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Computer Networking (Wireless Networking)

UNIT 1: Basic Principles of Wireless Networking
Introduction to Wireless Sensor Networks:Terminologies, Advantages, Challenges and
Applications, Types of wireless sensor networks.
Wireless Communication Technologies:Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) and Wireless
Sensor Networks, Enabling technologies for Wireless Sensor Networks.

 Basic concepts
Computer networks that are not connected by cables are called wireless networks. They generally use
radio waves for communication between the network nodes. They allow devices to be connected to the
network while roaming around within the network coverage.

What are wireless networks?

 Types of Wireless Networks

A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the computer to
communicate with another computer and share their resources, data, and applications.

A computer network can be categorized by their size. A computer network is mainly of four types:
1. LAN (Local Area Network)
2. PAN (Personal Area Network)
3. MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
4. WAN (Wide Area Network)

Wireless LANs − Connects two or more network devices using wireless distribution techniques.
Wireless MANs − Connects two or more wireless LANs spreading over a metropolitan area.
Wireless WANs − Connects large areas comprising LANs, MANs and personal networks.
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Local Area Network (LAN) -
 Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each
other in a small area such as building, office.
 Communication medium used in LAN network such as twisted
pair, coaxial cable etc.
 Two or more personal computers are connected to each other
LAN.
 To build the LAN low-priced hardware such as hubs, network
adapters, and Ethernet cables.
 In the LAN data can be transferred with high speed.
 It is highly secured network.

Personal Area Network (PAN) –

There are two types of personal area network
1. Wired Personal Area Network
2. Wireless Personal Area Network

Wireless Personal Area Network:- Wireless Personal Area

Network is created by simply using wireless technologies such as
WiFi, Bluetooth. It contains low range network.

Wired Personal Area Network:- Wired Personal Area

Network is
developed by using the USB.
Examples of wired Personal Area Network are as follows:
 Body Area Network: The network always moves with a
person.
Example of this is a mobile network moves with a person.
 Offline Network: An offline network can be created inside
the
home, so it is also called as a home network. A home network is
designed to integrate the devices such as printers, computer,
television but they are not linked to the internet.
 Small Home Office: It is used to connect a variety of devices to
the internet and to a corporate network using a VPN

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) –

 A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger
geographic area.
 It is interconnecting a different LAN to form a larger network.
 Government agencies use MAN to connect to the citizens
and
private industries.
 In MAN many LANs are connected to each with the help of
exchange line.
 It has a higher range as compared to Local Area
Network(LAN).
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Wide Area Network (WAN) –
 A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large
geographical area such as states or countries.
 A Wide Area Network is quite larger than the LAN.
 A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it
spans over a large geographical area through a telephone line,
fibre optic cable or satellite links.
 The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
 A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business,
government, and education.

What are(Wireless LAN) IEEE 802.11 Networks in Computer Network?

Wireless LAN is one of the fastest-growing technologies. IEEE 802.11 refers to the set of standards that
define communication for wireless LANs (wireless local area networks, or WLANs). The technology behind
802.11 is branded to consumers as Wi-Fi.

Wireless LAN can be found on college campuses, in office buildings, in hospitals, stock exchanges and in
many public areas. It has become popular due to the ease of installation and location freedom with the
gaining popularity of laptops.

What are wireless sensor networks?

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have the power of distributed communication, computing, and
sensing features. They are characterized as infrastructure less, fault tolerant and self-organizing networks
which provide opportunities for low-cost, easy-to-apply, rapid and flexible installations in an environment
for various applications
The wireless sensor and the sensor node architecture are given in the diagram below −

Characteristics of WSN
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The characteristics of WSN are as follows −

Resource constraints − Nodes of WSN are smaller in size and get power from the batteries. It justifies that
service provided by the nodes like communication and computation amount of memory is very limited.

Communication paradigm − The data centric feature of WSN explains its data centric nature and justifies
that the communication is restricted to nodes.

Application specific design − WSN is application specific i.e. the architecture of WSN is based on
application.

Node failure and unreliable communication − Various factors like harsh operating conditions leading to
instability, unpredictability, nodal mobility, environmental interferences makes typical WSN nodes to be
error-prone.

Scalability and density − The number of nodes in WSNs may be large and densely deployed to a higher
degree in various applications.

Dynamic Topologies − Nodes are free to travel randomly at different speeds in few applications and
sometimes may fail to operate, to add or to replace. So there can be different network topology.

Communication models − WSNs use different communication models − Flat/ hierarchical /distributed
WSNs; or homogeneous/ heterogeneous WSNs.

The Components of a Wireless Network

Several components make up a wireless network’s topology:

Clients: What we tend to think of as the end user devices are typically called ‘clients’. As the reach of Wi-Fi
has expanded, a variety of devices may be using Wi-Fi to connect the network, including phones, tablets,
laptops, desktops, and more. This gives users the ability to move about the area without sacrificing their
bridge to the network. In some instances, mobility within an office, warehouse, or other work area is
necessary. For example, if employees have to use scanners to register packages due to be shipped, a
wireless network provides the flexibility they need to freely move about the warehouse.

Access Point (AP): An access point (AP) consists of a Wi-Fi that is advertising a network name (known as a
Service Set Identifier, or SSID). Users who connect to this network will typically find their traffic bridged to
a local-area network (LAN) wired network (like Ethernet) for communication to the larger network or even
the internet.

5.2 Applications
Traditionally, satellites have been used in the following areas:
● Weather forecasting: Several satellites deliver pictures of the earth using,
e.g., infra red or visible light. Without the help of satellites, the forecasting
of hurricanes would be impossible.
● Radio and TV broadcast satellites: Hundreds of radio and TV programs are
available via satellite. This technology competes with cable in many places,
as it is cheaper to install and, in most cases, no extra fees have to be paid for
this service. Today’s satellite dishes have diameters of 30–40 cm in central
Europe, (the diameters in northern countries are slightly larger).
● Military satellites: One of the earliest applications of satellites was their use
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for carrying out espionage. Many communication links are managed via
satellite because they are much safer from attack by enemies
● Satellites for navigation: Even though it was only used for military purposes in the beginning, the global
positioning system (GPS) is nowadays
well-known and available for everyone. The system allows for precise localization worldwide, and with
some additional techniques, the precision is in
the range of some metres.

Some advantages of WLANs are:

● Flexibility: Within radio coverage, nodes can communicate without further
restriction. Radio waves can penetrate walls, senders and receivers can be
placed anywhere (also non-visible, e.g., within devices, in walls etc.).
Sometimes wiring is difficult if firewalls separate buildings (real firewalls made
out of, e.g., bricks, not routers set up as a firewall). Penetration of a firewall is
only permitted at certain points to prevent fire from spreading too fast.
● Planning: Only wireless ad-hoc networks allow for communication without
previous planning, any wired network needs wiring plans. As long as
devices follow the same standard, they can communicate. For wired networks, additional cabling with the
right plugs and probably interworking
units (such as switches) have to be provided.
● Design: Wireless networks allow for the design of small, independent
devices which can for example be put into a pocket. Cables not only restrict
users but also designers of small PDAs, notepads etc. Wireless senders and
receivers can be hidden in historic buildings, i.e., current networking technology can be introduced without
being visible.
● Robustness: Wireless networks can survive disasters, e.g., earthquakes
or users pulling a plug. If the wireless devices survive, people can still
communicate. Networks requiring a wired infrastructure will usually break
down completely
● Cost: After providing wireless access to the infrastructure via an access point
for the first user, adding additional users to a wireless network will not
increase the cost. This is, important for e.g., lecture halls, hotel lobbies or
gate areas in airports where the numbers using the network may vary significantly. Using a fixed network,
each seat in a lecture hall should have a plug
for the network although many of them might not be used permanently.
Constant plugging and unplugging will sooner or later destroy the plugs.
Wireless connections do not wear out.

WLANs also have several disadvantages:

● Quality of service: WLANs typically offer lower quality than their wired
counterparts. The main reasons for this are the lower bandwidth due to limitations in radio transmission
(e.g., only 1–10 Mbit/s user data rate instead
of 100–1,000 Mbit/s), higher error rates due to interference (e.g., 10–4
instead of 10–12 for fiber optics), and higher delay/delay variation due to
extensive error correction and detection mechanisms.
● Proprietary solutions: Due to slow standardization procedures, many companies have come up with
proprietary solutions offering standardized
functionality plus many enhanced features (typically a higher bit rate using
a patented coding technology or special inter-access point protocols).
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However, these additional features only work in a homogeneous environment, i.e., when adapters from
the same vendors are used for all wireless
nodes. At least most components today adhere to the basic standards IEEE
802.11b or (newer) 802.11a (see section 7.3).
● Restrictions: All wireless products have to comply with national regulations. Several government and
non-government institutions worldwide
regulate the operation and restrict frequencies to minimize interference.
Consequently, it takes a very long time to establish global solutions like,
e.g., IMT-2000, which comprises many individual standards (see chapter 4).
WLANs are limited to low-power senders and certain license-free frequency
bands, which are not the same worldwide.
● Safety and security: Using radio waves for data transmission might interfere with other high-tech
equipment in, e.g., hospitals. Senders and
receivers are operated by laymen and, radiation has to be low. Special precautions have to be taken to
prevent safety hazards. The open radio
interface makes eavesdropping much easier in WLANs than, e.g., in the case
of fiber optics. All standards must offer (automatic) encryption, privacy
mechanisms, support for anonymity etc. Otherwise more and more wireless
networks will be hacked into as is the case already (aka war driving: driving
around looking for unsecured wireless networks; WarDriving, 2002).