1 Wlan

IEEE 802.
11
Wireless LAN
 All rights reserved. No part of this publication and file
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans
mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani
cal, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior
written permission of Professor Nen-Fu Huang
(E-mail: nfhuang@cs.nthu.edu.tw).
Wireless LAN - 1
Wireless LAN Architecture
Four major differences between
Wireless LAN and Wired LANs:
Destination Address Does not Equal
Destination Location.
In wired LANs an address is equivalent to a
physical address. In 802.11 the addressable
unit is a station (STA). The STA is a message
destination, but not a fixed location.
Wireless LAN - 2
Wireless LAN
Architecture
The Media Impacts the Design
The PHY layers used in 802.11are fundamentally di
fferent from wired media. 802.11 PHYs:
 Have limited physical point to point connection ranges.
 Use a shared medium.
 Are unprotected from outside signals.
 Are significantly less reliable than wired PHYs.
 Have dynamic topologies.
Wireless LAN - 3
Wireless LAN Architecture
Impact of Handling Mobile Stations

A portable station is one that is moved from
location to location, but is only used while
at a fixed location.
Mobile stations actually access the LAN
while in motion.
Propagation effects blur the distinction
between portable and mobile stations.
Wireless LAN - 4
Wireless LAN
Architecture
Interaction With Other 802 Layers
802.11 is required to appear to higher layers
(LLC) as a current 802 style LAN. Station
mobility has to be handled within the MAC
layer.
To meet reliability assumptions (that LLC
makes about lower layers), it is necessary for
802.11 to incorporate functionality which is
untraditional for MAC layers.
Wireless LAN - 5
802.11Wireless LAN Char
acteristics
1-2 Mbps
IEEE 802.11 CSMA/CA Frame
Transmission Medium: Radio
CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access wit
h Collision Avoidance) Protocol
 Provides priority scheme
Provides delay guaranteed transmission se
rvice. (PCF reservation-based)
Wireless LAN - 6
802.11Wirelss LAN Cha
racteristics
Bandwidth Fairness is not guaranteed.
By employing the CSMA/CA protocol,
the bandwidth employed by each station
may be different.
Not well-suited for multimedia
communications due to the relative low
transmission rate (1-2 Mbps).
Wireless LAN - 7
802.11 Architecture Co
mponents
Wireless Medium (WM):
The medium used to implement a wireless LAN.
Station (STA):
Any device that contains an 802.11 conformant MAC a
nd PHY interface to the wireless medium.
Station Services (SS):
The set of services that support transport of MSDUs (
MAC Service Data Units) between Stations within a B
SS.
Wireless LAN - 8
mponents
Basic Service Set (BSS):
A set of STAs controlled by a single CF (Co-or
dination Function).
 The BSS is the basic building block of an 802.
11 LAN. The member stations of a BSS can co
mmunicate to each other directly.
If a station moves out of it's BSS coverage area
, it can no longer directly communicate with ot
her members of the BSS.
Wireless LAN - 9
mponents
The Independent BSS as an Ad-Hoc
Network
This mode of operation is possible when
802.11 LAN stations are close enough to
form a direct connection (without pre-
planning).
Wireless LAN - 10
mponents
STA to AP Association is Dynamic
The association between a station and a BSS is dynamic (ST
As turn on, turn off, come within range and go out of range).
To become a member of an infrastructure BSS a station must
become Associated.
Distributed System Concepts:
A BSS may also form a component of an extended form of an
802.11 network with multiple BSSs.
The architecture component used to interconnect BSSs is the
Distributed System.
Wireless LAN - 11
mponents
Distribution System (DS):
A system used to interconnect a set of BSSs to create an ESS.
Distribution System Medium (DSM):

The medium used by a DS (for BSS interconnections)
802.11 logically separates the WM from the DSM. Each logical
medium is used for different purposes, by a different compon
ent of the architecture.
The DS enables mobile device support by providing the logic
al services necessary to handle address to destination mapping
and seamless integration of multiple BSSs.
Wireless LAN - 12
802.11 Architecture Com
ponents
Distribution System Services (DSS):
 The set of services provided by the DS which enable
the MAC to transport MSDUs between BSSs within
an ESS.
Access Point (AP):
 Any entity that has STA functionality and provides a
ccess to the DS.
 An AP is a STA which provides access to the DS by p
roviding DS services in addition to Station Services.
Wireless LAN - 13
802.11 Architecture C
omponents
ESS
STA 1 BSS 2
BSS 1 STA 4
STA 2
AP STA 3
擷取點
AP
Distributed System 擷取點
分散式系
統
AP: Access Point
Wireless LAN - 14
ponents
ESS: The large coverage network
 The DS and BSSs allow 802.11 to create a wireless net
work of arbitrary size and complexity.
Extended Service Set (ESS):
 A set of interconnected BSSs appears as a single BSS.
 The ESS network appears the same to an LLC layer as
an independent BSS network.
 Stations within an ESS can communicate and mobile
stations may move from one BSS to another (within t
he same ESS) transparently to LLC.
Wireless LAN - 15
ponents
Basic Service Area (BSA):
The area within which members of a BSS
can communicate.
Extended Service Area (ESA):
The area within which members of a ESS
can communicate. An ESA is larger than or
equal to a BSA.
Wireless LAN - 16
802.11 Architecture C
omponents STA 1
STA 2 BSS 1
AP
分散式系統
STA 3 STA 7 擷取點
AP AP
STA 5 STA
6
STA 4 BSS 2 BSS 3
AP: Access Point

Wireless LAN - 17
ponents
 The following are possible
 The BSSs may partially overlap. This is commonly used to arra
nge contiguous coverage within a physical volume.
 The BSSs could be physically disjoint.
 The BSSs may be physically collocated.
This might be done to provide redundancy.
 One (or more) independent BSS, or ESS networks may be physi
cally present in the same space as one (or more) ESS networks.
 An ad-hoc network is operating in a location which also has an ESS n
etwork.
 Physically adjacent 802.11 networks have been set up by different org
anizations.
Wireless LAN - 18
Integration with Wired
LANs
To integrate the 802.11
architecture with a traditional
wired LAN, a logical architecture
component (Portal) is introduced.
All data from non-802.11 LANs
enters the 802.11 architecture via
a portal.
Wireless LAN - 19
Integration with Wired
LANs
ESS
STA 1 BSS 2
BSS 1 STA 2 STA 4
AP STA 3
擷取點 AP
擷取點
DS
分散式系統
Portal
埠接器
IEEE 802.X
區域網路
Wireless LAN - 20
Potrals and Bridges
Bridges were originally designed t
o provide range extension between
like-type MAC layers.
In 802.11, arbitrary range (coverage
) is provided by the ESS architectur
e (via the DS and APs) making the
PHY range extension aspects of bri
dges unnecessary.
Wireless LAN - 21
Potrals and Bridges
Bridges are also used to interconnect MAC layer
s of different types. Bridging to the 802.11 archit
ecture raises the questions of which logical medi
um to bridge to; the DSM or the WM ?
The portal must also consider the dynamic mem
bership of BSSs and the mapping of address and
location required by mobility.
Physically, a portal may, or may not, include bri
dging functionality depending on the physical i
mplementation of the DS.
Wireless LAN - 22
Logical Service Interface
The DS may not be identical to an existing wired
LAN and can be created from many different
technologies including current 802.x wired LANs.
802.11 does not constrain the DS to be either Data
Link or Network Layer based. Nor constrain a DS to
be either centralized or distributed.
802.11 specifies services instead of specific DS
implementations. Two categories of services are
defined: Station Service (SS) and Distribution
System Service (DSS).
Wireless LAN - 23
The complete set of 802.11 archite

ctural services are:
Authentication
Association
Disassociation
Distribution
Integration
Reassociation
Wireless LAN - 24
ESS BSS 2
802.11
MAC/PHY 802.11
STA 1 MAC/PHY
SS STA 2 STA 4
BSS 1 AP STA 3 SS
擷取點 AP
擷取點
DS
分散式系統
DSS
Portal
埠接器
IEEE 802.X
區域網路
Wireless LAN - 25
Station Service (SS):
Present in every 802.11 station, including A
Ps.
Are specified for use by MAC layer entities
.
The SS subset is:
 Authentication
 Privacy
Wireless LAN - 26
Distribution System Services
 Used to cross media and address space logical boundaries.
 Provided by the DS.
 They are accessed via a STA which also provides DSS.
 The DSS subset is:
 Association
 Disassociation
 Distribution
 Integration
 Reassociation
Wireless LAN - 27
Multiple Logical
Address Spaces
The WM, DSM, and an integrated wired LAN
may all be different physical media. Each of
these components may be operating within
different address spaces.
802.11 only uses and specifies the use of WM
address space.
Each 802.11 PHY operates in a single medium:
WM.
Wireless LAN - 28
Multiple Logical
Address Spaces
802.11 has chosen to use the IEEE 802
48-bit address space.
A multiple address space example is
one where DS uses network layer
addressing (IP address). In this case the
WM address space and the DS address
space would be different.
Wireless LAN - 29
Overview of the Services
There are seven services specified by 802.11.
Five to support MSDU delivery between
stations and two to control 802.11 access and
confidentiality.
Each of the services is supported by one or
more MAC frames.
Some of the services are supported by MAC
Management messages and some by MAC
Data messages.
Wireless LAN - 30
Overview of the Services
802.11 MAC layer uses three types of
messages:
Data : handled via the MAC data service path.
Management: handled via the MAC
Management Service data path.
Control
The following examples assume an ESS
network environment.
Wireless LAN - 31
Distribution of Message
Within a DS
Distribution:
The service which (by using Association info
rmation) delivers MSDUs within the DS.
Consider a data message being sent from STA1
to STA4 via STA2 (Input AP) and STA3 (Output
AP). The input AP gives the message to the Dist
ribution Service of the DS.
How the message is delivered within the DS is
not specified by 802.11.
Wireless LAN - 32
Within a DS
All 802.11 is required to provide the DS with
enough information for the DS to be able to
determine the "output" point which correspo
nds to the desired recipient. The necessary in
formation is provided to the DS by the three
Association related services.
Association
Reassociation
Disassociation
Wireless LAN - 33
Within a DS
Integration:
The service which enables delivery of MS
DUs between the DS and an existing netw
ork.
If the Distribution Service determines that
the intended recipient of a message is a me
mber of an integrated LAN, the "output" p
oint would be a Portal instead of an AP.
Wireless LAN - 34
Within a DS
Messages which are distributed to a Portal
cause the DS to invoke the Integration
service (conceptually after the Distribution
Service).
The Integration service is responsible for
accomplishing whatever is needed to
deliver a message from the DS to the
integrated LAN media, including any
required media or address translation.
Wireless LAN - 35
Services Which Support
the Distribution Service
The information required for the
Distribution service to operate is
provided by the Association services.
Before a data message can be
handled by the Distribution service,
a STA must be "Associated".
Wireless LAN - 36
Mobility types:
No-transition
 Static - no motion
 Local movement: movement within a Basic Service Area
BSS-transition: movement from one BSS in one ESS to

another BSS within the same ESS.
ESS-transition: movement from one BSS in one ESS to
another BSS in an independent ESS.
Different Association services support the different
categories of mobility.
Wireless LAN - 37
Association:
The service which establishes an initial
Association between a station and an AP.
Before a STA is allowed to send via an AP, it
must first become associated with the AP.
At any given time, a mobile STA may be
associated with no more than one AP. This
ensures that the DS can determine which AP is
serving a specified STA.
Wireless LAN - 38
An AP may be associated with many mobile STAs at o
ne time.
A station learns what APs are present and requests to e
stablish an association by invoking the Association ser
vice.
Association is always initiated by the mobile STA.
Association is sufficient to support no-transition mobil
ity.
Association is necessary, but not sufficient, to support
BSS-transition mobility.
Wireless LAN - 39
Reassociation :
 The service which enables an established Association (of a
STA) to be transferred from one AP to another AP (within
an ESS).
The Reassociation Service is invoked to "move" a cur
rent association from one AP to another. This keeps t
he DS informed of the current mapping between AP
and STA as the station moves from BSS to BSS withi
n an ESS.
Reassociation is always initiated by the mobile STA.
Wireless LAN - 40
Disassociation :
 The service which deletes an existing Association.
 The Disassociation Service is invoked whenever an existing A
ssociation must be terminated, and can be invoked by either p
arty to an Association (mobile STA or AP).
 Disassociation is a notification (not a request) and can not be r
efused by either party to the association.
 APs might need to disassociate STAs to enable the AP to be re
moved from a network for service or for other reasons.
 STAs are encouraged to Disassociate whenever they leave a n
etwork.
Wireless LAN - 41
Access and
Confidentiality Control
Services
 Two services are required for 802.11 to provide
functionality equivalent to that which is inherent to
wired LANs.
 Wired LAN design assume the closed, non-shared
nature of wired media. The open, shared medium
nature of an 802.11 LAN violates those assumptions.
Authentication : used instead of the wired media
physical connection.
Privacy : used to provide the confidential aspects
of closed wired media.
Wireless LAN - 42
Access and Confidentiality
Control Services
Authentication:
 The service used to establish the identity of Stations to each other.
 In a wired LAN, access to a physical connection conveys
authority to connect to the LAN. This is not a valid assumption
for a wireless LAN.
 An equivalent ability to control LAN access is provided via the
Authentication service, which is used by all stations to establish
their identity with stations they wish to communicate with.
 If a mutually acceptable level of authentication has not been
established between two stations, an association shall not be
established.
Wireless LAN - 43
Authentication Service
802.11 supports a general authentication
ability which is sufficient to handle aut
hentication protocols ranging from unse
cured to public key cryptographic authe
ntication schemes.
802.11 provides link level (not end-to-en
d or user-to-user) authentication betwee
n 802.11 stations.
Wireless LAN - 44
802.11 authentication is simply used to bring the
wireless link up to the assumed physical standards
of a wired link. If desired, an 802.11 network can be
run without authentication.
802.11 provides support for challenge/response
(C/R) authentication. The three steps of a C/R
exchange are:
Assertion of identity
Challenge of Assertion
Response to Challenge
Wireless LAN - 45
Examples of a C/R exchange are:
An open system example:
(a) Assertion: I'm station 4.
(b) Challenge: Null.
(c) Response: Null.
(d) Result: Station becomes
Authenticated.
Wireless LAN - 46
A password based example:
(b) Challenge: Prove your identity.
(c) Response: Here is my password.
(d) Result: If password OK, station
becomes Authenticated.
Wireless LAN - 47
A Cryptographic challenge/response based
example:
(b) Challenge: Here is some information (X)
I encrypted with your public key, what is it ?
(c) Response: The contents of the challenge
is X (only station 4's private key could
have recovered the challenge contents).
(d) Result: OK, I believe that you are station
4.
Wireless LAN - 48
802.11 uses 802.10 services to perform the actu
al challenge and response calculations. A Ma
nagement Information Base (MIB) function is
provided to support inquires into the authent
ication algorithms supported by a STA.
802.11 requires mutually acceptable, successf
ul, bi-directional authentication.
A STA can be authenticated with many other
STAs (and hence APs) at any given instant.
Wireless LAN - 49
The Authentication service (could be time
consuming) can be invoked independently
of the Association service.
Pre-authentication is typically done by a
STA while it is already associated with an
AP which it previously authenticated with.
Authentication is required before an
Association can be established.
Wireless LAN - 50
Privacy Service
Privacy:
The service used to prevent the contents of
messages from being reading by other than the
intended recipient.
In a wired LAN only those stations physically
connected to the wire can hear LAN traffic.
This is not true for the 802.11 wireless LAN.
802.11 provides the ability to encrypt the
contents of messages.
Wireless LAN - 51
Privacy Service
IEEE 802.10 SDE clause 2 is used to perform the
encryption. A MIB function is provided to inquire
the encryption algorithms supported by a station.
A mutually acceptable privacy algorithm must be
agreed upon before an Association can be
established.
The default privacy algorithm for all 802.11
stations is in the clear. If the privacy service is not
invoked to set up a privacy algorithm, all
messages will be sent unencrypted.
Wireless LAN - 52
Privacy Service
If a privacy algorithm is set up, then the algo
rithm will be used for all subsequent Reasso
ciation.
802.11 specifies an optional privacy algorith
m that is designed to satisfy the goal of wire
d LAN "equivalent" privacy.
Wireless LAN - 53
Relationship Between Services
For a station, two state variables are required to
keep track:
 Authentication State : Unauthenticated and
Authenticated
 Association State : Unassociated and Associated
Three station states are possible:
 State 1 : Initial start state, Unauthenticated, Unassociated.
 State 2 : Authenticated, not Associated.
 State 3 : Authenticated and Associated
Wireless LAN - 54
Relationship Between Services
These states determine the 802.11 frame

types (grouped into classes) which may
be sent by a station.
State 1 : Only Class 1 frames are allowed.
State 2 : Either Class1 or Class 2 are
allowed.
State 3 : All frames are allowed.
Wireless LAN - 55
Relationship Between State
Variables and Services
Class 1 frames
State 1:
Unauthenticated,
Unassociated
Successful
DeAuthentication
Authentication
Time out
Successful
State 2: Association State 3:
Authenticated, Authenticated,
Unassociated Associated
Disassociation
Notification
Classes 1,2 frames Classes 1,2,3 frames
Wireless LAN - 56
Frame Types
 Class 1 frames 起始工作站目的地工作站
 Control Frames
Optional
(1) RTS
RTS
(2) CTS
(3) ACK CTS
(4) Poll
 Management Frames Data
(1) Probe Request/Response
(2) Beacon
ACK
(3) Authentication
Wireless LAN - 57
Frame Types
Class 2 Frames
Data Frames
 Asynchronous data. Direct data frames only (FC
control bits “To DS and from DS” both false)
Management Frames
(1) Privacy Request/Response
(2) ATIM (Ad-Hoc Traffic Indication Map, ATIM)
(3) Association Request/Response
Wireless LAN - 58
Frame Types
Class 3 Frames
 Data Frames
 Asynchronous data. Indirect data frames allowed (FC control bits "To
DS and from DS" may be set to utilize DS Services)
 Management Frames
(1) Reassociation Request/Response
(2) Disassociation
 CF Data Frames (Coordination Function)

(1) CF DATA
(2) CF DATA + ACK
 CF Control Frames
(1) CF END
Wireless LAN - 59
Differences Between ESS and
Independent BSS LANs
An independent BSS (IBSS) is often used to
support an "Ad-Hoc" network, in which a S
TA communicates directly with one or more
other STAs.
IBSS is a logical subset of an EBSS and cons
ists of STAs which are directly connected.
Since there is no physical DS, there cannot
be a Portal, an integrated wired LAN, or the
DS Services.
Wireless LAN - 60
Differences Between ESS
and Independent BSS LANs
In an IBSS, only class 1 and class 2 frames
are allowed since there is no DS in an
IBSS.
The services which apply to an IBSS are
the Station Services.
STA 2
STA 1 802.11 STA 3

MAC/PHY
IBSS
Wireless LAN - 61
Frame and MPDU Formats
Each frame should consist of three basic

components:
A MAC Header, which includes control
information, addressing, sequencing
fragmentation identification and duration.
A variable length Frame Body
An IEEE 32-bit CRC frame check sequence
Wireless LAN - 62
Frame and MPDU Formats
MAC Header
2 6 6 6 2 2 6 0-2304 4 位元組
FrameDuration/ Addr 2 Sequence Sequence Addr 4

Addr 1 資料 FCS
Control
Conn ID Control Control
Protocol To From Last Retry Power EP Rsvd

Type Subtype
Version DS DS Flag Mang.
2 2 4 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 位元
Wireless LAN - 63
Frame Fields
Frame Control Field :
 Protocol Version, Type, Subtype, ToDS, From DS, Last Fr
agment, Retry, Power Management and Element Present.
 Retry : Indicates that the frame is a retransmission of an
earlier frame. A station may use this indication to elimin
ate duplicate frames.
 Power Management : Indicates power management state
and buffered traffic state of the station
 00 = Active Mode (CAM or TAM), with more buffered frames
 01 = PSP - Power Save, Polling
 10 = PSNP - Power Save, No Polling
 11 = Active Mode (CAM or TAM), without more buffered frames
Wireless LAN - 64
Frame Fields
Frame Control Field :
Duration or Connection ID : Used to distribute a
value (us) that shall update the Network Allocation
Vector in stations receiving the frame.
 During the contention free period, this field
may be replaced with a connection ID field.
 Only contention free time-bounded data used a
connection ID; contention based data and

contention free asynchronous data do not use
connection IDs.
Wireless LAN - 65
Frame Fields
Address Fields : Indicate the BSSID, SA, DA, TA
(Transmitter address), RA (Receiver address), each of
48-bit address.
Sequence Control
Dialog Token (12-bit) : An incrementing value. The same
value shall be used for all fragments of the same MSDU.
Fragment Number (4-bit) : Indicates the number of each
individual fragment.
Frame Body: 0 - 2304 bytes.
CRC (4 octets)
Wireless LAN - 66
Frame Fields
MSDU
MAC Frame MAC Frame MAC Frame

Frame CRC MAC
HDR Body HDR Body CRC HDR Body CRC HDR Body CRC
Fragment 1 Fragment 2 Fragment 3 Fragment 4
Wireless LAN - 67
Format of Individual
Frame Types
Control Frames
Immediately previous frame means a frame, the
reception of which concluded within the prior SIFS
interval.
RTS Frame Format
In an infrastructure LAN, the DA shall be the address
of the AP with which the station is associated.
In an ad hoc LAN, the DA shall be the destination of
the subsequent data or management frame.
Wireless LAN - 68
Frame Types
CTS Frame Format
 The DA shall be taken from the source address field of the
RTS frame to which the CTS is a response.
ACK Frame Format
 The DA shall be the address contained in the Address 2
field of the immediately previous Data or Management
frame.
Poll Frame Format
 The BSS ID shall be the address of the AP. The SID shall
be the value assigned by the AP in the Associate Response
frame.
Wireless LAN - 69
Format of Individual Frame Types
MAC Header
Frame Duration FCS
Control DA SA RTS Frame
MAC Header
Frame
Control Duration DA FCS CTS Frame
MAC Header
Frame Duration DA FCS
Control ACK Frame
MAC Header
Frame Duration BSS ID SA FCS
Control Poll Frame
Wireless LAN - 70
Data Frames
 The contents of the Address fields shall be dependent
upon the values of the To DS and From DS bits.
 A station shall use the contents of Address 1 to perform
address matching for receive decisions.
 The DA shall be the destination of the frame (MSDU).
 The RA shall be the address of the AP in the wireless DS
that is the next immediate intended recipient of the
frame.
 The TA shall be the address of the AP in the wireless DS
that is transmitting the frame.
Wireless LAN - 71
The BSSID
 The AP address, if the station is an AP or associated with
an AP.
 The BSS ID of the ad hoc LAN, if the station is a member
of an ad hoc LAN.
Data Subtype
 During the contention period: 0000
 During the contention free period
– 0000, 0011, 0110, and 0111 shall only be sent by a PCF.

– 0000, 0001, 0100, and 0101 may be sent by any CF-aware station.
Wireless LAN - 72
Data Frames
MAC Header
Frame Duration/ Sequence Fragment

Control Conn IDAddr 1 Addr 2 Addr 3 Number Addr 4 資料 FCS
Number
To DS From DS Addr 1 Addr 2 Addr 3 Addr 4

0 0 DA SA BSSID N/A
0 1 DA BSSID SA N/A
1 0 BSSID SA DA N/A
1 1 RA TA DA SA
Wireless LAN - 73
Frame Types
Management Frames
The BSSID
 The AP address, if the station is an AP or associated
with an AP.
 The BSS ID of the ad hoc LAN, if the station is a
member of an ad hoc LAN.
The Frame body shall be the information elements:
MAC Header
Frame SequenceFragment
Control Duration BSSSA DA 資料 FCS
ID Number Number
Wireless LAN - 74
Management Frames
(Frame Body)
BEACON Frame: Time stamp, weight,
beacon interval, DTIM period, DTIM
count, channel sync information, ESS
ID, TIM and broadcast indicator.
ATIM Frame: Null
Disassociation Frame: Null
Association Request Frame: The
privacy algorithm number and the
supported rates.
Wireless LAN - 75
Management Frames
(Frame Body)
Association Response Frame: A status value, a
n error indication, the supported rates and the
station ID assigned (SID).
Reassociation Request Frame: The current AP
address and the privacy algorithm number.
Reassociation Response Frame: A status value,
an error indication, the supported rates and th
e station ID assigned (SID).
Wireless LAN - 76
Management Frames
(Frame Body)
Probe Request Frame: The supported rates.
Probe Response Frame: Time stamp, weight, beac
on interval, DTIM period, DTIM count, channel s
ync information, supported rates, and ESS ID.
Privacy Request Frame: A supported algorithm lis
t.
Privacy Response Frame: A status value, an error i
ndication, and a privacy algorithm number.
Wireless LAN - 77
Management Frames
(Frame Body)
Authentication Frame : A transaction sequence
(TS) and additional information dependent upon
the value of the TS:
 TS = 1: The supported algorithm list.
 TS = 2: A status value, an error indication, an identity
assertion and the selected authentication algorithm number.
 TS = 3: An identity challenge and an identity assertion.
 TS = 4: A challenge response and an identity challenge.
 TS = 5: A challenge result and a challenge response.
 TS = 6: A challenge result.
Wireless LAN - 78
Frame Exchange Sequences
 The following frame sequences are possible:
 Data
 Data - ACK
 RTS - CTS - Data - ACK
 Data - ACK - Data - ACK (Fragmented MSDU)
 RTS - CTS - Data - ACK - Data - ACK (Fragmented MSDU)
 Poll - Data - ACK
 Poll - Data - ACK - Data - ACK (Fragmented MSDU)
 Poll - ACK (No data)
 ATIM - ACK
 Request - ACK
 Response - ACK
Wireless LAN - 79
MAC Architecture
免競爭式服務競爭式服務
( 具時限傳輸 ) ( 非同步傳輸 )
Point Coordination
Function (PCF)
MAC
Extent
Distributed Coordination
Function (DCF)
Wireless LAN - 80
MAC Architecture
Distributed Coordination Function (DCF)
The fundamental access method for the 802.1
1 MAC, known as Carrier Sense Multiple Acc
ess with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA).
Shall be implemented in all stations and APs
.
Used within both ad hoc and infrastructure c
onfigurations.
Wireless LAN - 81
MAC Architecture
Point Coordination Function (PCF)
An alternative access method
Shall be implemented on top of the DCF
A point coordinator (polling master) is used to
determine which station currently has the right to
transmit.
Shall be built up from the DCF through the use of an
access priority mechanism.
Different accesses of traffic can be defined through
the use of different values of IFS.
Wireless LAN - 82
MAC Architecture
Shall use a Point IFS (PIFS) < Distributed IFS
(DIFS)
Point coordinated traffic shall have higher
priority to access the medium, which may be
used to provide a contention-free access
method.
The priority access of the PIFS allows the
point coordinator to seize control of the
medium away from the other stations.
Wireless LAN - 83
MAC Architecture
Coexistence of DCF and PCF
Both the DCF and PCF shall coexist without i
nterference.
They are integrated in a superframe in which
a contention-free burst occurs at the beginnin
g, followed by a contention period.
Wireless LAN - 84
MAC Architecture
超級訊框
Super Frame
免競爭訊
需競爭訊框
框
Wireless LAN - 85
Distributed
Coordination Function
Allows for automatic medium sharing betwe
en PHYs through the use of CSMA/CA and a
random backoff time following a busy mediu
m condition.
All directed traffic uses immediate positive a
ck (ACK frame) where retransmission is sche
duled by the sender if no ACK is received.
Carrier Sense shall be performed both throug
h physical and virtual mechanisms.
Wireless LAN - 86
Distributed
Coordination Function
 The virtual Carrier Sense mechanism is achieved by distributi
ng medium busy reservation information through an exchang
e of special small RTS and CTS frames (contain a during field
) prior to the actual data frame. Unicast only, not used in mult
icast/broadcast.
 The use of RTS/CTS is under control of RTS_Threshold (payl
oad length, under which without any RTS/CTS prefix).
 All stations are required to be able to receive any frame trans
mitted on a given set of rates, and must be able to transmit at (
at least) one of these rates. This assures that the Virtual Carrie
r Sense mechanism still works on multiple rates environment
s.
Wireless LAN - 87
Function
Physical Carrier Sense Mechanism
A physical carrier sense mechanism shall be pr
ovided by the PHY.
Virtual Carrier Sense Mechanism
Provided by the MAC, named Net Allocation V
ector (NAV), which maintains a prediction of f
uture traffic based on duration information an
nounced in RTS/CTS frames.
Wireless LAN - 88
Function
MAC-Level Acknowledgments (Positive Acknowledgm
ent)
 To allow detection of a lost or errored frame an ACK frame sha
ll be returned immediately following a successfully received f
rame. The gap between the received frame and ACK frame sha
ll be SIFS.
 The frame types should be acknowledged with an ACK frame:
 Data
 Poll
 Request
 Response
 The lack of an ACK frame means that an error has occurred.
Wireless LAN - 89
Distributed Coordination Function --
Inter-Frame Space (IFS)
 A station shall determine that the medium is free through
the use of carrier sense function for the interval specified.
 Three different IFS's are defined to provide priority levels.
 Short-IFS (SIFS)
 Shall be used for an ACK frame, a CTS frame, by a station
responding to any polling, and between frames in the
sequences described in Page 41.
 Any STA intending to send only these frame types shall be
allowed to transmit after the SIFS time has elapsed
following a busy medium.
Wireless LAN - 90
Inter-Frame Space (IFS)
PCF-IFS (PIFS)
 Shall be used only by the PCF to send any of the Contention
Free Period frames.
 The PCF shall be allowed to transmit after it detects the medi
um free for the period PIFS, at the start of and during a CF-B
urst.
DCF-IFS (DIFS)
 Shall be used by the DCF to transmit asynchronous MPDUs.
 A STA using the DCF is allowed to transmit after it detects t
he medium free for the period DIFS, as long as it is not in a b
ackoff period.
Wireless LAN - 91
Random Backoff Time
Before transmitting asynchronous MPDUs, a STA shall
use the carrier sense function to determine the medium
state.
If busy, the STA shall defer until after a DIFS gap is det
ected, and then generate a random backoff period for a
n additional deferral time (resolve contention).
Backoff time = INT(CW * Random()) * Slot time
Wireless LAN - 92
Random Backoff Time
Where CW = An integer between CWmin and CWmax
Random() =
Slot Time = Transmitter turn-on delay +
medium propagation delay +
medium busy detect response time
CWmax
63 127 255 255

31
CWmin 15
7
第三次重送
初始值第二次重送
第一次重送
Wireless LAN - 93
DCF Access Procedure
 CSMA/CA Protocol
 Used when there is no PCF detected and when in the Co
ntention Period of a Superframe when using a PCF.
 Basic Access
 A STA with a pending MPDU may transmit when it detect
s a free medium for greater than or equal to a DIFS time.
 If the medium is busy when a STA desires to initiate a Dat
a, Poll, Request, or Response MPDU transfer, and only a D
CF is being used (or a Contention Period portion of a Supe
rframe is active), the Random Backoff Time algorithm shal
l be followed.
Wireless LAN - 94
Immediate access when DIFS

medium is free >= DIFS
PIFS
Contention
DIFS Window
SIFS
Busy Medium Back off- Next Frame
Window
Slot time
Defer Access
Wireless LAN - 95
Backoff Procedure
 A backoff time is selected first. The Backoff Timer shal
l be frozen while the medium is sensed busy and shall
decrement only when the medium is free (resume whe
never free period > DIFS).
 Transmission shall commence whenever the Backoff Ti
mer reaches zero.
 A STA that has just transmitted a frame and has anoth
er frame ready to transmit (queued), shall perform the
backoff procedure (fairness concern).
 Tends toward fair access on a FCFS basis.
Wireless LAN - 96
DIFS
A Frame
Backoff 9 us
B 19 us 4 us Frame
2 us
C Frame
10 us
D 15 us Frame
5 us
E 7 us Frame
2 us
CWindow = Contention Window

= Backoff( 後退 )
= Remaining Backoff( 持續後退 )
Wireless LAN - 97
RTS/CTS Recovery Procedure and Retransmit L

imits
 After an RTS is transmitted, if the CTS fails in any manner wit
hin a predetermined CTS_Timeout (T1), then a new RTS shall
be generated (the CW shall be doubled).
 This procedure shall continue until the RTS_Re-Transmit_Cou
nter reaches an RTS_Re-Transmit_Limit.
 The same backoff mechanism shall be used when no ACK is re
ceived within a predetermined ACK_Window(T3) after a direct
ed DATA frame has been transmitted.
 This procedure shall be continue until the ACK_Re-Transmit_
Counter reaches an ACK_Re-Transmit_Limit.
Wireless LAN - 98
Function -- DCF Access Procedure
Setting the NAV Through Use of

RTS/CTS Frames
RTS and CTS frames contain a Duration
field based on the medium occupancy time
of the MPDU from the end of the RTS or
CTS frame until the end of the ACK frame.
Wireless LAN - 99
T1 T3
DIFS
起始 RTS Data
工作站
SIFS
SIFS
目的地
CTS SIFS ACK
工作站
Contentio
DIFS n
Window
Back off-WiNext Frame
其他 NAV (RTS)
ndow
工作站 NAV (CTS)
Back off after
Defer Access Defer
Wireless LAN - 100

Control of the Channel

 The IFS is used to provide an efficient MSDU delivery mechan
ism.
 Once a station has contended for the channel, it will continue t
o send fragments until either all fragments of a MSDU have be
en sent, an ack is not received, or the station can not send any a
dditional fragments due to a dwell time boundary.
 If the source station does not receive an ack frame, it will attem
pt to retransmit the fragment at a later time (according to the ba
ckoff algorithm).
 When the time arrives to retransmit the fragment, the source st
ation will contend for access in the contention window.
Wireless LAN - 101

DIFS
Fragment Burst
PIFS
SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS
Frag- Frag- Frag- Back off-

Src ment 1 ment 2 ment 3 Window
Ack Ack Ack

Dst 1 2 3
Wireless LAN - 102

RTS/CTS Usage with Fragmentation
The RTS/CTS frames defines the duration of the first fr
ame and ack. The duration field in the data and ack fra
mes specifies the total duration of the next fragment an
d ack.
The last Fragment and ACK will have the duration set t
o zero.
Each Fragment and ACK acts as a virtual RTS and CTS.
In the case where an ack is not received by the source st
ation, the NAV will be marked busy for next frame exch
ange. This is the worst case situation.
Wireless LAN - 103

RTS/CTS Usage with Fragmentation

If the ack is not sent by the destination, stations
that can only hear the destination will not updat
e their NAV and be free to access the channel.
All stations will be free to access the channel aft
er the NAV from Frame 1 has expired.
The source must wait until the NAV (Fragment 1
) expires before attempting to contend for the ch
annel after not receiving the ack.
Wireless LAN - 104

RTS/CTS Usage with
Fragmentation
DIFS
PIFS
SIFS
ther NAV(RTS) NAV(Frag 1) NAV(Frag 2) Back off-

Window
NAV(CTS) NAV(ACK 1) NAV(ACK 2)
SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS

Frag- Frag- Frag-
RTS ment 1 ment 2 ment 3
rc
CTS Ack Ack Ack

st 1 2 3
Wireless LAN - 105

RTS/CTS Usage with
Fragmentation
DIFS
PIFS
SIFS
Backoff-
Other NAV(RTS) NAV(Fragment 1) Window
NAV(CTS) NAV(ACK 1)
SIFS SIFS SIFS
RTS Frag-
ment 1
Src
CTS Ack 1
Dst
Wireless LAN - 106

Directed MPDU Transfer Procedure

Using RTS/CTS (see Page 52)
STA shall use an RTS/CTS exchange for
directed frames only when the length of the
MPDU is greater than the RTS_Threshold (a
managed object within the MAC MIB, 0... Max
MPDU length).
Directed MPDU Transfer Procedure
Without RTS/CTS
Wireless LAN - 107

DIFS
起始 Data
工作站
SIFS
ACK
目的地
工作站
DIFS Contention
Window
Backoff- Next Frame
其他 Window
工作站
Backoff after Defer
Defer Access
Wireless LAN - 108

Point Coordination
Function(PCF)
The PCF provides contention free services.
It is an option for a station to become the Point Coord
inator(PC), which generates the Superframe (SF).
Not all stations must be capable of becoming the PC a
nd transmitting PCF data frames.
The SF consists of a Contention Free (CF) period and
a Contention Period.
The length of a SF is a manageable parameter and tha
t of the CF period may be variable on a per SF basis.
Wireless LAN - 109

Point Coordination
Function(PCF)
超級訊框
免競爭訊框需競爭訊框
Wireless LAN - 110

Point Coordination Function
-- PCF Access Procedure
The PCF protocol is based on a polling
scheme controlled by one special STA per
BSS called the Point Coordinator.
The PC gains control of the medium at the
beginning of the SF and maintains control
for the entire CF period by waiting a shorter
time between transmissions.
CF-Down Frames and CF-UP Frames.
Wireless LAN - 111

At the beginning of the SF, the PCF shall
sense the medium. If it is free the PCF
shall wait a PIFS time and transmit
a Data frame with the CF-Poll Subtype bit
set, to the next station on the polling list,
or
a CF-End frame, if a null CF period is
desired.
Wireless LAN - 112

 The PCF uses the PCF priority level of the
CSMA/CA protocol. The shorter PIFS gap causes a
burst traffic with inter-frame gaps that are shorter
than the DIFS gap needed by stations using the
Contention period.
 Each station, except the station with the PCF, shall
preset it's NAV to the maximum CF-Period length
at the beginning of every SF. The PCF shall
transmit a CF-End frame, at the end of the CF-
Period, to reset the NAV of all stations in the BSS.
Wireless LAN - 113

-- PCF Transfer Procedure
PCF Transfers When the PCF Station is Tr
ansmitter or Recipient
Stations shall respond to the CF-Poll immediatel
y when a frame is queued, by sending this frame
after an SIFS gap. This results in a burst of Conte
ntion Free traffic (CF-Burst).
For services that require MAC level ack, the ack i
s preferably done through the CF-Ack bit in the S
ubtype field of the responding CF-Up frame.
Wireless LAN - 114

超級訊框
免競爭週期
PIFS PIFS 競爭週期
SIFS SIFS SIFS
媒介忙碌中 CF-D1 CF-D2 CF-D3 CF-D4 CF-End

CF-U1 CF-U2 CF-U4
重設 NAV
SIFS SIFS SIFS CF- 邊界
NAV
Dx = Down Traffic
Ux = Up Traffic
Wireless LAN - 115

PCF Transfers When the PCF Station is
Neither Transmitter nor Recipient
 A CF-aware station, when polled by the PCF, may
send a Data frame to any station in the BSS an SIFS
period after receiving the CF-Poll.
 If the recipient of this transmission is not the PCF
station, the Data frame is received and acknowledged
in the same manner as a contention-based Data frame.
 The PCF resumes (CF-Down) transmissions an SIFS
period after the ACK frame. If not acknowledged, a
PIFS period is employed.
Wireless LAN - 116

超級訊框
免競爭週期
PIFS 競爭週期
SIFS SIFS
媒介忙碌中 CF-D1 CF-D2 CF-End

S-To-S ACK CF-U2
重設 NAV
SIFS CF- 邊界
SIFS SIFS
NAV
Dx = Down Traffic
Ux = Up Traffic
Wireless LAN - 117

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IEEE 802.

 Are unprotected from outside signals.

 Are significantly less reliable than wired PHYs.

 Have dynamic topologies.

Impact of Handling Mobile Stations

Distribution System Medium (DSM):

AP: Access Point

The complete set of 802.11 archite

BSS-transition: movement from one BSS in one ESS to

These states determine the 802.11 frame

 CF Data Frames (Coordination Function)

STA 1 802.11 STA 3

Each frame should consist of three basic

FrameDuration/ Addr 2 Sequence Sequence Addr 4

Protocol To From Last Retry Power EP Rsvd

connection ID; contention based data and

MAC Frame MAC Frame MAC Frame

Fragment 1 Fragment 2 Fragment 3 Fragment 4

– 0000, 0011, 0110, and 0111 shall only be sent by a PCF.

Frame Duration/ Sequence Fragment

To DS From DS Addr 1 Addr 2 Addr 3 Addr 4

Backoff time = INT(CW * Random()) * Slot time

63 127 255 255

Immediate access when DIFS

CWindow = Contention Window

RTS/CTS Recovery Procedure and Retransmit L

Setting the NAV Through Use of

Wireless LAN - 100

Control of the Channel

Wireless LAN - 101

SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS

Frag- Frag- Frag- Back off-

Ack Ack Ack

Wireless LAN - 102

Wireless LAN - 103

RTS/CTS Usage with Fragmentation

Wireless LAN - 104

ther NAV(RTS) NAV(Frag 1) NAV(Frag 2) Back off-

SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS SIFS

CTS Ack Ack Ack

Wireless LAN - 105

SIFS SIFS SIFS

Wireless LAN - 106

Directed MPDU Transfer Procedure

Wireless LAN - 107

Wireless LAN - 108

Wireless LAN - 109

Wireless LAN - 110

Wireless LAN - 111

Wireless LAN - 112

Wireless LAN - 113

Wireless LAN - 114

媒介忙碌中 CF-D1 CF-D2 CF-D3 CF-D4 CF-End

SIFS SIFS SIFS CF- 邊界

Wireless LAN - 115

Wireless LAN - 116

媒介忙碌中 CF-D1 CF-D2 CF-End

Wireless LAN - 117

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