ITRAINONLINEMMTK WIRELESSSTANDARDSHANDOUT

Developedby:AlbertoEscuderoPascual/IT+46 Basedontheoriginalworkof:BrunoRoger/ESMT

TableofContents
1.Aboutthisdocument..............................................................................................................................................1 1.1Copyrightinformation......................................................................................................................................2 1.2DegreeofDifficulty........................................................................................................................................2 2.Introduction............................................................................................................................................................2 3.Whatisastandard?..............................................................................................................................................2 4.OpenandCloseStandards...................................................................................................................................3 5.IEEEanditsWorkingGroups................................................................................................................................3 5.1IEEE802LAN/MAN......................................................................................................................................3 6.IEEE802.11Legacy(WirelessLAN).....................................................................................................................3 6.1Namingconfusion...........................................................................................................................................4 7.IEEE802.11TechnicalAspects..............................................................................................................................4 7.1Layer1(802.11PHY)......................................................................................................................................4 7.1.1ModulationTechniques.............................................................................................................................5 7.1.2Frequency................................................................................................................................................5 7.2Layer2(802.11MAC).....................................................................................................................................6 7.2.1MediaAccessMethod..............................................................................................................................6 8.IEEE802.11Amendments.....................................................................................................................................8 8.1IEEE802.11b..................................................................................................................................................8 8.2IEEE802.11a.................................................................................................................................................8 8.3IEEE802.11g.................................................................................................................................................8 8.4IEEE802.11n.................................................................................................................................................9 8.4.1Spatialdiversity........................................................................................................................................9 8.4.2Spatialdivisionmultiplexing(SDM)..........................................................................................................9 8.5Summaryof802.11amendments...................................................................................................................9 9.WiMAX(IEEE802.16)vsWiFi(IEEE802.11)......................................................................................................10 9.1RangeandCoverage....................................................................................................................................10 9.2Scalabilityandthroughput............................................................................................................................11 9.3QualityofService.........................................................................................................................................12 10.Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................................12

1.Aboutthisdocument
ThesematerialsarepartoftheItrainOnlineMultimediaTrainingKit(MMTK).TheMMTKprovidesanintegratedset ofmultimediatrainingmaterialsandresourcestosupportcommunitymedia,communitymultimediacentres, telecentres,andotherinitiativesusinginformationandcommunicationstechnologies(ICTs)toempower communitiesandsupportdevelopmentwork.

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1.1Copyrightinformation
ThisunitismadeavailableundertheCreativeC.ommonsAttributionShareAlike2.5License.Tofindouthowyou mayusethesematerialspleasereadthecopyrightstatementincludedwiththisunitorsee http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/2.5/

1.2DegreeofDifficulty
ThedegreeofdifficultyofthisunitisMediumwithsomeadditionalAdvancedparts. AllAdvancedsectionsaremarkedwitharedframemakethereaderawareofahigherdegreeofdifficultyofthe content.

2.Introduction
Thisunitaimstogivethereaderaguidethoughthejungleofstandardsforwirelessnetworks.Wehaveallheard aboutIEEE802.11butwhatisreallythetechnicaldifferencebetweenitssubgroups?Whatintechnicalterms doesitmeanthatstandardXis10timesfasterthanstandardY? TheunitdiscussesnotonlythecommonlyusedIEEE802.11standardsbutalsothenewbroadbandstandard IEEE802.16(WiMAX).Toprovideabetterunderstandingforthemaindifferencesbetweenthestandards,a technicalcomparisonintermsofRangeandCoverage,ScalabilityandThroughputandQualityofServiceis presented.

3.Whatisastandard?
Beforediggingintothejungleofwirelessstandards,wewouldliketointroducetheconceptofstandardfirst. Whatisastandardbydefinitionandwhyarestandardsimportant?
In 1978 the US-NSPAC National Standards Policy Advisory Committee defined a standard as: "A prescribed set of rules, conditions, or requirements concerning definitions of terms; classification of components; specification of materials, performance, or operations; delineation of procedures; or measurement of quantity and quality in describing materials, products, systems, services, or practices."

Oneaspectofstandardsthatcanbesurprisingisthattechnicalstandardsarefrequentlyestablishedbetween competitorstothesamesharedmarket.Howcomethatcompetitorsaresuddenlyworkingtogetherwhentheyare fightingforthesamemarketshare? Onethingthatwecanbesureabout,isthatifstandardizationofhardware,softwareandsystemswerenot beneficialforthevendors,nostandardizationwouldevertakeplace. Forvendors,havingaproductthatcomplieswithaspecificstandardimpliesinteroperabilitybetweenproductsof thesamefamily.Italsomeansthepossibilitytoaccessaglobalmarketwhereclientsthatarefamiliarwitha standarddonotnecessarilyneedtobefamiliarwiththeproductitself.Standards are used by vendors to achieve
a level of safety, quality, and consistency in their products towards the customer. For the customer, a product that follows a specific standard implies the possibility of interoperability with other products and not to be locked to a single vendor.

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4.OpenandCloseStandards
Forsimplicity,wecandividestandardsasopenorclose(proprietary).Anopenstandardispubliclyavailablewhile theproprietaryorclosestandardisnot.Proprietarystandardsareonlyavailable,ifavailableatall,undervery restrictivecontracttermsfromtheorganizationthatownsthecopyrightofthespecification.Anexampleofopen standardistheHTMLspecificationwhileMicrosoftOffice'sdocumentformatfallsunderclose. An open standard increases the compatibility between hardware, software or systems since the standard is availableforanyonetoimplement.Inpracticalterms,thatmeansthatanyonewiththerightknowledgecanbuildits ownproductwhichcanworktogetherwithotherproductsfollowingthesameopenstandard. Anopenstandardmaynotnecessarilyimplythattherearenolicensesorpatentrights.Whilewecanassumethat allfreestandardsareopen,theoppositedoesnotnecessarilyneedtobetrue.Someopenstandardsarefreeof chargewhileinothers,patentholdersmayrequirearoyaltyfeeforusingthestandard.Standardspublishedby majorinternationalstandardizationbodiessuchastheITU,ISOandIEEEareconsideredtobeopenbutnot alwaysfreeofcharge.
In summary, open standards are not only important for all players to create interoperable and affordable solutions but also to promote competition among vendors by setting up the clear rules of the game.

5.IEEEanditsWorkingGroups
TheInstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineersorIEEE(pronouncedaseyetriplee)isainternationalnon profit organization that is the leading developer of international standards particularly in the field of telecommunications,informationtechnologyandpowergeneration.IEEEhasasetof900activestandardsand another400standardsunderdevelopment. SomeofthewellknownIEEEstandardsaretheIEEE802LAN/MANgroupofstandardsthatincludestheEthernet standard(IEEE802.3)andtheWirelessNetworkingstandard(IEEE802.11).

5.1IEEE802LAN/MAN
IEEE802isafamilyofIEEEstandardsthatreferstolocalearea(LAN)andmetropolitanareanetworks(MAN).By the definition, theIEEE802standardsarerestrictedtonetworksthattransport variablesizedpackets (by contrasttocellbasednetworksdataistransmittedinshort,uniformlysizedunitscalledcells). AllservicesandprotocolsspecifiedinIEEE802relatestothetwolowestlayersoftheOSImodel,thePhysical LayerandtheDataLinkLayer(seeAdvancedWirelessNetworkingUnit). TheIEEE802familyofstandardsismaintainedbytheIEEE802LAN/MANStandardsCommittee(LMSC). LMSCprovidesanindividualWorkingGroupforeachoneofthe22areasthatIEEE802includes.IEE80211 (WirelessLAN)andIEEE802.16(BroadbandWirelessAccess)aretwoofthoseareas.

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6.IEEE802.11Legacy(WirelessLAN)
IEEE802.11can,insimplewords,bedescribedasthestandardforwirelessEthernet. TheoriginalstandardofIEEE802.11thatwasreleasedin1997specifiesCarrierSenseMultipleAccesswith CollisionAvoidance(CSMA/CA)asthemediaaccessmethod,justlikeEthernetdoes.AllamendmentstoIEEE 802.11arebasedonthesameaccessmethod.However,CSMA/CAisaveryinefficientaccessmethodsincelarge amountofthebandwidthissacrificedtoensureareliabledatatransmission.Thislimitationisinherenttoall CSMA/CAbasedtechnologies. Furthermore,IEEE802.11specifiestwobasicdatarates,1and2MbpstobetransmittedviaInfrared(IR)or 2.4GHZ.AlthoughthereisnoimplementationsbasedonIR,itstillremainsasapartoftheoriginalstandard. AhandfulofcommercialproductsappearedonthemarketusingtheoriginalspecificationofIEEE802.11butwas soontobereplacedbytheIEEE802.11bproductswhenthebamendmenttotheoriginalstandardwasratifiedin 1999.

6.1Namingconfusion
IEEE802.11isknownbymanynamessuchasWiFi,WirelessFidelity,WLAN,WirelessLANandIEEE802.11x. Letustrytosortoutthisconfusionregardingthenamebeforewemoveontodifferentamendments(versions)of theIEEE802.11standard.

WiFiisabrand,thatislicensedbytheWiFiAllianceforproductsthatmeettherequirementsfor interoperabilityamongproductsbasedontheIEEE802.11standard.Inotherwords,aWiFinetworkisa networkmeetingthestandardIEEE802.11.ThenameWiFiisnowadayscommonlyusedinsteadof IEEE802.11inthesamewayasEthernetisbeingusedforIEEE802.3. DespitewhatmostWiFiusersbelieve,WiFiisNOTanabbreviationofWirelessFidelity.Itwasonce usedbytheWiFiAlliance whenthemarketingthecertificatewiththetagline,"TheStandardfor WirelessFidelity,"butlaterremovedfromtheirmarketing1. WirelessLANorWLANiscommonlyusedasanameforanywirelesslocalareanetworkthatusesradio wavesascarrier.WirelessLANisalsothealternativenameoftheIEEE802.11standardusedbyIEEE. IEEE802.11xissometimesusedtorefertothewholegroupofstandardswithinIEEE802.11(b,a,g etc.).ThesamenameisalsousedtorefertoagroupofevolvingstandardswithintheIEEE802.11family thatareunderdevelopmentbutthathavenotyetbeenformallyapprovedordeployed.And,thename alsoisoftenmistakenwiththeIEEE802.1xstandardsforportbasednetworkaccesscontrol.However, thereisnostandardortaskgroupnamed"802.11x".Toavoidconfusion,westronglysuggestyoutobe carefulwhenusingthetermIEEE802.11x.

Wanttoreadmoreaboutthis,check:http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/08/wifi_isnt_short_for_.html

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7.IEEE802.11TechnicalAspects
The802.11standardincludesasetofamendmentsforwirelessLAN.Theamendmentsmainlydifferinmodulation techniques,frequencyrangeandqualityofservice(QoS). LikeallstandardsoftheIEEE802,theIEEE802.11coversthefirsttwolayersoftheOSImodel(OpenSystems Interconnection),thatistosaythephysicallayer(L1)anddatalinklayer(L2). Thesectionbelowwilldescribe whateachofthoselayersimpliesintermsofwirelessstandards.

7.1Layer1(802.11PHY)
Thephysicallayerhasasaroletotransportcorrectlythesignalcorrespondingto0and1ofthedatathatthe transmitterwishestosendtothereceiver. Thephysicallaterdealsmainlywith: Dataencodingandmodulation

7.1.1ModulationTechniques
Animportantparameterthatinfluencesthedatatransferofcertainstandardisthechoiceofmodulationtechnique. Themoreefficientthedataisencoded,thehigherbitratecanbeachieved.Ontheotherhand,anefficient modulationtechniquealsorequiresmoresophisticatedhardwaretohandlethemodulationanddemodulationof thedata. ThebasicandcommonideabehindthedifferentmodulationtechniquesusedinIEEE802.11istousemore bandwidththatistheoreticallyneededtosendonebittoachieveresistanceagainstinterference.Thewaythat theinformationisspreadleadstodifferentmodulationtechniques.Themostcommononesarepresentedbelow. FHSS(FrequencyHoppingSpreadSpectrum) FHSSisbasedontheconceptof transmittingononefrequencyforacertaintime,thenrandomlyjumpingto another.i.e.thecarryingfrequency(carrier)changesduringthetimesorthatthetransmitterperiodicallychanges frequencyaccordingtoapreestablishedsequence.Thetransmittersynchronizesthereceiverthankstobeacons whichcontainthesequenceofjumpsandtheduration.IntheIEEE802.11standard,thedefinedfrequencyband (ISM)thatspansfrom2,400to2,4835GHzisdividedinto79channelsof1MHzandthejumpismadeevery300 to400ms.Hopsaremadearoundacentralfrequencythatcorrespondstooneofthe14definedchannels.This modulationisnotcommonanymoreincurrentproducts. DSSS(DirectSequenceSpreadSpectrum) DSSS(DirectSequenceSpreadSpectrum)impliesthatforeachbitofdata,asequenceofbits(sometimescalled pseudorandomnoise,noted PN)mustbetransmitted.Eachbitthatis1isreplacedbyasequenceofbitsand eachbitbeing0replacedbyitscomplement.The802.11physicallayerstandarddefinesasequenceof11bits (10110111000)torepresenta1anditscomplement(01001000111)torepresenta0. inDSSS,insteadof splittingadatasignalintopiecessendindifferentfrequencies,eachdatabitisencodedintoalongerbitstring, calledachip.Thismodulationtechniquehasbeencommonfrom1999to2005. OFDM(OrthogonalFrequencyDivisionMultiplexing) ODFM,alsosometimescalleddiscretemultitonemodulation(DMT)isamodulationtechniquebasedontheidea offrequencydivisionmultiplexing(FDM).
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FDM,thatisusedbothinradioandTV,isbasedontheconceptthatmultiplesignalsaresentoutatthesame time but on different frequencies. In OFDM, asingle transmitter transmits on many (dozens tothousands) differentorthogonalfrequencies.Orthogonalfrequencies,arefrequenciesthatareindependentwithrespecttothe relative phase relationship between the frequencies. OFDM involves the usage of advanced modulation techniquesineachcomponentwhichresultsinasignalwithhighresistancetointerference. An OFDM carrier signal is the sum of a number of orthogonal subcarriers, with each subcarrier being independentlymodulatedcommonlyusingsometypeofQAMorPSK.Thisisthemostcommonmodulation techniquefrom2005.

7.1.2Frequency
802.11band802.11gusethe2.4GhzISM(Industrial,Scientific,Medical)frequencybanddefinedbytheITU.In specific,the"L"BANDrangingfrom2400to2483,5MHzisused. The802.11astandardisusingthe5GhzbandUNII(UnlicensedNationalInformationInfrastructure)covering5.15 5.35GHzand5.7255.825Ghz. Theunlicensed2.4GhzbandhaslatelybecomeverynoiseinurbanareasduetothehighpenetrationofWLAN andotherdevicesthatarecommunicatinginthesamefrequencyrange,suchasmicrowaveovens,cordless phonesandBluetoothdevices.The5GHzbandgivestheadvantageoflessinterferencebutfacesotherproblems duetoitsnature.Highfrequencyradiowavesaremoresensitivetoabsorptionthanlowfrequencywaves.Waves intherangeof5Ghzarespeciallysensitivetowaterandsurroundingbuildingsorotherobjectsduetothehigher adsorptionrateinthisrange.Thismeansthata802.11anetworkismorerestrictedwhenitcomestolineofsight andmoreaccesspointsmightbeneededtocoverthesameareaasa802.11bbasednetworksince802.11a.for sameamountofoutputpower,providessmallercells.

7.2Layer2(802.11MAC)
Thedatalinklayerof802.11,iscomposedoftwoparts:

Mediaaccesscontrol(MAC) LogicalLinkControl(LLC)

The802.11LLCsublayerisidenticaltolayer802.2allowingacompatibilitywithanyothernetwork802,whilethe MACsublayerisredefinedbystandard802.11(L2). MACcharacterizestheaccesstothemediainawaycommontothevarious802.11standards.Itisequivalentto thestandard802.3(CSMA/CDEthernet)forwirednetworks,withfunctionalitiesspecifictoradiotransmissions (the error rate is higher than the copper media) which are normally entrusted to the higher protocols, like fragmentation,errorcontrol(CRC),theretransmissionsofframesandtheacknowledgmentofdelivery.

7.2.1MediaAccessMethod
802.11busesaprotocolslightlymodifiedcomparedtotheCSMA/CD,calledCSMA/CA(CollisionDetectionvs CollisionAvoidance).CSMA/CAcanavoidthecollisionsbyusingabasicpollingmethodknownasRTS/CTSin whichthesendersendsfirstarequesttosend(RTS)andthereceiver(usuallytheAP)acknowledgetherequest bysendingacleartosend(CTS)messagewhenchannelisreadytouse.

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Duringtransmissionbetweentwopiecesofequipment,thedestinationstationcheckstheCRCoftheframeand returnsanACK(acknowledgmentofdelivery)tothetransmitter.Ifthetransmittingstationdoesnotreceivethis ACKintime,itassumesthatacollisionoccurredandtheframeisretransmittedafterreceivinganewCTS. Theaccesstothemediaiscontrolledbytheuseofdifferenttypeofinterframespaces(IFS),whichcorrespondsto theintervalsoftimethatanstationneedstowaitbeforesendingdata.HighprioritydataasACKsorRTS/CTS packetswillwaitashorter(SIFS)timeperiodthatnormaltraffic. WhiletheCSMA/CAprotocolpermitstoavoidcollisionsinasharedradiochannel,mechanismsasRTS/CTS increasesoverhead(signalingframesthatarenecessaryforthenetworkbutcontainnouserdata)andcan thereforenevermaketheperformanceof802.11basgoodasCSMA/CD(collisiondetection)orTDMAbased technologies(thinkofEthernetinacableorsynchronizedE1/T1). Forfurtherreading,seeunitAdvancedWirelessNetworking.

8.IEEE802.11Amendments
ThemostwidelyacceptedamendmentsoftheIEEE802.11familyiscurrentlyb,aandg.Allofthemhavereached themassmarketswithcostefficientproducts.Otheramendmentsinthefamilyare[cf],[hj]andnwhichare enhancementsandextensionsorcorrectionstopreviousspecificationsinthefamily.Wewilltakeacloserlookat b,a,gandninthissection.

8.1IEEE802.11b
IEEE802.11bincludesenhancementsoftheoriginal802.11standardtosupporthigherdatarates(5.5and11 Mbit/s).IEEE802.11busesthesameaccessmethodasdefinedtheoriginalstandardIEEE802.11. IEEE802.11busestheDSSSmodulationtechniquewhichisalsodefinedintheoriginalstandard. AnIEEE802.11bcardcantheoreticallyoperateat11Mbit/s,butwill,duetoAdaptiveRateSelectionscale,fall backto5.5,then2andthen1Mbit/swhenpacketlosstakesplace.Thelowerdataratesarelesssensitiveto interferenceandattenuationsincetheyareusingamoreredundantmethodtoencodethedata(i.e.therelationof signalandnoiseisbetteratlowerdatarates).

8.2IEEE802.11a
JustlikeIEEE802.11b,thisamendmentusesthesamecoreprotocolastheoriginalstandard.IEEE802.11a operatesinthe5GHzbandandusesOFDMasmodulationtechniquewhichgivesitamaximumrawdatarateof 54Mbit/s.Byusingadaptiverateselection,thedatarateisreducedto48,36,24,18,12,9and,6Mbit/sif required. 802.11ahas12nonoverlappingchannelswhereas8ofthemarededicatedforindooruseandtheremaining4are usedforpointtopointlinks.802.11aisNOTinteroperablewith802.11b,exceptforequipmentthatspecifically implementsbothstandards(tworadios). Astoday,802.11ahasnotreachedthehypethat802.11bhas.Ithasnotbeenwidelyadoptedduetothepresence of802.11b,poorinitialproductimplementationsandmorerestrictiveregulationsinthe5Ghzband.

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8.3IEEE802.11g
InJune2003,athirdamendmenttothe802.11standardwasratified.ItwasgiventhenameIEEE802.11g.and justlike802.11b,itoperatesinthe2.4GHzband, 802.11gusesthesamemodulationtechniqueas802.11a(OFDM)inhighbitratesandcanhenceoperateata maximumrawdatarateof54Mbit/s.Toensureinteroperabilitywithbproducts,atdataratesof5.5and11Mbpsit revertsbacktoCCK+DSSS(like802.11b)andusesDBPSK/DQPSK+DSSSfordataratesof1and2Mbit/s. It is the 802.11g interoperability with 802.11b hardware that is one of the main reasons behind its major acceptance.However,itsuffersthesameproblemat802.11bregardinginterference(crowdedurbanspots)since theyoperateinthesamefrequencyband.

8.4IEEE802.11n
Thelatestamendmentof802.11isIEEE802.11n 2whichaimstoreachamaximumtheoreticalbitrateof540 Mbit/swhichwouldmakeitupto40timesfasterthan802.11b and10timesfasterthan802.11aor802.11g. 802.11nisbasedonprevious802.11amendmentswiththegreatestdifferenceofintroducingMIMO,multipleinput multipleoutput.MIMOimpliesthatmultipletransmitterandreceiversareusedtoincreasethedatathroughputand thetransmittingrange. SeveralexpertsclaimsthatMIMOisthefutureofthewirelessLAN3.

8.4.1Spatialdiversity
MIMOtakesadvantageofmultipathpropagationtoincreasethethroughput(ortoreducebiterrorrate)insteadof tryingtoeliminatetheeffectsoftheunavoidablemultipathphenomenathatotherstandardsdo.Insimplewords, MIMOtakesadvantageofwhatotherstandardsseesasahurdle:multipath. Whenaradiosignalissentoutthoughtheairitisspreadoutasabeam.Thereceiverreceivesfirstthemainline ofsightsignalandsometimelaterechoesandfragmentsofthesignalthathasbeenreflectedinbuildingsorin otherobstacles.Normally,theseechoesandfragmentsareseenasnoisetotherealsignalbutMIMOisableto usetheinformationofthisnondirectsignalstoimprovethemainsignal.Thisresultsinclearersignals(less noise)andlongersignalranges.

8.4.2Spatialdivisionmultiplexing(SDM)
AnotherfeaturethatMIMOincludesistheuseofmanytransmittersforthesamedatastream,socalledSpatial DivisionMultiplexing(SDM).Asetofindependentdatastreamsaresentoutwithinasinglechannelofbandwidth. Thisincreasesthethroughputasthenumberofdatastreamsisincreased.SinceaMIMOantennaneeda dedicatedprocessinghardware,thecostofitisunavoidablehigherthananystandardWLANantenna. TheIEEE802.11namendmentisexpectedtobefinalizedinmid2006.

8.5Summaryof802.11amendments
Belowfollowsashortsummaryandcomparisonofthe4mostimportantIEEE802.11amendments. 2http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/802dot112/chapter/ch15.pdf 3http://www.zdnetindia.com/insight/communication/stories/129508.html
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Standard 802.11a 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n

Frequency 5GHz 2.4Ghz 2.4Ghz 2.4Ghz/?

ModulationTechnique ODFM DSSS,CCK OFDM,CCK,DSSS OFDM

MaxDatarate 54Mbps 11Mbps 54Mbps

Description 8nonoverlappingchannels.NoQoS. 14overlappingchannels 14overlappingchannels. Upwardcompatibilitywiththestandard 802.11b 360/540?Mbps Buildsuponprevious802.11standardsby addingMIMOthatusesmultiple transmittersandreceiverantennasto allowincreaseddatathroughputthrough spatialmultiplexing.

Table1:SummaryofIEEE802.11b/a/g/ncharacteristics

9.WiMAX(IEEE802.16)vsWiFi(IEEE802.11)
Duringthelastyear,WiMAXhasbeenmarketedasthefuturebroadbandwirelessstandard.ManyWireless InternetServiceProviders(WISPs)runningsolutionsbasedonIEEE802.11areconsideringinvestinginWiMAX basedsolutionsbuttheyarenotsureofwhatexactlyWiMAXcanofferthemandtowhatprice.IsWiMAXthe latesttechnohypeordoesitopennewopportunitiesforbroadbandwirelessconnectivity? ThissectionaimstoserveasareferenceforsomeofthetechnicaldifferencesbetweenIEEE802.11andIEEE 802.16.ItisassumedthatthereaderisalreadyfamiliarwithIEEE802.11basedsolutionsandwanttoknowwhat IEEE802.16canoffer. IEEE802.16hasbeendesignedspecificallyforpointtomultipointoutdoorenvironmentswhichasinglemedia accesscontrol(MAC)thatcanaccommodatedifferentphysicallayers(PHY)inthefrequencyrangeof1166 Ghz.IEEEapprovedtheinitialIEEE802.16standardforwirelessMANinthe1166GHzfrequencyrangein December2001.The802.16aextension for sub11 GHzwasapprovedinJanuary 2003.The 802.162004 standardwasratifiedbytheIEEEinJune2004.The802.16estandardisbeingreviewedbyIEEEandis expectedtobeapprovedlate2005.Industryspeculationsuggeststhestandardwillbeofficiallynamed802.16 2005.Thepurposeof802.16eistoadddatamobilitytothecurrentstandard,whichisdesignedmainlyforfixed operation. Insimplewords,althoughtheradiomodulationtechniquechangesdependingonthefrequencyofoperation,the packetformat,mediumsharingortheerrorcontroltechniquesareindependentofthefrequencyofoperation. TheelectronicsusedintheIEEE802.16MAC(ISOlayer2datalink)arenotdependentofthefrequencyof operation. IEEE802.16doesnotonlyaimtosatisfythewirelessISPandindustryrequirementsinalmostallpossible scenariosbutalsotobecomethedefactobroadbandoutdoorwirelessstandard.Havingthatsaid,itdoesnot necessary mean that other technologies should automatically be considered obsolete. In many cases the discussionisaboutspectrumefficiency,regulatoryaspects,accesstotechnologyorinvestmentcosts.Inthis documentwehavedeliberatelydecidedtofocusonthemaintechnicaldifferences,aswebelievethatisagood startingpointforthemajorityofthereaders. So,whatistheanswertothequestionWiFiorWiMAX?:Itdependson.Itdependsonwhatyouneedtoday andwhatyouexpecttoneedtomorrow.

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9.1RangeandCoverage
IEEE802.11isawirelessLAN(indoor)protocolthatwasdesignedtooperateinsmallcells(upto100meters) andthatinthedesignphaseneverwasconsideredasapointtomultipointoutdoorsolution.IEEE802.11MAC suffersfromthehiddennodeproblemandisknownforbadperformanceinlongdistancelinkswithmany stations. TheaccessmethodinIEEE802.11(CSMA/CA)assumesthatallnodesthatarecommunicatingwiththeaccess point can hear each other to avoid collisions. Collisions in IEEE 802.11 can be avoided if all nodes can effectivelysenseifthechannelisoccupiedornot.Unfortunately,thisrequirementcannotalwaysbesatisfied whenimplementingIEEE802.11basednetworkinanoutdoorenvironment.Whenmorethanten<someone mightsaytwenty>stationsareassociatedtothesameaccesspointandtherateofcollisionsincreases,the consequent backoffs and retransmissions introduce a significant waste of airtime resources. IEEE 802.11 performsbadwhenmanyusersareassociatedtoanaccesspointinanoutdoorenvironment.Inordertosolve some of this problems, proprietary solutions based on the principle of polling the clients or bandwidth reservationsintheIPlayerhasbeenimplemented.ByintroducingpollinginIEEE802.11,theaccesspoint decidesinwhichmomentastationisgrantedtotalktotheaccesspoint.Thehiddennodeproblemisnothing newandassoonasIEEE802.11wasstandardizedtherewerealreadymodificationsoftheIEEE802.11MACto solvetheproblem(e.g.KarlnetTurboCell,WORPetc.).Manyotherproprietarysolutionsbecameavailablebut interoperability between vendors was not guaranteed. In the recent standard IEEE 802.11e the MAC was enhancedtoincludepollingandmakeimplementationsinteroperable. Onthecontrary,IEEE802.16wasborntobeawirelessmetropolitanoutdoorsolutionandwasdesignedasan outdoorsolutionfromthebeginning.IEEE802.16isdesignedtooperateinatypicalcellsizeof7to10kmand canhandledistancesupto50km.Thehiddennodeproblemwassolvedfromtheveryearlydesignphaseby includingDAMATDMAfortheuplinkwherethebasestationallocatesslotstoeachstation.IEEE802.16DAMA TDMAusesthesameprincipleasasatellitenetworkwherethestations(clients)cannotheareachother. Tobeabletooperatebetterinnonlightofsightenvironments(NLOS),IEEE802.16includedamorecomplex modulationbasedon256pointsofFastFourierTransform)(FFT)ofOFDMinsteadofthe64pointsinIEEE 802.11a/g.Byincluding256pointsinsteadof64,IEEE802.16isequippedwith abetternonlineofsight capability.IEEE802.16cantolerate10timesmoremultipathdelayspreadthan802.11.IEEE802.16canmake betteruseoftheavailablechannelresourcesinanoutdoorenvironmentasthebasestationschedulesthe subscribersusingdynamicschedulingalgorithms.Thenumberofsubscribersdoesnoteffectthenumberof collisionsandretransmissionsofpackets. AsmentionedbeforeIEEE802.11coverageislimitedbythehiddennodeproblem.IEEE802.11performswellin aindoorenvironmentorinpointtopointsolutionsbutisnotoptimalforanoutdoorpointtomultipointsolution. ThepossibilityinIEEE802.16todedicateacertainbandwidthtoasubscriberbymeansofTDMA,without worryingabouthiddennodes,allowstheintroductionofsmartantennas.Asmartantennacombinesmultiple antennaelementswithasignalprocessingcapabilityandcanoptimizeitsbeampatternautomatically.IEEE 802.16willallowadvancedantennatechniquesandhencebettercellplaning. IEEE802.16hasalsoincludedsupportformeshnetworking.Inmeshnetworkingeachsubscriberaccesspoint isalsopartoftheroutinginfrastructure.IEEE802.16makesasmarteradaptivemodulationthanIEEE802.11 andenablesoptimizationofeachsubscribersdataratebyallowingthebasestationtosetmodulationschemes onalinkbylinkbasis.Asubscriberstationclosetothebasestationcanusehighdataratemodulationas 64QAM,whiletheweakersignalfromamoreremotesubscribermightonlypermittheuseof16QAMorQPSK. TheadaptivemodulationincludedintheIEEE802.16MACalsoallowstohavedifferentmodulationmethodfor downlinkanduplinkbursts.

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9.2Scalabilityandthroughput
WhileIEEE802.11hasafixedchannelbandwidthof20Mhz,IEEE802.16hastheflexibilityofallocating differentbandwidthineachradiochannel,fromverynarrowchannelsof1.5Mhztoamaximumof20Mhz.The possibilityofsettingdifferentchannelbandwidthenablesfrequencyreuseandbettercellplanning.Whilethe numberofnonoverlappingchannelsinIEEE802.11bis3and5inIEEE802.11a,thenumberofnonoverlapping channelsinIEEE802.16islimitedbythetotalavailablespectrum. Whenitcomestodatarates,IEEE802.11canprovideapeakdatarateof2.4bps/Hz.Inthe20Mhzchannel thatimpliesamaximumof54Mbps.IEEE802.16allowsatheoreticalmaximumof70Mbpsina20Mhz channel.ThelevelofactualthroughputwilldependonLightofsight,distance,airquality,interferenceandother factors(realvaluesof50Mbpsareexpected).

9.3QualityofService
IEEE802.11includesqualityofserviceinthenewstandardIEEE802.11e(productsofaprofileofthe11e standardknownasWirelessMultimediaofWMMarealreadyinthemarket).UnfortunatelyIEEE802.11ewill onlysupportalimitedprioritizationonasingleconnectionbetweentheIEEE802.11accesspointandthe station.InWMM,QoSisachievedbyincludingshorterInterframeSpace(IFS)formultimediatraffic. IEEE802.16hasimplementedQoSinaperflowbasis,wheremultipleconnectionsbetweenasubscriber stationandabasestationcanhavedifferentQoSattributes. QoSinIEEE802.16isachievedbymeansofpolling.Thebasestationpollsthesubscribersstationsfor bandwidthrequestsandschedulesthetrafficaccordingtotheirresponses. FourtypesofschedulingservicesaresupportedinIEEE802.16dependingonthetypeoftraffic. 1.UnsolicitedGrantService(UGS),designedtosupportconstantbitrateapplications,suchasT1orE1 emulationandvoiceoverIP(VOIP)withoutsilencesuppression. 2.RealTimePollingService(rtPS),forapplicationsthatgenerateperiodicvariablesizepackets,likeMPEGand VOIPwithsilencesuppression. 3.NonRealTimePollingService(nrtPS),whichsupportsapplicationslikeFTPthatgeneratevariablesize packetsonaregularbasis. 4.BestEffort(BE)Service,forlowpriorityapplicationslikeWebsurfingoremail.

10.Conclusions
Fromthisunitaboutwirelessstandardswecanconcludethatastandardisimportantforbothvendorsand customers.Standardsensuresinteroperabilitybetweenproductsandtrustworthinesstowardstheclients. Additionallyitspromotescompetitionbetweenvendorsanddrivesthedevelopmentforward. WehavelearntthatIEEEisthemainstandardizationbodyforICTsandstandsbehindwellknownstandardsas IEEE802.11(WirelessLAN),IEEE802.3(Ethernet)andIEEE802.16(WiMAX).

02_en_mmtk_wireless_standards_handout.odt Lastupdated30June2006 Availableonlinefromhttp://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline.org/mmtk/

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ThisunitmainlyfocusonIEEE802.11whichisthefamilyofstandardsforwirelessEthernet.Wepresentedhow thedifferentIEEE802.11amendments(b/a/getc.)differinmodulationtechniques,frequencyrangeandmedia accessmethodsandconcludedhowthatisreflectedontheperformance. BypresentingacomparisonbetweenWiFiandWiMAXperformancewecouldclearlyseethebenefitsofthenew broadbandwirelessstandardsintermsofcoverage,scalability,ThroughputandQualityofService.However,we shouldnotforgettheheavyinvestmentsthatWiMAXincludesandthatwemustalwaysbearinmindthepurpose ofanetworkwhenplanningforit.WhileWiMAXissuitableforamunicipalitynetwork,WiFiisstillworkingfinefora smallscalenetwork. Thefivemainissuestorememberforthisunitcanbesummarizedasfollows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Astandardensuresinteroperabilityamongproductswithinthesamestandard IEEEisthemainstandardizationbodywhenitcomestoinformationtechnologyandcommunication systems IEEE802.11(WirelessLAN)isafamilyofstandardsforwirelessEthernet ThedifferencebetweenIEEE802.11amendments(b/a/getc.)liesinmodulationtechniques,frequency rangeandenhancementstotheoriginalmediaaccessmethod. WiMAX(802.16)isdesignedtobeanoutdoorlargecellbroadbandstandardwhileWiFi(802.11)was intendedtobeanindoorsolutionbuiltonsmallcells.

02_en_mmtk_wireless_standards_handout.odt Lastupdated30June2006 Availableonlinefromhttp://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline.org/mmtk/

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