Wireless Medium Access Control

Romit Roy Choudhury

Wireless Networking Lectures
Duke University

1
Wired Vs Wireless Media Access

Both are on shared media.

Then, what’s really the problem ?

2
The Channel Access Problem

 Multiple nodes share a channel

A
A B
B CC

 Pairwise communication desired

 Simultaneous communication not possible

 MAC Protocols
 Suggests a scheme to schedule communication
• Maximize number of communications
• Ensure fairness among all transmitters

3
The Trivial Solution
A
A B
B CC

collision

 Transmit and pray

 Plenty of collisions --> poor throughput at high
load

4
The Simple Fix Don’t
Don’t
transmit
transmit

A
A B
B CC

Can
Can collisions
collisions still
still occur?
occur?

 Transmit and pray

 Plenty of collisions --> poor throughput at high
load

 Listen before you talk

 Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA)
 Defer transmission when signal on channel
5
 CSMA collisions
spatial layout of nodes

Collisions can still

occur:
Propagation delay non-zero
between transmitters

When collision:
Entire packet
transmission
time wasted

note:
Role of distance & propagation
delay in determining collision
probability
6
CSMA/CD (Collision Detection)

 Keep listening to channel

 While transmitting

 If (Transmitted_Signal != Sensed_Signal)
 Sender knows it’s a Collision
 ABORT
7
2 Observations on CSMA/CD

 Transmitter can send/listen concurrently

 If (Sensed - received = null)? Then success

 The signal is identical at Tx and Rx

 Non-dispersive

The TRANSMITTER can detect if and

when collision occurs

8
Unfortunately …

Both observations do not hold for wireless

Because …
9
Wireless Medium Access Control

C D
A B

Signal
power

SINR threhold

Distance

10
Wireless Media Disperse Energy
A cannot send and listen in parallel
C D
A B

Signal
power

Signal not same at different locations

SINR threhold

Distance

11
Collision Detection Difficult

B
A C
D

 Signal reception based on SINR

 Transmitter can only hear itself
 Cannot determine signal quality at
receiver

12
Calculating SINR

B
A C
D

SignalOfInterest ( SoI )
SINR =
Interference( I ) + Noise( N )
A
A
Ptransmit A
Ptransmit
SoI =
d αAB
B α
d
SINRBA = AB
C
P C Ptransmit
C
I = transmit N+ α
B α d CB
d CB
13
Red signal >> Blue signal Red < Blue = collision

C D
X
A B

Signal
power

SINR threhold

Distance

14
Important: C has not heard A, but can interfere at receiver B

C is the hidden terminal to A

C D
X
A B

Signal
power

SINR threhold

Distance

15
 Important: X has heard A, but should not defer transmission to Y

Y X is the exposed terminal to A

C D
X
A B

Signal
power

SINR threhold

Distance

16
Any Questions
at this point?

17
 So, how do we cope with
Hidden/Exposed Terminals?

18
How to prevent C from trasmitting?

C D
X
A B

Signal
power

SINR threhold

Distance

19
A Project Idea!

C D
A B

 A node decides to intelligently choose a

Carrier sensing threshold (T)

 The node senses channel

 If signal > T, then node does not transmit
 If signal < T, then transmit

 Possible to guarantee no collisions?

20
 A Project Idea!

C D
X
A B

Signal
power

SINR threhold

Sensitivity threshold

Distance

21
 A Project Idea!
Will this solve the wireless MAC problem? Do not
transmit in
this region

C D
X
A B

Signal
power

SINR threhold
T
Sensitivity threshold

Distance

22
Whatever the answer …

This is an example of a good class

project

If you came up with the idea,

Showed that it’s a new idea,
And evaluated it to demo how it
performs

23
The Emergence of MACA, MACAW, &
802.11
 Wireless MAC proved to be non-trivial

 1992 - research by Karn (MACA)

 1994 - research by Bhargavan (MACAW)

 Led to IEEE 802.11 committee

 The standard was ratified in 1999

24
IEEE 802.11

RTS = Request CTS = Clear

To Send To Send
M
Y

S RTS D
CTS

X
K

25
IEEE 802.11

silenced
M
Y

S silenced
Data D
ACK

X silenced
K
silenced

26
802.11 Steps
 All backlogged nodes choose a random number
 R = rand (0, CW_min)

 Each node counts down R

 Continue carrier sensing while counting down
 Once carrier busy, freeze countdown

 Whoever reaches ZERO transmits RTS

 Neighbors freeze countdown, decode RTS
 RTS contains (CTS + DATA + ACK) duration = T_comm
 Neighbors set NAV = T_comm
• Remains silent for NAV time

27
802.11 Steps
 Receiver replies with CTS
 Also contains (DATA + ACK) duration.
 Neighbors update NAV again

 Tx sends DATA, Rx acknowledges with ACK

 After ACK, everyone initiates remaining countdown
 Tx chooses new R = rand (0, CW_min)

 If RTS or DATA collides (i.e., no CTS/ACK returns)

 Indicates collision
 RTS chooses new random no. R1 = rand (0, 2*CW_min)
 Note Exponential Backoff Ri = rand (0, 2^i * CW_min)
 Once successful transmission, reset to rand(0, CW_min)

28
But is that enough?

29
RTS/CTS
 Does it solve hidden terminals ?
 Assuming carrier sensing zone =
communication zone

E RTS
F
CTS

A B C D

E does not receive CTS successfully  Can later initiate transmission to D.

Hidden terminal problem remains.
30
Hidden Terminal Problem
 How about increasing carrier sense
range ??
 E will defer on sensing carrier  no
collision !!!

E RTS
F
CTS

A B C D
Data

31
Hidden Terminal Problem
 But what if barriers/obstructions ??
 E doesn’t hear C  Carrier sensing does not
help

E RTS
F
CTS

A B C D
Data

32
Exposed Terminal
 B should be able to transmit to A
 RTS prevents this

E
RTS
CTS

A B C D

33
Exposed Terminal
 B should be able to transmit to A
 Carrier sensing makes the situation worse

E
RTS
CTS

A B C D

34
Thoughts !
 802.11 does not solve HT/ET completely
 Only alleviates the problem through RTS/CTS and
recommends larger CS zone

 Large CS zone aggravates exposed terminals

 Spatial reuse reduces  A tradeoff
 RTS/CTS packets also consume bandwidth
 Moreover, backing off mechanism is also wasteful

The search for the best MAC protocol is still on.

However, 802.11 is being optimized too.
Thus, wireless MAC research still alive

35
Takes on 802.11
 Role of RTS/CTS
 Useful? No?
 Is it a one-fit-all? Where does it not fit?

 Is ACK necessary?
 MACA said no ACKs. Let TCP recover from losses

 Should Carrier Sensing replace RTS/CTS?

 New opportunities may not need RTS/CTS

 Infratructured wireless networks (EWLAN)

36
MACA-BI [GerlaUCLA]

 RTS/CTS/ACK are control overhead

 Needed to reduce it

 Rx predicts trasmission from the Tx

 Traffic estimation (???)

 If Rx thinks Tx has pending packets for Rx

 Rx transmits RTR to Tx
 Tx replies with Data

 Improves MACA with no RTS/ACK

 improvement but not too much

37
 DBTMA [HaasCornell98]

Rx Busy tone
RTS CTS Signal X
A B X Y

Tx Busy tone Tx Busy tone

CTS RTS Signal X
A B X Y

38
Implicit MACKnowledgment
 APs typically backlogged with traffic
 Persistent traffic  possibility of optimzation

 We propose an implicit ACK optimization

 Piggyback the CTS with ACK for previous
dialog
802.11

Gain

Implicit
ACK

39
 Hybrid Channel Access

 The optimization timeline

802.11 Implicit ACK Hybrid Channel Access

T R T R T R
RTS RTS RTS

CTS CTS CTS

Data Data Data

Backoff

Backoff
Backoff

ACK

RTS Poll +ACK

CTS +ACK
RTS Data

Backoff
Data
CTS
Backoff

Data
Poll +ACK
ACK RTS Data

Backoff
CTS +ACK

40
Seedex [KumarUIUC03]

 Forget channel reservation and backoff

 Instead, let nodes pick sequence of time slots
QuickTimeª and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

 Decides to probably transmit in some, else listen

 Transmit slots chosen using a random seed
 Publishes the seed to 2-hop neighbors
 When PT slots arrive, nodes transmit with
 Probability “p”
 “p” chosen as a function of overlapping neighbors

41
Hot Research Topics
 Power control increases spatial reuse
 Whisper in the room so that many people can talk

 Rate control based on channel quality

 Expolit channel diversity
 Utilize multiple channels to parallelize dialogs

 Exploit spatial diversity

 Use directional antennas to interfere over smaller
region (next class)
… and many more topics

42
Questions ?

43
 Announcements

 Reviews:
 You are forgetting to appreciate the paper
 There is a reason why the paper was accepted

 Please organize your papers/reviews

 Would be valuable later in career
 You never know what you will do after 5 years

 Meet me with slides before you present

 Email for an appointment
 Don’t have to review if you are presenter
44
Announcements
 Review Template:
 Problem definition? Why is it important?
 Validity of models and assumptions
 Solution
 Evaluation

 Email review to TA (CC to me)

 Bring print out to class
 Name-date-subject in email subject
 Will post example reviews on webpage

 Some of you still doing summaries.

45
 Backup slides on
IEEE 802.11

Read for more details

46
Today’s Discussions

 IEEE 802.11 overview - some raw data

 Architecture
 PHY specifications – Spread Spectrum radios: FH & DS
 MAC specifications – DCF and PCF
 Synchronization, Power management, Roaming,
Scanning
 Security

 Deliberations on 802.11 (DCF) MAC

 Hidden terminal & Exposed terminal issues
 Carrier sensing

 Some other ideas & open challenges

 Could be interesting for the project
47
IEEE 802.11 – An overview

48
IEEE 802.11 in OSI Model

Wireless

49
802.11 Scope & Modules

To develop a MAC and PHY spec for wireless

connectivity for fixed, portable and moving stations
in a local area

LLC

MAC MAC Layer

MAC Sublayer Management

PLCP Sublayer
PHY Layer
PHY
Management
PMD Sublayer

50
Applications

Single Hop
 Home networks
 Enterprise networks (e.g., offices, labs, etc.)
 Outdoor areas (e.g., cities, parks, etc.)

Multi-hops
 Adhoc network of small groups (e.g.,aircrafts)
 Balloon networks (SpaceData Inc.)
 Mesh networks (e.g., routers on lamp-posts)

51
802.11 Architecture – Two modes

52
802.11 PHY Technologies

 Two kinds of radios based on

 “Spread Spectrum”
 “Diffused Infrared”

 Spread Spectrum radios based on

 Frequency hopping (FH)
 Direct sequence (DS)

Radio works in 2.4GHz ISM band --- license-free by

FCC (USA), ETSI (Europe), and MKK (Japan)
 1 Mbps and 2Mbps operation using FH
 1, 2, 5.5, and 11Mbps operation using DSSS (FCC)

53
 Why Spread Spectrum ?

 C = B*log2(1+S/N) . . . [Shannon]
 To achieve the same channel capacity C
 Large S/N, small B
 Small S/N, large B
 Increase S/N is inefficient due to the logarithmic relationship

power power

signal
noise, interferences
signal

frequency B B
e.g. B = 30 KHz e.g. B = 1.25 MHz
54
Spread Spectrum

Methods for spreading the bandwidth of the

transmitted signal over a frequency band (spectrum)
which is wider than the minimum bandwidth
required to transmit the signal.

 Reduce effect of jamming

 Military scenarios
 Reduce effect of other interferences
 More “secure”
 Signal “merged” in noise and interference

55
Frequency Hopping SS (FHSS)

 2.4GHz band divided into 75 1MHz subchannels

 Sender and receive agree on a hopping pattern
(pseudo random series). 22 hopping patterns
defined

One possible pattern

f f f f f f f f f f f

 Different hopping sequences enable co-

existence of multiple BSSs
 Robust against narrow-band interferences
56
 FHSS due to [Lamarr1940]
power power

signal
noise, interferences
signal

frequency B
f f f f f f f f f f f

B
Simple radio design with FHSS
Data rates ~ 2 Mbps

Invented by Hedy Lamarr (Hollywood film

star) in 1940, at age of 27, with musician
George Antheil

57
Direct Sequence SS

 Direct sequence (DS): most prevalent

 Signal is spread by a wide bandwidth
pseudorandom sequence (code sequence)
 Signals appear as wideband noise to
unintended receivers

 Not for intra-cell multiple access

 Nodes in the same cell use same code
sequence

58
IEEE 802.11b DSSS

Channel flow fhigh

 ISM unlicensed
frequency band 1 2.401 2.423
(2.4GHz) 2 2.404 2.428
 Channel bandwidth: 3 2.411 2.433
fhigh – flow = 22 MHz 4 2.416 2.438
 1MHz guard band 5 2.421 2.443
 Direct sequence 6 2.426 2.448
spread spectrum in 7 2.431 2.453
each channel 8 2.436 2.458
 3 non-overlapping 9 2.441 2.463
channels 10 2.446 2.468
11 2.451 2.473
59
Diffused Infrared

 Wavelength range from 850 – 950 nm

 For indoor use only
 Line-of-sight and reflected transmission
 1 – 2 Mbps

60
PHY Sublayers

 Physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP)

 Provides common interface for MAC
• Offers carrier sense status & CCA (Clear channel assesment)
• Performs channel synchronization / training

 Physical medium dependent sublayer (PMD)

 Functions based on underlying channel quality and
characteristics
• E.g., Takes care of the wireless encoding

61
 PLCP (802.11b)

long
preamble
192us

short
preamble
96us
(VoIP, video)

62
 PLCP (802.11b)
long
preamble
192us
Note:

To send even one bit payload

reliably, you will have to form
a packet with the PLCP preamble
and the PLCP header.

This constraints protocol design

You cannot arbitrarily exchange

control messages.

What are the control messages

in IEEE 802.11 ?
short
preamble
96us
(VoIP, video)
63
IEEE 802.11 MAC

64
802.11 MAC (DCF)

 CSMA/CA based protocol

 Listen before you talk
 CA = Collision avoidance (prevention is better than cure !!)

 Robust for interference

 Explicit acknowledgment requested from receiver
• for unicast frames
 Only CSMA/CA for Broadcast frames

 Optional RTS/CTS offers Virtual Carrier Sensing

 RTS/CTS includes duration of immediate dialog
 Addresses hidden terminal problems

65
802.11 MAC (DCF)

66
Physical Carrier Sense & Backoff

67
MAC Management Layer
 Synchronization
 Finding and staying with a WLAN
• Uses TSF timers and beacons

 Power Management
 Sleeping without missing any messages
• Periodic sleep, frame buffering, traffic indication map

 Association and Reassociation

 Joining a network
 Roaming, moving from one AP to another
 Scanning

68
Synchronization
 Timing Synchronization Function (TSF)
 Enables synchronous waking/sleeping
 Enables switching from DCF to PCF
 Enables frequency hopping in FHSS PHY
• Transmitter and receiver has identical dwell interval at
each center frequency

 Achieving TSF
 All stations maintain a local timer.
 AP periodically broadcasts beacons containing
timestamps, management info, roaming info, etc.
• Not necessary to hear every beacon
 Beacon synchronizes entire BSS
• Applicable in infrastructure mode ONLY
 Distributed TSF (for Independent BSS) more difficult

69
Power management
 Battery powered devices require power efficiency
 LAN protocols assume idle nodes are always ON and thus
ready to receive.
 Idle-receive state key source of power wastage

 Devices need to power off during idle periods

 Yet maintain an active session – tradeoff power Vs throughput

 Achieving power conservation

 Allow idle stations to go to sleep periodically
 APs buffer packets for sleeping stations
 AP announces which stations have frames buffered when
all stations are awake – called Traffic Indication Map
(TIM)
• TSF assures AP and Power Save stations are synchronized
• TSF timer keeps running when stations are sleeping

 Independent BSS also have Power Management

 Similar in concept, distributed approach
70
Roaming & Scanning
 Stations switch (roam) to different AP
 When channel quality with current AP is poor

 Scanning function used to find better AP

 Passive Scanning  Listen for beacon from different Aps
 Active Scanning  Exchange explicit beacons to determine best
AP

 Station sends Reassociation Request to new AP

 If Reassociation Response successful  Roaming

 If AP accepts Reassociation Request

 AP indicates Reassociation to the Distribution System
 Distribution System information is updated
 Normally old AP is notified through Distribution System
71
MAC management frame

 Beacon
 Timestamp, Beacon Interval, Capabilities, ESSID,
Supported Rates, parameters
 Traffic Indication Map
 Probe
 ESSID, Capabilities, Supported Rates
 Probe Response
 Timestamp, Beacon Interval, Capabilities, ESSID,
Supported Rates, parameters
 same for Beacon except for TIM
 Association Request
 Capability, Listen Interval, ESSID, Supported Rates
 Association Response
 Capability, Status Code, Station ID, Supported Rates

72
MAC Management Frame

 Reassociation Request
 Capability, Listen Interval, ESSID, Supported Rates,
Current AP Address
 Reassociation Response
 Capability, Status Code, Station ID, Supported Rates
 Disassociation
 Reason code
 Authentication
 Algorithm, Sequence, Status, Challenge Text
 Deauthentication Reason

73
Security
 Range of attacks huge in wireless
 Easy entry into the network
 Jamming, selfish behavior, spatial overhearing

 Securing the network harder than wired networks

 Especially in distributed environments

 WEP  symmetric 40 or 128-bit encryption

 WPA: Wi-Fi protected access
 Temporal key integrity protocol (TKIP) – better
 User authentication

 IEEE 802.11i – Efforts toward higher security

74
PLCP

 PLCP has two structures.

 All 802.11b systems have to support Long preamble.
 Short preamble option is provided to improve efficiency
when trasnmitting voice, VoIP, streaming video.
 PLCP Frame format
 PLCP preamble
• SFD: start frame delimiter
 PLCP header

75
PLCP Header

 8-bit signal or data rate (DR) indicates

how fast data will be transmitted
 8-bit service field reserved for future
 16-bit length field indicating the length of
the ensuing MAC PDU (MAC sublayer’s
Protocol Data Unit)
 16-bit Cyclic Redundancy Code

76
Power management approach

 Allow idle stations to go to sleep

 station’s power save mode stored in AP
 APs buffer packets for sleeping stations.
 AP announces which stations have frames buffered
 Traffic Indication Map (TIM) sent with every Beacon
 Power Saving stations wake up periodically
 listen for Beacons
 TSF assures AP and Power Save stations are synchronized
 stations will wake up to hear a Beacon
 TSF timer keeps running when stations are sleeping
 synchronization allows extreme low power operation
 Independent BSS also have Power Management
 similar in concept, distributed approach

77
Scanning

 Scanning required for many functions.

 finding and joining a network
 finding a new AP while roaming
 initializing an Independent BSS (ad hoc) network
 802.11 MAC uses a common mechanism for all PHY.
 single or multi channel
 passive or active scanning
 Passive Scanning
 Find networks simply by listening for Beacons
 Active Scanning
 On each channel Send a Probe, Wait for a Probe
Response
 Beacon or Probe Response contains information necessary
to join new network.

78
Active scanning example

79
Collision Detection

 What is the aim of collision detection ?

It’s a transmitter’s job:

To determine if the packet was

successfully received without
explicitly asking the receiver

80