Wi-Fi Direct™ Overview

Overview of Wi-Fi P2P Technology

• The Wi-Fi Alliance has developed a specification, called the “Wi-Fi Alliance Peer-
to-Peer (P2P) Specification”, defining direct Wi-Fi connections between client
devices
• This presentation uses “Wi-Fi P2P” as an abbreviation for the technology
• Wi-Fi Direct™ is the branded name for this technology
– Members are able to certify their devices for the Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi P2P certification
program
– Only devices certified for Wi-Fi P2P may use the Wi-Fi Direct® brand and supporting
marketing material

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 104

Introduction

• This presentation provides an overview of Wi-Fi P2P technology

– W-Fi Alliance provides NO GUARANTEE of the completeness or accuracy to which this training
material represents the published Wi-Fi P2P specification or the test plan
– Details of prerequisite capabilities shall not be discussed

• Wi-Fi P2P technology assumes the following certified product capabilities

– Wi-Fi certification for at least 802.11g (including support for WPA2™ security)
– Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ (WPS)
– Wi-Fi Multimedia™ Quality of Service (WMM®)

Reference material :

Specification Wi-Fi Alliance Member Non-member

(Login required) (Purchase required)
Wi-Fi P2P V1.1

Wi-Fi Protected Setup V1.0 Available at

Download for free from
http://www.wi-fi.org/specifications.php https://www.wi-fi.org/knowledge_center_overview.php?type=4
WMM V1.2

WPA2 V3.1

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 105

Wi-Fi P2P Program Objectives

• Provide an easy and convenient manner to share, show, print and

synchronize content wherever users go – home, public places, travel, work
• Provide new connectivity scenarios that include the 100‟s of millions of Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED™ devices that users already own
• Broad-based solution that makes Wi-Fi usage as pervasive for peer-to-peer
connectivity as it is for local area networks
• Deliver an industry-wide peer-to-peer solution based on broadly deployed Wi-Fi
technologies

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 106

Example P2P Use Cases

Phone Laptop
Laptop Laptop

TV

Printer Camera
Laptop
Projector

Pictures
Camera

Laptop
Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 107
Wi-Fi Direct™ Training :
Wi-Fi P2P Technology Fundamentals

Topic
Wi-Fi P2P Technology Overview

Wi-Fi P2P Framework

Wi-Fi P2P Architecture (P2P Device, P2P Group , P2P Group Owner

Wi-Fi P2P Protocol Overview

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 108

Wi-Fi P2P Technology Overview

• A Wi-Fi P2P network is a non-infrastructure connection of Wi-Fi

CERTIFIED™ devices
• Key features of Wi-Fi P2P networks
– The same gold-standard Wi-Fi capabilities as infrastructure networks
• Full, robust WPA2™security using AES
• Typical Wi-Fi data rates (up to 802.11n)
• Typical Wi-Fi range
• Support for 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices
• Simple, secure device authentication and enrollment via Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ (WPS)
• Excellent co-existence with neighboring networks
• Compatible with existing Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ devices

• Additional features
• IP address based
• Automatic device discovery
• Device service advertisement
• Support for device power management
• Support for temporary (one-time) and persistent (many-time) network connections
• Optional cross-connection to infrastructure network
• Enterprise manageability

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 109

Wi-Fi P2P Framework

• A P2P Group is a Wi-Fi P2P network that may include two types of devices
– P2P Device – Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ device that is compliant with the Wi-Fi P2P specification
– Legacy device – Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ device that is not compliant with the Wi-Fi P2P specification

• P2P devices must be capable of two different roles in a P2P Group

– P2P Group Owner : An “AP-like” capability that controls a Wi-Fi P2P Group and enables P2P Device
connectivity
– P2P Client : A Wi-Fi P2P-compliant device that may connect to a P2P Group Owner

• Note : Legacy devices may only function as clients in a P2P Group. They see P2P Group
Owners as APs.
Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 110
Wi-Fi P2P Architecture : P2P Device

• A P2P Device is the fundamental component of a P2P Group

– Capable of either an infrastructure or a P2P connection
– Can always connect with another P2P Device

– Supports both P2P Group Owner and P2P Client roles

– Negotiates P2P Group Ownership with other P2P Devices

– Must be Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ for Wi-Fi Protected Setup™

– Must be Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ for WMM®

– Must Support P2P Discovery mechanisms

– Must Support P2P Power Management mechanisms

– May support Managed P2P Device operation

– May support WLAN and P2P Group operation at the same time
– May operate as a member of multiple P2P Groups simultaneously
– Functionality is out of scope for this spec

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 111

Wi-Fi P2P Architecture : P2P Group

P2P
Client
P2P Client
P2P Client
Group P2P
Owner Group
Owner
Legacy
1:1 P2P Group Client
1:n P2P Group

• A P2P Group is a Wi-Fi P2P network made of at least two Wi-Fi enabled devices
– One device must be a P2P Group Owner
– The other device(s) are Clients (P2P Clients and/or Legacy Clients)

• Two types of P2P Groups

– 1:1 P2P Group
• One P2P Group Owner and one Client
– 1:n P2P Group
• One P2P Group Owner and n Clients (where n may be any combination of P2P Clients and Legacy Clients)

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 112

Wi-Fi P2P Architecture : P2P Group

• A P2P Group functions similarly to an infrastructure BSS

– Has a single SSID (the P2P wildcard SSID) and a single security domain
– May have only one P2P Group Owner
– P2P Group Owner has a similar role as an Access Point (AP)
– Client(s) have similar roles as station(s) (STAs)

• Each P2P Group has a unique P2P Group ID

• Each P2P Group may be temporary (single-use) or persistent (repeated use)

Temporary P2P Group Persistent P2P Group

User connects to a kiosk in a store User creates a persistent P2P Group with their home printer

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 113

P2P Architecture : P2P Group Owner and P2P Client

• Key P2P Group Owner capabilities

– Must provide BSS functionality and services for Clients (P2P and Legacy) associated to
a P2P Group
– Must provide Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ Internal Registrar functionality for a P2P Group
– May enable facilitated or direct communication between Clients in a P2P Group
– May support P2P Concurrent Device capability
– Ability to maintain simultaneous infrastructure (WLAN) connection in parallel with functioning as
Group Owner of a P2P Group
– May also support Cross-Connection (as added capability to P2P Concurrent Device)
– Ability to provide Clients in a P2P Group with access to a simultaneous WLAN connection

• Key P2P Client capabilities

– Must have the ability to join/function in infrastructure networks as typical STA
– Must support WPS Enrollee functionality

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 114

Wi-Fi P2P Protocol Overview

• Wi-Fi P2P protocol communication based on

– P2P Information Element (P2P IE)
– P2P Action frame
• Group Owner Discoverability; P2P Presence; Group Owner Notice of Absence
– P2P Public Action frame
• Group Owner Negotiation; P2P Invitation; Device Discoverability; Provision Discovery
– Extension to 802.11 Management Frames
• Beacon, Probe Request, Probe Response, Association/Reassociation

• Formats utilize the Vendor Specific Information Element and Vendor Specific
Action frame in IEEE Std 802.11-2007
– Each P2P Group has a single SSID and a single security domain
– Each P2P Group has a unique P2P Group ID
– Wi-Fi P2P has a Wi-Fi Alliance-specific OUI
– OUI type indicates a Wi-Fi P2P specification version

• A Number of P2P Attributes are defined

– A Single P2P IE carries one or more P2P Attributes

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 115

Wi-Fi Direct™ Training :
Wi-Fi P2P Technology Fundamentals
P2P Device Discovery
Search and Listen States

Scan and Find Phases

Establishing a P2P Connection

P2P Group Formation

P2P Group Owner Negotiation

Provisioning, Autonomous P2P Groups

P2P Group Session

Communication, Credentials

P2P Client Discovery

Expanded P2P Session Capabilities

Disconnecting Clients and Ending a P2P Group Session

P2P Invitation

Persistent Groups

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 116

 Overview: Group Formation using P2P Discovery

Device Discovery
Group Formation
P2P Group Session

P2P Device
P2P Device

• User discovers P2P Devices in range

• User selects which of the discovered P2P Devices to connect to and enters
Provisioning information (e.g. WPS PIN)
• Negotiate which device shall become P2P Group Owner (AP-like entity)
• Use authentication in WPS to ensure that these are correct devices (same PIN)
– P2P Group Owner supplies P2P SSID & WPA2 PSK using WPS

• P2P Group Owner starts P2P Group session and Client joins P2P Group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 117

P2P Discovery

Who is out there? Who is out there?

P2P Device

• P2P Discovery is comprised of three primary parts:

– Device Discovery facilitates two P2P Devices arriving on a common channel and exchanging device
information
– Group Formation forms a new P2P Group and determines which P2P Device will serve as the P2P
Group Owner
– P2P Invitation has two uses
• Invite a P2P Device to join an existing P2P Group
• Invokes a previously formed Persistent P2P Group

• An optional, fourth component of P2P

– Service Discovery for discovering higher-layer services prior to establishing a P2P device
connection
• More on this later

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 118

P2P Discovery : Device Discovery

Probe for Device/Service

Probe Response

P2P Device P2P Device

• Occurs only on three Social Channels (Channel 1,6,11 in the 2.4GHz band)
• Uses Probe Request and Probe Response frames to exchange device
information
• Two P2P-specific Device Discovery states
– Search state: transmit one or more Probe Request frames on each Social Channel
– Listen state : wait on a specific Social Channel (the Listen Channel) to receive Probe
Request frames

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 119

P2P Discovery : Device Discovery : Search State

• Scan for a P2P Device advertising P2P service

• Device transmits one or more Probe Request frames on each Social Channel
– Probe Request frame contents
• P2P IE
• WPS IE
• SSID field = P2P Wildcard SSID
• BSSID field = Wildcard BSSID
– Destination Address
CH01 : PROBE
• Destination Address must be either the Broadcast Address or
the P2P Device Address of the listening device
CH06 : PROBE
– Optionally
• Specific Device Type attribute in the WPS IE, or CH11 : PROBE
• Specific P2P Device ID attribute in the P2P IE

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 120

P2P Discovery : Device Discovery : Listen State

• P2P Device monitors a specific Social Channel, advertising P2P service

– Monitoring for Probe Request frame containing
• P2P IE, P2P Wildcard SSID, Wildcard BSSID, and Destination Address
– Destination Address matches either Broadcast Address or P2P Device Address of listening device
• Optionally
– Device Type value that matches any Requested Device Type attribute in the WPS IE, or
– Device Address matches the Device Address in the P2P IE Device ID attribute

• Listen State restrictions

– P2P Devices in the Find Phase
• Must Listen for specific time periods and be constantly available during these periods
– P2P Devices not in Find Phase
• May stay in the Listen State for an extended period
– Should be available to Listen for at least a contiguous period of 500ms every 5s
– Shorter Listen duration or interruption of Listen State may result in lengthened or unreliable device
discovery

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 121

Probe Request/Response

Who are you?

I’m Home_Printer

P2P Device P2P Device

• Probe Request/Probe Response discovers device type, manufacturer, device
name, etc.
• One or more P2P IE and WPS IE are included in the Probe Response
– A probe request intended only for P2P Devices shall include a P2P IE
– Searches can be narrowed to a specific P2P Device
• Include the P2P Device ID attribute in the P2P IE
– Searches can be narrowed to specific device types (i.e., search for all printers)
• Include one or more Requested Device Type attributes in the WPS IE
– The WPS IE also allows a P2P Device to advertise human-readable device-specific
information such as a meaningful device description

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 122

P2P Discovery : Device Discovery : Scan Phase

– Collects information about surrounding devices and/or networks on all channels

supported by the P2P Device
– Uses scanning process as defined in IEEE std 802.11-2007
– Identifies other P2P Devices and established P2P Groups
– Identifies the best potential Operating Channel for establishing a new P2P Group
– P2P Devices may scan for P2P Groups and 802.11 infrastructure networks
simultaneously

– Scan Filter Methods

– Scan only for P2P Devices and P2P Groups
– Scan for specific P2P device type(s), e.g., all Printers
– Scan for specific P2P Device (either by address or friendly name)

– Optional Scan Enhancement

– Use Service Discovery to ensure compatible services exist on a device (e.g., a desired
print method or display type)

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 123

P2P Discovery : Device Discovery : Find Phase

• Used to ensures that two simultaneously searching P2P Devices will arrive on a
common channel to establish communications
– P2P Devices cycle between Listen and Search states
• P2P Device waits on one of three Social Channels for Probe Request Frames (Listen)
• P2P Device sends Probe Request Frames on each of the three Social Channels (Search)
– Time spent in each cycle of the Listen State is randomized to prevent lock-stepping
between two devices and ensure convergence

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 124

Example Device Discovery Procedure

Time

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 125

P2P Device Discovery : Establishing a Connection

• Users can select which device to connect to based on its device name, services,
and so on
• If the target P2P Device is not part of a P2P Group, a new P2P Group is formed
using the P2P Group Formation Procedure
• If the target P2P Device is already part of a P2P Group, the searching P2P
Device may seek to join the group
– Use Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ (WPS) to obtain credentials and authenticate
• WPS handshakes take place on the Operating Channel of the P2P Group Owner

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 126

Wi-Fi Direct™ Training :
Wi-Fi P2P Technology Fundamentals
P2P Device Discovery
Search and Listen States

Scan and Find Phases

Establishing a P2P Connection

P2P Group Formation

P2P Group Owner Negotiation

Provisioning, Autonomous P2P Groups

P2P Group Session

Communication, Credentials

P2P Client Discovery

Expanded P2P Session Capabilities

Disconnecting Clients and Ending a P2P Group Session

P2P Invitation

Persistent Groups

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 128

P2P Group Formation

• Group Formation procedure involves two phases

– Determination of the P2P Group Owner
• Negotiated – Two P2P Devices negotiate for P2P Group Owner role based on their
desires/capabilities to be a P2P Group Owner, OR
• Selected – P2P Group Owner role “established” at formation or at an application-level
– Provisioning of the P2P Group
• Establishment of the P2P Group session using the appropriate credentials
• Uses Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ to exchange credentials

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 129

P2P Group Formation :
Special Provisioning Consideration

• Completion of P2P Group Formation procedure is required within 15 seconds

• Special consideration required to meet the time limit for P2P Group Formation
– Up to two minutes required for completion of Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ when waiting for
user input

• P2P Device must obtain any information required to execute provisioning in

advance of P2P Group Formation
– Use the information supplied, during the Listen state, in the WPS Config Methods
attribute of a Probe Response to determine information to retrieve from user
• E.g., PIN from a label, PIN from a display, etc
– P2P Device may trigger the required user action by sending a Provision Discovery
Request with the appropriate Config Methods bit set

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 130

P2P Group Formation : P2P Group Owner Role

• All P2P Groups require a P2P Device to take on the role of P2P Group Owner
• Some key responsibilities of P2P Group Owners
– Assigns a globally unique P2P Group ID for the P2P Group at formation
– Determine the SSID for each P2P Group
– Select the Operating Channel of the P2P Group
• Must follow any procedures required for operation in a certain frequency band in a particular regulatory domain
– Determine the credentials required and be the authenticator for joining a P2P Group
• Use WPA2-PSK Authentication, AES Encryption, Network Key Type of 64 Hex characters
• Maintain a WPA-PSK passphrase for delivery to Legacy Clients

– Serve as the Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ Registrar

– Be capable of acting as a DHCP server

• Support IPv4 at a minimum
• Support assignment of IP address, subnet mask and default gateway

– Advertise the device information of the P2P Clients connected to a P2P Group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 131

P2P Group Formation : Group Owner Negotiation

I REALLY want to be I want to be

Group Owner Group Owner

P2P Device P2P Device

• Two P2P Devices forming a P2P Group negotiate which will be the Group
Owner
– A P2P Device may decline Group Owner Negotiation for any reason
– Group Owner negotiation relies on an Group Owner Intent attribute value and a Tie
breaker bit to resolve the decision quickly
– Group Owner Negotiation (and Group Formation) fails if both P2P Devices MUST
be the Group Owner
– P2P Devices remain on the common social channel until Group Owner Negotiation
completes

• Device that wins the negotiation assumes the AP/Registrar role and
becomes the P2P Group Owner

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 132

P2P Group Formation : Provisioning

VendorB_phone
(His, PIN = 1234)
Connect to VendorB_phone,
Group Owner PIN=5678 VendorB_phone
(Hers, PIN=5678)

• Newly established P2P Group Owner starts a P2P Group session using the credentials
determined
• Uses the Operating Channel indicated during Group Owner Negotiation
– If not available, will use another channel from the Channel List
– P2P Client may have to scan to find the P2P Group Owner if the Operating Channel is not available

• Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ sequence executes in the following manner

– P2P Group Owner serves as the AP with Internal Registrar
• It shall only allow association by P2P Device with which it is in Group Formation with
• Since the user has entered the WPS PIN or triggered WPS pushbutton functionality on both devices, the registrar
shall send M2 in response to M1
– P2P Client shall serve as the STA enrollee
• It shall associate to the P2P Group Owner device with which it is in Group Formation

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 133

P2P Group Formation : Autonomous P2P Group

• P2P Group Formation starts with determination of the P2P Group Owner
– P2P group owners may be determined
• Through Group Owner Negotiation process, or
• Through configuration (autonomous)

• Autonomous P2P Groups

– P2P Device starts an autonomous P2P Group by assuming the P2P Group Owner role
• Group characteristics are determined by the P2P Device without negotiation with other devices
– Some use cases for autonomous P2P Groups
• Providing a P2P connection for Legacy Client(s)
– A P2P Group must already exist for a Legacy Device to discover it
• To offer a Cross Connection to a WLAN
• Offering / managing higher-level services
– i.e., public kiosk offering applications or upper layer services

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 134

Wi-Fi Direct™ Training :
Wi-Fi P2P Technology Fundamentals
P2P Device Discovery
Search and Listen States

Scan and Find Phases

Establishing a P2P Connection

P2P Group Formation

P2P Group Owner Negotiation

Provisioning, Autonomous P2P Groups

P2P Group Session

Communication, Credentials

P2P Client Discovery

Expanded P2P Session Capabilities

Disconnecting Clients and Ending a P2P Group Session

P2P Invitation

Persistent Groups

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 136

Communication within a P2P Group

WPA2-Personal

AES-CCMP
P2P Client P2P Group Owner

• Communication within a P2P Group shall employ WPA2-Personal security

with AES-CCMP as the encryption cipher
– After a successful association, the resulting temporal keys shall be used to encrypt
unicast and broadcast/multicast frames exchanged between the P2P Group Owner
and its Clients
– Same mechanism used in standard 802.11 communications

• To support higher layer data services using IP, the P2P Group Owner shall
provide IP addresses through a DHCP server (IPv4 minimum)
– P2P Clients that use IP services shall be capable of acting as a DHCP Client

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 137

P2P Group Session Credentials

STA AP

P2P Device Group Owner

• P2P Group operation closely resembles infrastructure BSS operation per IEEE Std 802.11-2007
– P2P Group Owner assumes the role of an AP
– P2P Client assumes the role of an STA

– Credentials
– WPA2-PSK / AES
– Network Key of 64 hex characters
– WPA2-PSK pass-phrase for Legacy Clients; at least 8 random ASCII letters/numbers
– Delivery of a pass-phrase to Legacy Clients that do not support WPS is allowed but implementation is out of
scope of the P2P specification

• SSID
• Of the format DIRECT-xy
• Where xy is two random ASCII letters/numbers

• P2P Group ID
• Assigned by the P2P Group Owner; globally unique for each P2P Group formed
• Contains the globally unique P2P Device Address of P2P Group Owner
• Remains the same throughout the life of a P2P Group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 138

P2P Group Session :
P2P Group Owner Responsibilities
STA AP

P2P Device Group Owner

• Transmit Probe Responses in response to Probe Requests

• Transmit beacons advertising …
– the TSF (for timing synchronization)
– Required operational parameters, supported capabilities, membership and services
available within the P2P Group

• Respond to any Probe Request Frame containing the P2P IE with a Probe
Response Frame containing the P2P IE
– Set the SSID to the SSID of the P2P Group for all Probe Responses that it sends
– Include WPS IE in all transmitted Beacon, Probe Request and Probe Response
frames
– Conform to relevant sections of IEEE Std 802.11-2007 when operating at 5GHz
Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 139
P2P Client Discovery

• P2P Client Discovery is a capability that enables a P2P Group Owner to

advertise the device information for each P2P Client currently connected to a
P2P Group
• Information included in Probe Response frames as part of the P2P Group Info attribute
• P2P Clients that leave a P2P Group are no longer advertised

– For example, a camera may query a P2P Group Owner to discover if any of its
clients supporting printing of photos
– P2P Devices are expected to behave “politely” and not “bother” devices that do
not support P2P Client Discovery

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 140

P2P Invitation Overview (Optional)

• P2P Invitation
– A P2P Group Owner may invite a P2P Device to become a P2P Client in its P2P Group
– A P2P Client may invite another P2P Device to join the P2P Group to which it belongs
so it may use a supported service
– A P2P Device may request a provisioned Persistent P2P Group to be invoked
– Persistent P2P Groups to be discussed in next section

• P2P Devices rely on an optional P2P Invitation Procedure signaling mechanism

to achieve this invitation
– P2P Invitation Request frame is transmitted by a P2P Group Owner or a P2P Client in
that P2P Group
– Upon receipt of the P2P Invitation Request, a P2P Device that supports the P2P
Invitation Procedure signaling mechanism transmits a P2P Invitation Response frame
– The decision to accept the invitation is left to the invited P2P Device
• Invited P2P Devices may also pass the invitation request to higher application layers for
evaluation

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 141

Persistent Groups (Optional)

Stored:
P2P Invitation Request Stored:
P2P Group ID
P2P Group ID
Credentials P2P Invitation Response Credentials

P2P Device P2P Device

• Unlike Temporary P2P Groups that exist for only a single session, a P2P
Persistent Group may be re-invoked at a future time to start additional
sessions after its initial formation
• P2P Persistent Groups may be restarted without repeating Provisioning
– P2P Devices in a successfully provisioned P2P Persistent Group must store the
associated P2P Group ID and Credentials
– Eliminates the need for users to repeat provisioning such as WPS PIN, etc.
• P2P Group Owner remains the same in subsequent sessions

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 142

Invoking a Persistent P2P Group

• A P2P Group Owner may invoke a Persistent P2P Group at any time
– Autonomously, such as in response to request from a higher layer
– After a successful P2P Invitation Request and Response exchange with a member
of the Persistent Group

• A P2P Client may re-invoke a Persistent P2P Group

– P2P Device must first discover the P2P Group Owner for the Persistent P2P Group
• The operating channel for the group may not be available so the requesting Device may need
to scan the channels in the Channel List to find the P2P Group Owner
– After Discovery, the P2P Device must then successfully complete a P2P Invitation
exchange with the P2P Group Owner

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 143

P2P Persistent Group Reconnection

Listening… Group Owner

Of Previously
Formed
Persistent Group
P2P Device

• A P2P Group Owner may invoke previously formed P2P Persistent Groups
without user intervention
– Capability advertised via Persistent Reconnect bit in P2P Group capabilities list
– The P2P Group Owner device may use the Listen state to remain discoverable

• A P2P Persistent Group is ended when the P2P Group Owner deletes the stored
Credentials for the P2P Persistent Group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 144

P2P Discovery and Group Formation Examples

• User and P2P Protocol Interactions

• Forming a Group between two P2P Devices
• Adding a P2P Device to an existing Group
• Discovering a Device in a P2P Group: Forming a Direct Connection
• Adding a Device to a Group by Invitation

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 146

 User and P2P Protocol Interactions

Initial probes
unanswered

P2P Probe Request Discover P2P

Discover P2P
P2P Probe Request Scan (1, 6, 11)
Scan (1, 6, 11) Listen(6) Devices arrive on
P2P Probe Request
Listen(1) Scan (1, 6, 11) same channel so
P2P Probe Request probe answered
P2P found Scan (1, 6, 11)
Listen(6)
P2P Probe Response P2P found
User selects
intended device Scan (6) User selects
P2P Probe Request
and enters PIN Listen(1) intended device
P2P Probe Request
or push button Scan (6) and enters PIN
P2P Probe Response Listen(6)
Negotiate Request or push button
Device with higher Negotiate (6)
intent takes on Negotiate (6)
AP/Registrar role and Negotiate Response
becomes Group Negotiate Confirm
Owner if WPS WPS Provisioning(6) WPS 10 way handshake WPS Provisioning(6)
succeeds
Start GO on Associate Connect to GO Client
Group Owner provisioned channel WPA2 4 way handshake
Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 147
Forming a Group Between two P2P Devices

Device Discovery
User
Group Formation
P2P Group Session

P2P Device P2P Device

(Future P2P Group Owner) (Future P2P Client)

• User discovers P2P Devices within range

• User selects a discovered P2P device to connect to and enters Provisioning Information
such as a WPS PIN
• P2P Devices negotiate P2P Group Ownership
– Most appropriate device becomes P2P Group Owner (e.g. TV)

• Use authentication in WPS to ensure that the correct devices (WPS PIN) are connected
– WPS PIN has already been entered to speed provisioning
– P2P Group Owner (TV) supplies SSID and WPA2 PSK using WPS

• P2P Group Owner starts P2P Group session and P2P Client joins P2P Group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 148

Adding a P2P Device to an Existing Group

Group Owner

New P2P Device

Existing P2P Client

• New P2P Device discovers presence of existing P2P Group

– P2P Group Owner responds to Probe Request during scan

• P2P Group Owner provisions credentials to Client using WPS

– Must use PIN or PBC method

• New Client joins the P2P Group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 149

Discovering a Device in a P2P Group

Probe Request/Response
P2P Device

P2P Group
Owner

P2P Client

• Camera is searching for a Printer that is already in a P2P Group

• P2P Group Owner responds with P2P Client Info Descriptors of P2P Devices
in its Group
– P2P Client does not respond to Probe Requests

• Camera may communicate directly with Printer after receiving P2P Device
Address to perform Service Discovery, Group Formation, data exchange, etc.

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 150

Adding a Device to a P2P Group by Invitation

Discovery
P2P Invitation
Provisioning
Connected
New P2P Device
P2P Group
Owner

Existing P2P Client

• Group Owner searches for a device of a specific type (printer)
• Printer is in Listen mode and responds to Probe Requests
• P2P Group Owner invites Printer to join the P2P Group
• Group Owner supplies SSID and WPA2 PSK using WPS
• Printer joins the P2P group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 151

Wi-Fi Direct™ Training :
Power Management and Wi-Fi P2P Technology

Power Management and Wi-Fi P2P Technology

Overview

Power Management Impact on Availability

Discovery Considerations

Opportunistic Power Save

Notice of Absence

P2P Client Power Management

Additional Wi-FI P2P Technology Capabilities

Additional Wi-Fi P2P Technology Considerations

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 152

P2P Power Management

• P2P supports power saving mechanisms for P2P Group Owners and P2P
Clients
– Based on legacy PS and WMM-PS power management mechanisms
– Adapted mechanisms are referred to as P2P-PS and P2P-WMM-PS

• Two adaptations allow for P2P Group Owner absence periods

– Opportunistic Power Save
– Notice of Absence

• Addresses requirements of target use cases:

– Burst traffic (i.e., file transfer, synchronization, printing)
– WMM Traffic Streams and other latency-sensitive traffic
– Absence signaling for off-channel activities (concurrent use, scanning, etc.)

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 153

P2P Power Management:
Impact on Availability

Zzzzzzz…
Probe for Device/Service

P2P Device P2P Group Owner

• P2P Power Management saves power at the expense of

– Reduced P2P Group Owner availability
– Delays in Discoverability
– Increased latency in upstream and downstream P2P Client transmissions

• P2P Clients may influence the use of P2P Power Saving by submitting a P2P
Presence Request
– A P2P Group Owner shall not use Opportunistic Power Save while it has active P2P
Presence Requests

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 154

Discovery Considerations

Probe for Device/Service

No Response While
P2P Device in Power Save Mode P2P Device

• Searching devices must be aware that P2P power saving techniques may
impact communication between searching and target P2P devices
– Device Discoverability Responses may take multiple beacon periods

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 155

P2P Power Management:
Availability for Discoverability

Probe for Device/Service CTWindow

Response
Clock

P2P Device P2P Group Owner

• To maintain P2P Device Discoverability, a P2P Group Owner must be present

for an availability period called the CTWindow (Client Traffic Window)
– The P2P Group Owner determines an appropriate CTWindow
• CTWindow is an integral number of TU and is always less than the beacon interval
• A P2P Group Owner that desires to be discoverable should select a CTWindow of at least 10
TU
– P2P Group Owners will signal the CTWindow size and use of Opportunistic Power
Save in Beacon frames and, where appropriate, Probe Response frames

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 156

Opportunistic Power Save

• Opportunistic Power Save allows a P2P Group Owner to save power on an

opportunistic basis

Time

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 157

Opportunistic Power Save

• After the end of each CTWindow, if the P2P Group Owner determines that all
connected P2P Clients are in Doze state
– The P2P Group Owner shall complete delivery of all queued broadcast/multicast
frames
– The P2P Group Owner may then enter Doze state until the next TBTT

• The P2P Group Owner will remain awake as long as any Client is determined
to be awake. A P2P Client is considered awake if:
– 1) It is in active mode
– 2) It is in Power Save Mode and has a WMM Unscheduled Service Period in
progress or an unanswered PS-Poll

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 158

Notice of Absence

• P2P Group Owners signal a planned absence with a Notice of Absence

– May be used to signal a single absence or a periodic absence
– Periodic absences are either limited in count or continuous (count = 255)
– Notice of Absence timing may be altered by the P2P Group Owner at any time

• Addresses requirements of target use cases. For example:

– Use a single absence to allow occasional off-channel scanning
– Use periodic absence to power save
• When a WMM Traffic Stream is established
• For concurrent WLAN/P2P Group operation on different channels

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 159

P2P Client Power Management

• P2P Clients use P2P PS or P2P WMM-PS as a non-AP STA

• P2P PS is the same as 802.11 PS except
– When the Group Owner is using Opportunistic Power Save, P2P Clients may transition
out of Power Save mode only at the beginning of a CTWindow

• P2P WMM-PS is the same as 802.11 WMM-PS except

– P2P Devices shall not initiate a frame exchange that cannot be completed prior to the
start of a scheduled absence period
– P2P Clients shall generally not send frames to a P2P Group Owner during periods of
absence

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 160

Wi-Fi Direct™ Training :
Additional Wi-Fi P2P Technology Capabilities

Power Management and Wi-Fi P2P Technology

Additional Wi-Fi P2P Technology Capabilities
Service Discovery

Concurrency

Managed P2P Devices

Additional Wi-Fi P2P Technology Considerations

Coexistence Considerations

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 162

Service Discovery (Optional)

Do you have Print capability?

I have print capability

Camera Printer

• Optional Service Discovery procedure enables advertisement of supported services by

higher layer applications (e.g., Bonjour, UPnP, Web Service Discovery) to other P2P
devices
– Frame exchange that can be performed at any time with any other discovered P2P Device
– Leverages Generic Advertisement Service (GAS) protocol/exchange from IEEE P802.11u

• Service Discovery can be used to ensure that two devices have compatible services
– Get list of all services offered by a P2P Device
– Get information about single or multiple services offered by a P2P Device
– Communicate an update to the services offered by a P2P Device

• The decision to perform Service Discovery is implementation-specific and beyond the

scope of the P2P spec

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 163

Service Discovery

• Service Discovery Query issued by requesting device

• Via Vendor-Specific content field of GAS Initial Request action frame

• Service Discovery Response issued by targeted device

• Via Vendor-Specific content field of GAS Initial Response action frame

• Service Update Indicator support required for all P2P Devices that support
Discovery
• Counter sent in each Service Discovery Query and Service Discovery Response frame
• Incremented every time a change occurs in the service information of the P2P Device sending the
frame
• Enables P2P Devices to cache service information of other P2P Devices
• Receipt of Updated Indicator prompts the receiving device to flush and rewrite the cached service
information for the sending device

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 164

Concurrency: P2P and WLAN (Optional)

• A P2P device that can operate concurrently with a WLAN (infrastructure

network) is considered a P2P Concurrent Device
– Example : Laptop participating as P2P Client and simultaneously using a wireless LAN
connection
• Single radio can manage multiple connections

• A P2P Group may operate in the same channel (and regulatory class) as a
concurrently operating WLAN BSS

Ch 6 (2.4GHz) Ch 36 (5GHz)

P2P Group P2P Concurrent Device WLAN AP

Owner

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 165

Managed P2P Device Capability (Optional)

• Intended to protect Enterprise deployments from accidental creation of security

risks by an unaware user of a P2P Device
• A WLAN AP may optionally manage P2P devices
– WLAN AP advertises P2P Management capability in Beacon, Probe Response and (Re)
Association Response frames

• A P2P device may optionally be a Managed P2P device

– P2P Device advertises P2P Management capability in Probe Request and (Re) Assoc
Request frames

• A P2P Device also reports its P2P Device address and P2P Interface addresses
to the WLAN AP at association to help with monitoring

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 166

Wi-Fi Direct™ Training :
Additional Wi-Fi P2P Technology Considerations

Power Management and Wi-Fi P2P Technology

Additional Wi-Fi P2P Technology Capabilities
Service Discovery

Concurrency

Managed P2P Devices

Additional Wi-Fi P2P Technology Considerations

Coexistence Considerations

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 167

Wi-Fi P2P WLAN Coexistence

WLAN_A P2P Client

WLAN_B

P2P Group P2P Client

Owner

P2P Client

• P2P Devices shall coexist well with nearby Wi-Fi networks, both legacy and P2P
– Follow standard W-Fi Alliance practices for protection of overlapping networks

• Primary and Secondary P2P Coexistence Parameters provided to assist with

fine tuning coexistence behaviors

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 168

Wi-Fi P2P Spectrum Coexistence in 5GHz

P2P Client
WLAN
AP

P2P Group
Owner P2P Client

P2P Client

• As with AP‟s, P2P Devices that may operate as P2P Group Owners in the 5GHz
band must be compliant with appropriate country regulations regarding
coexistence with radar systems
– Support for DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) may be required depending on
supported channels

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 169

Summary :
Minimum Requirements for Wi-Fi P2P Devices

• 2.4GHz, 802.11g support

• Device certified for WPA2, WMM and WPS
• Ability to connect to other P2P Devices
• Ability to function as a P2P Group Owner [for one (1) Client connection]
– NOT support P2P communication with 802.11b devices
– Support WMM AP functionality
– Support WMM-PS AP functionality
– Function as WPS internal registrar
– Form temporary P2P Groups
– Provide IP address (DHCP) to ONE P2P Client
– Support P2P Client Discovery
– Supply SSID and passphrase for manual configuration of legacy client

• Able to function as a P2P Client

– Join existing P2P Group
– Leave a P2P Group

Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 170

Summary :
Optional Capabilities for Wi-Fi P2P Devices

• 5GHz support
• P2P Group Owner Functionality
– Support multiple Client connections
– Concurrency
– Cross-Connection
– Data Distribution
– Form/re-invoke Persistent P2P Groups
• Support P2P Invitation Procedure
– Ability to remove/reject devices from P2P network
– Coexistence parameters
– IF 5GHz, support for DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection)

• Support of Service Discovery

• Ability to be a Managed P2P device
• Mechanism to switch P2P function on/off
• Mechanism to prioritize selection of P2P Group Owner or Client roles
Wi-Fi Alliance, April 2011 171