VOICE COMMUNICATION OVER WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK

Real-time interactive audio/video communication has become widely spread. People want to
communication through voice and video anywhere at any time. Cellular technology offered a
solution for mobility. Mobile users can use their mobile phones to make voice calls
everywhere at any time. However, this comes with an extra cost. Cellular technologies like
1G, GSM and 3G use circuit switched technology to transmit voice. This means each user has
a dedicated line throughout the time of call. To lease a line for the whole session means
makes the use of cellular technology expensive for voice communication.
The invention of the packet switched IP network offered a platform to solve the problem of
having voice transmitted on a circuit switched network. With a packet switched transmission
like IP networks, voice is packetized like any data and can take any route on the internet have
the packets reassembled at the destination. Applications like Skype and Google talk employ
technology and offer voice and video communication over the IP network with reduced or no
cost. However, this also came not without cost. The quality of voice was a challenge because
IP networks are best effort networks and do not guarantee any QoS. Therefore, poor quality
of voice and dropped calls is a challenge in the VoIP technologies. Moreover, traditional
VoIP using fixed IP phones for making voice calls did not allow mobility.
Ideally, VoIP uses the Internet as a telephony network with some additional capabilities.
Instead of using circuit–switched network, VoIP allows communication between two parties
over the packet-switched Internet.
Voice over Wireless Local Area Network (VoWLAN) comes to solve among other
challenges the problem of mobility. With VoWLAN one does not need to be fixed on the IP
phones in order to make or receive calls. Anywhere at any time provided there is Wireless
connectivity using WiFi one can make and receive voice calls using mobile device like
mobile phone or laptop.

Problem Statement
Communication within organizations, schools, offices, companies and campuses is very
important. Different departments within an organization need real-time interaction in their
daily undertakings. The receptionist for example, may need to communicate with the main
office while the kitchen staff may need to communicate with the store department. The CEO
may need to talk to the Human Resource Manager. Many other staff communications may be
necessary internally within departments or externally with other departments. Various real-
time communications methods such as physical movement from one office to the other, the
use of intercom, the use mobile phones and IP phones have been employed. However, all
these technologies have helped make communication easy but not without problems and extra
expenses.
Moving from one office to the other is not only time consuming but also tiresome. Using
traditional analog intercoms involves extra infrastructure like handsets and exchange boxes.
The use of mobile phones means that one has to incur extra costs for airtime. VoIP has solved
some of these problems but still an extra infrastructure is required. It requires IP phones. It is
unnecessary to use an IP phone to make calls within an organization while one could use a
computer lying idle on the desk.
Moreover, IP phones are only fixed in some parts of the organization. If an organization has
already deployed network connection even to areas that cannot be wired by using wireless
communication through Access Points, there is no need for the members to have to move to
find an IP phone for them to make internal calls. Students in the university campus can access
their intranet through Wi-Fi. Why should they have to move to the Registrar’s office while
they could make voice calls using their laptops?
In the quest to solve all these problems we asked ourselves a question: “why don’t we use our
computers and the existing WLAN to make calls within an organization without having to
incur all these costs?” The solution was to implement VoWLAN technology. VoWLAN
enables different departments within an organization to communicate using their computers
connected on WLAN through Wi-Fi. It does not require traditional IP phone nor does one
incur extra cost.
What one needs is to install a softphone on his mobile phone or laptop or desktop and Wi-Fi
connectivity. That is enough for one to make and receive calls.

VoWLAN therefore, minimizes the cost of using mobile phones, intercom networks and
Internet to make calls within a company, organization, campus, home hospital or factory. It
also eliminates communication problems within an organization that people face due to
unreliable Internet when using IP phones. Moreover, VoWLAN solves the problem of
wasting time by members of an organization having to move from one department to another
to pass information.

Aim
The aim of implementing VoWLAN is to enable users to make voice and video calls by using
mobile devices like phones or laptops connected to the WLAN through Wi-Fi.

Specific Objectives

i. To provide telephony services on the WLAN infrastructure

ii. To reduce cost of telephony services in organizations
iii. To enable video calls over WLAN
iv. To enhance reachability and availability of staff members using telephony
services.
Justification
For long, many people have had to use their mobile phones, intercom networks or Internet to
make calls within their workplace, homes, offices or campuses. In some organization these
forms of communications are used despite the fact that their computers are on their wired or
wireless LAN.
In particular for example, our research has shown that at Strathmore University in Kenya, in
spite of having a well-established wired and WLAN with access points almost in every corner
of the campus, staff members cannot make voice calls unless they use their mobile phones or
IP phones which are fixed in few rooms. This is very expensive, time consuming and requires
some extra infrastructure like IP phones. It has been found that at Strathmore University,
sometimes a student has to move a distance not less than 600m from the classroom to look for
a duster at the help desk in another building while a computer is just lying there in the
classroom waiting to be used only for power point presentations. Worse still, students have
their laptops lying in their bags as they move distances to pass information. Something had to
be done to solve this problem.
VoWLAN is a solution. VoWLAN will enable different departments within an organization
to communicate using their computers connected on WLAN. It does not require IP phones;
neither does it need extra infrastructure apart from the existing WLAN and earphones.
In short VoWLAN comes with the following benefits:
i. It provides a faster and reliable voice and video communication among members
within an organization.
ii. It reduces communication costs incurred through the use of Internet,
mobile phones or intercom networks in an organization.
iii. It saves time and therefore, increases productivity of an organization.
iv. It provides instant messaging between users.
Scope
Due to limited time and the nature of study we have limited ourselves to providing voice and
video calls within an intranet. Our implementation of VoWLAN will not involve gateways to
the Internet or PSTN network for international calls.
Voice communication over Wi-Fi comes with challenges including security, Quality of
Service and mobility management when a user has to move between two access points.
Protocols employed by VoWLAN like SIP, IEEE 802.11 include solutions to mobility
management, security and quality of service. These aspects will not be included in the
implementation of VoWLAN but a discussion will be given on how protocols used by
VoWLAN attempt to solve these challenges; their implementation might be a concern for
future developments.