WLAN Basics

802.11 and OSI Model

IEEE 802.11 defines the physical layer and media access control (MAC) protocols.

Application layer

Presentation
layer

Session layer

Transmission
TCP
Network operating layer
system (NOS)
Network layer IP

Logical link layer (LLC)

Data link layer
MAC
802.11
Physical layer FH, DS, CCK (b), OFDM (a)
 WLAN Basics
MAC Layer

MAC
Sub layer of the TCP/IP data link layer which includes the MAC and LLC.

Application layer
Transmission layer
Network layer

LLC layer
Data link layer
MAC layer

Physical layer
 WLAN Basics
WLAN MAC Elements

Wireless NIC Wired NIC

Application layer Application layer

TCP TCP

IP Wireless AP IP

LLC LLC LLC

802.11 MAC 802.11 MAC 802.3 MAC 802.3 MAC

802.11 PHY 802.11 PHY 802.3 PHY 802.3 PHY

 WLAN Basics
WLAN Signal Modulation Technologies

WLAN signals are modulated and demodulated using spectrum spread modulation techniques.

01 02 03

Spectrum spread is
The bandwidth occupied implemented using coding
The same spread code is
by signal transmission is and modulation, which is
used at the receiver for
far greater than the irrelevant to the data
demodulation and de-
minimum bandwidth transmitted. Only the
spread to restore the data.
required for the data. transmitter and receiver
are aware of the spread.
 WLAN Basics
WLAN Spectrum Spread Techniques

Spread-spectrum communications mean that WLANs use spectrum spread techniques to transmit signals.
The occupied bandwidth is far greater than the minimum bandwidth required for the data.
Spectrum spread techniques: direct sequence (DS), frequency hopping (FH), time hopping (TH), Chirp, and
OFDM.
DS spectrum spread (DSSS) and OFDM are mainly used in WLANs.
Spread-spectrum communications features:
Strong anti-interference Narrow-band communications
(requiring more energy)
Multi-address communications DSSS communications

Power density
Secure

Power density
Anti-multipath-interference

DSSS signal

Narrow-band
signal

Spectrum width (narrow, strong interference) Spectrum width

 WLAN Basics
WLAN Physical Layer Spectrum Spread Techniques

Fn
…
F7
F6
F5
F4
F3
F2
F1
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 … Tn

FHSS OFDM
Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

Data to be
transmitted
PN
code
Modulated
spread-
spectrum
signal

DSSS
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
 WLAN Basics
FHSS and DSSS

• FHSS means that frequencies hop constantly according • In DSSS, data at the sending station is combined with a
to the pseudo-random code definitions during higher-bit rate sequence, or chipping code.
transmission, with the carrier on a wide band. • At the receiving station, the same spectrum spread
• In FHSS, the 2.4 GHz band is divided into 75 1-MHz- sequence is used to restore the original signal and
wide subchannels. The transmitter and receiver negotiate modulate the signal to the carrier.
an FM mode in which data is transmitted through the • DSSS divides the 2.4 GHz band into 14 22-MHz-wide
subchannels. On 802.11 networks, sessions use a channels. Adjacent channel overlap each other. Three out
different frequency hopping mode each time. of the 14 channels do not overlap other channels.
• Frequency hopping prevents two transmitters from using • Data transmitted through the 14 channels do not need to
the same subchannel at the same time. be hopped.
 WLAN Basics
OFDM

OFDM is a multi-carrier transmission technique that divides available spectra into carriers which are
modulated using low-bit rate streams.
The secret of OFDM having a high transmission rate is to divide high-bit rate data into several alternate
parallel bit streams and modulate them to several separate sub carriers. Thus, channel spectra are divided
into several independent subchannels, improving spectrum usage.

Typical standards: 802.11a/g/n

First carrier

Second carrier

Third carrier
 WLAN Basics
OFDM

Occupied
Subcarrier bandwidth Higher spectrum usage
spacing Less interference between
subcarriers

802.11n uses the upgraded OFDM.

The upgraded OFDM has:

Higher maximum bit rate
Slightly wider bandwidth
OFDM subband spectrum OFDM spectrum with five subcarriers

The channel is divided into multiple orthogonal subchannels for narrowband modulation
and transmission. The bandwidth of each subchannel is less than the relevant
bandwidths of the channel.
High-bit rate serial streams are converted to several parallel streams which are
transmitted through different subchannels.
 WLAN Basics
MAC Layer

The 802.11 standard includes a unique MAC layer. The Coordination Function is used to determine when a
station within a BSS is permitted to transmit or receive data.
The 802.11 MAC layer has two sublayers:

No contention mechanism (optional)

Point Coordination
In PCF, the AP takes control of the access algorithms and grants
Function (PCF) stations permission to send data in turns to avoid a collision.
MAC
layer
Contention mechanism (mandatory)
Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) In DCF, the CSMA mechanism has each station contend for an
idle channel to transmit data. Therefore, the DCF provides the
contention mechanism upwards.

PHY layer
 WLAN Basics
MAC-based Media Access Mode

DCF

In DCF, stations contend with each other for access to channel.

PCF

In PCF, the master coordination point controls the access to channel.

HCF (Hybrid Coordination Function)

EDCA (Based on DCF) HCCA (Based on PCF)

 WLAN Basics
MAC Layer: Block Acknowledgment

Block Acknowledgment (BA): In 802.11, an ACK frame must be transmitted immediately in response to each
received unicast data frame.
The BA mechanism utilizes one ACK frame to respond to multiple aggregated frames, reducing the number of
ACK frames.

No frame aggregation

802.11n 802.11n 802.11n

Data FCS ACK Data FCS ACK Data FCS ACK
headers headers headers

Frame aggregation + block ACK

802.11n
Data Data Data FCS Block ACK
headers
 WLAN Basics
MAC Layer: Frame Aggregation

■ In 802.11, each unicast data frame must be acknowledged.

802.11 Packet
Header

802.11
ACK

■ The BA acknowledges multiple data frames at once.

802.11n 802.11n 802.11n

Packet Packet Packet
Header Header Header

802.11n
ACK
 WLAN Basics
Short GI

Guard intervals (GIs) are required by OFDM between data blocks to protect data reliability and prevent a
collision.
The GI in 802.11a/g is 800 ns.
The GI in 802.11n is reduced to 400 ns, which improves the transmission rate.
For a spatial stream, the throughput is improved by 10%, from 65 Mbps to 72.2 Mbps.
Short GI is suitable for scenarios with good RF conditions. In scenarios with a strong multi-path effect, it is not
recommended.

Proper GIs Too short GI

Symbol 1 Symbol 2 Symbol 1 Symbol 2

Interference

Symbol 1 Symbol 2 Symbol 1 Symbol 2

Time Time
 WLAN Basics
40 MHz Bandwidth

802.11n defines the standards of both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. In 11a/b/g, each channel occupies 20 MHz
bandwidth. In 11n, there are two bandwidths: 20 and 40 MHz.

20-MHz-wide channel

40-MHz-wide channel
 WLAN Basics
Channel Binding

The 40 MHz bandwidth can be achieved by binding two 20-MHz-wide channels, increasing the throughput by
more than two times that of the 20 MHz bandwidth.

From two lanes to four lanes

 WLAN Basics
20/40 MHz Bandwidth Rates

20 MHz bandwidth (HT20)

Single stream: 65 Mbps
Dual-stream: 130 Mbps (currently trending)
Three streams: 195 Mbps
Four streams: 260 Mbps

40 MHz bandwidth (HT40)

Single stream: 150 Mbps
Dual-stream: 300 Mbps (currently trending)
Three streams: 450 Mbps
Four streams: 600 Mbps
 WLAN Basics
MIMO

MIMO, short for multi-input, multi-output, is the technology that the transmitter and receiver use multiple antennas to
transmit and receive data, improving communications quality and volume of data that can be transmitted.

Using the spatial diversity technique, the receiver can receive signals from multiple antennas, ensuring signal
reliability and performance. Using the spatial multiplexing technique, the transmitter converts the serial data to be
transmitted to parallel data and transmits the data from multiple antennas. MIMO improves the volume of the data
that can be transmitted without using additional spectra.

When transmitting data, MIMO allocates multiple spatial streams to separate antennas.

The most distinctive feature of MIMO is the usage of multiple antennas. (Using multiple antennas does not
necessarily mean MIMO.)

 Up to 4 spatial streams
 Antenna array of 4×4
 The more spatial streams, the higher the power consumption.
 802.11n supports the MIMO energy-saving mode.
 Use multipath only when there is a high demand for performance.
 WLAN Basics
Transmitting and Receiving Spatial Streams Using MIMO

Radio Radio
Spatial
Tx Radio Streams Radio Rx
Radio Radio

1x1: one antenna transmits and one receives, one spatial stream
1x2: one antenna transmits and two receive, one spatial stream
The system dynamically selects the optimal transmitting unit out of the two transmitting units.
2x2: two antennas transmit and two receive, two spatial streams
2x3: two antennas transmit and three receive, two spatial streams
3x3: three antennas transmit and three receive, two spatial streams
The system dynamically selects the optimal two transmitting units out of the three transmitting units.
3x3: three antennas transmit and three receive, three spatial streams
4x4: four antennas transmit and four receive, four spatial stream
 WLAN Basics
MIMO Advantages

MIMO improves channel capacity. What's more, it is conducive to channel reliability and bit error rate reduction.
The former is based on the spatial multiplexing of MIMO channels.
The latter is based on the spatial diversity of MIMO channels.

1.0 1.0

0.5 0.5
2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 0 0.40.5 0.60.7 0.8 0.9
Radio 1
-0.5 -0.5
0
-1.0
-1.0 Radio DSP 0.2 0.4 0.6
-1
0.4 Radio -2
0.2

0 0.2 0.4 0.6

-0.2

-0.4

Signal transmitted through The AP receives the

Superposed signal
three paths signal from three paths.
 WLAN Basics
802.11n MIMO Technologies

Modulation: OFDM + MIMO

The MIMO technology increases network bandwidth. It divides an IP data packet into multiple short pieces of
data (corresponding to multiple spatial streams) and uses multiple antennas (one antenna for one spatial
stream) to transmit the data pieces simultaneously. The receiver receives the data pieces using multiple
antennas and recombines the data. Rate: up to 624 Mbps

Data piece 1 Data piece 1

Original data Restored data

Data piece 2... Data piece 2...

Spatial stream 1 Spatial stream 2

 WLAN Basics
Subcarrier OFDM Modulation

802.11a/g
HT20: A total of 52 subcarriers are available (48 as data subcarriers and 4 as pilot subcarriers).
The access rate is 54 Mbps.

802.11n
HT20: A total of 56 subcarriers are available (52 as data subcarriers and 4 as pilot subcarriers).
Single stream: The rate is improved to 58.5 Mbps (54 x 52/48 = 58.5 Mbps).

Subcarrier

OFDM
modulation
Frequency

Time
 WLAN Basics
MCS

Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) Spatial Bandwidth (20 MHz) Bandwidth (40 MHz)
MCS Modulation Bit Rate
802.11a/g defines seven basic rates (6, Streams GI = 800 ns GI = 400 ns GI = 800 ns GI = 400 ns
0 1 BPSK 1/2 6.5 7.2 13.5 15
12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps) for
1 1 QPSK 1/2 13 14.4 27 30
specific radio types (802.11a/b/g).
2 1 QPSK 3/4 19.5 21.7 40.5 45
In 802.11n, the physical rate depends on 3 1 16-QAM 1/2 26 28.9 54 60
modulation, code rate, number of spatial 4 1 16-QAM 3/4 39 43.3 81 90
streams, and support for 40 MHz 5 1 64-QAM 2/3 52 57.8 108 120
bandwidth. More than 300 rates are 6 1 64-QAM 3/4 58.5 65 121.5 135
7 1 64-QAM 5/6 65 72.2 135 150
available considering all these factors.
8 2 BPSK 1/2 13 14.4 27 30
When there are four spatial streams, the 9 2 QPSK 1/2 26 28.9 54 60
physical rate could reach 600 Mbps (4 x 10 2 QPSK 3/4 39 43.3 81 90
150). 11 2 16-QAM 1/2 52 57.8 108 120
12 2 16-QAM 3/4 78 86.7 162 180
802.11n has only eight basic rates: 6.5,
13 2 64-QAM 2/3 104 115.6 216 240
13, 19.5, 26, 39, 52, 58.5, and 65 Mbps on 14 2 64-QAM 3/4 117 130 243 270
which other rates are based. 15 2 64-QAM 5/6 130 144.4 270 300
23 3 64-QAM 5/6 195 216.7 405 450
31 4 64-QAM 5/6 260 288.9 540 600
 WLAN Basics
MRC

Maximal-Ratio Combining (MRC)

When receiving signals using multiple antennas, the receiver weights and aggregates the signals.
The signal from the optimal path is weighted the most.
MRC allows the receiver to get a preferable signal out of multiple unsatisfactory signals.
 WLAN Basics
Ethernet CSMA/CD

Assembly frames

K=0

No Wait for time T

Is the
To transmitting data, an Ethernet station needs to channel
idle?
listening to the bus and determines whether the Yes

medium is occupied. If the medium is idle, the station Wait for 9.6 us
transmits data. Otherwise, it waits for an interval and
retries (backoff). Send frames

It is a mechanism allowing transmitting while listening.

Yes Send 32-bit
Collision? congestion
signal No
Continue
transmission No

No K=K+1 K = 15
Data transmitted?

Yes Yes

End Heavy congestion.

Transmission ended.
 WLAN Basics
CSMA/CA Principles

Assembly frames
Before transmitting data, the STA monitors
the medium status and transmits data after No Is the No
channel
a DIFS and a random duration during which idle?
Calculate the
the channel remains idle. Yes backoff and wait

Wait for DIFS

Before transmitting data, the STA sends a
small RTS message to the receiver and i > 15?
Yes
Abandon
Send RTS
starts transmission after the receiver
responds to a CTS message.
Reset timer i=i+1

CSMA/CA is in fact a channel appointment

mechanism before data transmission. Receive
CTS before
No
timeout?

Yes
Wait for SIFS

No
Send frames

Receive Yes
Reset timer ACK before End
timeout?
 WLAN Basics
IFS

After transmitting data, all stations must wait for a short time period (and continue listening) before transmitting
new frames. The short time is called InterFrame Space (IFS).

The IFS is dependent on the type of frames transmitted.

The IFS is short for high-priority frames.
If high-priority frames reach the medium before low-priority frames, low-priority frames are deferred to reduce the possibility
of a collision.
 Practice Questions

MAC is the sub layer of the TCP/IP network layer.

A True

B False