Chapter 4

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)

WLAN Overview
 Wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links
two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local
area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school,
computer laboratory, campus, or office building.
This gives users the ability to move around within the area and remain
connected to the network.
 WLAN is a local area network that uses radio communication to provide
mobility to the network users.
It uses 802.11 standard is defined as a wireless local area
network (WLAN) technology.

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WLANs typically use multiple 802.11 access points
connected by a wired network backbone.
In enterprise deployments, WLANs are used to provide
end users with access to network resources and network
services and a gateway to the Internet.
The standards of WLAN are Hiper LAN, Wi-Fi, and IEEE
802.11.
It offers service to the desktop laptop, mobile application
and all the devices works on the Internet.
WLAN is more vulnerable to being breached than a
physical network.
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wireless local-area network (WLAN) is a group of colocated
computers or other devices that form a network based on
radio transmissions rather than wired connections.
Wi-Fi standards are designed to allow a non-stationary user's
connection to jump from one access point to another, though
some users and applications may experience brief dropouts.
The most basic method of securing a WLAN is to use MAC
addresses to disallow unauthorized stations.
The most common security method for a WLAN is
encryption, including Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), with WPA2 as the standard
authentication method.
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 IEEE802.11 (WLAN) Standards
A number of standards have been developed to ensure that wireless
devices can communicate.
They specify the RF spectrum used, data rates, how the information
is transmitted, and more.
The main organization responsible for the creation of wireless
technical standards is the IEEE.
IEEE 802.11 is a family of WLAN standards which is used as
wireless communication medium between computers.
It operates at various RF frequency bands viz. 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz.
IEEE 802.11 standard, popularly known as WiFi, lays down the
architecture and specifications of wireless LANs (WLANs).
WiFi or WLAN uses high frequency radio waves for connecting the
nodes.
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There are four amendments to the IEEE 802.11 standard
that describe different characteristics for wireless
communications.
The currently available amendments are 802.11a, 802.11b,
802.11g and 802.11n
Another organization, known as the Wi-Fi Alliance, is
responsible for testing wireless LAN devices from
different manufacturers.
The Wi-Fi logo on a device means that this equipment
meets standards and should interoperate with other
devices of the same standard

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802.11a:
 Uses 5 GHz RF spectrum
Not compatible with 2.4 GHz spectrum, i.e. 802.11b/g/n
devices
Range is approximately 33% that of the 802.11 b/g
Supports data rates of 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps
Relatively expensive to implement compared to other
technologies.
 Increasingly difficult to find 802.11a compliant equipment
 Has 12 to 23 clean channels depending on the country

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802.11b:
Operate on 2.4GHz to 2.4835GHz radio band
Supports data rates of 1, 2, 5.5, and 11 Mbps.
 Range of approximately 46 m (150 ft) indoors/96 m
(300 ft.) outdoors
802.11g:
2.4 GHz technologies
 Maximum data-rate increase to 54 Mbps
Same range as the 802.11b
 Backward compatible with 802.11b

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802.11n:
uses multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology
2.4 GHz technologies (draft standard specifies support for 5
GHz)
Extends the range and data throughput because it uses
multiple receiving & transmitting antenna
 Backward compatible with existing 802.11g and 802.11b
equipment (draft standard specifies support for 802.11a)

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 HiperLAN
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute,
HiperLAN is a set of WLAN communication standards used
chiefly in European countries.
HiperLAN is similar to the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards
used in the U.S. HiperLAN/1: provides communications at
up to 23.5 Mbps in the 5 GHz band.
HIPERLAN stands for high performance local area network.
It is a wireless standard derived from traditional LAN
environments and can support multimedia and asynchronous
data effectively at high data rates of 23.5 Mbps.
 (HIPERLAN) is an alternative wireless LAN standard to the
IEEE 802.11.
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HIPERLAN emerged in 1991 with the goal of achieving
higher data rates than the 802.11 standard.
Components of a HIPERLAN include:
Physical Layer: This layer provides the standard functions,
including radio frequency functions.
Link Adaptation: This standard allows the access point to
convey information in an uplink or downlink direction. The
HIPERLAN physical layer also specifies some link adaptation
algorithms to be used.
Data Link Control (DLC) Layer: This layer includes the Media
Acces Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), Dynamic
Frequency Selection (DFS) and Error Control (EC) protocols.
Convergence Layer: Its basic function is to provide the
HIPERLAN DLC and physical access to other data networks.
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HIPERLAN uses cellular-based data networks to connect to
an ATM backbone.
The main idea behind HIPERLAN is to provide an
infrastructure or ad-hoc wireless with low mobility and a
small radius. HIPERLAN supports isochronous traffic with
low latency.
The HiperLAN standard family has four different versions.
The key feature of all four networks is their integration of
time-sensitive data transfer services.
Over time, names have changed and the former HIPERLANs
2,3, 1nd 4 are now called HiperLAN2, HIPERACCESS,
and HIPERLINK.

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 WPAN Overview
WPAN is PAN (Personal Area Network) where the
interconnected devices are centered around a person’s
workspace and connected through wireless medium.
it is also called as Person’s centered short range wireless
connectivity.
The range is within about 10 meters means very short range.
WPAN provides power efficient and inexpensive solutions to
be implemented for a wide range of devices within a short
range distance.
WPAN mostly the connection between the devices happens
within the building or in a room (short range).

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Some examples of WPAN includes Wireless mouse,
Wearable devices, USB flash drives, Digital cameras,
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Thermostats, Security systems, Lighting
controls, Motion sensors, Personal server and Leak sensors
etc.
Wireless Personal Area Network is classified into 3 classes
i.e
High-rate WPAN (HR-WPAN) : It is defined in the IEEE
802.15.3 standard. Data throughput is > 20 Mbps.
Medium-rate WPAN (MR-WPAN) : It is defined in the IEEE
802.15.1 standard. Data throughput is 1 Mbp.
Low-rate WPAN (LR-WPAN) : It is defined in the IEEE
802.15.4 standard. Data throughput is < 0.25 Mbps.
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 Applications of WPAN :
 Short range connectivity for multimedia applications
 Hands free devices connection
 Industrial sensor applications
 Technologies used in WPAN :
 Bluetooth
 Infrared
 Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN)
 Advantages of WPAN :
 Security
 Portability
 Easy Connectivity
 Stability
 Disadvantages of WPAN :
 Short range
 Transfer speed
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 IEEE 802.15 (WPAN) Standards
IEEE 802.15 is a working group of the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802 standards
committee which specifies wireless personal area
network (WPAN) standards.
Based on the Bluetooth specification, is now an IEEE
standard under the denomination of 802.15 WPANs.
focuses on the development of consensus standards for
personal area networks or short distance wireless networks.
These WPANs address wireless networking of portable and
mobile computing devices such as PCs, PDAs, peripherals,
cell phones, pagers, and consumer electronics, allowing these
devices to communicate and interoperate with one another.

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It is the working group of institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineering.
It stands for the committees that mainly indicates wireless
personal area networks.
There are seven task groups. They are:-
TASK GROUP 1: WPAN/BLUETOOTH:-
It gives the definition of physical layer and media access
control specification so it can specify wireless connectivity
with fixed portable and moving devices.
TASK GROUP 2: COEXISTENCE:-
It was published in 2003 and then at that time this group went
into hibernation.
It shows the coexistence of WPAN with other wireless devices.

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 TASK GROUP 3: HIGH RATE WPAN:-
– It provides a higher speed UWBPHY enhancement amendment for
the image and multimedia purposes.
– WPAN allows close physical spacing with all other microwave
systems in the 802.15 Family of WPAN.
 TASK GROUP 4: LOW RATE WPAN:-
-It deals with low data rate but long battery life and very low
complexity.
– Many standardized and propietary networks depend on this network.
 TASK GROUP 5: MESH NETWORKING:-
– It is composed of two parts:-
(i) HIGH RATE WPAN MESH
(ii) LOW RATE WPAN MESH
– It gives the architectural framework that enables WPAN device to
promote stable and scalable mesh networking.

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TASK GROUP 6: BODY AREA NETWORK:-
It was formed in November 2007 to highlight a low power
and short range wireless standard.
TASK GROUP 7: VISIBILITY OF LIGHT
COMMUNICATION:-
It was formed in January 2009 and was charted to write
standards for free space optical communication with the help
of visibility of light.

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 Wireless Sensor Networks and Zigbees
Sensing is a technique used to gather information about a
physical object or process, including the occurrence of events
(i.e., changes in state such as a drop in temperature or pressure)
– An object performing such a sensing task is called a sensor
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) refer to networks of
spatially dispersed and dedicated sensors that monitor and
record the physical conditions of the environment and forward
the collected data to a central location.
WSNs can measure environmental conditions such as
temperature, sound, pollution levels, humidity and wind.
Is a network of devices that can communicate the information
gathered from a monitored field through wireless links.
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 The two most important operations in WSN are:
Data Dissemination – the propagation of data/queries
throughout the network
Data Gathering - the collection of observed data from the
individual sensor nodes to a sink node
 The main characteristics of a WSN include
• Power consumption constraints for nodes using batteries or
energy harvesting.
• Ability to cope with node failures (resilience)
• Some mobility of nodes (for highly mobile nodes see
MWSNs)

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 Types of WSN
WSNs in general can be classified as
Static and Mobile
Static- all the sensor nodes are fixed
Mobile- sensor nodes are movable
example –animal monitoring
Deterministic or non-deterministic
Deterministic - the position of a sensor node is
calculated and fixed
Non Deterministic – determining the position of a
sensor node is not possible

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Single Base Station and Multi Base Station
In a single BS WSN – there is one base station
close to the sensor nodes where as in multi-BS
WSN there are more BSs around so that the
sensor nodes can transfer data to the closest BS
Static Base Station and Mobile Base Station
A static BS has a fixed position usually close to
the sensing region but mobile BS moves around
the sensing region so that the load of the sensor
nodes is balanced
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Zigbee is a low-cost [citation needed], low-power,
wireless mesh network standard targeted at battery-
powered devices in wireless control and monitoring
applications.
Zigbee delivers low-latency communication.
Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a
suite of high-level communication protocols used to
create personal area networks with small, low-power
digital radios, such as for home automation, medical
device data collection, and other low-power low-
bandwidth needs, designed for small scale projects which
need wireless connection

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 Applications of Sensor Network
Sensor nodes are used in a variety of applications that
require constant monitoring and detection of specific
events
Military Applications
Environmental Applications – includes forest fire and flood
detection and habitat exploration of animals.
Healthcare Application
Smart home
Commercial Application at home and industries
Air Traffic Control,
Automotive Sensors

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 h a n k s
T r
f o r Y o u
t i o n ! !
At t e n
!

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