter each time a new location is entered.

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Aironet Desktop Utility: Profile
Manager

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 Auto Profile (2)
• After creating profiles for the client adapter, they can be included
in the profile manager's auto profile selection feature.
• Then when auto profile selection is enabled, the client adapter
automatically selects a profile from the list of profiles that were
included in auto profile selection and uses it to establish a
connection to the network.

• This makes the wireless profile selection invisible to the user

and saves time.
• For example, you have a different SSID at home. At work, our
department has a different SSID. You do not have to select a
profile before you are connected. Auto Profile will connect you
automatically.

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Aironet System Tray Utility(ASTU)

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Aironet System Tray Utility (ASTU)
Right Click

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