1 Chapter 2: Wireless LANs and PANs  Introduction  Fundamentals of WLANs  IEEE Standard  HIPERLAN Standard  Bluetooth  HomeRF

2 Characteristics of wireless LANs  Advantages Flexibility: very flexible within the reception area Planning: Ad-hoc networks without previous planning possible Design: (almost) no wiring difficulties (e.g. historic buildings, firewalls) Robustness: more robust against disasters like, e.g., earthquakes, fire or users pulling a plug Cost: Adding additional users to a wireless network will not increase the cost.  Disadvantages Quality of service: typically very low bandwidth compared to wired networks (1-10 Mbit/s) Proprietary solutions: many proprietary solutions, especially for higher bit- rates, standards take time (e.g. IEEE ). Now, g is a popular solution. Restrictions: products have to follow many national restrictions if working wireless, it takes long time to establish global solutions like, e.g., IMT-2000 Safety and security: Precautions have to be taken to prevent safety hazards. Secrecy and integrity must be assured.

3 Fundamentals of WLANs  Differences between wireless and wired transmission Address is not equivalent to physical location Dynamic topology and restricted connectivity Medium boundaries are not well-defined Error-prone medium  Use of WLANs Users can access the Internet on the move. WLANs are handy in areas affected by earthquakes or other disasters. WLANs are good solutions in places where wiring may not be permitted.

4 Design goals for wireless LANs  Operational simplicity  Power-efficient operations  License-free operation: no special permissions or licenses needed to use the LAN  Tolerance to interference  Global usability  Security: security (no one should be able to read my data), privacy (no one should be able to collect user profiles),  Safety requirement (low radiation)  Quality of service requirements  Compatibility with other technologies and applications

5 Comparison: Infrastructure vs. Ad-hoc networks  WLANs can be classified into two types: Infrastructure networks contains access points (APs) and mobile station (STAs). Ad hoc LANs do not need any fixed infrastructure.  Infrastructure networks Provide access to other networks Include forwarding functions Medium access control  Ad-hoc networks is a group of computers each with wireless adapters, connected as an independent wireless LAN. Each node can communicate with other nodes

6 Comparison: infrastructure vs. ad-hoc networks Infrastructure Network Ad-hoc network AP Wired network AP: Access Point