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IEEE 802.11 WLAN Standard

IEEE 802.11 WLAN Standard

Chapter 9

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Notes:

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Overview
Standard Function

802.11a 54-Mbps WLAN in the 5 GHz range

802.11b 11-Mbps WLAN in the 2.4 GHz range

802.11c Wireless bridging

802.11d World mode, adaptation to regional regulations

802.11e QoS and streaming extension for 802.11a/g/h

802.11f Roaming for 802.11a/g/h (Inter Access Point Protocol IAPP)

802.11g 54-Mbps WLAN in the 2.4 GHz range

802.11h 54-Mbps WLAN in the 5 GHz range with DFS and TPC

802.11i Authentication/encoding for 802.11a/b/g/h (AES, 802.1x)

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802.11a/b/g Comparison
Features 802.11a 802.11b 802.11g

Frequency range (MHz)* 5150-5350 2400-2483.5 2400-2483.5

5470-5725

Data rate gross (Mbps) 54 11 54

Data rate net (Mbps, approx.) 24 5 24

Power unregulated (mW)* 30 100 100

Power regulated (mW)* 200

1000

Typical ranges inside (m) 15 to 25 30 to 50 30 to 50

Overlapping-free channels* 8 (19) 3 3

*country-specific

Frequency ranges, available channels and admissible transmission power partially are subject to
country-specific regulations. The data indicated in the tables refer to the German regulatory
authority.
The transmission ranges strongly depend upon the individual radio field (obstacles, noise,
reflections) and the antennas used. The above data merely describe the range for typical
applications inside buildings (open-plan offices, industrial halls, hotels, ...).

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Frequency Ranges 802.11a/h

Range I Range II Range III (Europe) Range III (USA)

USA (a) 40 mW 200 mW 200 mW

Europe (h) 200 mW 200 mW 1000mW

Inside
Inside only
only Inside
Inside only
only Outside
Outside ++ inside
inside
Europe(h)
60 mW
(w/o DFS)
Inside
Inside only
only

Europe (h) 30 mW
(w/o DFS, TPC)
Inside
Inside only
only

Japan 200 mW
Number of
channels 4 4 11 4

f [GHz] 5.15 5.5 5.35 5.470 5.725 5.825

The IEEE 802.11a standard is a standard released in the USA. In the USA it occupies the UNII
ranges (Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure) in the 5 GHz frequency range. This
frequency range in the USA has the same technical impact as the ISM range (Industrial Scientific
Medical) in the 2.4 GHz range in Europe.
In the USA, 3 frequency ranges with 100 MHz each are used. In practice there are 12 channels of
20 MHz each.
As opposed to the USA, the 5 GHz range in Europe is not freely available. This range is used for
radar systems, position locating or amateur radio. It was a prerequisite for the use of the 5 GHz
range in Europe to prevent reciprocal effects with existing applications. Thus WLAN devices that
are operated via the 5 GHz range must observe the supplements of the 802.11a standard defined
in the 802.11h standard. This includes the regulation of transmission power and dynamic frequency
selection.
In accordance with 802.11h, 8 channels are available in the lower frequency range and further 11
channels are available in the upper frequency range. The lower frequency range must only be used
inside buildings.
The admissible transmission power EIRP (Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power) depends on
whether the WLAN devices are or are not equipped with TPC (Transmit Power Control) and
whether they have DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection). Depending on the equipment, the
transmission power is 30 mW (without TPC), 60 mW (with TPC) und 200 mW (with TPC and DFS).
Only the upper frequency range must be used outside. The admissible transmission power here is
1000mW, the prerequisite being that TPC and DFS are available.

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Channel Division
36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 Channel number
FFC/ETSI

5.15 5.18 5.20 5.22 5.24 5.26 5.28 5.30 5.32 5.35 [GHz]
16.6 MHz

100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140

ETSI only

5.47 5.50 5.52 5.54 5.56 5.58 5.60 5.62 5.64 5.66 5.68 5.70 [GHz]

149 153 157 161 Channel number

FFC only
Center frequency =
5.00 + 0.005 * channel number [MHz]
5.725 5.745 5.765 5.785 5.805 5.825 [GHz]

The band width of a channel number in the 5 GHz range is 5 MHz as within the 2.4 GHz range. The
actually necessary bandwidth for OFDM transmission is 16.6 MHz. In the standard, a minimum
distance of 20 MHz between the center frequencies is given. This results in the above mentioned
channel numbers within the 5 GHz range.

The center frequencies result from the channel numbers as follows:

Center frequency = 5.00 + 0.005 * channel number [MHz]

Other Channel Releases

Japan: Channels 34, 38, 42,46
Singapur: Channels 36, 40, 44, 48
Taiwan: Channels 52, 56, 60, 64

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OFDM Parameters
Pilot 312.5 kHz

Subcarrier
-26 -21 -7 -1 1 7 21 26 number

Center frequency of the channels

The WLAN standard 802.11a/g/h uses 52 sub-carriers (64 defined in OFDM)

48 data + 4 pilot
(plus 12 virtual sub-carriers)
312.5 kHz channel distance

Modulation: 64-QAM 6 bits/symbol and sub-channel

Symbol rate: 250 kBd
Code rate for data securing: 4 bits contain 3 bits of user data

This results in a transmission rate of:

6 bits/symbol * 250,000 symbols/s * 48 data channels * = 54 Mbps

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Data Rates 802.11a/h

Data Rate Sensitivity Modulation Bits/Symbol FEC Ratio

6 Mbps - 82 dBm BPSK 1 1/2

9 Mbps - 81 dBm BPSK 1 3/4

12 Mbps - 79 dBm QPSK 2 1/2

18 Mbps - 77 dBm QPSK 2 3/4

24 Mbps - 74 dBm 16-QAM 4 1/2

36 Mbps - 70 dBm 16-QAM 4 3/4

48 Mbps - 66 dBm 64-QAM 6 2/3

54 Mbps - 65 dBm 64-QAM 6 3/4

The standard defines 8 data rates between 6 and 54 Mbps. A standardized WLAN device must
support at least the 6, 12 und 24 Mbps transmission rates. In practice, usually all the above
transmission rates are covered.
The symbol rate is the same for all data rates and is approx. 250 kBd. And always all 48 sub-
channels are used for data transmission. The different data rates result from the different
modulation types and the FEC rate only. Since for some WLAN devices, the transmission rate is
given, the user can indirectly determine modulation and FEC rate.

Example: If there are sources of interference within a radio field that might interfere with radio
signal amplitude, it would be interesting to know from which transmission rate
onwards the systems operate with QPSK (pure phase modulation).

With increasing transmission rate, the requirements regarding signal quality are increasing also,
since for the received symbols ever finer differences need to be discriminated. Thus for OFDM
systems, the receiver sensitivity is given. It is frequency-based.

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802.11b/g Frequency Ranges

USA(FCC) 100 mW EIRP

Europe (ETSI) 100 mW EIRP

Spain (old) 100 mW EIRP

EIRP

100 mW EIRP
France (old)

Japan 10 mW/MHz Bandwidth

Channel
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
number
Center 2.412 2.442 2.462 2.472 2.477
frequency
f [GHz]

The 802.11b and 802.11g standards use the same frequency range. Some of the frequency ranges
in the 2.4 GHz ISM range defined in 1997 in the 802.11 standard have only been released by the
national regulator domains years later. The frequency band is divided into 13 channels with a
bandwidth of 22 MHz each. The distance to the center frequency is 5 MHz so that the adjacent
channels overlap.
In the USA, only the first 11 channels have been released, in Japan an additional (14th) channel
may be used.

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Channel Division
Europe (ETSI)

Channel 1 Channel 7 Channel 13

22 MHz

2400 2412 2442 30 MHz 2472 2483.5[MHz]

US (FCC)/Canada (IC)

Channel 1 Channel 6 Channel 11

22 MHz

2400 2412 2437 25 MHz 2462 2483.5 [MHz]

In order to omit overlapping radio channels, the distance to the center frequency must be at least 30
MHz (USA 25 MHz). This means that a maximum of 3 WLAN channels can be operated in the
same reception range without any interferences.

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DSSS Parameters

The WLAN standard 802.11b operates using the DSSS method.

For frequency spreading, a defined 11-bit code is used for transmission rates of 1 and 2 Mbps.
For the realization of the 5.5 and 11 Mbps data rates, a shortened spreading code with only 8 bits
(chips) is used. This increases the transmission speed by the factor 11/8 or 1.375. In addition, the
spreading code here is variable. It is selected depending on the user data (CCK, Complementary
Code Keying). This means that part of the pieces of information transmitted are encoded in the
spreading. The information content of a transmitted symbol thus grows to 4 or 8 bits/symbol.

Bandwidth per channel: 22 MHz

Symbol rate: 1.375 MBd

This results in a transmission rate of:

8 bits/symbol * 1,375,000 symbols/s = 11 Mbps

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802.11b Data Rates

Data Rate Sensitivity Modulation Bit/Symbol Spreading

Code
1 Mbps Not defined DBPSK 1 11 bits

2 Mbps - 80 dBm DQPSK 2 11 bits

5.5 Mbps Not defined DQPSK/CCK 2+2 8 bits

11 Mbps - 76 dBm DQPSK/CCK 2 +6 8 bits

The 802.11b standard defines 4 data rates between 1 and 11 Mbps.

The different data rates are resulting from different modulation types, variable spreading codes
(CCK) and both spreading code lengths (8 or 11 bits).
Here also, the signal quality standards are raised with increasing transmission rates. Thus the
receiver sensitivity is given in the standard.

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Notes:

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Notes:

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