Wireless Data Networks

Puzzle You have a chain consisting of 63 inter-linked gold links You have to stay at a motel where the charge per day is 1 gold link You do not trust the motel manager and neither does he trust you What is the minimum number of links you need to break in order to stay for 63 days? Clue: The manager will not sell the links till you check out

Wireless Data Networks Experiencing a tremendous growth over the last decade or so US wireless data revenue in the $30-35B range in 2008 Increasing mobile work force, luxury of tetherless computing, information on demand anywhere/anyplace, etc, have contributed to the growth of wireless data

Wireless Network Types Satellite networks e.g. Iridium (66 satellites), Globalstar (48 satellites) Wireless WANs/MANs e.g. CDPD, GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA Wireless LANs e.g. Georgia Tech’s LAWN Wireless mesh networks e. g. Athens mesh network Wireless PANs e.g. Bluetooth headsets Ad-hoc networks e.g. Emergency relief, military Sensor networks

Wireless Local Area Networks Probably the most widely used of the different classes of wireless data networks Characterized by small coverage areas (~200m), but relatively high bandwidths (upto 54Mbps currently, close to 150Mbps with n) Examples include IEEE 802.11 networks, Bluetooth networks, and the erstwhile Infrared networks

WLAN Topology Static host/Router Distribution Network Access Point Mobile Stations

Wireless WANs Large coverage areas of upto a few miles radius Support significantly lower bandwidths than their LAN counterparts (upto a few hundred kilobits per second) Examples: CDPD, RAM, GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA

WAN Topology

WWAN Generations 1G (Past) 2G (Past/Present) AMPS, TACS: No data 2G (Past/Present) IS-136, GSM: <10Kbps circuit switched data 2.5G (Present, Immediate Past) GSM-GPRS, GPRS-136: <100Kbps packet switched 3G (Present, Immediate Future) IMT-2000: HSDPA,EV-DO <2Mbps packet switched 4G (Future) 20-40 Mbps!!

Satellite Networks Till recently satellite networks used only for fixed earth stations to communicate (with satellites being geo-stationary) With the deployment of LEO (low earth orbit satellites), using satellite networks for mobile device communication has become a reality Offer few tens of kilobits per second upstream and a few megabits per second downstream

Satellite Networks (contd.) Wide area coverage of the earth's surface Long transmission delays Broadcast transmission Transmission costs independent of distance

Ad-hoc Networks Multi-hop wireless networks Infrastructureless Typically used in military applications (where there is no infrastructure), or disaster relief (where infrastructure has been destroyed) Mobile stations double-up as forwarders/routers Can use existing WLAN technology (e.g. IEEE 802.11 supports a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) mode of operation)

Ad-hoc Networks (contd.) Typical data rates (on a per-link basis) same as WLANs (~54Mbps) End-to-end data rates can be significantly smaller (depending on network size, diameter of network, etc.) Very different network environment (highly dynamic, routers also mobile!, etc.)

Wireless mesh networks Wireless backhaul as opposed to the traditional wired backhaul Multi-hop wireless routing across multiple wireless routers possible One or more gateways are connected back to the backbone Typical backhaul rates one in three to one in seven

Wireless PANs Wireless personal area networks Example: Bluetooth Primarily meant for networking personal devices (music systems, speakers, microwaves, refrigerators, etc.) Lower data rates and transmission ranges (hence low power)

Sensor Networks Network of sensing devices (sensors) Applications include smart-concrete, smart-dust, etc. Useful for sensing in inaccessible locations Very low powered, resource-constrained devices Similar to ad-hoc networks with more severe constraints and a many-to-one topology

Wireless MAC Channel partitioned approaches FDMA, TDMA, CDMA Random multiple access schemes ALOHA, slotted-ALOHA CSMA CSMA/CA

Wireless MAC CSMA as wireless MAC? Hidden and exposed terminal problems make the use of CSMA an inefficient technique Several protocols proposed in related literature – MACA, MACAW, FAMA IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless MAC

Hidden Terminal Problem Collision A B C A talks to B C senses the channel C does not hear A’s transmission (out of range) C talks to B Signals from A and B collide

Exposed Terminal Problem Not possible A B C D B talks to A C wants to talk to D C senses channel and finds it to be busy C stays quiet (when it could have ideally transmitted)

Hidden and Exposed Terminal Problems Hidden Terminal More collisions Wastage of resources Exposed Terminal Underutilization of channel Lower effective throughput

IEEE 802.11 The 802.11 standard provides MAC and PHY functionality for wireless connectivity of fixed, portable and moving stations moving at pedestrian and vehicular speeds within a local area. Specific features of the 802.11 standard include the following: Support of asynchronous and time-bounded delivery service Continuity of service within extended areas via a Distribution System, such as Ethernet. Accommodation of transmission rates of 1, 2 and 10 Mbps Support of most market applications Multicast (including broadcast) services Network management services Registration and authentication services

IEEE 802.11 Topology Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) Networks Stand-alone BSS that has no backbone infrastructure and consists of at-least two wireless stations Often referred to as an ad-hoc network Applications include single room, sale floor, hospital wing

Infrastructure BSS Use of an access point Access points used for all communication including for communication between nodes in the same service area Association with a specific access point required for the mobile node to be served

IEEE 802.11 Topology (contd.) Extended Service Set (ESS) Networks Large coverage networks of arbitrary size and complexity Consists of multiple cells interconnected by access points and a distribution system, such as Ethernet Consist of multiple Infrastructure BSS’

IEEE 802.11 Logical Architecture The logical architecture of the 802.11 standard that applies to each station consists of a single MAC and one of multiple PHYs Frequency hopping PHY Direct sequence PHY Infrared light PHY OFDM PHY 802.11 MAC uses CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance)

IEEE 802.11 MAC Layer Primary operations Wireless medium access Accessing the wireless medium Joining the network Providing authentication and privacy Wireless medium access Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) mode Point Coordination Function (PCF) mode

IEEE 802.11 MAC (contd.) DCF PCF CSMA/CA – A contention based protocol PCF Contention-free access protocol usable on infrastructure network configurations containing a controller called a point coordinator within the access points Both the DCF and PCF can operate concurrently within the same BSS to provide alternative contention and contention-free periods

CSMA with Collision Avoidance Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) Control packet transmissions precede data packet transmissions to facilitate collision avoidance 4-way (RTS, CTS, Data, ACK) exchange for every data packet transmission

CSMA/CA (Contd.) A B C C knows B is listening RTS A B C CTS C knows B is listening to A. Will not attempt to transmit to B. Data ACK Hidden Terminal Problem Solved through RTS-CTS exchange!

CSMA/CA (Contd.) Can there be collisions? Control packet collisions (C transmitting RTS at the same time as A) C does not register B’s CTS C moves into B’s range after B’s CTS

CSMA/CA Algorithm Sense channel (CS) If busy Else Back-off to try again later Else Send RTS If CTS not received Send Data If ACK not received Next packet processing

CSMA/CA Algorithm (Contd.) Maintain a value CW (Contention-Window) If Busy, Wait till channel is idle. Then choose a random number between 0 and CW and start a back-off timer for proportional amount of time (Why?). If transmissions within back-off amount of time, freeze back-off timer and start it once channel becomes idle again (Why?) If Collisions (Control or Data) Binary exponential increase (doubling) of CW (Why?)

Carrier Sensing and Network Allocation Vector Both physical carrier sensing and virtual carrier sensing used in 802.11 If either function indicates that the medium is busy, 802.11 treats the channel to be busy Virtual carrier sensing is provided by the NAV (Network Allocation Vector)

NAV Most 802.11 frames carry a duration field which is used to reserve the medium for a fixed time period Tx sets the NAV to the time for which it expects to use the medium Other stations start counting down from NAV to 0 When NAV > 0, medium is busy

Illustration SIFS Sender RTS DATA SIFS SIFS Receiver CTS ACK NAV RTS

Interframe Spacing 802.11 uses 4 different interframe spacings Interframe spacing plays a large role in coordinating access to the transmission medium Varying interframe spacings create different priority levels for different types of traffic!

Types of IFS SIFS DIFS Short interframe space Used for highest priority transmissions – RTS/CTS frames and ACKs DIFS DCF interframe space Minimum idle time for contention-based services (> SIFS)

Types (contd.) PIFS EIFS PCF interframe space Minimum idle time for contention-free service (>SIFS, <DIFS) EIFS Extended interframe space Used when there is an error in transmission

Power Saving Mode (PS) 802.11 stations can maximize battery life by shutting down the radio transceiver and sleeping periodically During sleeping periods, access points buffer any data for sleeping stations The data is announced by subsequent beacon frames To retrieve buffered frames, newly awakened stations use PS-poll frames Access point can choose to respond immediately with data or promise to delivery it later

IEEE 802.11 MAC Frame Format Overall structure: Frame control (2 octets) Duration/ID (2 octets) Address 1 (6 octets) Address 2 (6 octets) Address 3 (6 octets) Sequence control (2 octets) Address 4 (6 octets) Frame body (0-2312 octets) FCS (4 octets)

Puzzle Two great mathematicians S & P S knows the sum of two positive integers (> 1) x and y P knows the product of x and y S calls P and says “You cannot find the two numbers” P replies “I know the two numbers” S responds “I know the two numbers too” What are the two numbers?!!