Device Duty Cycle

The Device Duty Cycle Chart is a stacked bar chart that shows the duty cycle of each device type on a channel. The

duty cycle is the percentage of time each device type operates or transmits on that channel. Though Wi-Fi devices do

not transmit if there is another Wi-Fi or non-Wi-Fi device active at that time, most non-Wi-Fi devices do not follow

such a protocol for transmissions. Because these devices operate independently without regard to any other devices

operating on the same channel, the total duty cycle of all device types may add up to more than 100% on a channel.

For example, one or more video bridges may be active on a channel, each with a 100% duty cycle. The same channel

may have a cordless transmitter with a 10% duty cycle and a microwave oven with a 50% duty cycle. In this example,

the Device Duty Cycle chart shows all three device types with their respective duty cycle percentages.

A hybrid AP on a 20 MHz channel will see 40 MHz Wi-Fi data as non-Wi-Fi data.

Spectrum monitors display spectrum analysis data seen on all channels in the selected band, and hybrid APs display

data from the one channel they are monitoring. The example below shows data from a spectrum monitor monitoring

all channels in the 2.4 GHz band.

Click the down arrow in the upper right corner of this chart, then click the Options menu to access these

configuration settings. Once you have configured the desired parameters, click OK at the bottom of the Options menu

to save your settings and return to the spectrum dashboards.

Parameter Description

Band Radio band displayed in this graph.

For spectrum monitor radios using the 5 GHz radio band, click the Band drop-down list and select
5 GHz Low, 5 GHz Center or 5 GHz High to display data for that portion of the 5 GHz radio band.
This parameter is not configurable for graphs created by hybrid APs or spectrum monitor radios
that use the 2.4 GHz radio band.

Channel This parameter is not configurable for graphs created by hybrid APs or spectrum monitor radios
Numbering that use the 2.4 GHz radio band. A hybrid AP on a 20 MHz channel sees 40 MHz Wi-Fi data as
non-Wi-Fi data. For spectrum monitors using the 5 GHz radio band, click the Channel Numbering
drop-down list and select either 20 MHz or 40 MHz channel numbering to identify a channel
numbering scheme for the graph. Graphs for AP radios that support 802.11AC include an additional
80 MHz option for very-high-throughput channels.
 Channel For graphs created by spectrum monitors, specify a channel range to determine which channels
Range appear in this graph. Click the first drop-down list to select the lowest channel in the range, then
click the second drop-down list to select the highest channel to appear in the graph.

This graph displays all channels within the radio band of the spectrum monitor by default.

NOTE: This parameter is not configurable for graphs created by hybrid APs.

Virtual channel sensing using CSMA/CA

Virtual channel sense or virtual carrier sense is a mechanism to predict future traffic in wireless networks that uses

carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA). It is implemented in wireless network protocols,

IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.16, which operates in the medium access control (MAC) layer.

In virtual channel sensing, a timer mechanism is used that is based upon information of durations of previous frame

transmission in order to predict future traffic in the channel. It uses network allocation vector (NAV), which can be

considered as a counter that counts down to zero.

Technique

Virtual channel sensing mechanism initialises a NAV for implementing timer mechanism. The maximum NAV duration

is the transmission time required by frame, which is the the time for which the channel will be busy. At the start of

transmission of a frame, the NAV value is set to its maximum. A non-zero value indicates that the channel is busy,

and so no station contends for it. When the NAV value decrements to 0, it indicates that the channel is free and the

other stations can contend for it.

He following diagram shows virtual channel sensing using CSMA/CA −

The steps in transmission as depicted in the above diagram are −

● The transmitting station waits for a time equal to distributed inter – frame space (DIFS) and issues

a request to send (RTS) if the channel is clear.

● After sending RTS, a NAV (RTS) is initialized, so that no other station attempts to transmit.
 ● The receiving station waits for a short inter – frame space (SIFS) and issues a clear to send (CTS).

● With the CTS, a NAV (CTS) is initialized. The sender waits for a SIFS and transmits its data frame.

● On receiving the data frame, the receiver waits for a SIFS and sends an acknowledgement frame

(ACK).

● Both the NAV values decreased to 0 during this time period.

● The stations wait for a SIFS and a backoff period before contending for the channel

Virtual channel sense or virtual carrier sense is a mechanism to predict future traffic in wireless networks that uses

carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA). It is implemented in wireless network protocols,

IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.16, which operates in the medium access control (MAC) layer.

In virtual channel sensing, a timer mechanism is used that is based upon information of durations of previous frame

transmission in order to predict future traffic in the channel. It uses network allocation vector (NAV), which can be

considered as a counter that counts down to zero.

Technique

Virtual channel sensing mechanism initialises a NAV for implementing timer mechanism. The maximum NAV duration

is the transmission time required by frame, which is the time for which the channel will be busy. At the start of

transmission of a frame, the NAV value is set to its maximum. A non-zero value indicates that the channel is busy,

and so no station contends for it. When the NAV value decrements to 0, it indicates that the channel is free and the

other stations can contend for it.

He following diagram shows virtual channel sensing using CSMA/CA −

The steps in transmission as depicted in the above diagram are −

● The transmitting station waits for a time equal to distributed inter – frame space (DIFS) and issues

a request to send (RTS) if the channel is clear.

● After sending RTS, a NAV (RTS) is initialized, so that no other station attempts to transmit.

● The receiving station waits for a short inter – frame space (SIFS) and issues a clear to send (CTS).

● With the CTS, a NAV (CTS) is initialized. The sender waits for a SIFS and transmits its data frame.

● On receiving the data frame, the receiver waits for a SIFS and sends an acknowledgement frame

(ACK).

● Both the NAV values decreased to 0 during this time period.

● The stations wait for a SIFS and a backoff period before contending for the channel
Physical carrier sense (CSMA/CA)
The first step that an 802.11 CSMA/ CA device needs to do to begin transmitting is to perform a carrier sense.

This is a check to see whether the medium is busy. Think of it like listening for a busy signal when you call someone
on the phone.

There are two ways that a carrier sense is performed:

1. virtual carrier sense

2. physical carrier sense

It is possible that a station did not hear the other radio transmitting and was therefore unable to read the Duration/ ID
field and set its NAV timer. There could be numerous reasons why.

CSMA/ CA utilizes another line of defense to ensure that a station does not transmit while another is already
transmitting: The 802.11-2012 standard also defines a physical carrier sense mechanism to determine if the medium is
busy.

Physical carrier sensing is performed constantly by all stations that are not transmitting or receiving. When a station
performs a physical carrier sense, it is actually listening to the channel to see whether any other transmitters are
taking up the channel.

Physical carrier sense has two purposes:

1. to determine whether a frame transmission is inbound for a station to receive.

If the medium is busy, the radio will attempt to synchronise with the transmission.
2. to determine whether the medium is busy before transmitting.
This is known as the clear channel assessment (CCA)
● The CCA involves listening for RF transmissions at the Physical layer.
● The medium must be clear before a station can transmit.
● It is important to understand that both virtual carrier sense and physical carrier sense are always
happening at the same time.
● Virtual carrier sense is a layer 2 line of defense, while physical carrier sense is a layer 1 line of defense.