ABSTRACT

The IEEE 802.11 working group published the 802.11 standard for wireless LANs
in 1999. 802.11b is a supplement to 802.11 that specifies a higher data rate and is
currently the industry-accepted standard for WLANs. 802.11b products that meet
a base standard of interoperability are certified by the Wireless Ethernet
Compatibility Alliance (WECA) with the Wi-Fi logo. Several IEEE 802.11
working groups are creating standards for improvements in data rates, quality of
service, and security.
Wi-Fi is not a fully wireless LAN. It is an extension to the existing wired
network. By using device called Access Point (AP) wireless nodes can be
connected to the wired network. Otherwise wireless nodes has to be connected in
AdHoc style. Its typical coverage area is 100 to 500 feet.
Wireless LANs give the enterprise more mobility and flexibility by allowing
workers to stay connected to the Internet and to the network as they roam from
one coverage area to another. This increases efficiency by allowing data to be
entered and accessed on site.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
In September of 1999, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic engineers (IEEE)
ratified the specification for IEEE 802.11b, also known as Wi-Fi. IEEE 802.11b
defines the physical layer and media access control (MAC) sublayer for
communications across a shared, wireless local area network (WLAN).
At the physical layer, IEEE 802.11b operates at the radio frequency of
2.45-gigahertz (GHz) with a maximum bit rate of 11 Mbps. It uses the direct
sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) transmission technique. At the MAC sublayer
of the Data Link layer, 802.11b uses the carrier sense multiple access with
collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) media access control (MAC) protocol [1].
A wireless station with a frame to transmit first listens on the wireless
medium to determine if another station is currently transmitting (this is the carrier
sense portion of CSMA/CA). If the medium is being used, the wireless station
calculates a random backoff delay. Only after the random backoff delay elapses
can the wireless station again listen for a transmitting station. By instituting a
random backoff delay, multiple stations that are waiting to transmit do not end up
trying to transmit at the same time (this is the collision avoidance portion of
CSMA/CA) [1].
Collisions can occur and, unlike with Ethernet, they might not be detected
by the transmitting nodes. Therefore, 802.11b uses a Request to Send (RTS)/Clear
to Send (CTS) protocol with an Acknowledgment (ACK) signal to ensure that a
frame is successfully transmitted and received.

CHAPTER 2

WIRELESS NETWORKING COMPONENTS

Wi-Fi wireless networking consists of the following components:
1. Stations
2. Wireless Access Points
3. Ports

2.1 STATIONS (STA)

A station (STA) is a network node that is equipped with a wireless network
device. A personal computer with a wireless network adapter is known as a
wireless client. Wireless clients can communicate directly with each other or
through a wireless access point (AP). Wireless clients are mobile.

2.2 WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS (AP)

A wireless AP is a wireless network node that acts as a bridge between stations
and a wired network. A wireless AP contains:
1. At least one interface that connects the wireless AP to an existing wired
network (such as an Ethernet backbone).
2. A wireless network device with which it creates wireless connections with
stations.
3. IEEE 802.1D bridging software, so that it can act as a transparent bridge
between the wireless and wired networks.
The wireless AP is similar to a cellular phone network's base station.
Wireless clients communicate with both the wired network and other wireless

clients through the wireless AP. Wireless APs are not mobile and act as peripheral
bridge devices that extend a wired network.

2.3 PORTS
A port is a channel of a device that can support a single point-to-point connection.
For IEEE 802.11b, a port is an association, a logical entity over which a single
wireless connection is made. A typical wireless client with a single wireless
network adapter has one port and can support only one wireless connection [1]. A
typical wireless AP has multiple ports and can simultaneously support multiple
wireless connections. The logical connection between a port on the wireless client
and the port on a wireless AP is a point-to-point bridged LAN segment similar to
an Ethernet-based network client that is connected to an Ethernet switch.
Fig 2.1 shows typical Wi-Fi Network with stations & APs

Fig 2.1 Typical Wi-Fi Network with Stations & APs

CHAPTER 3

Wi-Fi OPERATING MODES

IEEE 802.11 defines two operating modes:
1. AdHoc mode
2. Infrastructure mode.

3.1 AdHoc Mode

In AdHoc mode (Fig 2.1), also known as peer-to-peer mode, wireless clients
communicate directly with each other (without the use of a wireless AP). Two or
more wireless clients who communicate using ad hoc mode form an Independent
Basic Service Set (IBSS). Ad hoc mode is used to connect wireless clients when a
wireless AP is not present. The wireless cards must be set to 'AdHoc' mode
instead of 'Infrastructure' mode.

Fig 3.1 AdHoc Mode

3.2 Infrastructure Mode

In Infrastructure mode (Fig 3.2), there is at least one wireless AP and one wireless
client. The wireless client uses the wireless AP to access the resources of a wired
network. The wired network can be an organization Intranet or the Internet,
depending on the placement of the wireless AP.

Fig 3.2 Infrastructure Mode

A single wireless AP that supports one or multiple wireless clients is known as a

Basic Service Set (BSS). A set of two or more wireless APs that are connected to
the same wired network is known as an Extended Service Set (ESS). An ESS is a
single logical network segment (also known as a subnet), and is identified by its
Service Set Identifier (SSID) [2]. If the available physical areas of the wireless
APs in an ESS overlap, then a wireless client can roam, or move from one
location (with a wireless AP) to another (with a different wireless AP) while
maintaining Network layer connectivity.

The Fig 3.3 shows a typical 802.11b LAN, with the components described
previously.

Fig 3.3 Wi-Fi LAN with typical components

CHAPTER 4

HOW IT WORKS?
When a wireless adapter is turned on, it begins to scan across the wireless
frequencies for wireless APs and other wireless clients in AdHoc mode. Assuming
that the wireless client is configured to operate in infrastructure mode, the wireless
adapter chooses a wireless AP with which to connect. This selection is made
automatically by using an SSID and signal strength and frame error rate
information. Next, the wireless adapter switches to the assigned channel of the
selected wireless AP and negotiates the use of a port. This is known as establishing
an association.
If the signal strength of the wireless AP is too low, the error rate too high,
or if instructed by the operating system (in the case of Windows XP), the wireless
adapter scans for other wireless APs to determine whether a different wireless AP
can provide a stronger signal or lower error rate. If such a wireless AP is located,
the wireless adapter switches to the channel of that wireless AP and negotiates the
use of a port. This is known as Reassociation [1].
Reassociation with a different wireless AP can occur for several reasons.
The signal can weaken as either the wireless adapter moves away from the
wireless AP or the wireless AP becomes congested with too much traffic or
interference. By switching to another wireless AP, the wireless adapter can
distribute the load to other wireless APs, increasing the performance for other
wireless clients. You can achieve contiguous coverage over large areas by placing
your wireless APs so that their signal areas overlap slightly. As a wireless client
roams across different signal areas, it can associate and reassociate from one
wireless AP to another, maintaining a continuous logical connection to the wired

network. It communicates with the AP using Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

(DSSS) technique.

CHAPTER 5

DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM

5.1 What is Spread Spectrum?
Quite simply, spread spectrum is a coding technique for digital transmission. It
was originally developed for the military under a veil of secrecy. The purpose of
coding is to transform an information signal so that it looks more like noise.
Noise has a flat uniform spectrum with no coherent peaks and can be reduced or
eliminated by filtering. The spread spectrum coding technique modifies the signal
spectrum to spread it out and increase its bandwidth. The new "spread" signal has
a lower power density, but the same total power.
The expanded transmitter bandwidth minimizes interference to others
because of its low power density. In the receiver, the incoming signal is decoded,
and the decoding operation provides resistance to interference and multipath
fading. Usually, spread spectrum is implemented for two processes:
1. Frequency Hopping
2. Direct sequence.

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5.1.1 Frequency Hopping

When applying Frequency Hopping, the carrier frequency is 'hopping' according
to a unique sequence (an FH-sequence of length ). In this way the bandwidth is
increased by a factor (if the channels are non-overlapping). The process of
frequency hopping is illustrated in fig 5.1. A disadvantage of Frequency-Hopping
as opposed to Direct-Sequence is that obtaining a high processing-gain is hard.
There is need for a frequency-synthesizer able perform fast-hopping over the
carrier-frequencies. The faster the ``hopping-rate'' is, the higher the processing
gain.

Fig 5.1 Illustration of the frequency hopping concept

On the other hand, Frequency-Hopping is less effected by the Near-Far
effect than Direct-Sequence. Frequency-Hopping sequences have only a limited
number of ``hits'' with each other. This means that if a near-interferer is present,
only a number of ``frequency-hops'' will be blocked in stead of the whole signal.
From the ``hops'' that are not blocked it should be possible to recover the original
data-message.

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5.1.2 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

In direct sequence systems, the carrier phase of the transmitter abruptly changes
in accordance with a pseudo-random code sequence. This process is generally
achieved by multiplying the digital information signal with a spreading code, also
known as a chip sequence. The chip sequence has a much faster data rate than the
information signal and so expands or spreads the signal bandwidth beyond the
original bandwidth occupied by just the information signal [1]. The term chips are
used to distinguish the shorter coded bits from the longer uncoded bits of the
information signal. Fig 5.2 illustrates the DSSS process.

Fig 5.2 Illustration of DSSS

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At the receiver, the information signal is recovered by remultiplying with a

locally generated replica of the spreading code. The multiplication process can be
accomplished by an Exclusive-OR gate, and in the receiver effectively
compresses the spread signal back to its original unspread bandwidth.
The amount of spreading, for direct sequence, is dependent on the ratio of
"chips per bit". Also, the same chip sequence must be used in the receiver as in
the transmitter to recover the information.
Interfering signals are reduced by the process gain of the receiver. They are
spread beyond the desired information bandwidth by the second multiplication
process (in the receiver) and then removed by filtering

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CHAPTER 6

Wi-Fi SECURITY
Inherent in the nature of wireless networks, securing physical access to the
network is difficult. Because a physical port is not required, anyone within range
of a wireless AP can send and receive frames, as well as listen for other frames
being sent. Without WEP, eavesdropping and remote packet sniffing would be
very easy. WEP is defined by the IEEE 802.11 standard and is intended to provide
the level of data confidentiality that is equivalent to a wired network [1].
The IEEE 802.11 standard defines the following mechanisms for wireless
security:
1. Open System Authentication
2. Shared Key authentication
3. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

6.1 Open System Authentication

Open system authentication does not provide authentication, only identification
using the wireless adapter's MAC address. Open system authentication is used
when no authentication is required. Some wireless APs allow the configuration of
the MAC addresses of allowed wireless clients. However, this is not secure
because the MAC address of a wireless client can be spoofed.

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6.2 Shared Key Authentication

Shared key authentication verifies that an authenticating wireless client has
knowledge of a shared secret. This is similar to preshared key authentication in
Internet Protocol security (IPsec). The 802.11 standard currently assumes that the
shared key is delivered to participating STAs through a secure channel that is
independent of IEEE 802.11. In practice, this secret is manually configured for
both the wireless AP and client. Because the shared key authentication secret
must be distributed manually, this method of authentication does not scale to a
large infrastructure mode network (for example, corporate campuses and public
places, such as malls and airports). Additionally, shared key authentication is not
secure and is not recommended for use.
The 802.1X standard for Open System and Shared key authentication is
based on Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). Open System and Shared key
Authentication process are as shown in fig 6.1

Fig 6.1 Open System and Shared key Authentication

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A general procedure for authentication is as follows:

1. When client attempts to connect to access point, EAP handshake process
begins.
2. Access point establishes port for EAP-only traffic and asks client for identity.
3. Client responds.
4. Access point requests authentication from server.
5. If client is authenticated, access point will accept traffic.

6.3 Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

WEP provides data confidentiality services by encrypting the data sent between
wireless nodes. WEP encryption uses the RC4 symmetrical stream cipher with
either a 40-bit or 104-bit encryption key. WEP provides data integrity from
random errors by including an integrity check value (ICV) in the encrypted
portion of the wireless frame.
However, one significant problem remains with WEP. The determination
and distribution of WEP keys are not defined and must be distributed through a
secure channel that is independent of 802.11. In practice, this is a text string that
must be manually configured (using a keyboard) for both the wireless AP and
wireless clients [1]. Obviously, this key distribution system does not scale well to
an enterprise organization.
Additionally, there is no defined mechanism to change the WEP key
either per authentication or at periodic intervals over the duration of an
authenticated connection. All wireless APs and clients use the same manually
configured WEP key for multiple connections and authentications. With multiple
wireless clients sending large amounts of data, it is possible for a malicious user

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to remotely capture large amounts of WEP cipher text and use cryptanalysis
methods to determine the WEP key.
The lack of WEP key management, to both automatically determine a WEP
key and change it frequently, is a principal limitation of 802.11 security,
especially with a large number of wireless clients in infrastructure mode. The lack
of automated authentication and key determination services also effects operation
in AdHoc mode, where users might want to engage in peer-to-peer collaborative
communication (for example, in areas such as conference rooms).

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CHAPTER 7

ADVANTAGES AND OBSTACLES TO Wi-Fi

7.1 Advantages of Wi-Fi
1. No cables
As Wi-Fi is a wireless standard, no cables are required to connect two network
nodes. And as no cables are needed maintenance cost is reduced.
2. Typical area of coverage 100 to 500 feet
Typical area of coverage of Wi-Fi equipment is 100 to 500 feet which is enough
for a single large complex.
3. Very high speed wireless internet connections
If one connects APs to internet through DSL modem, the wirelss clients can
access high speed internet connection. 802.11b downloads at 11Mbps, or 200 x
faster than dial-up modems

7.2 Obstacles to Wi-Fi

1. Security
Though WEP is very good for wireless security. Unfortunately it is broken by the
hackers now & is now no longer safe security system. Some solutions are
provided by the IEEE for WEP.
2. Deployment Cost
As Wi-Fi network increases deployment cost also increases.
3. Capacity
Large Enterprise & service provider scenarios require higher capacity system.
Wi-Fi does not provide that much faster wireless access.

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CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSION
Wireless networks can make work easier and make life more fun, today wi-fi is
the good solution for wireless network. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology like a cell
phone. Wi-Fi enabled computers send and receive data indoors and out; anywhere
within the range of a base station. And the best thing of all, it's fast. In fact, it's
several times faster than the fastest cable modem connection.
Wireless LANs give the enterprise more mobility and flexibility by
allowing workers to stay connected to the Internet and to the network as they
roam from one coverage area to another. This increases efficiency by allowing
data to be entered and accessed on site.
Also it costs far less to deploy a wireless LAN than to deploy a wired
version. The saving isnt just in the falling cost of wireless components; its in the
installation of the infrastructure as well. A major cost of installing and modifying
a wired network is the expense to run network and power cables, all in
accordance with local building codes. For this reason, WLANs are being installed
even when the network is comprised only of non-roaming desktops. Wi-Fi has
become the standard wireless Ethernet networking technology for both business
and home.

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Bibliography
[1] Sultan Weatherspoon, Overview of IEEE 802.11b Security, Intel
Technology Journal Q2, 2000
[2] Martin Heusse, Franck Rousseau, Gilles Berger-Sabbatel, Andrezej Duda,
Performance Anomaly of 802.11b, proceeding of IEEE INFOCOM 2003,
PP 0-7803-7753-2/03.

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