Guide to Wireless Communications 4th

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Guide to Wireless Communications, Fourth Edition 6-1

Chapter 6
Introduction to Wi-Fi WLANs

At a Glance

Instructor’s Manual Table of Contents

• Overview

• Objectives

• Teaching Tips

• Quick Quizzes

• Class Discussion Topics

• Additional Projects

• Additional Resources

• Key Terms

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Guide to Wireless Communications, Fourth Edition 6-2

Lecture Notes

Overview
This chapter begins by reviewing the basic concepts of how Wi-Fi WLANs work, focusing on
low-speed WLANs (up to 11 Mbps). This background knowledge will help students better
understand the higher-speed technologies, new standards, and compatibility issues covered in
Chapter 7.

Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter and completing the exercises, the student will be able to:

• List the components of a WLAN

• Describe the modes of operation of a WLAN
• Discuss the first IEEE WLAN standards
• Describe coordinating communications in RF WLANs
• Explain the process of association and reassociation
• Outline the power management features of IEEE 802.11 networks
• Discuss 802.11 MAC frame formats

Teaching Tips

WLAN Components
Wireless Network Interface Card

1. Define a network interface card or network adapter as the device that connects a
computer or device to a network medium.
2. Explain that a wireless NIC performs the same functions as a wired NIC.
3. Discuss the use of PC Card Type II slot and Mini PCI wireless network interface cards.
Note that most mobile devices or laptops now use integrated wireless cards.

Access Points
1. Review how an access point provides wireless access to a physical wired network by
use of an RJ-45 network interface port. Use Figure 6-1.
2. Discuss the two basic functions of an access point:
a. Acts as wireless base station
b. Acts as bridge between wireless and wired networks

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3. Explain how dynamic rate selection is used to select the highest possible data
transmission rate depending on the quality of the link between an access point and a
client.
4. Teach students what sort of capacity an average access point may be able to handle, and
note how this changes depending on intended use and typical network traffic.
5. Describe how Power over Ethernet (PoE) can be utilized to power an access point
utilizing unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Ethernet cables. Explain that the 802.3af and
802.3at standards define how PoE may be implemented.

WLAN Operating Modes

1. Point out that an RF WLAN exchanges data in one of two connection modes:
a. Ad Hoc
b. Infrastructure

Ad Hoc Mode
1. Introduce the terminology peer-to-peer and IBSS.
2. Using Figure 6-2, explain that in ad hoc mode devices communicate with each other,
typically not connected to a central network. List examples where peer-to-peer mode
might be useful.
3. Note the introduction of Wi-Fi Direct.
4. Also note the limitation of 10 devices in an IBSS.

Infrastructure Mode
1. Infrastructure mode, or Basic Service Set (BSS), can be explained as the WLAN mode
that utilizes an AP to centralize communications.
2. The use of multiple APs with the same Service Set Identifier (SSID) is called an
Extended Service Set (ESS). Display Figure 6-3.
3. Explain that a basic service set identifier (BSSID) is the MAC address of an AP.
Students should know that when using an ESS, the BSSID is used to refer to the
specific AP that a device is connected to.
4. Handoff should be explained as the process that occurs when a user of a mobile device
moves between coverage areas of different Aps.
5. Define a subnet as a division of a larger network, and explain how WLANs are
typically segmented into subnets.

Teaching Extended Service Sets are commonly used at large events, such as conventions,
Tip and college campuses. Typically the use of such a wireless network requires
central control and use of special devices.

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Guide to Wireless Communications, Fourth Edition 6-4

First WLAN Standards

IEEE 802.11
1. Discuss the IEEE 802.11 standard as a standard that was intended to define access to
network resources without use of a cable, with a maximum transmission rate of 1 or 2
Mbps using infrared or RF transmission.
2. Note that the use of a wireless NIC relies on changes at the lower levels (Physical layer
and Data Link layer) of the OSI model, leaving the upper layers unaffected. Figure 6-4
can aid the discussion.
3. Provide an overview of the increase in transmission speeds for 802.11 networks over
the course of the standard’s history.

Teaching When 802.11 based networks utilize backwards compatibility features, all
Tip devices on the wireless network are limited to the top speed of the slowest
device, regardless of standard in use.

Teaching Students should know that only channels 1 – 11 are available when using the
Tip 802.11 standard in the US and Canada, while up to channel 13 is available in
Europe, and channel 14 is available in Japan.

IEEE 802.11b
1. Describe the 802.11b amendment as having a maximum transmission speed of 11 Mbps
utilizing the 2.4 GHz band, and explain that this original amendment was the first
802.11 network to be referred to as “Wi-Fi”.
2. Physical Layer:
a. Explain how the physical layer is divided into two sublayers for 802.11b, the
physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) sublayer and the physical
medium dependent (PMD) sublayer.
b. Physical Layer Convergence Procedure: Students must know that the PLCP
standards for 802.11b are based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS).
i. Define the three distinct parts of a PLCP frame: the preamble, header,
and data.
ii. Teach students about the fields that exist within a PLCP frame:
1. Synchronization
2. Start Frame Delimiter
3. Signal Data Rate
4. Service
5. Length
6. Header Error Check
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7. Data
iii. Note that the PLCP frame preamble and header is always transmitted at
1 Mbps to allow slower devices to communicate with faster ones.
c. Physical Medium Dependent Standards: the layer at which binary is
converted into radio signals for transmission.
i. Show students the 14 channels available for use with 802.11b, starting at
2.412 GHz and incrementing by 5 MHz for each channel. Table 6-1 lists
the frequencies for each channel.
ii. Students must know that the PMD can transmit data at different speeds:
11, 5.5, 2, or 1 Mbps. Explain how PMD uses these rates dynamically,
and discuss how the modulation used changes depending on the
transmission rate.
iii. Describe how the Barker code is used by 802.11b networks when
transmitting at 1 or 2 Mbps, while faster speeds utilize Complementary
Code Keying (CCK), which consists of 64 8-bit code words.
3. Media Access Control Layer: Elaborate on the two separate sublayers of the Media
Access Control layer in 802.11b: Logical Link Control (LLC) and Media Access
Control (MAC).

Coordinating Communications in the Shared Wireless Medium

1. Explain to students how a network collision can occur when two computers sharing the
same network medium attempt to communicate at the same time.
2. Explain distributed coordination function (DCF) as a technique used by wireless
devices to determine if a collision has occurred by requiring a receiving device to send
acknowledgements of data.
3. Describe the role of an explicit acknowledgement (ACK) in helping to ensure that a
receiving device has properly received a frame.

CSMA/CA
1. Describe how wireless devices make use of channel access methods such as CSMA/CA
to prevent collisions.
2. Discuss the use of Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Detection in traditional
Ethernet based networks and then compare CSMA/CD to CSMA/CA.
3. The most likely time for a collision to occur should be noted as after a station has
finished transmitting. Explain how CSMA/CA with DCF attempts to handle this
problem by utilizing random backoff interval times for devices on the network. This
interval is also called a time slot.
4. Collision avoidance is increased by the use of the ACK frame. Display the example in
Figure 6-7.
5. The use of request-to-send/clear-to-send (RTS/CTS) in avoiding collisions should be
discussed. Note that a device wanting to transmit must first send an RTS, and receive a
CTS from an AP before it can begin.

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Guide to Wireless Communications, Fourth Edition 6-6

6. Explain that fragmentation is also a method to reduce collisions; however, it results in

additional overhead. Describe the fragmentation steps and note how it can operate
simultaneously with RTS/CTS.

Point Coordination Function

1. Polling should be described as a type of channel access method where devices are
asked if they have data to transmit by an access point.
2. Clients that do not have any data to transmit will respond to a polling request with a
null data frame.
3. Students must know that this polling method is known as point coordination function
(PCF). Figure 6-9 can aid discussion.
4. Explain that despite some advantages over DCF depending on types of data being
transmitted, PCF has not been implemented in 802.11 APs or residential gateways.

Quick Quiz 1
1. A WNIC’s ___________is used to send and receive RF signals.
Answer: antenna

2. True or False: The role of an access point is to act as a base station for wireless clients
utilizing ad hoc communication.
Answer: False

3. Select the type of 802.11 mode that involves the use of ad hoc communications:
A. Basic Service Set (BSS)
B. Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS)
C. Extended Service Set (ESS)
D. Extended Basic Service Set (EBSS)
Answer: B

4. What channel access method is used with 802.11 based networks?

A. Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Avoidance
B. Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Detection
C. Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Aversion
D. Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Deterrence
Answer: A

5. What type of frame is sent by a receiving device after it has confirmed all frames
arrived intact?
A. Request to Send (CTS)
B. Acknowledgement (ACK)
C. Clear to Send (CTS)
D. Association
Answer: B

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Guide to Wireless Communications, Fourth Edition 6-7

Association and Reassociation

1. Teach students how devices joining a WLAN create an association with the access
point by sending an associate request frame. Clients then must wait for the AP to send
an associate response frame.
2. Discuss how passive scanning involves a client that listens for beacon frames
transmitted from APs.
3. Active scanning can be explained as the client device sending out a probe frame to
discover access points willing to send a probe response frame.
4. Define the practice of war driving.
5. Describe how the reassociation process can occur when a client device disconnects
from one AP and associates with another AP. Students should understand that in an
ESS, a reassociate request frame can be sent to the new AP to maintain wireless
connectivity. Note that a disassociate frame is also sent to the old AP. Figure 6-10
provides an example.

Power Management
1. Explain how WLAN devices can utilize what is known as sleep mode, which powers
down various components of the device to save battery power.
2. Describe how wireless NIC power management can be used to power off all but
essential components of a NIC to allow for increased battery efficiency without missing
transmissions.
3. The process by which information is buffered on an AP when a client goes into sleep
mode should be covered.
4. Traffic indication maps (TIMs) can be described as frames that contain a list of device
network IDs that have buffered frames being held, which are broadcast to all clients.
Sleeping clients can then wake up to receive its frames. Utilize Figure 6-11 in the
explanation.

Teaching Wireless Wake On LAN (WoWLAN) can be used to turn on a sleeping wireless
Tip device such as a laptop or desktop PC with a wireless NIC by sending a special
type of wakeup packet, known as a magic packet. The wired version of this
technology, Wake On LAN (WOL), has been in use for several years.

MAC Frame Formats

1. Management frames must be discussed as frames that establish initial
communications between a client and an access point. The different association /
reassociation / disassociation, and beacon frames are all management frames.

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Guide to Wireless Communications, Fourth Edition 6-8

2. Show the contents of a management frame, and explain how fields change in this
frame. Utilize Figure 6-12.
3. Control frames should be shown as frames that control and direct the flow of traffic on
a WLAN. RTS frames are considered control frames. Show the contents of a control
frame as displayed in Figure 6-13.
4. Data frames can be described as frames that carry data being transmitted between a
client device and its destination. Show the contents of a data frame using Figure 6-14.

Interframe Spaces
1. Explain interframe spaces as time gaps, and explain how the following interframe
spaces work with CSMA/CA and DCF:
a. Short Interframe Space (SIFS), 10 microseconds
b. DCF Interframe Space (DIFS), 50 microseconds
2. Discuss the basic rules that are followed when a single device is communicating on an
802.11 network, and explain how SIFS and DIFS are used in conjunction with these
rules. Explain how these rules change when two or more devices are involved. Utilize
Figure 6-16.

Quick Quiz 2
1. An access point will confirm a client’s request to associate by sending an
____________________.
Answer: associate response frame

2. True or False: A Traffic Indication Map (TIM) is a frame that contains a list of all
network IDs of clients with buffered frames waiting on the AP.
Answer: True

3. The __________ is a time period utilized to ensure all transmitted signals have arrived
and have been decoded successfully before allowing other devices to transmit.
Answer: Short Interframe Space (SIFS)

4. The BSSID field in a management frame contains what information?

A. An AP’s associated clients list
B. An AP’s SSID network name
C. An AP’s channel
D. An AP’s MAC address
Answer: D

5. A probe frame is what type of frame?

A. Control frame
B. Data frame
C. Management frame
D. Superframe
Answer: C

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Guide to Wireless Communications, Fourth Edition 6-9

Class Discussion Topics

1. Many students will most likely have access to a wireless network or own their own
wireless network equipment. Start a class discussion on what types of wireless
equipment students utilize at home.

2. Have students discuss what problems might occur if two access points that connect to
two different networks share the same SSID and are not part of an ESS. This can occur
when two access points made by the same manufacturer are installed in an area by
separate owners and utilize default settings.

Additional Projects
1. Get students to research what types of equipment are required to utilize an access point
powered by Power over Ethernet (PoE). In most cases, students should find that campus
sized networks utilize PoE switches to power remote APs for access. However, PoE
adapters exist for APs only capable of PoE based power.

2. Task students with researching how power management for wireless NICs works with
Windows, Mac OSX, or other operating systems / mobile operating systems. Students
should learn that problematic wireless connectivity can sometimes be a result of power
management issues with a wireless card.

Additional Resources
1. Article on the use of RTS/CTS with 802.11 WLANs:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/1445641

2. Microsoft article on how 802.11 works:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757419(v=ws.10).aspx

Key Terms
➢ 802.11 standard An IEEE standard released in 1997 that defines wireless local area
networks at a rate of either 1 or 2 Mbps. All WLAN features are confined to the PHY
and MAC layers. This is the original IEEE standard for WLANs and the basis for later
802.11b, a, g, n, and ac/ad amendments.
➢ 802.11b An amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard for WLANs that added two higher
speeds, 5.5 and 11 Mbps, and is also known as Wi-Fi, a name given by the Wi-Fi
Alliance to technology that has been certified for interoperability with equipment from
different manufacturers.

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➢ acknowledgment (ACK) A procedure used to reduce collisions by requiring the

receiving station to send an explicit packet back to the sending station, provided that the
received transmission had no errors.
➢ active scanning The process of sending frames to gather information.
➢ ad hoc mode A WLAN mode in which wireless devices communicate directly among
themselves without going through an AP.
➢ associate request frame A frame sent by a device to an AP that contains the device’s
capabilities and supported rates.
➢ associate response frame A frame returned to a device from the AP that contains a
status code and device ID number.
➢ association The process for a device to join a Basic Service Set (BSS) or Independent
Basic Service Set (IBSS).
➢ Basic Service Set (BSS) A WLAN mode that consists of at least one wireless device
and one AP. Also called infrastructure mode.
➢ BSSID In an infrastructure WLAN, the BSSID is the MAC address of the AP. In a
peer-to-peer network, the BSSID is the MAC address of the first station to be turned on
and configured to establish the ad hoc WLAN.
➢ buffering The process that the AP uses to temporarily store frames for devices that are
in sleep mode.
➢ channel access methods The different ways of sharing resources in a network
environment.
➢ collision The scrambling of data that occurs when two computers start sending
messages at the same time in a shared medium.
➢ Complementary Code Keying (CCK) A table containing 64 8-bit code words used for
transmitting at speeds above 2 Mbps. This table of codes is used instead of the process
of adding a Barker code to the bit to be transmitted.
➢ control frame MAC frame that assists in delivering the frames that contain data.
➢ data frame MAC frame that carries the user information to be transmitted to a device.
➢ disassociate frame A frame sent by the new AP to the old AP in an ESS to terminate
the old AP’s association with a device. Disassociation frames are transmitted from one
AP to another over the wired network only, not via the wireless medium.
➢ distributed coordination function (DCF) The default channel access method in IEEE
802.11 WLANs, designed to avoid collisions and grant all devices on the WLAN a
reasonably equal chance to transmit on the selected channel.
➢ DCF Interframe Space (DIFS) The standard interval between the transmission of data
frames.
➢ dynamic rate selection (DRS) A function of an AP that allows it to automatically
select the highest transmission speed based on the strength and quality of the signal
received from a device WNIC.
➢ exabytes One exabyte is equal to a one followed by 18 zeroes or 1 billion GB
(1,000,000,000,000,000,000).
➢ Extended Service Set (ESS) A WLAN mode that consists of wireless devices and
multiple APs using the same SSID, extending a WLAN seamlessly beyond the
maximum range of an 802.11 transmission.
➢ fragmentation The division of data to be transmitted from one large frame into several
smaller frames.

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➢ handoff In an ESS, when a WLAN device reassociates with an AP on the network and
disassociates with the one to which it was previously connected.
➢ Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) A WLAN mode in which wireless devices
communicate directly among themselves without using an AP. Also called ad hoc mode
and peer-to-peer mode.
➢ infrastructure mode See Basic Service Set.
➢ interframe spaces (IFS) Time gaps used in CSMA/CA to allow devices to finish
receiving a transmission and checking for errors before any other device is allowed to
transmit.
➢ management frame MAC frame that is used, for example, to set up the initial
communications between a device and the AP.
➢ Mini PCI A small card that is functionally equivalent to a standard PCI expansion card
used for integrating communications peripherals onto a laptop computer but that is
much smaller.
➢ null data frame The response that a device sends back to the AP to indicate that the
device has no transmissions to make in PCF.
➢ passive scanning The process of listening to each available channel for a set period of
time.
➢ peer-to-peer mode See ad hoc mode.
➢ point coordination function (PCF) The 802.11 optional polling function.
➢ polling A channel access method in which each computer is asked in sequence whether
it wants to transmit.
➢ power management An 802.11 standard that allows the mobile device to be off as
much as possible to conserve battery life but still not miss out on data transmissions.
➢ power over Ethernet (PoE) A technology that provides power over an Ethernet cable.
➢ probe A frame sent by a device when performing active scanning.
➢ probe response A frame sent by an AP when responding to a device’s active scanning
probe.
➢ reassociate request frame A frame sent from a device to a new AP asking whether it
can associate with the AP.
➢ reassociate response frame A frame sent by an AP to a station indicating that it will
accept its reassociation with that AP.
➢ reassociation The process of a device disconnecting from one AP and reestablishing a
connection with another AP.
➢ request-to-send/clear-to-send (RTS/CTS) An 802.11 protocol option that allows a
station to reserve the network for transmissions.
➢ Service Set Identifier (SSID) A unique network identifier assigned to an AP during
configuration. In an Extended Service Set (ESS), all APs will be configured with the
same SSID.
➢ Short Interframe Space (SIFS) A time period used to allow a receiving station to
finish receiving all signals, decode them, and check for errors.
➢ sleep mode A power-conserving mode used by portable, battery-powered devices in a
WLAN.
➢ subnets Subsets of a large network that use a different group of IP addresses belonging
to the same domain IP address. Subnets are separated from other subnets by routers.
➢ time slots The measurement unit in a PLCP frame.

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➢ traffic indication map (TIM) A list of the stations that have buffered frames waiting
at the AP. The TIM is sent in the beacons by the AP.
➢ war driving The practice of discovering and recording information about WLANs in a
neighborhood or around a city while driving or walking.
➢ Wi-Fi A trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, used to refer to 802.11b and later WLANs
that pass the organization’s interoperability tests.
➢ Wi-Fi Direct A feature defined by the Wi-Fi Alliance that enables a computer or other
wireless device to act as an AP and share an Internet connection in an ad hoc WLAN.
➢ wireless site survey A test that is conducted before deployment of a WLAN to
determine the best location for APs and antennas, in order to provide maximum
coverage.

© Cengage Learning 2014