Wireless and Mobile Communications

Lecture 9

Chapters 2 & 3

Frame Structure, PHY layer

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Wireless Radio Technology
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802.11 Medium Access
Mechanisms
Protocol Architecture (lecture 6)
DCF Operations (lecture 6)
PCF Operations (lecture 6)
Hidden Node and RTS/CTS (lecture 6)
Exposed Node Problem (lecture 6)
Frame Structure in 802.11

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 IEEE 802.11 Frame Structure
• There are three categories of frames in 802.11 MAC:
• Control frames: these frames facilitate the data frames during normal 802.11
data exchange.
• Management frames: These frames facilitate network connectivity,
authentication, and status.
• Data frames: These frames carry station data between the transmitter and
receiver.
• All 802.11 frames leverage the 802.11 general frame.
• The three frames types use specific portions of the general MAC frame
for their specific purposes.

Frame Duration Sequence

/ ID Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Address 4 Frame Body FCS
Control Control

2 Bytes 2 Bytes 6 Bytes 6 Bytes 6 Bytes 2 Bytes 6 Bytes 0-2312 Bytes 4 Bytes

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 IEEE 802.11 Frame Fields
• Frame Control: This field is a 2 byte value of 11 subfields.

• Duration/ID: tells how long the frame and its acknowledgement will
occupy the channel.

• Address 1, 2, 3 and 4: The frame header contains four addresses, all in

standard IEEE 802 format. The source and destination are obviously
needed, but what are the other two for? Remember that frames may enter
or leave a cell via a base station. The other two addresses are used for
the source and destination base stations for intercell traffic.

• Sequence Control: This field allows fragments to be numbered. Of the 16

bits available, 12 identify the frame and 4 identify the fragment.

• Frame Body: This field contains the payload, up to 2312 bytes.

• FCS: This field is the usual Checksum in IEEE 802.

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 The Frame Control Subfields (1)

Frame Duration Sequence

/ ID Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Address 4 Frame Body FCS
Control Control

Protocol More Power More

To DS From DS Fragment Retry Order
Version Type Subtype Mgmt Data WEP

2 bits 2 Bits 4 Bits 1 Bit 1 Bit 1 Bit 1 Bit 1 Bit 1 Bit 1 Bit 1 Bit

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 The Frame Control Subfields (2)
• The Frame Control field has 11 subfields:
• Protocol version: which allows two versions of the protocol to operate at the
same time in the same cell.

• Type: differentiates among a management frame (00), control frame (01), or

data frame (10)
• Subtype: Further identifies the function of frame. (e.g., RTS or CTS).
• Type 00, subtype 0000 – association request
• Type 00, subtype 0001 – association response
• Type 01, subtype 1011 – RTS
• Type 01, subtype 1100 – CTS
• Type 01, subtype 1101 – ACK
• Type 10, subtype 0000 – data
• Many others…

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 The Frame Control Subfields (3)
• To DS and From DS bits indicate the frame is going to or coming from the
intercell distribution system (e.g., Ethernet).
MAC address of AP

ToDS FromDS Addr.1 Addr. 2 Addr.3 Addr. 4

0 0 DA SA BSSID N/A
0 1 DA BSSID SA N/A
1 0 BSSID SA DA N/A
1 1 AP1 AP2 DA SA

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 The Frame Control Subfields (4)

• More Fragments bit means that more fragments will follow this one.

• Retry bit marks a retransmission of a frame sent earlier.

• Power management bit is used by the base station to put the receiver into
sleep state or take it out of sleep state.

• More bit indicates that the sender has additional frames for the receiver.

• WEP bit specifies that the frame body has been encrypted using the WEP
(Wired Equivalent Privacy) algorithm.

• Order bit tells the receiver, when is set to 1, that a sequence of frames must
be processed strictly in order.

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 802.11 Frames
• Data Frames (most are • Control Frames • Management Frames
PCF) • RTS • Beacon
• Data • CTS
• Probe Request
• Null data • ACK
• Data+CF+Ack • Probe Response
• CF-End
• Data+CF+Poll • CF-End+CF- • Authentication
• Data+CF+Ac+CF+Poll Ack • Deauthentication
• CF-Ack • Association Request
• CF-Poll
• CF-Cak+CF-Poll • Association Response
• Reassociation Request
• Reassociation Response
• Disassociation
• Announcement Traffic
Indication
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 Ethernet – 802.11 Frame Conversion
Distribution System (DS)
IP Packet

General 802.11 Frame

L IP Packet
L
C

• 802.11 has some similarities with Ethernet but it is a different protocol.

• AP are translation bridges.
• From 802.11 to Ethernet, and from Ethernet to 802.11
• The “data/frame body” is re-encapsulated with the proper layer 2 frame.
• Certain addresses are copied between the two types of frames. 10
 Physical Layer
(chapter 2)
• 802.11 Standards (lecture 2)
• 802.11 MAC Layer (Lecture 6)
• Physical Layer (PHY)
• PLCP
• PMD
• Client Adapters (lecture 2)
• Aironet Client Utility (ACU) (lecture 2)
• ACU Monitoring and Troubleshooting Tools (lecture 2)

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802.11 Physical Layer
(PHY)

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 802.11 Physical Layer Technologies

• We have looked at the data link layer, now we will look at the physical layer.
• There are multiple physical layer technologies involved with both similarities
and differences between them.
• The job of the PHYs is to provide the wireless transmission mechanisms for
the MAC.
• By keeping the PHY transmission mechanisms independent of the MAC it
allows for advances in both of these areas.
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 802.11Physical Layer (PHY)
• The physical layer for 802.11 has been issued in three stages:
• 1997: The IEEE 802.11 was issued; this included the MAC layer and three
physical layer specifications, two in the 2.4-GHz band and one in the infrared
all operating in 1 and 2 Mbps.
• 1999: IEEE 802.11a operates in the up to 5-GHz band at data rate 54Mbps.
• 1999: IEEE 802.11b operates in the 2.4-GHz band at 5.5 and 11 Mbps.
• The physical layer is divided into two sublayers: the Physical Layer
Convergence Procedure (PLCP) and the Physical Medium Dependent
(PMD) sublayer.

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PLCP (Physical Layer Convergence Procedure)

• PLCP (Physical Layer Convergence Procedure):

• All PLCPs provide the interface to transfer data octets between the MAC and
the PMD.
• “Primitives” (fields) that tell the PMD when to begin and end communications.
• The PLCP is the “handshaking layer” that enables the MAC protocol data units
(MPDUs), to be transmitted between the MAC over the PMD.

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PLCP (Physical Layer Convergence Procedure)
General 802.11 Frame
L IP Packet
L
C

PDSU

• PLCP adds an extra stage in “data encapsulation” process:

• The PDSU (PLCP Data Service Unit) is the data the PLCP is
responsible for delivering.
• Depending upon the protocol the encapsulated MAC frame is
sometimes called the PSDU (PLCP Service Data Unit) or MPDU (MAC
Protocol Data Unit).
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 PMD (Physical Medium Dependent)

• PMD (Physical Medium Dependent):

• The PMD is responsible for transmitting the actual bits it receives from
the PLCP into the air, over the wireless medium.
• The PHY concepts and building blocks are:
• Scrambling
• Coding
• Interleaving
• Symbol mapping and modulation 17
 Chapter 3
Wireless Radio Technology

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 Overview
• Waves
• Mathematics for studying Radio
• Watts
• Decibels
• Electromagnetic Waves
• Signals
• Modulation Techniques
• WLAN Transmission Techniques
• Multiple Access and Bandwidth
• Radio wave Propagation
• Refraction, Reflection, Diffraction and Scattering, Multipath, and
Path Loss
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Mathematics for Studying
Radio

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 Watts
• One definition of energy is
the ability to do work.
There are many forms of
energy, including
electrical energy,
chemical energy, thermal
energy, gravitational
energy potential energy,
kinetic energy, and
acoustic energy. The
metric unit for measuring
energy is the Joule.
• A watt is the basic unit of power, and power is related to energy. However,
power is a rate, and energy is a quantity.
• The formula for power is
• P = ∆E / ∆t; ∆E: the amount of energy transferred, and ∆t: the time interval over
which that energy is transferred.
• 1 Watt = I Joule of energy / one second 21
 Watts
• Maximum of 4 watts of power to be
emitted in point-to-multipoint WLAN
transmissions in the unlicensed 2.4-
GHz band is allowed in USA.
• In WLANs, power levels as low as one
milliwatt (mW), or one-thousandth
(1/1000th) of a watt, can be used for a
small area.
• Power levels on a single WLAN
segment are rarely higher than 100
mW, enough to communicate for up to
three-fourths of a kilometer or one-half
of a mile under optimum conditions.
• Access points generally have the ability to radiate from 30 to100 mW,
depending on the manufacturer.
• Outdoor building-to-building applications (bridges) are the only ones that use
power levels over 100 mW.
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 Decibels
• The decibel (dB)
is a unit that is
used to measure X 10
electrical power. X 10
• A dB is one-tenth
of a Bel, which is
a larger unit of
sound named for
Alexander
Graham Bell.
• The dB is measured on a base 10 logarithmic scale.
• The base increases ten-fold for every ten dB measured.
• This scale allows people to work more easily with large numbers.
• A similar scale called the Richter Scale is used in measuring earthquakes,
where a magnitude 6.3 earthquake is 10 times stronger than a 5.3
earthquake.

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Logarithms: another way of expressing powers
• x = ay → loga x = y
• Example: 100 = 102
• This is equivalent to saying that the base-10 logarithm of 100 is 2; that
is:
100 = 102 same as log10 100 = 2
• Example: 1000 = 103 is the same as: log10 1000 = 3
• Notes:
• With base-10 logarithms, the subscript 10 is often omitted;
log 100 = 2 same as log 1000 = 3
• When the base-10 logarithm of a quantity increases by 1, the quantity
itself increases by a factor of 10.
• A 10-to-1 change in the size of a quantity, resulting in a logarithmic
increase or decrease of 1, is called an order of magnitude.
• Thus, 1000 is one order of magnitude larger than 100. 24
 Decibels
• Calculating dB: The formula for calculating dB is as follows:
dB = 10 log10 (Pfinal/Pref)
• dB = The amount of decibels. This usually represents a loss in power
such as when the wave travels or interacts with matter, but it can also
represent a gain as when traveling through an amplifier.
• Pfinal = The final power. This is the delivered power after some process
has occurred.
• Pref = The reference power. This is the original power.
• There are also some general rules for approximating the dB
and power relationship:
• +3 dB = Double the power
• -3 dB = Half the power
• +10 dB = Ten times the power
• -10 dB = One-tenth the power
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 Decibel References
• A dB has no particular defined
reference
• dBx, where x represents a
specific value, is often used
instead of the dB.
• For example, the dBm is
referenced to the milliwatt.

• Since the dBm has a defined reference, it can also be converted

back to watts, if desired.
• The power gain or loss in a signal is determined by comparing it to
this fixed reference point, the milliwatt.

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 Decibel References

• Example:
• 1 mW = .001 Watts
• Using 1 mW as our reference, we start at: 0 dB
• Using the dB formula, doubling the milliwatts to 2 mW or .002 Watts we
get +3 dBm
• +10 dBm is 10 times the original 1 mW value or 10 mW
• +20 dBm is 100 times the original 1 mW value or 100 mW 27
• dBm: This is the unit of measurement for signal strength or power level.
• If a person receives a signal at one milliwatt, this is a loss of zero dBm.
However, if a person receives a signal that is 0.001 milliwatt, then a loss of
30 dBm occurs. This loss is represented as -30 dBm.
• To reduce interference with others, the 802.11b WLAN power levels are
limited to the following:
• 36 dBm EIRP by the FCC
• 20 dBm EIRP by ETSI
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 Interactive Activity: Calculating Decibels

+3dBm

• This activity allows to enter values for Power final and Power reference, then
calculates for decibels. 29
Interactive Activity: Using Decibels

+3dBm

• This activity allows to enter a value for the decibels and a value for the
reference power resulting in the final power.
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 RF Receivers

• Radio receivers are very sensitive to and may be able to pick up signals as
small as 0.000000001 Watts or –90 dBm
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