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WiFi

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Contents
Articles
IEEE 802.11 Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing ISM band U-NII Service set (802.11 network) Frame check sequence Wireless network interface controller Wi-Fi Protected Access RADIUS Spectral efficiency Throughput Bandwidth (signal processing) Channel (communications) Data link 1 11 26 29 31 33 34 36 41 51 55 60 63 67

References
Article Sources and Contributors Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 69 71

Article Licenses
License 72

IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee (IEEE 802). The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent amendments. These standards provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand.

General description
The 802.11 family consists of a series of over-the-air modulation techniques that use the same basic protocol. The most popular are those defined by the 802.11b and 802.11g protocols, which are amendments to the original standard. 802.11-1997 was the first wireless networking standard, but 802.11b was the first widely accepted one, followed by 802.11g and 802.11n. 802.11n is a new multi-streaming modulation technique. Other standards in the family (cf, h, j) are service amendments and extensions or corrections to the previous specifications.

The Linksys WRT54G contains an 802.11b/g radio with two antennas

802.11b and 802.11g use the 2.4 GHz ISM band, operating in the United States under Part 15 of the US Federal Communications Commission Rules and Regulations. Because of this choice of frequency band, 802.11b and g equipment may occasionally suffer interference from microwave ovens, cordless telephones and Bluetooth devices. 802.11b and 802.11g control their interference and susceptibility to interference by using direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signaling methods, respectively. 802.11a uses the 5 GHz U-NII band, which, for much of the world, offers at least 23 non-overlapping channels rather than the 2.4GHz ISM frequency band, where adjacent channels overlap.[1] Better or worse performance with higher or lower frequencies (channels) may be realized, depending on the environment. The segment of the radio frequency spectrum used by 802.11 varies between countries. In the US, 802.11a and 802.11g devices may be operated without a license, as allowed in Part 15 of the FCC Rules and Regulations. Frequencies used by channels one through six of 802.11b and 802.11g fall within the 2.4GHz amateur radio band. Licensed amateur radio operators may operate 802.11b/g devices under Part 97 of the FCC Rules and Regulations, allowing increased power output but not commercial content or encryption.[2]

History
802.11 technology has its origins in a 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that released the ISM band for unlicensed use.[3][4] In 1991 NCR Corporation/AT&T (now Alcatel-Lucent and LSI Corporation) invented the precursor to 802.11 in Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. The inventors initially intended to use the technology for cashier systems; the first wireless products were brought on the market under the name WaveLAN with raw data rates of 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s. Vic Hayes, who held the chair of IEEE 802.11 for 10 years and has been called the "father of Wi-Fi" was involved in designing the initial 802.11b and 802.11a standards within the IEEE. In 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance was formed as a trade association to hold the Wi-Fi trademark under which most products are sold.[5]

IEEE 802.11

Protocols
802.11 network standards
802.11 protocol Release [6] Freq. Bandwidth (GHz) (MHz) Data rate per stream [7] (Mbit/s) 1, 2 Allowable MIMO streams 1 Modulation Approximate indoor range (m) DSSS, FHSS 20 (ft) unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' Approximate outdoor range (m) 100 (ft) unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong'[A] unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: [8] u'strong' unknown operator: [8] u'strong'

Jun 1997

2.4

20

Sep 1999

20

6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54

OFDM

35

120

3.7[A]

5000

Sep 1999

2.4

20

1, 2, 5.5, 11

DSSS

35

unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong'

140

Jun 2003

2.4

20

6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54

OFDM, DSSS

38

140

Oct 2009

2.4/5

20

7.2, 14.4, 21.7, 28.9, 43.3, 57.8, 65, 72.2[B] 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 135, 150[B]

OFDM

70

250

40

70

250

ac Nov. 2011 (DRAFT)

80 160

433, 867 867, 1.73 Gbit/s, 3.47 Gbit/s, 6.93 Gbit/s

IEEE 802.11y-2008 extended operation of 802.11a to the licensed 3.7GHz band. Increased power limits allow a range up to 5,000m. As of 2009, it is only being licensed in the United States by the FCC. B1B2 Assumes short guard interval (SGI) enabled, otherwise reduce each data rate by 10%.

A1 A2

802.11-1997 (802.11 legacy)


The original version of the standard IEEE 802.11 was released in 1997 and clarified in 1999, but is today obsolete. It specified two net bit rates of 1 or 2 megabits per second (Mbit/s), plus forward error correction code. It specified three alternative physical layer technologies: diffuse infrared operating at 1 Mbit/s; frequency-hopping spread spectrum operating at 1 Mbit/s or 2 Mbit/s; and direct-sequence spread spectrum operating at 1 Mbit/s or 2 Mbit/s. The latter two radio technologies used microwave transmission over the Industrial Scientific Medical frequency band at 2.4GHz. Some earlier WLAN technologies used lower frequencies, such as the U.S. 900MHz ISM band. Legacy 802.11 with direct-sequence spread spectrum was rapidly supplanted and popularized by 802.11b.

IEEE 802.11

802.11a
The 802.11a standard uses the same data link layer protocol and frame format as the original standard, but an OFDM based air interface (physical layer). It operates in the 5GHz band with a maximum net data rate of 54 Mbit/s, plus error correction code, which yields realistic net achievable throughput in the mid-20 Mbit/s [9] Since the 2.4GHz band is heavily used to the point of being crowded, using the relatively unused 5GHz band gives 802.11a a significant advantage. However, this high carrier frequency also brings a disadvantage: the effective overall range of 802.11a is less than that of 802.11b/g. In theory, 802.11a signals are absorbed more readily by walls and other solid objects in their path due to their smaller wavelength and, as a result, cannot penetrate as far as those of 802.11b. In practice, 802.11b typically has a higher range at low speeds (802.11b will reduce speed to 5 Mbit/s or even 1 Mbit/s at low signal strengths). 802.11a also suffers from interference,[10] but locally there may be fewer signals to interfere with, resulting in less interference and better throughput.

802.11b
802.11b has a maximum raw data rate of 11 Mbit/s and uses the same media access method defined in the original standard. 802.11b products appeared on the market in early 2000, since 802.11b is a direct extension of the modulation technique defined in the original standard. The dramatic increase in throughput of 802.11b (compared to the original standard) along with simultaneous substantial price reductions led to the rapid acceptance of 802.11b as the definitive wireless LAN technology. 802.11b devices suffer interference from other products operating in the 2.4GHz band. Devices operating in the 2.4GHz range include: microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, baby monitors, and cordless telephones.

802.11g
In June 2003, a third modulation standard was ratified: 802.11g. This works in the 2.4GHz band (like 802.11b), but uses the same OFDM based transmission scheme as 802.11a. It operates at a maximum physical layer bit rate of 54 Mbit/s exclusive of forward error correction codes, or about 22 Mbit/s average throughput.[11] 802.11g hardware is fully backward compatible with 802.11b hardware and therefore is encumbered with legacy issues that reduce throughput when compared to 802.11a by ~21%. The then-proposed 802.11g standard was rapidly adopted by consumers starting in January 2003, well before ratification, due to the desire for higher data rates as well as to reductions in manufacturing costs. By summer 2003, most dual-band 802.11a/b products became dual-band/tri-mode, supporting a and b/g in a single mobile adapter card or access point. Details of making b and g work well together occupied much of the lingering technical process; in an 802.11g network, however, activity of an 802.11b participant will reduce the data rate of the overall 802.11g network. Like 802.11b, 802.11g devices suffer interference from other products operating in the 2.4GHz band, for example wireless keyboards.

IEEE 802.11

802.11-2007
In 2003, task group TGma was authorized to "roll up" many of the amendments to the 1999 version of the 802.11 standard. REVma or 802.11ma, as it was called, created a single document that merged 8 amendments (802.11a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j) with the base standard. Upon approval on March 8, 2007, 802.11REVma was renamed to the then-current base standard IEEE 802.11-2007.[12]

802.11n
802.11n is an amendment which improves upon the previous 802.11 standards by adding multiple-input multiple-output antennas (MIMO). 802.11n operates on both the 2.4GHz and the lesser used 5GHz bands. The IEEE has approved the amendment and it was published in October 2009.[13][12] Prior to the final ratification, enterprises were already migrating to 802.11n networks based on the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification of products conforming to a 2007 draft of the 802.11n proposal.

802.11-2012
In 2007, task group TGmb was authorized to "roll up" many of the amendments to the 2007 version of the 802.11 standard. REVmb or 802.11mb, as it was called, created a single document that merged ten amendments (802.11k, r, y, n, w, p, z, v, u, s) with the 2007 base standard. In addition much cleanup was done, including a reordering of many of the clauses. Upon publication on March 29, 2012, the new standard was referred to as IEEE 802.11-2012.

802.11ac
IEEE 802.11ac is a standard under development which will provide high throughput in the 5GHz band. This specification will enable multi-station WLAN throughput of at least 1 gigabits per second and a maximum single link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second, by using wider RF bandwidth (80 or 160 MHz), more streams (up to 8), and high-density modulation (up to 256 QAM).

Channels and international compatibility

Graphical representation of Wi-Fi channels in the 2.4 GHz band

802.11 divides each of the above-described bands into channels, analogous to the way radio and TV broadcast bands are sub-divided. For example the 2.40002.4835GHz band is divided into 13 channels spaced 5MHz apart, with channel 1 centered on 2.412GHz and 13 on 2.472GHz (to which Japan added a 14th channel 12MHz above channel 13 which was only allowed for 802.11b). 802.11b was based on DSSS with a total channel width of 22MHz and did not have steep skirts. Consequently only three channels do not overlap. Even now, many devices are shipped with channels 1, 6 and 11 as preset options even though with the newer 802.11g standard there are four non-overlapping channels - 1, 5, 9 and 13. There are now four because the OFDM modulated 802.11g channels are 20MHz wide.

IEEE 802.11

Availability of channels is regulated by country, constrained in part by how each country allocates radio spectrum to various services. At one extreme, Japan permits the use of all 14 channels for 802.11b, while other countries such as Spain initially allowed only channels 10 and 11, and France only allowed 10, 11, 12 and 13. They now allow channels 1 through 13.[14][15] North America and some Central and South American countries allow only 1 through 11. In addition to specifying the channel centre frequency, 802.11 also specifies (in Clause 17) a spectral mask defining the permitted power distribution across each channel. The mask requires the signal be attenuated a minimum of 30dB from its peak amplitude at 11MHz from the centre frequency, the point at which a channel is effectively 22MHz wide. One consequence is that stations can only use every fourth or fifth channel without overlap, typically 1, 6 and 11 in the Americas, and in theory, 1, 5, 9 and 13 in Europe although 1, 6, and 11 is typical there too. Another is that channels 113 effectively require the band 2.4012.483GHz, the actual allocations being, for example, 2.4002.4835GHz in the UK, 2.4022.4735GHz in the US, etc.

Spectral masks for 802.11g channels 114 in the 2.4 GHz band

Since the spectral mask only defines power output restrictions up to 11MHz from the center frequency to be attenuated by 50dBr, it is often assumed that the energy of the channel extends no further than these limits. It is more correct to say that, given the separation between channels 1, 6, and 11, the signal on any channel should be sufficiently attenuated to minimally interfere with a transmitter on any other channel. Due to the near-far problem a transmitter can impact (desense) a receiver on a "non-overlapping" channel, but only if it is close to the victim receiver (within a meter) or operating above allowed power levels. Although the statement that channels 1, 6, and 11 are "non-overlapping" is limited to spacing or product density, the 1611 guideline has merit. If transmitters are closer together than channels 1, 6, and 11 (for example, 1, 4, 7, and 10), overlap between the channels may cause unacceptable degradation of signal quality and throughput.[16] However, overlapping channels may be used under certain circumstances. This way, more channels are available.[17] A regdomain in IEEE 802.11 is a regulatory region. Different countries define different levels of allowable transmitter power, time that a channel can be occupied, and different available channels.[18] Domain codes are specified for the United States, Canada, ETSI (Europe), Spain, France, Japan, and China. Most wifi devices default to regdomain 0, which means least common denominator settings, i.e. the device will not transmit at a power above the allowable power in any nation, nor will it use frequencies that are not permitted in any nation. The regdomain setting is often made difficult or impossible to change so that the end users do not conflict with local regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission.

IEEE 802.11

Frames
Current 802.11 standards define "frame" types for use in transmission of data as well as management and control of wireless links. Frames are divided into very specific and standardized sections. Each frame consists of a MAC header, payload and frame check sequence (FCS). Some frames may not have the payload. The first two bytes of the MAC header form a frame control field specifying the form and function of the frame. The frame control field is further subdivided into the following sub-fields: Protocol Version: two bits representing the protocol version. Currently used protocol version is zero. Other values are reserved for future use. Type: two bits identifying the type of WLAN frame. Control, Data and Management are various frame types defined in IEEE 802.11. Sub Type: Four bits providing addition discrimination between frames. Type and Sub type together to identify the exact frame. ToDS and FromDS: Each is one bit in size. They indicate whether a data frame is headed for a distribution system. Control and management frames set these values to zero. All the data frames will have one of these bits set. However communication within an IBSS network always set these bits to zero. More Fragments: The More Fragments bit is set when a packet is divided into multiple frames for transmission. Every frame except the last frame of a packet will have this bit set. Retry: Sometimes frames require retransmission, and for this there is a Retry bit which is set to one when a frame is resent. This aids in the elimination of duplicate frames. Power Management: This bit indicates the power management state of the sender after the completion of a frame exchange. Access points are required to manage the connection and will never set the power saver bit. More Data: The More Data bit is used to buffer frames received in a distributed system. The access point uses this bit to facilitate stations in power saver mode. It indicates that at least one frame is available and addresses all stations connected. WEP: The WEP bit is modified after processing a frame. It is toggled to one after a frame has been decrypted or if no encryption is set it will have already been one. Order: This bit is only set when the "strict ordering" delivery method is employed. Frames and fragments are not always sent in order as it causes a transmission performance penalty. The next two bytes are reserved for the Duration ID field. This field can take one of three forms: Duration, Contention-Free Period (CFP), and Association ID (AID). An 802.11 frame can have up to four address fields. Each field can carry a MAC address. Address 1 is the receiver, Address 2 is the transmitter, Address 3 is used for filtering purposes by the receiver. The Sequence Control field is a two-byte section used for identifying message order as well as eliminating duplicate frames. The first 4 bits are used for the fragmentation number and the last 12 bits are the sequence number. An optional two-byte Quality of Service control field which was added with 802.11e. The Frame Body field is variable in size, from 0 to 2304 bytes plus any overhead from security encapsulation and contains information from higher layers. The Frame Check Sequence (FCS) is the last four bytes in the standard 802.11 frame. Often referred to as the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), it allows for integrity check of retrieved frames. As frames are about to be sent the FCS is calculated and appended. When a station receives a frame it can calculate the FCS of the frame and compare it to the one received. If they match, it is assumed that the frame was not distorted during transmission.[19]

IEEE 802.11 Management Frames allow for the maintenance of communication. Some common 802.11 subtypes include: Authentication frame: 802.11 authentication begins with the WNIC sending an authentication frame to the access point containing its identity. With an open system authentication the WNIC only sends a single authentication frame and the access point responds with an authentication frame of its own indicating acceptance or rejection. With shared key authentication, after the WNIC sends its initial authentication request it will receive an authentication frame from the access point containing challenge text. The WNIC sends an authentication frame containing the encrypted version of the challenge text to the access point. The access point ensures the text was encrypted with the correct key by decrypting it with its own key. The result of this process determines the WNIC's authentication status. Association request frame: sent from a station it enables the access point to allocate resources and synchronize. The frame carries information about the WNIC including supported data rates and the SSID of the network the station wishes to associate with. If the request is accepted, the access point reserves memory and establishes an association ID for the WNIC. Association response frame: sent from an access point to a station containing the acceptance or rejection to an association request. If it is an acceptance, the frame will contain information such an association ID and supported data rates. Beacon frame: Sent periodically from an access point to announce its presence and provide the SSID, and other parameters for WNICs within range. Deauthentication frame: Sent from a station wishing to terminate connection from another station. Disassociation frame: Sent from a station wishing to terminate connection. It's an elegant way to allow the access point to relinquish memory allocation and remove the WNIC from the association table. Probe request frame: Sent from a station when it requires information from another station. Probe response frame: Sent from an access point containing capability information, supported data rates, etc., after receiving a probe request frame. Reassociation request frame: A WNIC sends a reassociation request when it drops from range of the currently associated access point and finds another access point with a stronger signal. The new access point coordinates the forwarding of any information that may still be contained in the buffer of the previous access point. Reassociation response frame: Sent from an access point containing the acceptance or rejection to a WNIC reassociation request frame. The frame includes information required for association such as the association ID and supported data rates. Control frames facilitate in the exchange of data frames between stations. Some common 802.11 control frames include: Acknowledgement (ACK) frame: After receiving a data frame, the receiving station will send an ACK frame to the sending station if no errors are found. If the sending station doesn't receive an ACK frame within a predetermined period of time, the sending station will resend the frame. Request to Send (RTS) frame: The RTS and CTS frames provide an optional collision reduction scheme for access points with hidden stations. A station sends a RTS frame to as the first step in a two-way handshake required before sending data frames. Clear to Send (CTS) frame: A station responds to an RTS frame with a CTS frame. It provides clearance for the requesting station to send a data frame. The CTS provides collision control management by including a time value for which all other stations are to hold off transmission while the requesting stations transmits. Data frames carry packets from web pages, files, etc. within the body.[20]

IEEE 802.11

Standard and amendments


Within the IEEE 802.11 Working Group,[6] the following IEEE Standards Association Standard and Amendments exist: IEEE 802.11-1997: The WLAN standard was originally 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s, 2.4GHz RF and infrared (IR) standard (1997), all the others listed below are Amendments to this standard, except for Recommended Practices 802.11F and 802.11T. IEEE 802.11a: 54 Mbit/s, 5GHz standard (1999, shipping products in 2001) IEEE 802.11b: Enhancements to 802.11 to support 5.5 and 11 Mbit/s (1999) IEEE 802.11c: Bridge operation procedures; included in the IEEE 802.1D standard (2001) IEEE 802.11d: International (country-to-country) roaming extensions (2001) IEEE 802.11e: Enhancements: QoS, including packet bursting (2005) IEEE 802.11F: Inter-Access Point Protocol (2003) Withdrawn February 2006 IEEE 802.11g: 54 Mbit/s, 2.4GHz standard (backwards compatible with b) (2003) IEEE 802.11h: Spectrum Managed 802.11a (5GHz) for European compatibility (2004) IEEE 802.11i: Enhanced security (2004) IEEE 802.11j: Extensions for Japan (2004) IEEE 802.11-2007: A new release of the standard that includes amendments a, b, d, e, g, h, i & j. (July 2007) IEEE 802.11k: Radio resource measurement enhancements (2008) IEEE 802.11n: Higher throughput improvements using MIMO (multiple input, multiple output antennas) (September 2009) IEEE 802.11p: WAVEWireless Access for the Vehicular Environment (such as ambulances and passenger cars) (July 2010) IEEE 802.11r: Fast BSS transition (FT) (2008) IEEE 802.11s: Mesh Networking, Extended Service Set (ESS) (July 2011) IEEE 802.11T: Wireless Performance Prediction (WPP)test methods and metrics Recommendation cancelled IEEE 802.11u: Interworking with non-802 networks (for example, cellular) (February 2011) IEEE 802.11v: Wireless network management (February 2011) IEEE 802.11w: Protected Management Frames (September 2009) IEEE 802.11y: 36503700MHz Operation in the U.S. (2008) IEEE 802.11z: Extensions to Direct Link Setup (DLS) (September 2010) IEEE 802.11-2012: A new release of the standard that includes amendments k, n, p, r, s, u, v, w, y, and z (March 2012)

In process
IEEE 802.11aa: Robust streaming of Audio Video Transport Streams (~ March 2012) IEEE 802.11ac: Very High Throughput <6GHz;[21] potential improvements over 802.11n: better modulation scheme (expected ~10% throughput increase); wider channels (80 or even 160MHz), multi user MIMO;[22] (~
December 2012)

IEEE 802.11ad: Very High Throughput 60GHz (~ Dec 2012) - see WiGig IEEE 802.11ae: QoS Management (~ Dec 2011) IEEE 802.11af: TV Whitespace (~ Mar 2012) IEEE 802.11ah: Sub 1GHz (~ July 2013) IEEE 802.11ai: Fast Initial Link Setup (~ Sep 2014)

To reduce confusion, no standard or task group was named 802.11l, 802.11o, 802.11q, 802.11x, 802.11ab, or 802.11ag. 802.11F and 802.11T are recommended practices rather than standards, and are capitalized as such.

IEEE 802.11 802.11m is used for standard maintenance. 802.11ma was completed for 802.11-2007 and 802.11mb is expected to completed for 802.11-2012.

Standard or amendment?
Both the terms "standard" and "amendment" are used when referring to the different variants of IEEE standards. As far as the IEEE Standards Association is concerned, there is only one current standard; it is denoted by IEEE 802.11 followed by the date that it was published. IEEE 802.11-2007 is the only version currently in publication. The standard is updated by means of amendments. Amendments are created by task groups (TG). Both the task group and their finished document are denoted by 802.11 followed by a non-capitalized letter. For example IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b. Updating 802.11 is the responsibility of task group m. In order to create a new version, TGm combines the previous version of the standard and all published amendments. TGm also provides clarification and interpretation to industry on published documents. New versions of the IEEE 802.11 were published in 1999 and 2007. The working title of 802.11-2007 was 802.11-REVma. This denotes a third type of document, a "revision". The complexity of combining 802.11-1999 with 8 amendments made it necessary to revise already agreed upon text. As a result, additional guidelines associated with a revision had to be followed.

Nomenclature
Various terms in 802.11 are used to specify aspects of wireless local-area networking operation, and may be unfamiliar to some readers. For example, Time Unit (usually abbreviated TU) is used to indicate a unit of time equal to 1024 microseconds. Numerous time constants are defined in terms of TU (rather than the nearly-equal millisecond). Also the term "Portal" is used to describe an entity that is similar to an 802.1H bridge. A Portal provides access to the WLAN by non-802.11 LAN STAs.

Community networks
With the proliferation of cable modems and DSL, there is an ever-increasing market of people who wish to establish small networks in their homes to share their broadband Internet connection. Many hotspot or free networks frequently allow anyone within range, including passersby outside, to connect to the Internet. There are also efforts by volunteer groups to establish wireless community networks to provide free wireless connectivity to the public.

Security
In 2001, a group from the University of California, Berkeley presented a paper describing weaknesses in the 802.11 Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security mechanism defined in the original standard; they were followed by Fluhrer, Mantin, and Shamir's paper titled "Weaknesses in the Key Scheduling Algorithm of RC4". Not long after, Adam Stubblefield and AT&T publicly announced the first verification of the attack. In the attack, they were able to intercept transmissions and gain unauthorized access to wireless networks. The IEEE set up a dedicated task group to create a replacement security solution, 802.11i (previously this work was handled as part of a broader 802.11e effort to enhance the MAC layer). The Wi-Fi Alliance announced an interim specification called Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) based on a subset of the then current IEEE 802.11i draft. These started to appear in products in mid-2003. IEEE 802.11i (also known as WPA2) itself was ratified in June 2004, and uses government strength encryption in the Advanced Encryption Standard AES, instead of RC4, which was used in WEP. The modern recommended encryption for the home/consumer space is WPA2 (AES Pre-Shared Key) and for

IEEE 802.11 the Enterprise space is WPA2 along with a RADIUS authentication server (or another type of authentication server) and a strong authentication method such as EAP-TLS. In January 2005, the IEEE set up yet another task group "w" to protect management and broadcast frames, which previously were sent unsecured. Its standard was published in 2009.[23] In December 2011, a security flaw was revealed that affects wireless routers with the optional Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) feature. While WPS is not a part of 802.11, the flaw allows a remote attacker to recover the WPS PIN and, with it, the router's 802.11i password in a few hours.[24][25]

10

Non-standard 802.11 extensions and equipment


Many companies implement wireless networking equipment with non-IEEE standard 802.11 extensions either by implementing proprietary or draft features. These changes may lead to incompatibilities between these extensions.

References
IEEE 802.11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications [26]. (2007 revision). IEEE-SA. 12 June 2007. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.2007.373646. IEEE 802.11k-2008Amendment 1: Radio Resource Measurement of Wireless LANs [27]. IEEE-SA. 12 June 2008. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.2008.4544755. IEEE 802.11r-2008Amendment 2: Fast Basic Service Set (BSS) Transition [28]. IEEE-SA. 15 July 2008. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.2008.4573292. IEEE 802.11y-2008Amendment 3: 36503700MHz Operation in USA [29]. IEEE-SA. 6 November 2008. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.2008.4669928.
[1] List of WLAN channels [2] "ARRLWeb: Part 97 - Amateur Radio Service" (http:/ / www. arrl. org/ FandES/ field/ regulations/ news/ part97/ ). American Radio Relay League. . Retrieved 2010-09-27. [3] "Wi-Fi (wireless networking technology)" (http:/ / www. britannica. com/ EBchecked/ topic/ 1473553/ Wi-Fi). Encyclopdia Britannica. . Retrieved 2010-02-03. [4] Wolter Lemstra , Vic Hayes , John Groenewegen , The Innovation Journey of Wi-Fi: The Road To Global Success, Cambridge University Press, 2010, ISBN 0521199719 [5] "Wi-Fi Alliance: Organization" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ organization. php). Official industry association web site. . Retrieved August 23, 2011. [6] "Official IEEE 802.11 working group project timelines" (http:/ / grouper. ieee. org/ groups/ 802/ 11/ Reports/ 802. 11_Timelines. htm). Sept. 19, 2009. . Retrieved 2009-10-09. [7] "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED n: Longer-Range, Faster-Throughput, Multimedia-Grade Wi-Fi Networks" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ register. php?file=wp_Wi-Fi_CERTIFIED_n_Industry. pdf) (registration required). Wi-Fi Alliance. September 2009. . [8] "802.11n Delivers Better Range" (http:/ / www. wi-fiplanet. com/ tutorials/ article. php/ 3680781). Wi-Fi Planet. 2007-05-31. . [9] http:/ / www. oreillynet. com/ wireless/ 2003/ 08/ 08/ wireless_throughput. html [10] Angelakis, V.; Papadakis, S.; Siris, V.A.; Traganitis, A. (March 2011), "Adjacent channel interference in 802.11a is harmful: Testbed validation of a simple quantification model" (http:/ / ieeexplore. ieee. org/ stamp/ stamp. jsp?arnumber=05723815), Communications Magazine (IEEE) 49 (3): 160166, doi:10.1109/MCOM.2011.5723815, ISSN0163-6804, [11] Wireless Networking in the Developing World: A practical guide to planning and building low-cost telecommunications infrastructure (http:/ / wndw. net/ pdf/ wndw2-en/ wndw2-ebook. pdf) (2nd ed.). Hacker Friendly LLC. 2007. pp.425. . page 14 [12] IEEE 802.11-2007 [13] http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ announcements/ ieee802. 11n_2009amendment_ratified. html [14] "Cuadro nacional de Atribucin de Frecuencias CNAF" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080213092618/ http:/ / www. mityc. es/ Telecomunicaciones/ Secciones/ Espectro/ cnaf). Secretara de Estado de Telecomunicaciones. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. mityc. es/ Telecomunicaciones/ Secciones/ Espectro/ cnaf) on 2008-02-13. . Retrieved 2008-03-05. [15] "Evolution du rgime dautorisation pour les RLAN" (http:/ / www. arcep. fr/ uploads/ tx_gspublication/ evol-rlan-250703. pdf). French Telecommunications Regulation Authority (ART). . Retrieved 2008-10-26. [16] "Channel Deployment Issues for 2.4 GHz 802.11 WLANs" (http:/ / www. cisco. com/ en/ US/ docs/ wireless/ technology/ channel/ deployment/ guide/ Channel. html). Cisco Systems, Inc. . Retrieved 2007-02-07. [17] Garcia Villegas, E.; et al. (2007). "Effect of adjacent-channel interference in IEEE 802.11 WLANs" (https:/ / upcommons. upc. edu/ e-prints/ bitstream/ 2117/ 1234/ 1/ CrownCom07_CReady. pdf). CrownCom 2007.. ICST & IEEE. .

IEEE 802.11
[18] IEEE Standard 802.11-2007 page 531 [19] "802.11 Technical Section" (http:/ / wifi. cs. st-andrews. ac. uk/ wififrame. html). . Retrieved 2008-12-15. [20] "Understanding 802.11 Frame Types" (http:/ / www. wi-fiplanet. com/ tutorials/ article. php/ 1447501). . Retrieved 2008-12-14. [21] "IEEE P802.11 - TASK GROUP AC" (http:/ / www. ieee802. org/ 11/ Reports/ tgac_update. htm). IEEE. November 2009. . Retrieved 2009-12-13. [22] Fleishman, Glenn (December 7, 2009). "The future of WiFi: gigabit speeds and beyond" (http:/ / arstechnica. com/ business/ guides/ 2009/ 12/ wifi-looks-to-1-gigabit-horizon. ars/ 1). Ars Technica. . Retrieved 2009-12-13. [23] Jesse Walker, Chair (May 2009). "Status of Project IEEE 802.11 Task Group w: Protected Management Frames" (http:/ / grouper. ieee. org/ groups/ 802/ 11/ Reports/ tgw_update. htm). . Retrieved August 23, 2011. [24] http:/ / sviehb. files. wordpress. com/ 2011/ 12/ viehboeck_wps. pdf [25] http:/ / www. kb. cert. org/ vuls/ id/ 723755 US CERT Vulnerability Note VU#723755 [26] http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11-2007. pdf [27] http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11k-2008. pdf [28] http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11r-2008. pdf [29] http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11y-2008. pdf

11

External links
IEEE 802.11 working group (http://www.ieee802.org/11/) Download the 802.11 standards from IEEE (http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.11.html)

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing


Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a method of encoding digital data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for wideband digital communication, whether wireless or over copper wires, used in applications such as digital television and audio broadcasting, DSL broadband internet access, wireless networks, and 4G mobile communications. OFDM is essentially identical to coded OFDM (COFDM) and discrete multi-tone modulation (DMT), and is a frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) scheme used as a digital multi-carrier modulation method. A large number of closely spaced orthogonal sub-carrier signals are used to carry data. The data is divided into several parallel data streams or channels, one for each sub-carrier. Each sub-carrier is modulated with a conventional modulation scheme (such as quadrature amplitude modulation or phase-shift keying) at a low symbol rate, maintaining total data rates similar to conventional single-carrier modulation schemes in the same bandwidth. The primary advantage of OFDM over single-carrier schemes is its ability to cope with severe channel conditions (for example, attenuation of high frequencies in a long copper wire, narrowband interference and frequency-selective fading due to multipath) without complex equalization filters. Channel equalization is simplified because OFDM may be viewed as using many slowly modulated narrowband signals rather than one rapidly modulated wideband signal. The low symbol rate makes the use of a guard interval between symbols affordable, making it possible to eliminate intersymbol interference (ISI) and utilize echoes and time-spreading (that shows up as ghosting on analogue TV) to achieve a diversity gain, i.e. a signal-to-noise ratio improvement. This mechanism also facilitates the design of single frequency networks (SFNs), where several adjacent transmitters send the same signal simultaneously at the same frequency, as the signals from multiple distant transmitters may be combined constructively, rather than interfering as would typically occur in a traditional single-carrier system.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

12

Example of applications
The following list is a summary of existing OFDM based standards and products. For further details, see the Usage section at the end of the article.

Cable
ADSL and VDSL broadband access via POTS copper wiring. DVB-C2, an enhanced version of the DVB-C digital cable TV standard. Power line communication (PLC). ITU-T G.hn, a standard which provides high-speed local area networking of existing home wiring (power lines, phone lines and coaxial cables). TrailBlazer telephone line modems. Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) home networking.

Wireless
The wireless LAN (WLAN) radio interfaces IEEE 802.11a, g, n and HIPERLAN/2. The digital radio systems DAB/EUREKA 147, DAB+, Digital Radio Mondiale, HD Radio, T-DMB and ISDB-TSB. The terrestrial digital TV systems DVB-T and ISDB-T. The terrestrial mobile TV systems DVB-H, T-DMB, ISDB-T and MediaFLO forward link. The wireless personal area network (PAN) ultra-wideband (UWB) IEEE 802.15.3a implementation suggested by WiMedia Alliance. The OFDM based multiple access technology OFDMA is also used in several 4G and pre-4G cellular networks and mobile broadband standards: The mobility mode of the wireless MAN/broadband wireless access (BWA) standard IEEE 802.16e (or Mobile-WiMAX). The mobile broadband wireless access (MBWA) standard IEEE 802.20. the downlink of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) fourth generation mobile broadband standard. The radio interface was formerly named High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA), now named Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA).

Key features
The advantages and disadvantages listed below are further discussed in the Characteristics and principles of operation section below.

Summary of advantages
Can easily adapt to severe channel conditions without complex time-domain equalization. Robust against narrow-band co-channel interference. Robust against intersymbol interference (ISI) and fading caused by multipath propagation. High spectral efficiency as compared to conventional modulation schemes, spread spectrum, etc. Efficient implementation using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Low sensitivity to time synchronization errors. Tuned sub-channel receiver filters are not required (unlike conventional FDM). Facilitates single frequency networks (SFNs); i.e., transmitter macrodiversity.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

13

Summary of disadvantages
Sensitive to Doppler shift. Sensitive to frequency synchronization problems. High peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR), requiring linear transmitter circuitry, which suffers from poor power efficiency. Loss of efficiency caused by cyclic prefix/guard interval.

Characteristics and principles of operation


Orthogonality
Conceptually, OFDM is a specialized FDM, the additional constraint being: all the carrier signals are orthogonal to each other. In OFDM, the sub-carrier frequencies are chosen so that the sub-carriers are orthogonal to each other, meaning that cross-talk between the sub-channels is eliminated and inter-carrier guard bands are not required. This greatly simplifies the design of both the transmitter and the receiver; unlike conventional FDM, a separate filter for each sub-channel is not required. The orthogonality requires that the sub-carrier spacing is Hertz, where TU seconds is the useful symbol

duration (the receiver side window size), and k is a positive integer, typically equal to 1. Therefore, with N sub-carriers, the total passband bandwidth will be B Nf (Hz). The orthogonality also allows high spectral efficiency, with a total symbol rate near the Nyquist rate for the equivalent baseband signal (i.e. near half the Nyquist rate for the double-side band physical passband signal). Almost the whole available frequency band can be utilized. OFDM generally has a nearly 'white' spectrum, giving it benign electromagnetic interference properties with respect to other co-channel users. A simple example: A useful symbol duration TU = 1ms would require a sub-carrier spacing of (or an integer multiple of that) for orthogonality. N = 1,000 sub-carriers would result in a total passband bandwidth of Nf = 1MHz. For this symbol time, the required bandwidth in theory according to Nyquist is N/2TU = 0.5MHz (i.e., half of the achieved bandwidth required by our scheme). If a guard interval is applied (see below), Nyquist bandwidth requirement would be even lower. The FFT would result in N = 1,000 samples per symbol. If no guard interval was applied, this would result in a base band complex valued signal with a sample rate of 1MHz, which would require a baseband bandwidth of 0.5 MHz according to Nyquist. However, the passband RF signal is produced by multiplying the baseband signal with a carrier waveform (i.e., double-sideband quadrature amplitude-modulation) resulting in a passband bandwidth of 1MHz. A single-side band (SSB) or vestigial sideband (VSB) modulation scheme would achieve almost half that bandwidth for the same symbol rate (i.e., twice as high spectral efficiency for the same symbol alphabet length). It is however more sensitive to multipath interference. OFDM requires very accurate frequency synchronization between the receiver and the transmitter; with frequency deviation the sub-carriers will no longer be orthogonal, causing inter-carrier interference (ICI) (i.e., cross-talk between the sub-carriers). Frequency offsets are typically caused by mismatched transmitter and receiver oscillators, or by Doppler shift due to movement. While Doppler shift alone may be compensated for by the receiver, the situation is worsened when combined with multipath, as reflections will appear at various frequency offsets, which is much harder to correct. This effect typically worsens as speed increases,[1] and is an important factor limiting the use of OFDM in high-speed vehicles. Several techniques for ICI suppression are suggested, but they may increase the receiver complexity.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

14

Implementation using the FFT algorithm


The orthogonality allows for efficient modulator and demodulator implementation using the FFT algorithm on the receiver side, and inverse FFT on the sender side. Although the principles and some of the benefits have been known since the 1960s, OFDM is popular for wideband communications today by way of low-cost digital signal processing components that can efficiently calculate the FFT.

Guard interval for elimination of intersymbol interference


One key principle of OFDM is that since low symbol rate modulation schemes (i.e., where the symbols are relatively long compared to the channel time characteristics) suffer less from intersymbol interference caused by multipath propagation, it is advantageous to transmit a number of low-rate streams in parallel instead of a single high-rate stream. Since the duration of each symbol is long, it is feasible to insert a guard interval between the OFDM symbols, thus eliminating the intersymbol interference. The guard interval also eliminates the need for a pulse-shaping filter, and it reduces the sensitivity to time synchronization problems. A simple example: If one sends a million symbols per second using conventional single-carrier modulation over a wireless channel, then the duration of each symbol would be one microsecond or less. This imposes severe constraints on synchronization and necessitates the removal of multipath interference. If the same million symbols per second are spread among one thousand sub-channels, the duration of each symbol can be longer by a factor of a thousand (i.e., one millisecond) for orthogonality with approximately the same bandwidth. Assume that a guard interval of 1/8 of the symbol length is inserted between each symbol. Intersymbol interference can be avoided if the multipath time-spreading (the time between the reception of the first and the last echo) is shorter than the guard interval (i.e., 125 microseconds). This corresponds to a maximum difference of 37.5 kilometers between the lengths of the paths. The cyclic prefix, which is transmitted during the guard interval, consists of the end of the OFDM symbol copied into the guard interval, and the guard interval is transmitted followed by the OFDM symbol. The reason that the guard interval consists of a copy of the end of the OFDM symbol is so that the receiver will integrate over an integer number of sinusoid cycles for each of the multipaths when it performs OFDM demodulation with the FFT.

Simplified equalization
The effects of frequency-selective channel conditions, for example fading caused by multipath propagation, can be considered as constant (flat) over an OFDM sub-channel if the sub-channel is sufficiently narrow-banded (i.e., if the number of sub-channels is sufficiently large). This makes frequency domain equalization possible at the receiver, which is far simpler than the time-domain equalization used in conventional single-carrier modulation. In OFDM, the equalizer only has to multiply each detected sub-carrier (each Fourier coefficient) in each OFDM symbol by a constant complex number, or a rarely changed value. Our example: The OFDM equalization in the above numerical example would require one complex valued multiplication per subcarrier and symbol (i.e., complex multiplications per OFDM symbol; i.e., one million multiplications per second, at the receiver). The FFT algorithm requires [this is imprecise: over half of these complex multiplications are trivial, i.e. = to 1 and are not implemented in software or HW]. complex-valued multiplications per OFDM symbol (i.e., 10 million multiplications per second), at both the receiver and transmitter side. This should be compared with the corresponding one million symbols/second single-carrier modulation case mentioned in the example, where the equalization of 125 microseconds time-spreading using a FIR filter would require, in a naive implementation, 125 multiplications per symbol (i.e., 125 million multiplications per second). FFT techniques can be used to reduce the number of multiplications for an FIR filter based time-domain equalizer to a number comparable with OFDM, at the cost of delay between reception and decoding which also becomes comparable with OFDM.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing If differential modulation such as DPSK or DQPSK is applied to each sub-carrier, equalization can be completely omitted, since these non-coherent schemes are insensitive to slowly changing amplitude and phase distortion. In a sense, improvements in FIR equalization using FFTs or partial FFTs leads mathematically closer to OFDM, but the OFDM technique is easier to understand and implement, and the sub-channels can be independently adapted in other ways than varying equalization coefficients, such as switching between different QAM constellation patterns and error-correction schemes to match individual sub-channel noise and interference characteristics. Some of the sub-carriers in some of the OFDM symbols may carry pilot signals for measurement of the channel conditions[2][3] (i.e., the equalizer gain and phase shift for each sub-carrier). Pilot signals and training symbols (preambles) may also be used for time synchronization (to avoid intersymbol interference, ISI) and frequency synchronization (to avoid inter-carrier interference, ICI, caused by Doppler shift). OFDM was initially used for wired and stationary wireless communications. However, with an increasing number of applications operating in highly mobile environments, the effect of dispersive fading caused by a combination of multi-path propagation and doppler shift is more significant. Over the last decade, research has been done on how to equalize OFDM transmission over doubly selective channels.[4][5][6]

15

Channel coding and interleaving


OFDM is invariably used in conjunction with channel coding (forward error correction), and almost always uses frequency and/or time interleaving. Frequency (subcarrier) interleaving increases resistance to frequency-selective channel conditions such as fading. For example, when a part of the channel bandwidth fades, frequency interleaving ensures that the bit errors that would result from those subcarriers in the faded part of the bandwidth are spread out in the bit-stream rather than being concentrated. Similarly, time interleaving ensures that bits that are originally close together in the bit-stream are transmitted far apart in time, thus mitigating against severe fading as would happen when travelling at high speed. However, time interleaving is of little benefit in slowly fading channels, such as for stationary reception, and frequency interleaving offers little to no benefit for narrowband channels that suffer from flat-fading (where the whole channel bandwidth fades at the same time). The reason why interleaving is used on OFDM is to attempt to spread the errors out in the bit-stream that is presented to the error correction decoder, because when such decoders are presented with a high concentration of errors the decoder is unable to correct all the bit errors, and a burst of uncorrected errors occurs. A similar design of audio data encoding makes compact disc (CD) playback robust. A classical type of error correction coding used with OFDM-based systems is convolutional coding, often concatenated with Reed-Solomon coding. Usually, additional interleaving (on top of the time and frequency interleaving mentioned above) in between the two layers of coding is implemented. The choice for Reed-Solomon coding as the outer error correction code is based on the observation that the Viterbi decoder used for inner convolutional decoding produces short errors bursts when there is a high concentration of errors, and Reed-Solomon codes are inherently well-suited to correcting bursts of errors. Newer systems, however, usually now adopt near-optimal types of error correction codes that use the turbo decoding principle, where the decoder iterates towards the desired solution. Examples of such error correction coding types include turbo codes and LDPC codes, which perform close to the Shannon limit for the Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel. Some systems that have implemented these codes have concatenated them with either Reed-Solomon (for example on the MediaFLO system) or BCH codes (on the DVB-S2 system) to improve upon an error floor inherent to these codes at high signal-to-noise ratios.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

16

Adaptive transmission
The resilience to severe channel conditions can be further enhanced if information about the channel is sent over a return-channel. Based on this feedback information, adaptive modulation, channel coding and power allocation may be applied across all sub-carriers, or individually to each sub-carrier. In the latter case, if a particular range of frequencies suffers from interference or attenuation, the carriers within that range can be disabled or made to run slower by applying more robust modulation or error coding to those sub-carriers. The term discrete multitone modulation (DMT) denotes OFDM based communication systems that adapt the transmission to the channel conditions individually for each sub-carrier, by means of so called bit-loading. Examples are ADSL and VDSL. The upstream and downstream speeds can be varied by allocating either more or fewer carriers for each purpose. Some forms of rate-adaptive DSL use this feature in real time, so that the bitrate is adapted to the co-channel interference and bandwidth is allocated to whichever subscriber needs it most.

OFDM extended with multiple access


OFDM in its primary form is considered as a digital modulation technique, and not a multi-user channel access method, since it is utilized for transferring one bit stream over one communication channel using one sequence of OFDM symbols. However, OFDM can be combined with multiple access using time, frequency or coding separation of the users. In Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), frequency-division multiple access is achieved by assigning different OFDM sub-channels to different users. OFDMA supports differentiated quality of service by assigning different number of sub-carriers to different users in a similar fashion as in CDMA, and thus complex packet scheduling or Media Access Control schemes can be avoided. OFDMA is used in: the mobility mode of the IEEE 802.16 Wireless MAN standard, commonly referred to as WiMAX, the IEEE 802.20 mobile Wireless MAN standard, commonly referred to as MBWA, the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) fourth generation mobile broadband standard downlink. The radio interface was formerly named High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA), now named Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA). the now defunct Qualcomm/3GPP2 Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) project, intended as a successor of CDMA2000, but replaced by LTE. OFDMA is also a candidate access method for the IEEE 802.22 Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRAN). The project aims at designing the first cognitive radio based standard operating in the VHF-low UHF spectrum (TV spectrum). In Multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA), also known as OFDM-CDMA, OFDM is combined with CDMA spread spectrum communication for coding separation of the users. Co-channel interference can be mitigated, meaning that manual fixed channel allocation (FCA) frequency planning is simplified, or complex dynamic channel allocation (DCA) schemes are avoided.

Space diversity
In OFDM based wide area broadcasting, receivers can benefit from receiving signals from several spatially dispersed transmitters simultaneously, since transmitters will only destructively interfere with each other on a limited number of sub-carriers, whereas in general they will actually reinforce coverage over a wide area. This is very beneficial in many countries, as it permits the operation of national single-frequency networks (SFN), where many transmitters send the same signal simultaneously over the same channel frequency. SFNs utilise the available spectrum more effectively than conventional multi-frequency broadcast networks (MFN), where program content is replicated on different carrier frequencies. SFNs also result in a diversity gain in receivers situated midway between the

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing transmitters. The coverage area is increased and the outage probability decreased in comparison to an MFN, due to increased received signal strength averaged over all sub-carriers. Although the guard interval only contains redundant data, which means that it reduces the capacity, some OFDM-based systems, such as some of the broadcasting systems, deliberately use a long guard interval in order to allow the transmitters to be spaced farther apart in an SFN, and longer guard intervals allow larger SFN cell-sizes. A rule of thumb for the maximum distance between transmitters in an SFN is equal to the distance a signal travels during the guard interval for instance, a guard interval of 200 microseconds would allow transmitters to be spaced 60km apart. A single frequency network is a form of transmitter macrodiversity. The concept can be further utilized in dynamic single-frequency networks (DSFN), where the SFN grouping is changed from timeslot to timeslot. OFDM may be combined with other forms of space diversity, for example antenna arrays and MIMO channels. This is done in the [[IEEE802.11 Wireless LAN standard.

17

Linear transmitter power amplifier


An OFDM signal exhibits a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) because the independent phases of the sub-carriers mean that they will often combine constructively. Handling this high PAPR requires: a high-resolution digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) in the transmitter a high-resolution analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) in the receiver a linear signal chain. Any non-linearity in the signal chain will cause intermodulation distortion that raises the noise floor may cause inter-carrier interference generates out-of-band spurious radiation. The linearity requirement is demanding, especially for transmitter RF output circuitry where amplifiers are often designed to be non-linear in order to minimise power consumption. In practical OFDM systems a small amount of peak clipping is allowed to limit the PAPR in a judicious trade-off against the above consequences. However, the transmitter output filter which is required to reduce out-of-band spurs to legal levels has the effect of restoring peak levels that were clipped, so clipping is not an effective way to reduce PAPR. Although the spectral efficiency of OFDM is attractive for both terrestrial and space communications, the high PAPR requirements have so far limited OFDM applications to terrestrial systems.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

18

Idealized system model


This section describes a simple idealized OFDM system model suitable for a time-invariant AWGN channel.

Transmitter

An OFDM carrier signal is the sum of a number of orthogonal sub-carriers, with baseband data on each sub-carrier being independently modulated commonly using some type of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) or phase-shift keying (PSK). This composite baseband signal is typically used to modulate a main RF carrier. is a serial stream of binary digits. By inverse multiplexing, these are first demultiplexed into parallel streams, and each one mapped to a (possibly complex) symbol stream using some modulation constellation (QAM, PSK, etc.). Note that the constellations may be different, so some streams may carry a higher bit-rate than others. An inverse FFT is computed on each set of symbols, giving a set of complex time-domain samples. These samples are then quadrature-mixed to passband in the standard way. The real and imaginary components are first converted to the analogue domain using digital-to-analogue converters (DACs); the analogue signals are then used to modulate cosine and sine waves at the carrier frequency, , respectively. These signals are then summed to give the transmission signal, .

Receiver

The receiver picks up the signal

, which is then quadrature-mixed down to baseband using cosine and sine

waves at the carrier frequency. This also creates signals centered on , so low-pass filters are used to reject these. The baseband signals are then sampled and digitised using analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), and a forward FFT is used to convert back to the frequency domain.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing This returns parallel streams, each of which is converted to a binary stream using an appropriate symbol detector. These streams are then re-combined into a serial stream, , which is an estimate of the original binary stream at the transmitter.

19

Mathematical description
If sub-carriers are used, and each sub-carrier is modulated using alphabet consists of combined symbols. The low-pass equivalent OFDM signal is expressed as: alternative symbols, the OFDM symbol

where

are the data symbols,

is the number of sub-carriers, and

is the OFDM symbol time. The

sub-carrier spacing of

makes them orthogonal over each symbol period; this property is expressed as:

where

denotes the complex conjugate operator and

is the Kronecker delta.

To avoid intersymbol interference in multipath fading channels, a guard interval of length is inserted prior to the OFDM block. During this interval, a cyclic prefix is transmitted such that the signal in the interval equals the signal in the interval . The OFDM signal with cyclic prefix is thus:

The low-pass signal above can be either real or complex-valued. Real-valued low-pass equivalent signals are typically transmitted at basebandwireline applications such as DSL use this approach. For wireless applications, the low-pass signal is typically complex-valued; in which case, the transmitted signal is up-converted to a carrier frequency . In general, the transmitted signal can be represented as:

Usage
OFDM system comparison table
Key features of some common OFDM based systems are presented in the following table.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

20

Standard name Ratified year

DAB Eureka 147 1995 1997

DVB-T 2004

DVB-H

DMB-T/H 2006 470862 2007

DVB-T2

IEEE 802.11a 1999 4,9155,825

Frequency range 174240 of 1,4521,492 today's equipment (MHz) Channel spacing, 1.712 B (MHz) FFT size (k=1,024) Mode I: 2k Mode II: 512 Mode III: 256 Mode IV: 1k Mode I: 1,536 Mode II: 384 Mode III: 192 Mode IV: 768

470862 174230

470862

6, 7, 8

5, 6, 7, 8

1.7, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10

20

2k, 8k

2k, 4k, 8k

1 (single-carrier) 4k (multi-carrier)

1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k, 32k

64

Number of non-silent sub-carriers, N

2K mode: 1,705 8K mode: 6,817

1,705, 3,409, 6,817

1 (single-carrier) 3,780 (multi-carrier)

853-27,841 (1K normal to 32K extended carrier mode) QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM

52

Sub-carrier modulation scheme

4-DQPSK

[7] QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM

[7] QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM

[7] 4QAM, [8] 4QAM-NR, 16QAM, 32QAM and 64QAM. 500 (multi-carrier)

BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM

[7]

Useful symbol length, TU (s)

Mode I: 1,000 Mode II: 250 Mode III: 125 Mode IV: 500

2K mode: 224 8K mode: 896

224, 448, 896

112-3,584 (1K to 32K mode on 8MHz channel)

3.2

Additional guard 24.6% (all modes) interval, TG (fraction of TU)

4, 18, 116, 132

4, 18, 116, 132

4, 16, 19

1/128, 1/32, 1/16, 19/256, 1/8, 19/128, 1/4. (For 32k mode maximum 1/8) 279-8,929 (32K down to 1K mode)

Sub-carrier spacing (Hz) Net bit rate, R (Mbit/s) Link spectral efficiency R/B (bit/s/Hz) Inner FEC

Mode I: 1,000 Mode II: 4,000 Mode III: 8,000 Mode IV: 2,000 0.5761.152

2K mode: 4,464 8K mode: 1,116

4,464, 2,232, 1,116

8M (single-carrier) 2,000 (multi-carrier) 4.8132.49

312.5K

4.9831.67 (typically 24.13) 0.624.0 (Typ 3.0)

3.723.8

Typically 35.4

654

0.340.67

0.624.0

0.604.1

0.87-6.65

0.302.7

Conv coding with Equal error protection code rates 1 3 4 1 4 4, 8, 9, 2, 7, 2 3 4 3, 4, 5 Unequal error protection with av. code rates of ~0.34, 0.41, 0.50, 0.60, and 0.75

Conv. coding with code rates 12, 23, 3 5 4, 6, or 78

LDPC 1/2, 3/5, 2/3, Conv. coding with LDPC with code 1 2 rates 0.4, 0.6 or 0.8 3/4, 4/5, 5/6 code rates 2, 3, 3 5 4, 6, or 78

Conv. coding with code rates 12, 23, or 34

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

21
RS (204, 188, t=8) BCH code (762, + MPE-FEC 752) BCH code

Outer FEC (if any) Maximum travelling speed (km/h)

Optional RS (120, 110, t = 5) 200600

RS (204, 188, t=8)

53185 depends on transmission frequency 0.63.5 0.63.5 200500 up to 250 (500 with extension frame)

Time interleaving 384 depth (ms) Adaptive transmission (if any) Multiple access method (if any) Typical source coding None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

192kbit/s MPEG2 Audio layer 2

218Mbit/s Standard - HDTV H.264 or MPEG2

H.264

Not defined (Video: MPEG-2, H.264 and/or AVS Audio: MP2 or AC-3)

H.264 or MPEG2

ADSL
OFDM is used in ADSL connections that follow the G.DMT (ITU G.992.1) standard, in which existing copper wires are used to achieve high-speed data connections. Long copper wires suffer from attenuation at high frequencies. The fact that OFDM can cope with this frequency selective attenuation and with narrow-band interference are the main reasons it is frequently used in applications such as ADSL modems. However, DSL cannot be used on every copper pair; interference may become significant if more than 25% of phone lines coming into a central office are used for DSL. For experimental amateur radio applications, users have even hooked up commercial off-the-shelf ADSL equipment to radio transceivers which simply shift the bands used to the radio frequencies the user has licensed.

Powerline Technology
OFDM is used by many powerline devices to extend Ethernet connections to other rooms in a home through its power wiring. Adaptive modulation is particularly important with such a noisy channel as electrical wiring. The IEEE 1901 standards include two incompatible physical layers that both use OFDM.[9] The ITU-T G.hn standard, which provides high-speed local area networking over existing home wiring (power lines, phone lines and coaxial cables) is based on a PHY layer that specifies OFDM with adaptive modulation and a Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) FEC code.

Wireless local area networks (LAN) and metropolitan area networks (MAN)
OFDM is extensively used in wireless LAN and MAN applications, including IEEE 802.11a/g/n and WiMAX. IEEE 802.11a/g/n operating in the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, specifies a per-stream airside data rates ranging from 6 to 54Mbit/s. If both devices can utilize "HT mode" added with 802.11n then the top 20MHz per-stream rate is increased to 72.2Mbit/s with the option of data rates between 13.5 and 150Mbit/s using a 40MHz channel. Four different modulation schemes are used: BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM, along with a set of error correcting rates (1/25/6). The multitude of choices allows the system to adapt the optimum data rate for the current signal conditions.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

22

Wireless personal area networks (PAN)


OFDM is also now being used in the WiMedia/Ecma-368 standard [10] for high-speed wireless personal area networks in the 3.110.6GHz ultrawideband spectrum (see MultiBand-OFDM).

Terrestrial digital radio and television broadcasting


Much of Europe and Asia has adopted OFDM for terrestrial broadcasting of digital television (DVB-T, DVB-H and T-DMB) and radio (EUREKA 147 DAB, Digital Radio Mondiale, HD Radio and T-DMB). DVB-T By Directive of the European Commission, all television services transmitted to viewers in the European Community must use a transmission system that has been standardized by a recognized European standardization body,[11] and such a standard has been developed and codified by the DVB Project, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for digital terrestrial television.[12] Customarily referred to as DVB-T, the standard calls for the exclusive use of COFDM for modulation. DVB-T is now widely used in Europe and elsewhere for terrestrial digital TV. SDARS The ground segments of the Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) systems used by XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio are transmitted using COFDM.[13] COFDM vs VSB The question of the relative technical merits of COFDM versus 8VSB for terrestrial digital television has been a subject of some controversy, especially between Europe and USA. The United States has rejected several proposals to adopt the COFDM based DVB-T system for its digital television services, and has instead opted for 8VSB (vestigial sideband modulation) operation. One of the major benefits provided by COFDM is in rendering radio broadcasts relatively immune to multipath distortion and signal fading due to atmospheric conditions or passing aircraft. Proponents of COFDM argue it resists multipath far better than 8VSB. Early 8VSB DTV (digital television) receivers often had difficulty receiving a signal. Also, COFDM allows single-frequency networks, which is not possible with 8VSB. However, newer 8VSB receivers are far better at dealing with multipath, hence the difference in performance may diminish with advances in equalizer design. Moreover, 8VSB is nearly a single sideband transmission scheme, while OFDM can be described as a double sideband modulation scheme. This implies that 8VSB (with 3 bit/symbol) modulation offers similar bit rate and require similar bandwidth as 64QAM OFDM (with 6 bit per symbol and sub-carrier), i.e. similar spectral efficiency in (bit/s)/Hz. However, the small 8VSB alphabet of 8 symbols makes it less prone to noise than the 64QAM alphabet of 64 symbols, resulting in lower bit-error rate for the same carrier-to-noise ratio in case of multipath propagation. 8VSB requires less power than 64QAM to transmit a signal the same distance (i.e., the received carrier-to-noise threshold is lower for the same bit error rate).

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing DIGITAL RADIO COFDM is also used for other radio standards, for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), the standard for digital audio broadcasting at VHF frequencies, for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), the standard for digital broadcasting at shortwave and medium wave frequencies (below 30MHz) and for DRM+ a more recently introduced standard for digital audio broadcasting at VHF frequencies. (30 to 174MHz) The USA again uses an alternate standard, a proprietary system developed by iBiquity dubbed HD Radio. However, it uses COFDM as the underlying broadcast technology to add digital audio to AM (medium wave) and FM broadcasts. Both Digital Radio Mondiale and HD Radio are classified as in-band on-channel systems, unlike Eureka 147 (DAB: Digital Audio Broadcasting) which uses separate VHF or UHF frequency bands instead. BST-OFDM used in ISDB The band-segmented transmission orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (BST-OFDM) system proposed for Japan (in the ISDB-T, ISDB-TSB, and ISDB-C broadcasting systems) improves upon COFDM by exploiting the fact that some OFDM carriers may be modulated differently from others within the same multiplex. Some forms of COFDM already offer this kind of hierarchical modulation, though BST-OFDM is intended to make it more flexible. The 6MHz television channel may therefore be "segmented", with different segments being modulated differently and used for different services. It is possible, for example, to send an audio service on a segment that includes a segment composed of a number of carriers, a data service on another segment and a television service on yet another segmentall within the same 6MHz television channel. Furthermore, these may be modulated with different parameters so that, for example, the audio and data services could be optimized for mobile reception, while the television service is optimized for stationary reception in a high-multipath environment.

23

Ultra-wideband
Ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless personal area network technology may also utilise OFDM, such as in Multiband OFDM (MB-OFDM). This UWB specification is advocated by the WiMedia Alliance (formerly by both the Multiband OFDM Alliance [MBOA] and the WiMedia Alliance, but the two have now merged), and is one of the competing UWB radio interfaces.

FLASH-OFDM
Fast low-latency access with seamless handoff orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (Flash-OFDM), also referred to as F-OFDM, was based on OFDM and also specified higher protocol layers. It was developed by Flarion, and purchased by Qualcomm in January 2006.[14][15] Flash-OFDM was marketed as a packet-switched cellular bearer, to compete with GSM and 3G networks. As an example, 450MHz frequency bands previously used by NMT-450 and C-Net C450 (both 1G analogue networks, now mostly decommissioned) in Europe are being licensed to Flash-OFDM operators. In Finland, the license holder Digita began deployment of a nationwide "@450" wireless network in parts of the country since April 2007. It was purchased by Datame in 2011.[16] In February 2012 Datame announced they would upgrade the 450 MHz network to competing cdma2000 technology.[17] T-Mobile Slovensko in Slovakia offers Flash-OFDM connections[18] with a maximum downstream speed of 5.3Mbit/s, and a maximum upstream speed of 1.8Mbit/s, with a coverage of over 70 percent of Slovak population. T-Mobile Germany uses Flash-OFDM to backhaul Wi-Fi HotSpots on the Deutsche Bahn's ICE high speed trains. American wireless carrier Nextel Communications field tested wireless broadband network technologies including Flash-OFDM in 2005.[19] Sprint purchased the carrier in 2006 and decided to deploy the mobile version of WiMAX,

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing which is based on Scalable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (SOFDMA) technology.[20] Citizens Telephone Cooperative launched a mobile broadband service based on Flash-OFDM technology to subscribers in parts of Virginia in March 2006. The maximum speed available was 1.5Mbit/s.[21] The service was discontinued on April 30, 2009.[22] Digiweb Ltd. launched a mobile broadband network using Flash-OFDM technology at 872MHz in July 2007 in Ireland and Digiweb also owns a national 872MHz license in Norway. Voice handsets are not yet available as of November 2007. The deployment is live in a small area north of Dublin only. Butler Networks operates a Flash-OFDM network in Denmark at 872MHz. In The Netherlands, KPN-telecom will start a pilot around July 2007.

24

History
1957: Kineplex, multi-carrier HF modem (R.R. Mosier & R.G. Clabaugh) 1966: Chang, Bell Labs: OFDM paper[23] and patent[24] 1971: Weinstein & Ebert proposed use of FFT and guard interval[25] 1985: Cimini described use of OFDM for mobile communications 1985: Telebit Trailblazer Modem introduced incorporating a 512 carrier Packet Ensemble Protocol

1987: Alard & Lasalle: COFDM for digital broadcasting September 1988: TH-CSF LER, first experimental Digital TV link in OFDM, Paris area 1989: OFDM international patent application PCT/FR 89/00546, filed in the name of THOMSON-CSF, Fouche, de Couasnon, Travert, Monnier and all[26] October 1990: TH-CSF LER, first OFDM equipment field test, 34 Mbit/s in an 8MHz channel, experiments in Paris area December 1990: TH-CSF LER, first OFDM test bed comparison with VSB in Princeton USA September 1992: TH-CSF LER, second generation equipment field test, 70 Mbit/s in an 8MHz channel, twin polarisations. Wuppertal, Germany October 1992: TH-CSF LER, second generation field test and test bed with BBC, near London, UK 1993: TH-CSF show in Montreux SW, 4 TV channel and one HDTV channel in a single 8MHz channel 1993: Morris: Experimental 150Mbit/s OFDM wireless LAN 1994: US 5282222 [27], Method and apparatus for multiple access between transceivers in wireless communications using OFDM spread spectrum 1995: ETSI Digital Audio Broadcasting standard EUreka: first OFDM based standard 1997: ETSI DVB-T standard 1998: Magic WAND project demonstrates OFDM modems for wireless LAN 1999: IEEE 802.11a wireless LAN standard (Wi-Fi) 2000: Proprietary fixed wireless access (V-OFDM, FLASH-OFDM, etc.) 2002: IEEE 802.11g standard for wireless LAN 2004: IEEE 802.16 standard for wireless MAN (WiMAX) 2004: ETSI DVB-H standard 2004: Candidate for IEEE 802.15.3a standard for wireless PAN (MB-OFDM) 2004: Candidate for IEEE 802.11n standard for next generation wireless LAN 2005: OFDMA is candidate for the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) air interface E-UTRA downlink. 2007: The first complete LTE air interface implementation was demonstrated, including OFDM-MIMO, SC-FDMA and multi-user MIMO uplink[28]

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

25

References
[1] Robertson, P.; Kaiser, S. "The effects of Doppler spreads in OFDM(A) mobile radio systems", Vehicular Technology Conference, 1999. VTC 1999 - Fall. IEEE VTS. Link (http:/ / www. kn-s. dlr. de/ People/ Kaiser/ Papers/ VTC99_Robertson_Kaiser. ps) [2] "Coleri, S. Ergen, M. Puri, A. Bahai, A., Channel estimation techniques based on pilot arrangement in OFDM systems. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting, Sep 2002. " Link (http:/ / ieeexplore. ieee. org/ xpl/ freeabs_all. jsp?arnumber=1033876) [3] Hoeher, P. Kaiser, S. Robertson, P. "Two-dimensional pilot-symbol-aided channel estimation by Wienerfiltering". IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, ICASSP-97, 1997. Link (http:/ / ieeexplore. ieee. org/ xpl/ freeabs_all. jsp?arnumber=598897) [4] "Zemen, T.; Mecklenbrauker, C.F., Time-Variant Channel Estimation Using Discrete Prolate Spheroidal Sequences. Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on, vol.53, no.9, pp. 3597- 3607, Sept. 2005 doi: 10.1109/TSP.2005.853104" Link (http:/ / ieeexplore. ieee. org/ xpls/ abs_all. jsp?arnumber=1495893) [5] "Zijian Tang; Cannizzaro, R.C.; Leus, G.; Banelli, P., Pilot-Assisted Time-Varying Channel Estimation for OFDM Systems, Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on, vol.55, no.5, pp.2226-2238, May 2007 doi: 10.1109/TSP.2007.893198" Link (http:/ / ieeexplore. ieee. org/ stamp/ stamp. jsp?tp=& arnumber=4156430& isnumber=4156355) [6] "Hrycak, T.; Das, S.; Matz, G.; Feichtinger, H. G.; Low Complexity Equalization for Doubly Selective Channels Modeled by a Basis Expansion, Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on, vol.PP, no.99, pp.1-1, 0 doi: 10.1109/TSP.2010.2063426" Link (http:/ / ieeexplore. ieee. org/ stamp/ stamp. jsp?tp=& arnumber=5540312& isnumber=4359509) [7] 4QAM is equivalent to QPSK [8] NR refers to Nordstrom-Robinson code [9] Stefano Galli et al. (July 2008). "Recent Developments in the Standardization of Power Line Communications within the IEEE". IEEE Communications Magazine 46 (7): 6471. doi:10.1109/MCOM.2008.4557044. An overview of P1901 PHY/MAC proposal. [10] http:/ / www. wimedia. com [11] DIRECTIVE 95/47/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the use of standards for the transmission of television signals (http:/ / ec. europa. eu/ archives/ ISPO/ infosoc/ legreg/ docs/ dir95-47en. html) [12] ETSI Standard: EN 300 744 V1.5.1 (2004-11). [13] http:/ / www. commsdesign. com/ article/ printableArticle. jhtml?articleID=12805708 Agere gets Sirius about satellite radio design [14] "Qualcomm and Exoteq Sign OFDM/OFDMA License Agreement" (http:/ / www. qualcomm. com/ news/ releases/ 2007/ 08/ 01/ qualcomm-and-exoteq-sign-ofdmofdma-license-agreement). News release (Qualcomm). August 1, 2007. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [15] "Qualcomm Completes Acquisition Of WiMAX Competitor" (http:/ / www. networkcomputing. com/ wireless/ 229614067). Network Computing. January 19, 2006. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [16] "Briefly in English" (http:/ / www. datame. fi/ index. php?id=30). @450-Network web site. Datame. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [17] Aleksi Kolehmainen (February 8, 2012). "@450 siirtyy cdma2000-tekniikkaan - jopa puhelut mahdollisia" (http:/ / www. tietoviikko. fi/ kaikki_uutiset/ 450+ siirtyy+ cdma2000tekniikkaan+ + jopa+ puhelut+ mahdollisia/ a773169) (in Finnish). Tietoviikko. . [18] "Mapy pokrytia" (http:/ / www. t-mobile. sk/ sk/ !pages. get?id=1285) (in Slovak language). T-Mobile Slovakia web site. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [19] "Nextel Flash-OFDM: The Best Network You May Never Use" (http:/ / www. pcmag. com/ article2/ 0,2817,1770838,00. asp). PC Magazine. March 2, 2005. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [20] Sascha Segan (August 8, 2006). "Sprint Nextel Goes To The WiMax" (http:/ / www. pcmag. com/ article2/ 0,2817,2000732,00. asp). PC Magazine. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [21] "Citizens Offers First "Truly Mobile" Wireless Internet in Christiansburg and other parts of the New River Valley" (http:/ / www. citizens. coop/ aboutus/ newsreleases/ TrulyMobileWireless. pdf). News release (Citizens Wireless). March 28, 2006. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [22] "Thank you for supporting Citizens Mobile Broadband" (http:/ / www. citizens. coop/ internet/ mobilebroadband. shtm). Citizens Wireless. 2009. . Retrieved July 23, 2011. [23] Chang, R. W. (1966). Synthesis of band-limited orthogonal signals for multi-channel data transmission, Bell System Technical Journal 46, 1775-1796. [24] US 3488445 (http:/ / worldwide. espacenet. com/ textdoc?DB=EPODOC& IDX=US3488445) [25] S.Weinstein and P. Ebert, Data transmission by frequency-division multiplexing using the discrete Fourier transform, IEEE Transactions on Communication Technology, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 628634, October 1971. [26] http:/ / www. wipo. int/ pctdb/ en/ wo. jsp?WO=1990/ 04893 [27] http:/ / worldwide. espacenet. com/ textdoc?DB=EPODOC& IDX=US5282222 [28] Nortel 3G World Congress Press Release (http:/ / www2. nortel. com/ go/ news_detail. jsp?cat_id=-8055& oid=100214455)

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

26

External links
Numerous useful links and resources for OFDM (http://wcsp.eng.usf.edu/OFDM_links.html) - WCSP Group - University of South Florida (USF) WiMAX Forum, WiMAX, the framework standard for 4G mobile personal broadband (http://www. wimaxforum.org) Stott, 1997 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/papers/paper_15/paper_15.shtml) Technical presentation by J H Stott of the BBC's R&D division, delivered at the 20 International Television Symposium in 1997; this URL accessed 24 January 2006. Page on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing at http://www.iss.rwth-aachen.de/Projekte/Theo/ OFDM/node6.html accessed on 24 September 2007. A tutorial on the significance of Cyclic Prefix (CP) in OFDM Systems (http://sites.google.com/site/ mdanishnisar/pubs/01_OFDM_Tutorial_Nisar.pdf). Siemens demos 360 Mbit/s wireless (http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/5345.html) 1994 US Patent 5,282,222 for wireless data transmission (http://www.pattools.com/cgi-bin/patent_navigator. pl?patent=5282222) - The patent "tree" rooted on this patent has upwards of 20,000 nodes and leaves references. An Introduction to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex Technology (http://www.ieee.li/pdf/viewgraphs/ introduction_orthogonal_frequency_division_multiplex.pdf) Short Introduction to OFDM (http://www.supelec.fr/d2ri/flexibleradio/cours/ofdmtutorial.pdf) - Tutorial written by Prof. Debbah, head of the Alcatel-Lucent Chair on flexible radio. Short free tutorial on COFDM (http://www.digitaltvbooks.com/cofdm.pdf) by Mark Massel formerly at STMicroelectronics and in the digital TV industry for many years. A popular book on both COFDM and US ATSC (http://www.digitaltvbooks.com/) by Mark Massel A research report by Ali Imran(NUCES)

ISM band
The industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands are radio bands (portions of the radio spectrum) reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency (RF) energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications.[1] Examples of applications in these bands include radio-frequency process heating, microwave ovens, and medical diathermy machines. The powerful emissions of these devices can create electromagnetic interference and disrupt radio communication using the same frequency, so these devices were limited to certain bands of frequencies. In general, communications equipment operating in these bands must tolerate any interference generated by ISM equipment, and users have no regulatory protection from ISM device operation. Despite the intent of the original allocation, in recent years the fastest-growing uses of these bands have been for short-range, low power communications systems. Cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, NFC devices, and wireless computer networks all use the ISM bands.

ISM bands
The ISM bands are defined by the ITU-R in 5.138, 5.150, and 5.280 of the Radio Regulations. Individual countries' use of the bands designated in these sections may differ due to variations in national radio regulations. Because communication devices using the ISM bands must tolerate any interference from ISM equipment, unlicensed operations are typically permitted to use these bands, since unlicensed operation typically needs to be tolerant of interference from other devices anyway. The ISM bands do have licensed operations; however, due to the high likelihood of harmful interference, licensed use of the bands is typically low. In the United States of America, uses of the ISM bands are governed by Part 18 of the FCC rules, while Part 15 contains the rules for unlicensed

ISM band communication devices, even those that use the ISM frequencies. The ISM bands defined by the ITU-R are:
Frequency range 6.765MHz 13.553MHz 26.957MHz 40.660MHz 6.795MHz 13.567MHz 27.283MHz 40.700MHz Center frequency Availability

27

6.780MHz Subject to local acceptance 13.560MHz 27.120MHz 40.680MHz 433.920MHz Region 1 only and subject to local acceptance 915.000MHz Region 2 only 2.450GHz 5.800GHz 24.125GHz 61.250GHz Subject to local acceptance 122.500GHz Subject to local acceptance 245.000GHz Subject to local acceptance

433.050MHz 434.790MHz 902.000MHz 928.000MHz 2.400GHz 5.725GHz 24.000GHz 61.000GHz 2.500GHz 5.875GHz 24.250GHz 61.500GHz

122.000GHz 123.000GHz 244.000GHz 246.000GHz

Regulatory authorities may allocate other parts of the radio spectrum for unlicensed communication systems, but these are not ISM bands.

History
Radio frequencies in the ISM bands have been used for communication purposes, although such devices may experience interference from non-communication sources. In the United States, as early as 1958 Class D Citizen's Band was allocated adjacent to an ISM frequency. In the US, the FCC first made unlicensed spread spectrum available in the ISM bands in rules adopted on May 9, 1985.[2][3] Many other countries later developed similar regulations, enabling use of this technology. The FCC action was proposed by Michael Marcus of the FCC staff in 1980 and the subsequent regulatory action took 5 more years. It was part of a broader proposal to allow civil use of spread spectrum technology and was opposed at the time by mainstream equipment manufacturers and many radio system operators.[4]

Uses
For many people, the most commonly encountered ISM device is the home microwave oven operating at 2.45GHz. However, in recent years these bands have also been shared with license-free error-tolerant communications applications such as Wireless Sensor Networks in the 915MHz and 2.450GHz bands, as well as wireless LANs and cordless phones in the 915MHz, 2.450GHz, and 5.800GHz bands. Because unlicensed devices already are required to be tolerant of ISM emissions in these bands, unlicensed low power uses are generally able to operate in these bands without causing problems for ISM users; ISM equipment does not necessarily include a radio receiver in the ISM band (a microwave oven does not have a receiver). In the United States, according to 47 CFR Part 15.5, low power communication devices must accept interference from licensed users of that frequency band, and the Part 15 device must not cause interference to licensed users. Note that the 915MHz band should not be used in countries outside Region 2, except those that specifically allow it, such as Australia and Israel, especially those that use the GSM-900 band for cellphones. The ISM bands are also widely used for Radio-frequency identification (RFID) applications with the most commonly used band being the

ISM band 13.56MHz band used by systems compliant with ISO/IEC 14443 including those used by biometric passports and contactless smart cards. In Europe, the use of the ISM band is covered by Short Range Device regulations issued by European Commission, based on technical recommendations by CEPT and standards by ETSI. In most of Europe, LPD433 band is allowed for license-free voice communication in addition to PMR446. Wireless LAN devices use wavebands as follows: Bluetooth 2450MHz band HIPERLAN 5800MHz band IEEE 802.11/WiFi 2450MHz and 5800MHz bands IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee and other personal area networks may use the 915 MHz and 2450 MHz ISM bands. Wireless LANs and cordless phones can also use frequency bands other than the bands shared with ISM, but such uses require approval on a country by country basis. DECT phones use allocated spectrum outside the ISM bands that differs in Europe and North America. Ultra-wideband LANs require more spectrum than the ISM bands can provide, so the relevant standards such as IEEE 802.15.4a are designed to make use of spectrum outside the ISM bands. Despite the fact that these additional bands are outside the official ITU-R ISM bands, because they are used for the same types of low power personal communications, these additional frequency bands are sometimes incorrectly referred to as ISM bands as well. Also note that several brands of radio control equipment use the 2.4 GHz band range for low power remote control of toys, from gas powered cars to miniature aircraft. Worldwide Digital Cordless Telecommunications or WDCT is an ISM band technology that uses the 2.4 GHz radio spectrum.

28

References
[1] "ARTICLE 1 - Terms and Definitions" (HTML). life.itu.ch. International Telecommunication Union. 19 October, 2009. 1.15. "industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) applications (of radio frequency energy): Operation of equipment or appliances designed to generate and use locally radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific, medical, domestic or similar purposes, excluding applications in the field of telecommunications." [2] "Authorization of Spread Spectrum Systems Under Parts 15 and 90 of the FCC Rules and Regulations" (http:/ / www. marcus-spectrum. com/ documents/ 81413RO. txt) (TXT). Federal Communications Commission. June 18, 1985. . Retrieved 2007-08-31. [3] "Wi-Fi (wireless networking technology)" (http:/ / www. britannica. com/ EBchecked/ topic/ 1473553/ Wi-Fi). Encyclopdia Britannica. . Retrieved 2010-02-03. [4] "The Genesis of Unlicensed Wireless Policy" (http:/ / www. iep. gmu. edu/ UnlicensedWireless. php). George Mason University. April 4, 2008. . Retrieved 2008-04-20.

External links
Cordless phone frequencies (http://telecom.hellodirect.com/docs/Tutorials/5.8GHzFrequency.1.031903. asp) ITU page on definitions of ISM bands (http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/faq/index.html#g013) ITU page on Radio Regulations (http://www.itu.int/publications/productslist.aspx?lang=e& CategoryID=R-REG&product=R-REG-RR) European Radiocommunications Office frequency information system (http://www.efis.dk/) In the US, CFR Title 47 Part 18 (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_07/47cfr18_07.html) describes the regulation of the ISM bands. Part 15 Subpart 247 (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2005/ octqtr/pdf/47cfr15.247.pdf) contains regulations for wireless LAN devices operating in the ISM bands.

U-NII

29

U-NII
The Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII)[1] [2] radio band is part of the radio frequency spectrum used by IEEE-802.11a devices and by many wireless ISPs. It operates over three ranges: U-NII Low (U-NII-1[3]): 5.15-5.25 GHz. Regulations require use of an integrated antenna. Power limited to 50mW[4] U-NII Mid (U-NII-2[3]): 5.25-5.35 GHz. Regulations allow for a user-installable antenna, subject to Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS, or radar avoidance)[5]. Power limited to 250mW[4] U-NII Worldwide: 5.47-5.725 GHz. Both outdoor and indoor use, subject to Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS, or radar avoidance)[5]. Power limited to 250mW[4]. This spectrum was added by the FCC in 2003 to "align the frequency bands used by U-NII devices in the United States with bands in other parts of the world"[5]. The FCC currently has an interim limitation on operations on channels which overlap the 5600 - 5650 MHz band[6]. U-NII Upper (U-NII-3[3]): 5.725 to 5.825 GHz. Sometimes referred to as U-NII / ISM due to overlap with the ISM band. Regulations allow for a user-installable antenna. Power limited to 1W[4] Wireless ISPs generally use 5.725-5.825 GHz. U-NII is an FCC regulatory domain for 5- GHz wireless devices. U-NII power limits are defined by the United States CFR Title 47 (Telecommunication), Part 15 - Radio Frequency Devices, Subpart E - Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure Devices, Paragraph 15.407 - General technical requirements. Regulatory use in individual countries may differ. The European HiperLAN standard operates in same frequency band as the U-NII.

5GHz (802.11a/h/j/n)
Except where noted, all information taken from Annex J of IEEE 802.11-2007 modified by amendments k, y and n. Countries apply their own regulations to both the allowable channels, allowed users and maximum power levels within these frequency ranges. Consult your local authorities as these regulations may be out of date as they are subject to change at any time. In 2007 the FCC (United States) began requiring that devices in operating in channels 52, 56, 60 and 64 must have dynamic frequency selection (DFS) capabilities. This is to avoid communicating in the same frequency range as some RADAR.
channel frequency United States Europe (MHz) [7] 40/20MHz 40/20MHz 183 184 185 187 188 189 192 196 7 8 9 4915 4920 4925 4935 4940 4945 4960 4980 5035 5040 5045 No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Japan 40/20MHz No Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No No No [8] 10MHz Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Singapore 20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No China 20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No Israel 20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No [9] Korea 20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No Turkey

[10] 20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No

U-NII

30
11 12 16 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 149 153 157 161 165 5055 5060 5080 5170 5180 5190 5200 5210 5220 5230 5240 5260 5280 5300 5320 5500 5520 5540 5560 5580 5600 5620 5640 5660 5680 5700 5745 5765 5785 5805 5825 No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No [11] [11] [11] [11] [11] No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

[11] [11] [11] [11] [11] [11]

Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

U-NII

31

References
[1] "15.07.2005, Heise: 5 GHz WLAN to be available all over Europe" www.heise.de (http:/ / www. heise. de/ english/ newsticker/ news/ 61748) [2] "Cisco: Glossary" www.cisco.com (http:/ / www. cisco. com/ univercd/ cc/ td/ doc/ product/ wireless/ cb21ag/ icg02/ winglskh. htm) [3] "Dynamic Frequency Selection for 5 GHz WLAN in the US and Canada" www.cisco.com (http:/ / www. cisco. com/ en/ US/ prod/ collateral/ wireless/ ps5679/ ps5861/ prod_white_paper0900aecd801c4a88_ps5279_Products_White_Paper. html) [4] FCC 15.407 as of September 13, 2006 - hallikainen.com (http:/ / www. hallikainen. com/ FccRules/ 2006/ 15/ 407/ ) [5] FCC-03-287A1.doc (http:/ / www. atcb. com/ publicdocs/ fcc-03-287a1-UNII-Changes. pdf) [6] "15E, Dynamic Frequency Selection, DFS, DFS Approval" fcc.gov (http:/ / fjallfoss. fcc. gov/ oetcf/ kdb/ forms/ FTSSearchResultPage. cfm?id=41732& switch=P) [7] FCC 15.407 as of August 8, 2008 hallikainen.com (http:/ / sujan. hallikainen. org/ FCC/ FccRules/ 2008/ 15/ 407/ ) [8] 802.11-2007 Japan MIC Released the new 5GHz band (W56) (http:/ / www. adt. com. tw/ english/ news_files/ 81. pdf). Bureau Veritas ADT. . Retrieved 2008-02-23. [9] Israel: "( "5002 ) ( )' 2(, "http:/ / www. moc. gov. il/ sip_storage/ FILES/ 3/ 293. pdf) (in hebrew). . [10] Korea Frequency Distribution Table (http:/ / www. rra. go. kr/ join/ databoard/ law/ view. jsp?lw_type=3& lw_seq=187) 2008.12.31 (in Korean) [11] "Publication Number: 443999 Rule Parts: 15E" (http:/ / fjallfoss. fcc. gov/ oetcf/ kdb/ forms/ FTSSearchResultPage. cfm?switch=P& id=41732). FCC. October 5, 2009. . "Devices must be professionally installed when operating in the 5470 5725 MHz band"

External links
In the USA, CFR Title 47 Part 15 (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=47& PART=15&SECTION=407&TYPE=TEXT&YEAR=2005) (revised in 2005) describes the regulation of the U-NII bands.

Service set (802.11 network)


A service set is all the devices associated with a local or enterprise IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN).

Basic service set


The basic service set (BSS) is the basic building block of an 802.11 wireless LAN. In infrastructure mode, a single access point (AP) together with all associated stations (STAs) is called a BSS.[1] This is not to be confused with the coverage of an access point, which is called basic service area (BSA). [2] An access point acts as a master to control the stations within that BSS. In ad hoc mode a set of synchronized stations, one of which acts as master, forms a BSS. Each BSS is identified by a BSSID. The simplest BSS consists of one access point and one station.

Independent basic service set (IBSS)


With 802.11, it is possible to create an ad-hoc network of client devices without a controlling access point called an independent basic service set (IBSS)[3], in which case the SSID is chosen by the client device that starts the network, and broadcasting of the SSID is performed in a pseudo-random order by all devices that are members of the network.

Extended service set


An extended service set (ESS) is a set of one or more interconnected BSSs and integrated local area networks that appear as a single BSS to the logical link control layer at any station associated with one of those BSSs. The set of interconnected BSSs must have a common service set identifier (SSID). They can work on the same channel, or work on different channels to boost aggregate throughput.

Service set (802.11 network)

32

Basic service set identification (BSSID)


A related field is the basic service set identification (BSSID)[4], which uniquely identifies each BSS (the SSID however, can be used in multiple, possibly overlapping, BSSs). In an infrastructure BSS, the BSSID is the MAC address of the wireless access point (WAP). In an IBSS, the BSSID is a locally administered MAC address generated from a 46-bit random number. The individual/group bit of the address is set to 0 (individual). The universal/local bit of the address is set to 1 (local). A BSSID with a value of all 1s is used to indicate the broadcast BSSID. A broadcast BSSID may only be used during probe requests.

Security disadvantages of SSID hiding


Many access points allow a user to turn off the broadcast of the SSID. With many network client devices, this results in the detected network displaying as an unnamed network and the user would need to manually enter the correct SSID to connect to the network. Unfortunately, turning off the broadcast of the SSID may lead to a false sense of security. The method discourages only casual wireless snooping, but does not stop a person trying to attack the network.[5] It is not secure against determined crackers, because every time someone connects to the network, the SSID is transmitted in cleartext even if the wireless connection is otherwise encrypted. An eavesdropper can passively sniff the wireless traffic on that network undetected (with software like Kismet), and wait for someone to connect, revealing the SSID. Alternatively, there are faster (albeit detectable) methods where a cracker spoofs a "disassociate frame" as if it came from the wireless bridge, and sends it to one of the clients connected; the client immediately re-connects, revealing the SSID.[6] [7] As disabling SSID does not offer protection against determined crackers, proven security methods should be used such as requiring 802.11i/WPA2.[8] Microsoft discourages SSID-hiding because it leads to clients probing for the SSID in plain text. This not only exposes the SSID that was meant to be hidden but also allows a fake accesspoint to offer a connection.[9] Programs that act as fake accesspoints are freely available. For example "airbase-ng" [10] and "Karma"[11].

References
[1] "IEEE Std 802.11-2007" (http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11-2007. pdf). IEEE. 2007-06-12. p.6. . Retrieved 2011-07-06. [2] "IEEE Std 802.11-2007" (http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11-2007. pdf). IEEE. 2007-06-12. p.5. . Retrieved 2011-07-06. [3] "IEEE Std 802.11-2007" (http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11-2007. pdf). IEEE. 2007-06-12. p.25. . Retrieved 2011-07-06. [4] "IEEE Std 802.11-2007" (http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ download/ 802. 11-2007. pdf). IEEE. 2007-06-12. p.65. . Retrieved 2011-07-06. [5] Robert Moskowitz (2003-12-01). "Debunking the Myth of SSID Hiding" (http:/ / www. library. cornell. edu/ dlit/ ds/ links/ cit/ redrover/ ssid/ wp_ssid_hiding. pdf). International Computer Security Association. . Retrieved 2011-07-10. "[...] the SSID is nothing more than a wireless-space group label. It cannot be successfully hidden. Attempts to hide it will not only fail, but will negatively impact WLAN performance, and may result in additional exposure of the SSID [...]" [6] Joshua Bardwell; Devin Akin (2005). CWNA Official Study Guide (Third ed.). McGraw-Hill. p.334. ISBN0072255382. [7] Vivek Ramachandran (2011-04-21). "WLAN Security Megaprimer Part 6: Pwning hidden SSIDs" (http:/ / vimeo. com/ 22697124). SecurityTube. . Retrieved 2011-07-10. Videodemo of active and passive SSID-uncloaking. [8] "What is a Wireless Network's SSID?" (http:/ / kbserver. netgear. com/ kb_web_files/ N100683. asp). Netgear. . Retrieved 2008-02-06. "The SSID is not a strong security measure, and should be used in conjunction with other security such as WEP or WPA." [9] "Non-broadcast Network Behavior with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003" (http:/ / technet. microsoft. com/ en-us/ library/ bb726942. aspx#EDAA). Microsoft Corporation. 2007-04-19. . Retrieved 2011-07-10. "it is highly recommended that you do not use non-broadcast wireless networks." Note: Here the term "non-broadcast" means a network that does not broadcast its SSID or broadcasts a null-SSID instead of the actual SSID.

Service set (802.11 network)


[10] Vivek Ramachandran (2011-04-25). "WLAN Security Megaprimer 10: Hacking isolated clients" (http:/ / vimeo. com/ 22832760). SecurityTube. . Retrieved 2011-07-10. Demonstrates the use of "airbase-ng" to respond to any probe request beacons. [11] Dookie2000ca (2009-06-13). "Karmetasploit ( Karma And Metasploit 3)" (http:/ / www. securitytube. net/ video/ 383). . Retrieved 2011-07-10. Demonstrates the use of "Karma" to respond to any probe request beacons.

33

Frame check sequence


A frame check sequence (FCS) refers to the extra checksum characters added to a frame in a communication protocol for error detection. Frames are used to send upper-layer data and ultimately the user application data from a source to a destination. The data package includes the message to be sent, or user application data. Extra bytes may be added so frames have a minimum length for timing purposes. LLC bytes are also included with the Data field in the IEEE standard frames. The LLC sublayer takes the network protocol data, which is an IP packet, and adds control information to help deliver the packet to the destination node. Layer 2 communicates with the upper layers through LLC. (OSI model) Note that detection does not also mean error recovery. Ethernet defines that the errored frame should be discarded, but Ethernet takes no action to cause the frame to be retransmitted. Other protocols, notably TCP, can notice the lost data and cause error recovery to occur.[1] All frames and the bits, bytes, and fields contained within them, are susceptible to errors from a variety of sources. The FCS field contains a number that is calculated by the source node based on the data in the frame. This number is added to the end of a frame that is sent. When the destination node receives the frame the FCS number is recalculated and compared with the FCS number included in the frame. If the two numbers are different, an error is assumed, the frame is discarded. The sending host computes a checksum on the entire frame and appends this as a trailer to the data. The receiving host computes the checksum on the frame using the same algorithm, and compares it to the received FCS. This way it can detect whether any data was lost or altered in transit. It may then discard the data, and request retransmission of the faulty frame. The FCS is often transmitted in such a way that the receiver can compute a running sum over the entire frame, including the trailing FCS, and expect to see a fixed result (such as zero) when it is correct. Such an FCS generally appears immediately before the frame-ending delimiter.

An Ethernet frame, including the FCS terminating the frame.

By far the most popular FCS algorithm is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), used in the Ethernet with 32 bits, X.25 16 or 32 bits, HDLC 16 or 32 bits, Frame Relay 16 bits,[2] Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) 16 or 32 bits, and other data link layer protocols.

References
[1] Cf: Wendell ODOM, Ccie #1624, Cisco Official Cert Guide, Book 1, Chapter 3 : Fundamentals of LANs, Page 74 [2] "Frame Relay Glossary Cisco Systems" (http:/ / www. cisco. com/ en/ US/ tech/ tk713/ tk237/ technologies_tech_note09186a00801e32e7. shtml). .

Wireless network interface controller

34

Wireless network interface controller


A wireless network interface controller (WNIC) is a network interface controller which connects to a radio-based computer network rather than a wire-based network such as Token Ring or Ethernet. A WNIC, just like other NICs, works on the Layer 1 and Layer 2 of the OSI Model. A WNIC is an essential component for wireless desktop computer. This card uses an antenna to communicate through microwaves. A WNIC in a desktop computer usually is connected using the PCI bus. Other connectivity options are USB and PC card. Integrated WNICs are also available, (typically in Mini PCI/PCI Express Mini Card form). The term may also apply to a card using protocols other than Wi-Fi, such as one implementing Bluetooth connections.

A wireless network interface device with a USB interface and internal antenna

Bluetooth card

Modes of operation
802.11 network standards
802.11 protocol Release [1] Freq. Bandwidth (GHz) (MHz) Data rate per stream [2] (Mbit/s) 1, 2 Allowable MIMO streams 1 Modulation Approximate indoor range (m) DSSS, FHSS 20 (ft) unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' Approximate outdoor range (m) 100 (ft) unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong'[A] unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong'

Jun 1997

2.4

20

Sep 1999

20

6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54

OFDM

35

120

3.7[A]

5000

Sep 1999

2.4

20

1, 2, 5.5, 11

DSSS

35

unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong'

140

Jun 2003

2.4

20

6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54

OFDM, DSSS

38

140

Wireless network interface controller

35
4 OFDM 70 unknown operator: u'strong' unknown operator: u'strong' 250

Oct 2009

2.4/5

20

7.2, 14.4, 21.7, 28.9, 43.3, 57.8, 65, 72.2[B] 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 135, 150[B]

unknown operator: [3] u'strong' unknown operator: [3] u'strong'

40

70

250

ac Nov. 2011 (DRAFT)

80 160

433, 867 867, 1.73 Gbit/s, 3.47 Gbit/s, 6.93 Gbit/s

IEEE 802.11y-2008 extended operation of 802.11a to the licensed 3.7GHz band. Increased power limits allow a range up to 5,000m. As of 2009, it is only being licensed in the United States by the FCC. B1B2 Assumes short guard interval (SGI) enabled, otherwise reduce each data rate by 10%. A WNIC can operate in two modes known as infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode.

A1 A2

Infrastructure mode
In an infrastructure mode network the WNIC needs a wireless access point: all data is transferred using the access point as the central hub. All wireless nodes in an infrastructure mode network connect to an access point. All nodes connecting to the access point must have the same service set identifier (SSID) as the access point, and if the access point is enabled with WEP they must have the same WEP key or other authentication parameters.

Ad-hoc mode
In an ad-hoc mode network the WNIC does not require an access point, but rather can directly interface with all other wireless nodes directly. All the nodes in an ad-hoc network must have the same channel and SSID.

Specifications
WNICs are designed around the IEEE 802.11 standard which sets out low-level specifications for how all wireless networks operate. Earlier interface controllers are usually only compatible with earlier variants of the standard, while newer cards support both current and old standards. Specifications commonly used in marketing materials for WNICs include: Wireless data transfer rates (measured in Mbit/s); these range from 2 Mbit/s to 54 Mbit/s.[4] Wireless transmit power (measured in dBm) Wireless network standards (may include standards such as 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, etc.) 802.11g offers data transfer speeds equivalent to 802.11a up to 54 Mbit/s and the wider 300-foot (unknown operator: u'strong'm) range of 802.11b, and is backward compatible with 802.11b. Most Bluetooth cards do not implement any form of the 802.11 standard.

Range
Wireless range may be substantially affected by objects in the way of the signal and by the quality of the antenna. Large electrical appliances, such as refrigerators, fuse boxes, metal plumbing, and air conditioning units can impede a wireless network signal. The theoretical maximum range of Wi-Fi is only reached under ideal circumstances and true effective range is typically about half of the theoretical range.[4] Specifically, the maximum throughput speed is only achieved at extremely close range (less than 25 feet (unknown operator: u'strong'm) or so); at the outer reaches of a device's effective range, speed may decrease to around 1 Mbit/s before it drops out altogether. The

Wireless network interface controller reason is that wireless devices dynamically negotiate the top speed at which they can communicate without dropping too many data packets.

36

References
[1] "Official IEEE 802.11 working group project timelines" (http:/ / grouper. ieee. org/ groups/ 802/ 11/ Reports/ 802. 11_Timelines. htm). Sept. 19, 2009. . Retrieved 2009-10-09. [2] "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED n: Longer-Range, Faster-Throughput, Multimedia-Grade Wi-Fi Networks" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ register. php?file=wp_Wi-Fi_CERTIFIED_n_Industry. pdf) (registration required). Wi-Fi Alliance. September 2009. . [3] "802.11n Delivers Better Range" (http:/ / www. wi-fiplanet. com/ tutorials/ article. php/ 3680781). Wi-Fi Planet. 2007-05-31. . [4] Meyers, Mike: Network+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill, 2004, p. 230.

Wi-Fi Protected Access


Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) are two security protocols and security certification programs developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to secure wireless computer networks. The Alliance defined these in response to serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy).[1] WPA (sometimes referred to as the draft IEEE 802.11i standard) became available around 1999 and was intended as an intermediate measure in anticipation of the availability of the more secure and complex WPA2. WPA2 became available around 2004 and is a common shorthand for the full IEEE 802.11i (or IEEE 802.11i-2004) standard. A flaw in a feature added to Wi-Fi, called Wi-Fi Protected Setup, allows WPA and WPA2 security to be bypassed and effectively broken in many situations.[2] WPA and WPA2 security implemented without using the Wi-Fi Protected Setup feature are unaffected by the security breach.

WPA
The Wi-Fi Alliance intended WPA as an intermediate measure to take the place of WEP pending the availability of the full IEEE 802.11i standard. WPA could be implemented through firmware upgrades on wireless network interface cards designed for WEP that began shipping as far back as 1999. However, since the changes required in the wireless access points (APs) were more extensive than those needed on the network cards, most pre-2003 APs could not be upgraded to support WPA. The WPA protocol implements much of the IEEE 802.11i standard. Specifically, the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), was adopted for WPA. WEP used a 40-bit or 104-bit encryption key that must be manually entered on wireless access points and devices and does not change. TKIP employs a per-packet key, meaning that it dynamically generates a new 128-bit key for each packet and thus prevents the types of attacks that compromised WEP.[3] WPA also includes a message integrity check. This is designed to prevent an attacker from capturing, altering and/or resending data packets. This replaces the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) that was used by the WEP standard. CRC's main flaw was that it did not provide a sufficiently strong data integrity guarantee for the packets it handled.[4] Well tested message authentication codes existed to solve these problems, but they required too much computation to be used on old network cards. WPA uses a message integrity check algorithm called Michael to verify the integrity of the packets. Michael is much stronger than a CRC, but not as strong as the algorithm used in WPA2. Researchers have since discovered a flaw in WPA that relied on older weaknesses in WEP and the limitations of Michael to retrieve the keystream from short packets to use for re-injection and spoofing.[5]

Wi-Fi Protected Access

37

WPA2
WPA2 has replaced WPA. WPA2, which requires testing and certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance, implements the mandatory elements of IEEE 802.11i. In particular, it introduces CCMP, a new AES-based encryption mode with strong security.[6] Certification began in September, 2004; from March 13, 2006, WPA2 certification is mandatory for all new devices to bear the Wi-Fi trademark.[7]

Hardware support
WPA was specifically designed to work with wireless hardware that was produced prior to the introduction of the WPA protocol[8] which had only supported inadequate security through WEP. Some of these devices support the security protocol only after a firmware upgrade. Firmware upgrades are not available for all legacy devices.[8] Wi-Fi devices certified since 2006 support both the WPA and WPA2 security protocols. WPA2 may not work with some older network cards.

Security
Pre-shared key mode (PSK, also known as Personal mode) is designed for home and small office networks that don't require the complexity of an 802.1X authentication server.[9] Each wireless network device encrypts the network traffic using a 256 bit key. This key may be entered either as a string of 64 hexadecimal digits, or as a passphrase of 8 to 63 printable ASCII characters.[10] If ASCII characters are used, the 256 bit key is calculated by applying the PBKDF2 key derivation function to the passphrase, using the SSID as the salt and 4096 iterations of HMAC-SHA1.[11]

Weak password
Shared-key WPA remains vulnerable to password cracking attacks if users rely on a weak password or passphrase. To protect against a brute force attack, a truly random passphrase of 13 characters (selected from the set of 95 permitted characters) is probably sufficient.[12] To further protect against intrusion, the network's SSID should not match any entry in the top 1000 SSIDs[13] as downloadable rainbow tables have been pre-generated for them and a multitude of common passwords.[14]

WPA short packet spoofing


In November 2008 Erik Tews and Martin Beck - researchers at two German technical universities (TU Dresden and TU Darmstadt) - uncovered a WPA weakness[15] which relied on a previously known flaw in WEP that could be exploited only for the TKIP algorithm in WPA. The flaw can only decrypt short packets with mostly known contents, such as ARP messages. The attack requires Quality of Service (as defined in 802.11e) to be enabled, which allows packet prioritization as defined. The flaw does not lead to key recovery, but only a keystream that encrypted a particular packet, and which can be reused as many as seven times to inject arbitrary data of the same packet length to a wireless client. For example, this allows someone to inject faked ARP packets which make the victim send packets to the open Internet. This attack was further optimized by two Japanese computer scientists Toshihiro Ohigashi and Masakatu Morii.[16] Their attack doesn't require Quality of Service to be enabled. In October 2009, Halvorsen with others made further progress, enabling attackers to inject larger malicious packets (596 bytes, to be more specific) within approximately 18 minutes and 25 seconds.[17] In February 2010, a new attack was found by Martin Beck that allows an attacker to decrypt all traffic towards the client. The authors say that the attack can be defeated by deactivating QoS, or by switching from TKIP to AES-based CCMP.[18] The vulnerabilities of TKIP are significant in that WPA-TKIP was, up until the proof-of-concept discovery, held to be an extremely safe combination. WPA-TKIP is still a configuration option upon a wide variety of wireless routing devices provided by many hardware vendors.

Wi-Fi Protected Access

38

WPS PIN recovery


A more serious security flaw was revealed in December 2011 by Stefan Viehbck that affects wireless routers with the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) feature, regardless of which encryption method they use. Most recent models have this feature and enable it by default. Many consumer Wi-Fi device manufacturers had taken steps to eliminate the potential of weak passphrase choices by promoting alternative methods of automatically generating and distributing strong keys when users add a new wireless adapter or appliance to a network. These methods include pushing buttons on the devices or entering an 8-digit PIN. The Wi-Fi Alliance standardized these methods as Wi-Fi Protected Setup; however the PIN feature as widely implemented introduced a major new security flaw. The flaw allows a remote attacker to recover the WPS PIN and, with it, the router's WPA/WPA2 password in a few hours.[2] Users have been urged to turn off the WPS feature,[19] although this may not be possible on some router models. Also note that the PIN is written on a label on most Wi-Fi routers with WPS, and cannot be changed if compromised.

WPA terminology
Different WPA versions and protection mechanisms can be distinguished based on the (chronological) version of WPA, the target end-user (according to the method of authentication key distribution), and the encryption protocol used.

Version
WPA Initial WPA version, to supply enhanced security over the older WEP protocol. Typically uses the TKIP encryption protocol (see further). WPA2 Also known as IEEE 802.11i-2004, is the successor of WPA, and replaces the TKIP encryption protocol with CCMP to provide additional security. Mandatory for Wi-Ficertified devices since 2006.

Target users (authentication key distribution)


WPA-Personal Also referred to as WPA-PSK (Pre-shared key) mode, it is designed for home and small office networks and doesn't require an authentication server. Each wireless network device authenticates with the access point using the same 256-bit key generated from a password or passphrase. WPA-Enterprise Also referred to as WPA-802.1X mode, and sometimes just WPA (as opposed to WPA-PSK). It is designed for enterprise networks and requires a RADIUS authentication server. This requires a more complicated setup, but provides additional security (e.g. protection against dictionary attacks on short passwords). An Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is used for authentication, which comes in different flavors. Note that the WPA-Personal and WPA-Enterprise modes are available with both WPA and WPA2. Wi-Fi Protected Setup An alternative authentication key distribution method intended to simplify and strengthen the process, but which, as widely implemented, creates a major security hole (see above).

Wi-Fi Protected Access

39

Encryption protocol
TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) The RC4 stream cipher is used with a 128-bit per-packet key, meaning that it dynamically generates a new key for each packet. Used by WPA. CCMP An AES-based encryption mechanism that is stronger than TKIP. Sometimes referred to as AES instead of CCMP. Used by WPA2. With some hardware manufacturers, AES-CCMP must be set to enable 802.11n high bitrate schemes.[20] Otherwise, the data rate will not exceed 54 Mbit/s.

EAP extensions under WPA and WPA2 Enterprise


In April 2010, the Wi-Fi alliance announced the inclusion of additional Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)[21] types to its certification programs for WPA- and WPA2- Enterprise certification programs.[22] This was to ensure that WPA-Enterprise certified products can interoperate with one another. Previously, only EAP-TLS (Transport Layer Security) was certified by the Wi-Fi alliance. As of 2010 the certification program includes the following EAP types: EAP-TLS (previously tested) EAP-TTLS/MSCHAPv2 (april 2005 [23]) PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2 (april 2005) PEAPv1/EAP-GTC (april 2005) PEAP-TLS EAP-SIM (april 2005) EAP-AKA (april 2009 [24]) EAP-FAST (april 2009)

802.1X clients and servers developed by specific firms may support other EAP types. This certification is an attempt for popular EAP types to interoperate; their failure to do so is currently one of the major issues preventing rollout of 802.1X on heterogeneous networks. Commercial 802.1X servers include Microsoft Internet Authentication Service and Juniper Networks Steelbelted RADIUS. FreeRADIUS is an open source 802.1X server.

References
[1] "Understanding WEP Weaknesses" (http:/ / eu. dummies. com/ WileyCDA/ how-to/ content/ understanding-wep-weaknesses. html). Wiley Publishing. . Retrieved 2010-01-10. [2] Viehbock, Stefan (26 December 2011). "Brute forcing Wi-Fi Protected Setup" (http:/ / sviehb. files. wordpress. com/ 2011/ 12/ viehboeck_wps. pdf). . [3] Meyers, Mike (2004). Managing and Troubleshooting Networks. Network+. McGraw Hill. ISBN978-0-07-225665-9. [4] Ciampa, Mark (2006). CWNA Guide to Wireless LANS. Networking. Thomson. [5] "Battered, but not broken: understanding the WPA crack" (http:/ / arstechnica. com/ articles/ paedia/ wpa-cracked. ars). Ars Technica. 2008-11-06. . Retrieved 2008-11-06. [6] Jonsson, Jakob. "On the Security of CTR + CBC-MAC" (http:/ / csrc. nist. gov/ groups/ ST/ toolkit/ BCM/ documents/ proposedmodes/ ccm/ ccm-ad1. pdf). NIST. . Retrieved 2010-05-15. [7] "WPA2 Security Now Mandatory for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Products" "WPA2 Security Now Mandatory for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Products" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ pressroom_overview. php?newsid=16). Wi-Fi Alliance. . [8] "Wi-Fi Protected Access White Paper" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ white_papers/ whitepaper-042903-wpa/ ). Wi-Fi Alliance. . "WPA is both forward and backward-compatible and is designed to run on existing Wi-Fi devices as a software download." [9] "Wi-Fi Alliance: Glossary" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ knowledge_center_overview. php?type=3). . Retrieved 2010-03-01. [10] Each character in the passphrase must have an encoding in the range of 32 to 126 (decimal), inclusive. (IEEE Std. 802.11i-2004, Annex H.4.1) The space character is included in this range.

Wi-Fi Protected Access


[11] van Rantwijk, Joris (2006-12-06). "WPA key calculation From passphrase to hexadecimal key" (http:/ / jorisvr. nl/ wpapsk. html). . Retrieved 2011-12-24. [12] "A key generated from a passphrase of less than about 20 characters is unlikely to deter attacks." "... against current brute-strength attacks, 96 bits [of security] SHOULD be adequate." ( Weakness in Passphrase Choice in WPA Interface, by Robert Moskowitz. Retrieved March 2, 2004. (http:/ / wifinetnews. com/ archives/ 002452. html)) [13] "Wireless Geographic Logging Engine - SSID Stats" (http:/ / www. wigle. net/ gps/ gps/ main/ ssidstats). WiGLE. . Retrieved 2010-11-15. [14] "Church of Wifi WPA-PSK Rainbow Tables" (http:/ / www. renderlab. net/ projects/ WPA-tables/ ). The Renderlab. . Retrieved 2010-11-15. [15] "Practical Attacks against WEP and WPA" (http:/ / dl. aircrack-ng. org/ breakingwepandwpa. pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved 2010-11-15. [16] "A Practical Message Falsification Attack on WPA" (http:/ / jwis2009. nsysu. edu. tw/ location/ paper/ A Practical Message Falsification Attack on WPA. pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved 2010-11-15. [17] Halvorsen, Finn M.; Haugen, Olav; Eian, Martin; Mjlsnes, Stig F. (September 30, 2009). An Improved Attack on TKIP. 5838. pp. 120132. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-04766-4_9. [18] "Enhanced TKIP Michael Attacks" (http:/ / download. aircrack-ng. org/ wiki-files/ doc/ enhanced_tkip_michael. pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved 2010-11-15. [19] http:/ / www. kb. cert. org/ vuls/ id/ 723755 US CERT Vulnerability Note VU#723755 [20] "Data rate will not exceed 54 Mbps when WEP or TKIP encryption is configured" (http:/ / www. intel. com/ support/ wireless/ wlan/ 4965agn/ sb/ cs-025643. htm). . [21] "Wi-Fi Alliance: Extended EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol)" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ knowledge_center/ eap). Wi-Fi Alliance Featured Topics. . [22] "Wi-Fi Alliance expands Wi-Fi Protected Access Certification Program for Enterprise and Government Users" (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ news_articles. php?f=media_news& news_id=113). Wi-Fi Alliance Press Release. . [23] "Error: no |title= specified when using {{[[Template:Cite web|Cite web (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ media/ press-releases/ wi-fi-alliance-expands-wi-fi-protected-access-certification-program-enterprise)]}}"]. Wi-Fi Alliance Featured Topics. . [24] "Error: no |title= specified when using {{[[Template:Cite web|Cite web (http:/ / www. wi-fi. org/ media/ press-releases/ wi-fi-certified-expanded-support-eap-aka-and-eap-fast-authentication)]}}"]. Wi-Fi Alliance Featured Topics. .

40

External links
Wi-Fi (http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Data_Communications/Wireless/802.11//) at the Open Directory Project Wi-Fi Alliance's Interoperability Certificate page (http://certifications.wi-fi.org/wbcs_certified_products.php) Weakness in Passphrase Choice in WPA Interface, by Robert Moskowitz. Retrieved March 2, 2004. (http:// wifinetnews.com/archives/002452.html) IEEE Std. 802.11i-2004 (http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/download/802.11i-2004.pdf)

RADIUS

41

RADIUS
Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) is a networking protocol that provides centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) management for computers to connect and use a network service. RADIUS was developed by Livingston Enterprises, Inc., in 1991 as an access server authentication and accounting protocol and later brought into the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards.[1] Because of the broad support and the ubiquitous nature of the RADIUS protocol, it is often used by ISPs and enterprises to manage access to the Internet or internal networks, wireless networks, and integrated e-mail services. These networks may incorporate modems, DSL, access points, VPNs, network ports, web servers, etc.[2] RADIUS is a client/server protocol that runs in the application layer, using UDP as transport. The Remote Access Server, the Virtual Private Network server, the Network switch with port-based authentication, and the Network Access Server (NAS), are all gateways that control access to the network, and all have a RADIUS client component that communicates with the RADIUS server. The RADIUS server is usually a background process running on a UNIX or Microsoft Windows server.[3] RADIUS serves three functions: 1. to authenticate users or devices before granting them access to a network, 2. to authorize those users or devices for certain network services and 3. to account for usage of those services.

AAA
RADIUS servers use the AAA concept to manage network access in the following two-step process, also known as an "AAA transaction". AAA stands for authentication, authorization and accounting. Authentication and Authorization characteristics in RADIUS are described in RFC 2865 while Accounting is described by RFC 2866.

Authentication and authorization


The user or machine sends a request to a Remote Access Server (RAS) to gain access to a particular network resource using access credentials. The credentials are passed to the RAS device via the link-layer protocol - for example, Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) in the case of many dialup or DSL providers or posted in an HTTPS secure web form. In turn, the RAS sends a RADIUS Access Request message to the RADIUS server, requesting authorization to grant access via the RADIUS protocol.[4] This request includes access credentials, typically in the form of username and password or security certificate provided by the user. Additionally, the request may contain other information which the RAS knows about the user, such as its network address or phone number, and information regarding the user's physical point of attachment to the RAS. The RADIUS server checks that the information is correct using authentication schemes like PAP, CHAP or EAP. The user's proof of identification is verified, along with, optionally, other information related to the request, such as the user's network address or phone number, account status and specific network service access privileges. Historically, RADIUS servers checked the user's information against a locally stored flat file database. Modern RADIUS servers can do this, or can refer to external sources - commonly SQL, Kerberos, LDAP, or Active Directory servers - to verify the user's credentials.

RADIUS

42

The RADIUS server then returns one of three responses to the NAS : 1) Access Reject, 2) Access Challenge or 3) Access Accept. Access Reject - The user is unconditionally denied access to all requested network resources. Reasons may include failure to provide proof of identification or an unknown or inactive user account.

RADIUS Authentication and Authorization Flow

Access Challenge - Requests additional information from the user such as a secondary password, PIN, token or card. Access Challenge is also used in more complex authentication dialogs where a secure tunnel is established between the user machine and the Radius Server in a way that the access credentials are hidden from the RAS. Access Accept - The user is granted access. Once the user is authenticated, the RADIUS server will often check that the user is authorised to use the network service requested. A given user may be allowed to use a company's wireless network, but not its VPN service, for example. Again, this information may be stored locally on the RADIUS server, or may be looked up in an external source like LDAP or Active Directory. Each of these three RADIUS responses may include a Reply-Message attribute which may give a reason for the rejection, the prompt for the challenge, or a welcome message for the accept. The text in the attribute can be passed on to the user in a return web page. Authorization attributes are conveyed to the RAS stipulating terms of access to be granted. For example: the following authorization attributes may be included in an Access-Accept. The specific IP address to be assigned to the user The address pool from which the user's IP should be chosen The maximum length that the user may remain connected An access list, priority queue or other restrictions on a user's access L2TP parameters VLAN parameters Quality of Service (QoS) parameters

RADIUS

43

Accounting
Accounting is described in RFC 2866. When network access is granted to the user by the NAS, an Accounting Start (a RADIUS Accounting Request packet containing an Acct-Status-Type attribute with the value "start") is sent by the NAS to the RADIUS server to signal the start of the user's network access. "Start" records typically contain the user's identification, network address, point of attachment and a unique session identifier.[5] Periodically, Interim Update records (a RADIUS Accounting Request packet RADIUS Accounting Flow containing an Acct-Status-Type attribute with the value "interim-update") may be sent by the NAS to the RADIUS server, to update it on the status of an active session. "Interim" records typically convey the current session duration and information on current data usage. Finally, when the user's network access is closed, the NAS issues a final Accounting Stop record (a RADIUS Accounting Request packet containing an Acct-Status-Type attribute with the value "stop") to the RADIUS server, providing information on the final usage in terms of time, packets transferred, data transferred, reason for disconnect and other information related to the user's network access. Typically, the client sends Accounting-Request packets until it receives an Accounting-Response acknowledgement, using some retry interval. The primary purpose of this data is that the user can be billed accordingly; the data is also commonly used for statistical purposes and for general network monitoring.

Roaming
RADIUS is commonly used to facilitate roaming between ISPs, for example: by companies which provide a single global set of credentials that are usable on many public networks; by independent, but collaborating, Roaming using a proxy RADIUS AAA server. institutions issuing their own credentials to their own users, that allow a visitor from one to another to be authenticated by their home institution, such as in Eduroam. RADIUS facilitates this by the use of realms, which identify where the RADIUS server should forward the AAA requests for processing.

RADIUS

44

Realms
A realm is commonly appended to a user's user name and delimited with an '@' sign, resembling an email address domain name. This is known as postfix notation for the realm. Another common usage is prefix notation, which involves prepending the realm to the username and using '\' as a delimiter. Modern RADIUS servers allow any character to be used as a realm delimiter, although in practice '@' and '\' are usually used. Realms can also be compounded using both prefix and postfix notation, to allow for complicated roaming scenarios; for example, somedomain.com\username@anotherdomain.com could be a valid username with two realms. Although realms often resemble domains, it is important to note that realms are in fact arbitrary text and need not contain real domain names.

Proxy operations
When a RADIUS server receives an AAA request for a user name containing a realm, the server will reference a table of configured realms. If the realm is known, the server will then proxy the request to the configured home server for that domain. The behaviour of the proxying server regarding the removal of the realm from the request ("stripping") is configuration-dependent on most servers. In addition, the proxying server can be configured to add, remove or rewrite AAA requests when they are proxied.

Security
Roaming with RADIUS exposes the users to various security and privacy concerns. More generally, some roaming partners establish a secure tunnel between the RADIUS servers to ensure that users' credentials cannot be intercepted while being proxied across the internet. This is a concern as the MD5 hash built into RADIUS is considered insecure.[6]

Packet structure
The RADIUS packet data format is shown to the right. The fields are transmitted from left to right, starting with the code, the identifier, the length, the authenticator and the attributes. RADIUS Codes (decimal) are assigned as follows:

RADIUS packet data format.

RADIUS

45

Code 1 2 3 4 5 11 12 13 255

Assignment Access-Request Access-Accept Access-Reject Accounting-Request Accounting-Response Access-Challenge Status-Server (experimental) Status-Client (experimental) Reserved

The Identifier field aids in matching requests and replies. The Length field indicates the length of the entire RADIUS packet including the Code, Identifier, Length, Authenticator and optional Attribute fields. The Authenticator is used to authenticate the reply from the RADIUS server, and is used in encrypting passwords; its length is 16 bytes.

Attribute value pairs


The RADIUS Attribute Value Pairs (AVP) carry data in both the request and the response for the authentication, authorization, and accounting transactions. The length of the radius packet is used to determine the end of the AVPs.
AVP Type 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Assignment User-Name User-Password CHAP-Password NAS-IP-Address NAS-Port Service-Type Framed-Protocol Framed-IP-Address Framed-IP-Netmask Framed-Routing Filter-Id Framed-MTU Framed-Compression Login-IP-Host Login-Service

RADIUS AVP layout.

RADIUS

46
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52-59 60 61 Login-TCP-Port (unassigned) Reply-Message Callback-Number Callback-Id (unassigned) Framed-Route Framed-IPX-Network State Class Vendor-Specific Session-Timeout Idle-Timeout Termination-Action Called-Station-Id Calling-Station-Id NAS-Identifier Proxy-State Login-LAT-Service Login-LAT-Node Login-LAT-Group Framed-AppleTalk-Link Framed-AppleTalk-Network Framed-AppleTalk-Zone Acct-Status-Type Acct-Delay-Time Acct-Input-Octets Acct-Output-Octets Acct-Session-Id Acct-Authentic Acct-Session-Time Acct-Input-Packets Acct-Output-Packets Acct-Terminate-Cause Acct-Multi-Session-Id Acct-Link-Count (reserved for accounting) CHAP-Challenge NAS-Port-Type

RADIUS

47
62 63 Port-Limit Login-LAT-Port

Vendor-specific attributes
RADIUS is extensible; many vendors of RADIUS hardware and software implement their own variants using Vendor-Specific Attributes (VSAs). Microsoft has published some of their VSAs.[7] VSA definitions from many other companies remain proprietary and/or ad-hoc.

UDP port numbers


RADIUS has been officially assigned UDP ports 1812 for RADIUS Authentication and 1813 for RADIUS Accounting by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). However, prior to IANA allocation of ports 1812 and 1813, ports 1645 and 1646 (authentication and accounting, respectively) were used unofficially and became the default ports assigned by many RADIUS Client/Server implementations of the time. The tradition of using 1645 and 1646 for backwards compatibility continues to this day. For this reason many RADIUS Server implementations monitor both sets of UDP ports for RADIUS requests. Microsoft RADIUS servers default to 1812 and 1813. Cisco RADIUS servers listen on RADIUS ports UDP 1645 and UDP 1812 for authentication; on ports 1646 and 1813 for accounting and can be configured with non-standard ports. Juniper Networks' RADIUS servers listen on both unofficial and official ports 1645, 1812, 1646 and 1813 by default but can be configured with arbitrary ports.SBR [8]

Security
The RADIUS protocol does not transmit passwords in cleartext between the NAS and RADIUS server (not even with PAP protocol). Rather, a shared secret is used along with the MD5 hashing algorithm to obfuscate passwords. Because this particular implementation is not considered to be a very strong protection of the user's credentials,[9] additional protection - such as IPsec tunnels or physically secured data-center networks - should be used to further protect the RADIUS traffic between the NAS device and the RADIUS server. Additionally, the user's security credentials are the only part protected by RADIUS itself, yet other user-specific attributes such as tunnel-group IDs or vlan memberships passed over RADIUS may be considered sensitive (helpful to an attacker) or private (sufficient to identify the individual client) information as well. The RadSec protocol claims to solve aforementioned security issues.

RADIUS history
RADIUS was originally specified in an RFI by Merit Network in 1991 to control dial-in access to NSFnet. Livingston Enterprises responded to the RFI with a description of a RADIUS server. Merit Network awarded the contract to Livingston Enterprises that delivered their PortMaster series of Network Access Servers and the initial RADIUS server to Merit. RADIUS was later (1997) published as RFC 2058 and RFC 2059 (current versions are RFC 2865 and RFC 2866).[1] Now, several commercial and open-source RADIUS servers exist. Features can vary, but most can look up the users in text files, LDAP servers, various databases, etc. Accounting records can be written to text files, various databases, forwarded to external servers, etc. SNMP is often used for remote monitoring and keep-alive checking of a RADIUS server. RADIUS proxy servers are used for centralized administration and can rewrite RADIUS packets on the fly (for security reasons, or to convert between vendor dialects). The Diameter protocol is the planned replacement for RADIUS. Diameter uses SCTP or TCP while RADIUS uses UDP as the transport layer.

RADIUS

48

RFCs
The RADIUS protocol is currently defined in the following IETF RFCs: Obsolete RFCs are indicated with strikethrough text.
# Title Date published Related article Obsoleted by RFC 2138 Notes

RFC 2058 RFC 2059 RFC 2138 RFC 2139 RFC 2548 RFC 2607 RFC 2618 RFC 2619 RFC 2620 RFC 2621 RFC 2809 RFC 2865 RFC 2866 RFC 2867 RFC 2868 RFC 2869 RFC 2882 RFC 3162 RFC 3575 RFC 3576

Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) RADIUS Accounting

January 1997 RADIUS

January 1997 RADIUS

RFC 2139

Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) RADIUS Accounting

April 1997

RADIUS

RFC 2865

April 1997

RADIUS

RFC 2866

Microsoft Vendor-specific RADIUS Attributes

March 1999

RADIUS

Proxy Chaining and Policy Implementation in Roaming RADIUS Authentication Client MIB

June 1999

Management information base Management information base June 1999 Management information base Management information base

RFC 4668

RADIUS Authentication Server MIB

RFC 4669

RADIUS Accounting Client MIB

RFC 4670

RADIUS Accounting Server MIB

June 1999

RFC 4671

Implementation of L2TP Compulsory Tunneling via RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) RADIUS Accounting

April 2000

June 2000

RADIUS

Updated by: RFC 2868, RFC 3575, RFC 5080

June 2000

RADIUS

RADIUS Accounting Modifications for Tunnel Protocol Support RADIUS Attributes for Tunnel Protocol Support

June 2000

RADIUS

Updates RFC 2866

June 2000

Updates RFC 2865

RADIUS Extensions

June 2000

updated by RFC 3579, RFC 5080

Network Access Servers Requirements: Extended RADIUS Practices RADIUS and IPv6

July 2000

August 2001

IANA Considerations for RADIUS

July 2003

Dynamic Authorization Extensions to RADIUS

July 2003

RFC 5176

RADIUS

49
RADIUS Support for EAP September 2003 September 2003 February 2005 January 2006 Extensible Authentication Protocol 802.1X Updates: RFC 2869

RFC 3579 RFC 3580 RFC 4014 RFC 4372 RFC 4590 RFC 4668 RFC 4669 RFC 4670 RFC 4671 RFC 4675 RFC 4679 RFC 4818 RFC 4849 RFC 5080 RFC 5090 RFC 5176 RFC 5607 RFC 5997

IEEE 802.1X RADIUS Usage Guidelines

RADIUS Attributes Suboption for the DHCP Relay Agent Information Option Chargeable User Identity

RADIUS Extension for Digest Authentication

July 2006

RFC 5090

RADIUS Authentication Client MIB for IPv6

August 2006

Management information base Management information base Management information base Management information base

RADIUS Authentication Server MIB for IPv6

August 2006

RADIUS Accounting Client MIB for IPv6

August 2006

RADIUS Accounting Server MIB for IPv6

August 2006

RADIUS Attributes for Virtual LAN and Priority Support DSL Forum Vendor-Specific RADIUS Attributes

September 2006 September 2006 April 2007

RADIUS Delegated-IPv6-Prefix Attribute

RADIUS Filter Rule Attribute

April 2007

Common RADIUS Implementation Issues and Suggested Fixes RADIUS Extension for Digest Authentication

December 2007 February 2008 January 2008

Updates RFC 3579

Dynamic Authorization Extensions to RADIUS

RADIUS Authorization for NAS Management

July 2009

Use of Status-Server Packets in the RADIUS Protocol

August 2010

Updates RFC 2866

RADIUS

50

Bibliography
Hassell, Jonathan (2002). RADIUS - Securing Public Access to Private Resources [10]. O'Reilly & Associates. ISBN0-596-00322-6. Retrieved 2009-04-17.

References
[1] John Vollbrecht (2006). "The Beginnings and History of RADIUS" (http:/ / www. interlinknetworks. com/ app_notes/ History of RADIUS. pdf). Interlink Networks. . Retrieved 2009-04-15. [2] Brien Posey (2006-08-31). "SolutionBase: RADIUS deployment scenarios" (http:/ / i. techrepublic. com. com/ downloads/ PDF/ SolutionBase_RADIUS_deployment_scenarios. pdf). TechRepublic. . Retrieved 2009-04-15. [3] "How Does RADIUS Work?" (http:/ / www. cisco. com/ en/ US/ tech/ tk59/ technologies_tech_note09186a00800945cc. shtml). Cisco. 2006-01-19. . Retrieved 2009-04-15. [4] RFC 2865 Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) [5] RFC 2866 RADIUS Accounting [6] Alexander Sotirov, Marc Stevens, Jacob Appelbaum, Arjen Lenstra, David Molnar, Dag Arne Osvik, Benne de Weger (2008-12-08). "MD5 considered harmful today - Creating a rogue CA certificate" (http:/ / www. win. tue. nl/ hashclash/ rogue-ca/ ). Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. . Retrieved 2009-04-19. [7] RFC 2548 [8] https:/ / download. juniper. net/ software/ aaa_802/ public/ sbr/ docs/ ref_61. pdf [9] An Analysis of the RADIUS Authentication Protocol (http:/ / www. untruth. org/ ~josh/ security/ radius/ radius-auth. html) [10] http:/ / oreilly. com/ catalog/ 9780596003227/

External links
An Analysis of the RADIUS Authentication Protocol (http://www.untruth.org/~josh/security/radius/ radius-auth.html) Decoding a Sniffer-trace of RADIUS Transaction (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk59/ technologies_tech_note09186a0080093f42.shtml) using Wireshark to debug RADIUS (http://wiki.wireshark.org/Radius) open source code of a pure PHP radius client class implementation (http://developer.sysco.ch/php/ radius_class_pure_php.zip)

Spectral efficiency

51

Spectral efficiency
Spectral efficiency, spectrum efficiency or bandwidth efficiency refers to the information rate that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific communication system. It is a measure of how efficiently a limited frequency spectrum is utilized by the physical layer protocol, and sometimes by the media access control (the channel access protocol).

Link spectral efficiency


The link spectral efficiency of a digital communication system is measured in bit/s/Hz,[1] or, less frequently but unambiguously, in (bit/s)/Hz. It is the net bitrate (useful information rate excluding error-correcting codes) or maximum throughput divided by the bandwidth in hertz of a communication channel or a data link. Alternatively, the spectral efficiency may be measured in bit/symbol, which is equivalent to bits per channel use (bpcu), implying that the net bit rate is divided by the symbol rate (modulation rate) or line code pulse rate. Link spectral efficiency is typically used to analyse the efficiency of a digital modulation method or line code, sometimes in combination with a forward error correction (FEC) code and other physical layer overhead. In the latter case, a "bit" refers to a user data bit; FEC overhead is always excluded. The modulation efficiency in bit/s is the gross bitrate (including any error-correcting code) divided by the bandwidth. Example 1: A transmission technique using one kilohertz of bandwidth to transmit 1,000 bits per second has a modulation efficiency of 1 (bit/s)/Hz. Example 2: A V.92 modem for the telephone network can transfer 56,000bit/s downstream and 48,000bit/s upstream over an analog telephone network. Due to filtering in the telephone exchange, the frequency range is limited to between 300 hertz and 3,400 hertz, corresponding to a bandwidth of 3,400 300 = 3,100 hertz. The spectral efficiency or modulation efficiency is 56,000/3,100 = 18.1(bit/s)/Hz downstream, and 48,000/3,100 = 15.5(bit/s)/Hz upstream. An upper bound for the attainable modulation efficiency is given by the Nyquist rate or Hartley's law as follows: For a signaling alphabet with M alternative symbols, each symbol represents N = log2 M bits. N is the modulation efficiency measured in bit/symbol or bpcu. In the case of baseband transmission (line coding or pulse-amplitude modulation) with a baseband bandwidth (or upper cut-off frequency) B, the symbol rate can not exceed 2B symbols/s in view to avoid intersymbol interference. Thus, the spectral efficiency can not exceed 2N (bit/s)/Hz in the baseband transmission case. In the passband transmission case, a signal with passband bandwidth W can be converted to an equivalent baseband signal (using undersampling or a superheterodyne receiver), with upper cut-off frequency W/2. If double-sideband modulation schemes such as QAM, ASK, PSK or OFDM are used, this results in a maximum symbol rate of W symbols/s, and in that the modulation efficiency can not exceed N (bit/s)/Hz. If digital single-sideband modulation is used, the passband signal with bandwidth W corresponds to a baseband message signal with baseband bandwidth W, resulting in a maximum symbol rate of 2W and an attainable modulation efficiency of 2N (bit/s)/Hz. Example 3: A 16QAM modem has an alphabet size of M = 16 alternative symbols, with N = 4 bit/symbol or bpcu. Since QAM is a form of double sideband passband transmission, the spectral efficiency cannot exceed N = 4(bit/s)/Hz. Example 4: The 8VSB (8-level vestigial sideband) modulation scheme used in the ATSC digital television standard gives N=3 bit/symbol or bpcu. Since it can be described as nearly single-side band, the modulation efficiency is close to 2N = 6(bit/s)/Hz. In practice, ATSC transfers a gross bit rate of 32Mbit/s over a 6MHz wide channel, resulting in a modulation efficiency of 32/6 = 5.3(bit/s)/Hz.

Spectral efficiency Example 5: The downlink of a V.92 modem uses a pulse-amplitude modulation with 128 signal levels, resulting in N = 7 bit/symbol. Since the transmitted signal before passband filtering can be considered as baseband transmission, the spectral efficiency cannot exceed 2N = 14(bit/s)/Hz over the full baseband channel (0 to 4kHz). As seen above, a higher spectral efficiency is achieved if we consider the smaller passband bandwidth. If a forward error correction code is used, the spectral efficiency is reduced from the uncoded modulation efficiency figure. Example 6: If a forward error correction (FEC) code with code rate 1/2 is added, meaning that the encoder input bit rate is one half the encoder output rate, the spectral efficiency is 50% of the modulation efficiency. In exchange for this reduction in spectral efficiency, FEC usually reduces the bit-error rate, and typically enables operation at a lower signal to noise ratio (SNR). An upper bound for the spectral efficiency possible without bit errors in a channel with a certain SNR, if ideal error coding and modulation is assumed, is given by the Shannon-Hartley theorem. Example 7: If the SNR is 1 times expressed as a ratio, corresponding to 0 decibel, the link spectral efficiency can not exceed 1(bit/s)/Hz for error-free detection (assuming an ideal error-correcting code) according to Shannon-Hartley regardless of the modulation and coding. Note that the goodput (the amount of application layer useful information) is normally lower than the maximum throughput used in the above calculations, because of packet retransmissions, higher protocol layer overhead, flow control, congestion avoidance, etc. On the other hand, a data compression scheme, such as the V.44 or V.42bis compression used in telephone modems, may however give higher goodput if the transferred data is not already efficiently compressed. The link spectral efficiency of a wireless telephony link may also be expressed as the maximum number of simultaneous calls over 1MHz frequency spectrum in erlangs per megahertz, or E/MHz. This measure is also affected by the source coding (data compression) scheme. It may be applied to analog as well as digital transmission. In wireless networks, the link spectral efficiency can be somewhat misleading, as larger values are not necessarily more efficient in their overall use of radio spectrum. In a wireless network, high link spectral efficiency may result in high sensitivity to co-channel interference (crosstalk), which affects the capacity. For example, in a cellular telephone network with frequency reuse, spectrum spreading and forward error correction reduce the spectral efficiency in (bit/s)/Hz but substantially lower the required signal-to-noise ratio in comparison to non-spread spectrum techniques. This can allow for much denser geographical frequency reuse that compensates for the lower link spectral efficiency, resulting in approximately the same capacity (the same number of simultaneous phone calls) over the same bandwidth, using the same number of base station transmitters. As discussed below, a more relevant measure for wireless networks would be system spectral efficiency in bit/s/Hz per unit area. However, in closed communication links such as telephone lines and cable TV networks, and in noise-limited wireless communication system where co-channel interference is not a factor, the largest link spectral efficiency that can be supported by the available SNR is generally used.

52

System spectral efficiency or area spectral efficiency


In digital wireless networks, the system spectral efficiency or area spectral efficiency is typically measured in (bit/s)/Hz per unit area, (bit/s)/Hz per cell, or (bit/s)/Hz per site. It is a measure of the quantity of users or services that can be simultaneously supported by a limited radio frequency bandwidth in a defined geographic area. It may for example be defined as the maximum throughput or goodput, summed over all users in the system, divided by the channel bandwidth. This measure is affected not only by the single user transmission technique, but also by multiple access schemes and radio resource management techniques utilized. It can be substantially improved by dynamic radio resource management. If it is defined as a measure of the maximum goodput, retransmissions due to

Spectral efficiency co-channel interference and collisions are excluded. Higher-layer protocol overhead (above the media access control sublayer) is normally neglected. Example 8: In a cellular system based on frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) with a fixed channel allocation (FCA) cellplan using a frequency reuse factor of 4, each base station has access to 1/4 of the total available frequency spectrum. Thus, the maximum possible system spectral efficiency in (bit/s)/Hz per site is 1/4 of the link spectral efficiency. Each base station may be divided into 3 cells by means of 3 sector antennas, also known as a 4/12 reuse pattern. Then each cell has access to 1/12 of the available spectrum, and the system spectral efficiency in (bit/s)/Hz per cell or (bit/s)/Hz per sector is 1/12 of the link spectral efficiency. The system spectral efficiency of a cellular network may also be expressed as the maximum number of simultaneous phone calls per area unit over 1MHz frequency spectrum in E/MHz per cell, E/MHz per sector, E/MHz per site, or (E/MHz)/m2. This measure is also affected by the source coding (data compression) scheme. It may be used in analog cellular networks as well. Low link spectral efficiency in (bit/s)/Hz does not necessarily mean that an encoding scheme is inefficient from a system spectral efficiency point of view. As an example, consider Code Division Multiplexed Access (CDMA) spread spectrum, which is not a particularly spectral efficient encoding scheme when considering a single channel or single user. However, the fact that one can "layer" multiple channels on the same frequency band means that the system spectrum utilization for a multi-channel CDMA system can be very good. Example 9: In the W-CDMA 3G cellular system, every phone call is compressed to a maximum of 8,500 bit/s (the useful bitrate), and spread out over a 5MHz wide frequency channel. This corresponds to a link throughput of only 8,500/5,000,000 = 0.0017(bit/s)/Hz. Let us assume that 100 simultaneous (non-silent) calls are possible in the same cell. Spread spectrum makes it possible to have as low a frequency reuse factor as 1, if each base station is divided into 3 cells by means of 3 directional sector antennas. This corresponds to a system spectrum efficiency of over 1 100 0.0017 = 0.17(bit/s)/Hz per site, and 0.17/3 = 0.06 (bit/s)/Hz per cell or sector. The spectral efficiency can be improved by radio resource management techniques such as efficient fixed or dynamic channel allocation, power control, link adaptation and diversity schemes. A combined fairness measure and system spectral efficiency measure is the fairly shared spectral efficiency.

53

Comparison table
Examples of numerical spectral efficiency values of some common communication systems can be found in the table below.
Spectral efficiency of common communication systems.

Service

Standard

Launched year

Net bitrate R per carrier (Mbit/s)

Bandwidth B per carrier (MHz)

Link spectral efficiency R/B ((bit/s)/Hz)

Typical System spectral reuse factor efficiency Approx. 1/K ((R/B)/K) ((bit/s)/Hz per site)

1G cellular

NMT 450 modem AMPS modem GSM

1981

0.0012

0.025

0.45

7 7 [3] [4] in

0.064

1G cellular 2G cellular

1983 1991

0.0003

[2]

0.030

0.001 0.52

0.0015 0.17 [4] (in 1999)

0.013 8 timeslots = 0.2 0.104

9 (13 1999)

Spectral efficiency
[4] [4]

54
D-AMPS 1991 0.013 3 timeslots = 0.030 0.039 Max. 0.0096 per phone call typ 22 calls per carrier Max.: 0.384; Typ.: 0.20; Max.: 0.384; Typ.: 0.27; 2001 Max.: 0.384 per mobile; Max.: 0.153 per mobile; Max.: 3.072 per mobile; 1.2288 1.3

2G cellular

9 (13 1999) 1

in

0.45

(in 1999)

2.75G cellular

CDMA2000 1 voice

2000

0.0078 per mobile typ 22 calls per carrier Max.: 1.92; Typ.: 1.00; Max.: 1.92; Typ.: 1.35; Max.: 0.077 per mobile; Max.: 0.125 per mobile; Max.: 2.5 per mobile;

0.172 (fully loaded)

2.75G cellular 2.75G cellular 3G cellular

GSM + EDGE

2003

0.2

3 3

0.33

[4]

IS-136HS + EDGE WCDMA FDD

0.2

0.45

[4]

Max 0.51

3G cellular

CDMA2000 1x PD CDMA2000 1EV-DO Rev.A IEEE 802.16d

2002

1.2288

Max 0.1720 (fully loaded) Max 1.3 average loaded sector

3G cellular

2002

1.2288

Fixed WiMAX 3.5G cellular

2004

96

20 (1.75, 3.5, 7, ...) 5

4.8

1.2

HSDPA

2007

Max.: 42.2 per mobile;

Max.: 8.44 per mobile; Max.: 7.23 per [5] carrier; Max.: 16.32 per mobile; Max.: 2.7; Max.: 7.22;

Max 8.44

3.9G MBWA

iBurst HC-SDMA LTE

2005

Max.: 3.9 per carrier; 0.625

Max 7.23

3.9G cellular

2009

Max.: 326.4 per mobile; Max.: 54; Max.: 144.4;

20

Max.: 16.32;

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi

IEEE 802.11a/g 2003 IEEE 802.11n Draft 2.0 ETSI DAB DAB with SFN DVB-T 2007

20 20

3 3

0.9 Max 2.4

TETRA Digital radio Digital radio Digital TV

1998 1995 1995 1997

4 timeslots = 0.036 0.576 to 1.152 0.576 to 1.152 Max.: 31.67; Typ.: 22.0; Max.: 31.67; Typ.: 22.0; 5.5 to 11 5.5 to 11

0.025 1.712 1.712 8

1.44 0.34 to 0.67 0.34 to 0.67 Max.: 4.0; Typ.: 2.8; Max.: 4.0; Typ.: 2.8; 0.68 to 1.4 0.68 to 1.4
1

0.08 to 0.17 0.34 to 0.67 0.55

1
1

Digital TV

DVB-T with SFN DVB-H DVB-H with SFN DVB-C 256-QAM mode ADSL2 downlink ADSL2+ downlink V.92 downlink

1996

Max.: 4.0; Typ.: 2.8; 0.14 to 0.28 0.68 to 1.4

Digital TV Digital TV

2007 2007

8 8

Digital cable TV Broadband modem Broadband modem Telephone modem

38

6.33

N/A

N/A

12

0.962

12.47

N/A

N/A

28

2.109

13.59

N/A

N/A

1999

0.056

0.004

14.0

N/A

N/A

Spectral efficiency N/A means not applicable.

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References
[1] Sergio Benedetto and Ezio Biglieri (1999). Principles of Digital Transmission: With Wireless Applications (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=thfj9S8cbdoC& pg=RA1-PA219& dq="spectral+ efficiency"+ (bit/ s)/ Hz& lr=& as_brr=3& ei=ZHSuR4XrIo6IswPtrIH-BQ& sig=KvPGYnsRaQVXQ2AtXXPvPA2c5H8). Springer. ISBN0306457539. . [2] C. T. Bhunia, Information Technology Network And Internet (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=3OxSFoFyqJsC& pg=PA26& dq=amps+ bps+ cellular& hl=sv& ei=8CIRTbi0Iomi4Qa1lZ2GAg& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=7& ved=0CEMQ6AEwBg#v=onepage& q=amps bps cellular& f=false), New Age International, 2006, page 26. [3] Lal Chand Godara, "Handbook of antennas in wireless communications", CRC Press, 2002, ISBN 0849301246, ISBN 9780849301247 (http:/ / books. google. se/ books?id=EMPZDZKoyaIC& pg=PT35& lpg=PT35& dq=NMT+ "typical+ frequency+ reuse"& source=bl& ots=W4JuvxVvZU& sig=XWj8RutNWxk-tnIqibPITWWYIHY& hl=sv& ei=GeY_S9C8IYrb-QbvrIyvCg& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=4& ved=0CBwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage& q=NMT "typical frequency reuse"& f=false) [4] Anders Furuskr, Jonas Nslund and Hkan Olofsson (1999), " EdgeEnhanced data rates for GSM and TDMA/136 evolution (http:/ / www. ericsson. com/ ericsson/ corpinfo/ publications/ review/ 1999_01/ files/ 1999014. pdf)", Ericsson Review no. 1 [5] "KYOCERA's iBurst(TM) System Offers High Capacity, High Performance for the Broadband Era" (http:/ / www. tradingmarkets. com/ . site/ news/ Stock News/ 2237753/ ). .

Throughput
In communication networks, such as Ethernet or packet radio, throughput or network throughput is the average rate of successful message delivery over a communication channel. This data may be delivered over a physical or logical link, or pass through a certain network node. The throughput is usually measured in bits per second (bit/s or bps), and sometimes in data packets per second or data packets per time slot. The system throughput or aggregate throughput is the sum of the data rates that are delivered to all terminals in a network. The throughput can be analyzed mathematically by means of queueing theory, where the load in packets per time unit is denoted arrival rate , and the throughput in packets per time unit is denoted departure rate . Throughput is essentially synonymous to digital bandwidth consumption.

Maximum throughput
See also Peak Information Rate (pir) Users of telecommunications devices, systems designers, and researchers into communication theory are often interested in knowing the expected performance of a system. From a user perspective, this is often phrased as either "which device will get my data there most effectively for my needs?", or "which device will deliver the most data per unit cost?". Systems designers are often interested in selecting the most effective architecture or design constraints for a system, which drive its final performance. In most cases, the benchmark of what a system is capable of, or its 'maximum performance' is what the user or designer is interested in. When examining throughput, the term 'Maximum Throughput' is frequently used where end-user maximum throughput tests are discussed in detail. Maximum throughput is essentially synonymous to digital bandwidth capacity. Four different values have meaning in the context of "maximum throughput", used in comparing the 'upper limit' conceptual performance of multiple systems. They are 'maximum theoretical throughput', 'maximum achievable throughput', and 'peak measured throughput' and 'maximum sustained throughput'. These represent different quantities and care must be taken that the same definitions are used when comparing different 'maximum throughput' values. Comparing throughput values is also dependent on each bit carrying the same amount of information. Data compression can significantly skew throughput calculations, including generating values greater than 100%. If the communication is mediated by several links in series with different bit rates, the maximum throughput of the overall

Throughput link is lower than or equal to the lowest bit rate. The lowest value link in the series is referred to as the bottleneck.

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Maximum theoretical throughput


This number is closely related to the channel capacity [1] of the system, and is the maximum possible quantity of data that can be transmitted under ideal circumstances. In some cases this number is reported as equal to the channel capacity, though this can be deceptive, as only non-packetized systems (asynchronous) technologies can achieve this without data compression. Maximum theoretical throughput is more accurately reported to take into account format and specification overhead with best case assumptions. This number, like the closely related term 'maximum achievable throughput' below, is primarily used as a rough calculated value, such as for determining bounds on possible performance early in a system design phase.

Peak measured throughput


The above values are theoretical or calculated values. Peak measured throughput is throughput measured by a real, implemented system, or a simulated system. The value is the throughput measured over a short period of time; mathematically, this is the limit taken with respect to throughput as time approaches zero. This term is synonymous with "instantaneous throughput". This number is useful for systems that rely on burst data transmission, however, for systems with a high duty cycle this is less likely to be a useful measure of system performance.

Maximum sustained throughput


This value is the throughput averaged or integrated over a long time (sometimes considered infinity). For high duty cycle networks this is likely to be the most accurate indicator of system performance. The maximum throughput is defined as the asymptotic throughput when the load (the amount of incoming data) is very large. In packet switched systems where the load and the throughput always are equal (where packet loss does not occur), the maximum throughput may be defined as the minimum load in bit/s that causes the delivery time (the latency) to become unstable and increase towards infinity. This value can also be used deceptively in relation to peak measured throughput to conceal packet shaping.

Channel utilization - Channel efficiency - Normalized throughput


Throughput is sometimes normalized and measured in percentage, but normalization may cause confusion regarding what the percentage is related to. Channel utilization, Channel efficiency and packet drop rate in percentage are less ambiguous terms. The channel efficiency, also known as bandwidth utilization efficiency, in percentage is the achieved throughput related to the net bitrate in bit/s of a digital communication channel). For example, if the throughput is 70 Mbit/s in a 100 Mbit/s Ethernet connection, the channel efficiency is 70%. In this example, effective 70Mbits of data are transmitted every second. Channel utilization is instead a term related to the use of the channel disregarding the throughput. It counts not only with the data bits but also with the overhead that makes use of the channel. The transmission overhead consists of preamble sequences, frame headers and acknowledge packets. The definitions assume a noiseless channel. Otherwise, the throughput would not be only associated to the nature (efficiency) of the protocol but also to retransmissions resultant from quality of the channel. In a simplistic approach, channel efficiency can be equal to channel utilization assuming that acknowledge packets are zero-length and that the communications provider will not see any bandwidth relative to retransmissions or headers. Therefore, certain texts mark a difference between channel utilization and protocol efficiency. In a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication link, where only one terminal is transmitting, the maximum throughput is often equivalent to or very near the physical data rate (the channel capacity), since the channel

Throughput utilization can be almost 100% in such a network, except for a small inter-frame gap. For example, in Ethernet the maximum frame size 1526 bytes (maximum 1500 byte payload + 8 byte preamble + 14 byte header + 4 Byte trailer). An additional minimum interframe gap corresponding to 12 byte is inserted after each frame. This corresponds to a maximum channel utilization of 1526/(1526+12)100% = 99.22%, or a maximum channel use of 99.22 Mbit/s inclusive of Ethernet datalink layer protocol overhead in a 100 Mbit/s Ethernet connection. The maximum throughput or channel efficiency is then 1500/(1526+12) = 97.5 Mbit/s exclusive of Ethernet protocol overhead.

57

Factors affecting throughput


The throughput of a communication system will be limited by a huge number of factors. Some of these are described below:

Analog limitations
The maximum achievable throughput (the channel capacity) is affected by the bandwidth in hertz and signal-to-noise ratio of the analog physical medium. Despite the conceptual simplicity of digital information, all electrical signals traveling over wires are analog. The analog limitations of wires or wireless systems inevitably provide an upper bound on the amount of information that can be sent. The dominant equation here is the Shannon-Hartley theorem, and analog limitations of this type can be understood as factors that affect either the analog bandwidth of a signal or as factors that affect the signal to noise ratio. It should be noted that the bandwidth of wired systems can be in fact surprisingly narrow, with the bandwidth of Ethernet wire limited to approximately 1GHz, and PCB traces limited by a similar amount. Digital systems refer to the 'knee frequency',[2] the amount of time the digital voltage to rise from 10% of a nominal digital '0' to a nominal digital '1' or vice-verse. The knee frequency is related to the required bandwidth of a channel, and can be related to the 3 db bandwidth of a system by the equation:[3] Where Tr is the 10% to 90% rise time, and K is a constant of proportionality related to the pulse shape, equal to 0.35 for exponential rise, and 0.338 for Gaussian rise. RC losses: wires have an inherent resistance, and an inherent capacitance when measured with respect to ground. This leads to effects called parasitic capacitance, causing all wires and cables to act as RC lowpass filters. Skin effect: As frequency increases, electric charges migrate to the edges of wires or cable. This reduces the effective cross sectional area available for carrying current, increasing resistance and reducing the signal to noise ratio. For AWG 24 wire (of the type commonly found in Cat 5e cable), the skin effect frequency becomes dominant over the inherent resistivity of the wire at 100kHz. At 1GHz the resistivity has increased to 0.1 ohms/inch.[4] Termination and ringing: For long wires (wires longer than 1/6 wavelengths can be considered long) must be modeled as transmission lines and take termination into account. Unless this is done, reflected signals will travel back and forth across the wire, positively or negatively interfering with the information-carrying signal.[5] Wireless Channel Effects: For wireless systems, all of the effects associated with wireless transmission limit the SNR and bandwidth of the received signal, and therefore the maximum number of bits that can be sent.

Throughput

58

IC hardware considerations
Computational systems have finite processing power, and can drive finite current. Limited current drive capability can limit the effective signal to noise ratio for high capacitance links. Large data loads that require processing impose data processing requirements on hardware (such as routers). For example, a gateway router supporting a populated class B subnet, handling 10 x 100 Mbit/s Ethernet channels, must examine 16 bits of address to determine the destination port for each packet. This translates into 81913 packets per second (assuming maximum data payload per packet) with a table of 2^16 addresses this requires the router to be able to perform 5.368 billion lookup operations per second. In a worse case scenario, where the payloads of each Ethernet packet are reduced to 100 bytes, this number of operations per second jumps to 520 billion. This router would require a multi-teraflop processing core to be able to handle such a load. CSMA/CD and CSMA/CA "backoff" waiting time and frame retransmissions after detected collisions. This may occur in Ethernet bus networks and hub networks, as well as in wireless networks. Flow control, for example in the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol, affects the throughput if the bandwidth-delay product is larger than the TCP window, i.e. the buffer size. In that case the sending computer must wait for acknowledgement of the data packets before it can send more packets. TCP congestion avoidance controls the data rate. So called "slow start" occurs in the beginning of a file transfer, and after packet drops caused by router congestion or bit errors in for example wireless links.

Multi-user considerations
Ensuring that multiple users can harmoniously share a single communications link requires some kind of equitable sharing of the link. If a bottle neck communication link offering data rate R is shared by "N" active users (with at least one data packet in queue), every user typically achieves a throughput of approximately R/N, if fair queuing best-effort communication is assumed. Packet loss due to Network congestion. Packets may be dropped in switches and routers when the packet queues are full due to congestion. Packet loss due to bit errors. Scheduling algorithms in routers and switches. If fair queuing is not provided, users that send large packets will get higher bandwidth. Some users may be prioritized in a weighted fair queuing (WFQ) algorithm if differentiated or guaranteed quality of service (QoS) is provided. In some communications systems, such as satellite networks, only a finite number of channels may be available to a given user at a given time. Channels are assigned either through preassignment or through Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA).[6] In these cases, throughput is quantized per channel, and unused capacity on partially utilized channels is lost..

Goodput and overhead


The maximum throughput is often an unreliable measurement of perceived bandwidth, for example the file transmission data rate in bits per seconds. As pointed out above, the achieved throughput is often lower than the maximum throughput. Also, the protocol overhead affects the perceived bandwidth. The throughput is not a well-defined metric when it comes to how to deal with protocol overhead. It is typically measured at a reference point below the network layer and above the physical layer. The most simple definition is the number of bits per second that are physically delivered. A typical example where this definition is practiced is an Ethernet network. In this case the maximum throughput is the gross bitrate or raw bitrate. However, in schemes that include forward error correction codes (channel coding), the redundant error code is normally excluded from the throughput. An example in modem communication, where the throughput typically is

Throughput measured in the interface between the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) and the circuit switched modem connection. In this case the maximum throughput is often called net bitrate or useful bitrate. To determine the actual data rate of a network or connection, the "goodput" measurement definition may be used. For example in file transmission, the "goodput" corresponds to the file size (in bits) divided by the file transmission time. The "goodput" is the amount of useful information that is delivered per second to the application layer protocol. Dropped packets or packet retransmissions as well as protocol overhead are excluded. Because of that, the "goodput" is lower than the throughput. Technical factors that affect the difference are presented in the "goodput" article.

59

Other uses of throughput for data


Integrated Circuits
Often, a block in a data flow diagram has a single input and a single output, and operate on discrete packets of information. Examples of such blocks are FFT modules or binary multipliers. Because the units of throughput are the reciprocal of the unit for propagation delay, which is 'seconds per message' or 'seconds per output', throughput can be used to relate a computational device performing a dedicated function such as an ASIC or embedded processor to a communications channel, simplifying system analysis.

Wireless and cellular networks


In wireless networks or cellular systems, the system spectral efficiency in bit/s/Hz/area unit, bit/s/Hz/site or bit/s/Hz/cell, is the maximum system throughput (aggregate throughput) divided by the analog bandwidth and some measure of the system coverage ara.

Over analog channels


Throughput over analog channels is defined entirely by the modulation scheme, the signal to noise ratio, and the available bandwidth. Since throughput is normally defined in terms of quantified digital data, the term 'throughput' is not normally used; the term 'bandwidth' is more often used instead.

Common Misconceptions
Many people find it difficult to distinguish between throughput and latency, having an expectation that low latency must imply high throughput, and high latency must imply low throughput.

Footnotes
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Blahut, 2004, p.4 Johnson, 1993, 2-5 Johnson, 1993, 9 Johnson, 1993, 154 Johnson, 1993, 160-170 Roddy, 2001, 370 - 371

Throughput

60

References
Rappaport, Theodore S. Wireless Communications, Principles and Practice second edition, Prentice Hall, 2002, ISBN 0130422320 Blahut, Richard E. Algebraic Codes for Data Transmission Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0521553741 Li, Harnes, Holte, "Impact of Lossy Links on Performance of Multihop Wireless Networks", IEEE, Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks, Oct 2005, 303 - 308 Johnson, Graham, High Speed Digital Design, a Handbook of Black Magic, Prentice Hall, 1973, ISBN 0133957241 Roddy, Dennis, Satellite Communications third edition, McGraw-Hill, 2001, ISBN 0071371761

Bandwidth (signal processing)


Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a contiguous set of frequencies. It is typically measured in hertz, and may sometimes refer to passband bandwidth, sometimes to baseband bandwidth, depending on context. Passband bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies of, for example, an electronic filter, a communication channel, or a signal spectrum. In case of a low-pass filter or baseband signal, the bandwidth is equal to its upper cutoff frequency. The term baseband bandwidth always refers to the upper cutoff frequency, regardless of whether the filter is bandpass or low-pass.

Baseband bandwidth. Here the bandwidth equals the upper frequency.

Bandwidth in hertz is a central concept in many fields, including electronics, information theory, radio communications, signal processing, and spectroscopy. A key characteristic of bandwidth is that a band of a given width can carry the same amount of information, regardless of where that band is located in the frequency spectrum (assuming equivalent noise level). For example, a 5kHz band can carry a telephone conversation whether that band is at baseband (as in your POTS telephone line) or modulated to some higher (passband) frequency. In computer networking and other digital fields, the term bandwidth often refers to a data rate measured in bits per second, for example network throughput, sometimes denoted network bandwidth, data bandwidth or digital bandwidth. The reason is that according to Hartley's law, the digital data rate limit (or channel capacity) of a physical communication link is proportional to its bandwidth in hertz, sometimes denoted radio frequency (RF) bandwidth, signal bandwidth, frequency bandwidth, spectral bandwidth or analog bandwidth. For bandwidth as a computing term, less ambiguous terms are bit rate, throughput, maximum throughput, goodput or channel capacity.

Bandwidth (signal processing)

61

Overview
Bandwidth is a key concept in many telephony applications. In radio communications, for example, bandwidth is the frequency range occupied by a modulated carrier wave, whereas in optics it is the width of an individual spectral line or the entire spectral range. In many signal processing contexts, bandwidth is a valuable and limited resource. For example, an FM radio receiver's tuner spans a limited range of frequencies. A government agency (such as the Federal Communications Commission in the United States) may apportion the regionally available bandwidth to broadcast license holders so that their signals do not mutually interfere. Each transmitter owns a slice of bandwidth, a valuable (if intangible) commodity. For different applications there are different precise definitions. For example, one definition of bandwidth could be the range of frequencies beyond which the frequency function is zero. This would correspond to the mathematical notion of the support of a function (i.e., the total "length" of values for which the function is nonzero). A less strict and more practically useful definition will refer to the frequencies where the frequency function is small. Small could mean less than 3dB below (i.e., power output < 1/2 or voltage output < 0.707 of) the maximum value, or more rarely 10dB below, or it could mean below a certain absolute value. As with any definition of the width of a function, many definitions are suitable for different purposes. Bandwidth typically refers to baseband bandwidth in the context of, for example, sampling theorem and Nyquist sampling rate, while it refers to passband bandwidth in the context of Nyquist symbol rate or Shannon-Hartley channel capacity for communication systems.

X-dB bandwidth
In some contexts, the signal bandwidth in hertz refers to the frequency range in which the signal's spectral density is nonzero or above a small threshold value. That definition is used in calculations of the lowest sampling rate that will satisfy the sampling theorem. Because this range of non-zero amplitude may be very broad or infinite, this definition is typically relaxed so that the bandwidth is defined as the range of frequencies in which the signal's spectral density is above a certain threshold relative to its maximum. Most commonly, A graph of a bandpass filter's gain magnitude, illustrating the concept of 3 dB bandwidth refers to the 3-dB bandwidth, bandwidth at a gain of 0.707. The frequency axis of this symbolic diagram can be that is, the frequency range within which the linear or logarithmically scaled. spectral density (in W/Hz or V2/Hz) is above half its maximum value (or the spectral amplitude, in V or V/Hz, is more than 70.7% of its maximum); that is, above 3dB relative to the peak.[1] The word bandwidth applies to signals as described above, but it could also apply to systems, for example filters or communication channels. To say that a system has a certain bandwidth means that the system can process signals of that bandwidth, or that the system reduces the bandwidth of a white noise input to that bandwidth. The 3dB bandwidth of an electronic filter or communication channel is the part of the system's frequency response that lies within 3 dB of the response at its peak, which in the passband filter case is typically at or near its center frequency, and in the lowpass filter is near 0 hertz. If the maximum gain is 0 dB, the 3 dB gain is the range where the

Bandwidth (signal processing) gain is more than -3dB, or the attenuation is less than + 3dB. This is also the range of frequencies where the amplitude gain is above 70.7% of the maximum amplitude gain, and above half the maximum power gain. This same "half power gain" convention is also used in spectral width, and more generally for extent of functions as full width at half maximum (FWHM). In electronic filter design, a filter specification may require that within the filter passband, the gain is nominally 0 dB +/- a small number of dB, for example within the +/- 1 dB interval. In the stopband(s), the required attenuation in dB is above a certain level, for example >100 dB. In a transition band the gain is not specified. In this case, the filter bandwidth corresponds to the passband width, which in this example is the 1dB-bandwidth. If the filter shows amplitude ripple within the passband, the x dB point refers to the point where the gain is x dB below the nominal passband gain rather than x dB below the maximum gain. A commonly used quantity is fractional bandwidth. This is the bandwidth of a device divided by its center frequency. E.g., a passband filter that has a bandwidth of 2MHz with center frequency 10MHz will have a fractional bandwidth of 2/10, or 20%. In communication systems, in calculations of the ShannonHartley channel capacity, bandwidth refers to the 3dB-bandwidth. In calculations of the maximum symbol rate, the Nyquist sampling rate, and maximum bit rate according to the Hartley formula, the bandwidth refers to the frequency range within which the gain is non-zero, or the gain in dB is below a very large value. The fact that in equivalent baseband models of communication systems, the signal spectrum consists of both negative and positive frequencies, can lead to confusion about bandwidth, since they are sometimes referred to only by the positive half, and one will occasionally see expressions such as , where is the total bandwidth (i.e. the maximum passband bandwidth of the carrier-modulated RF signal and the minimum passband bandwidth of the physical passband channel), and is the positive bandwidth (the baseband bandwidth of the equivalent channel model). For instance, the baseband model of the signal would require a lowpass filter with cutoff frequency of at least to stay intact, and the physical passband channel would require a passband filter of at least to stay intact. In signal processing and control theory the bandwidth is the frequency at which the closed-loop system gain drops 3dB below peak. In basic electric circuit theory, when studying band-pass and band-reject filters, the bandwidth represents the distance between the two points in the frequency domain where the signal is (half power). of the maximum signal amplitude

62

Antenna systems
In the field of antennas, two different methods of expressing relative bandwidth are used for narrowband and wideband antennas.[2] For either, a set of criteria is established to define the extents of the bandwidth, such as input impedance, pattern, or polarization. Percent bandwidth, usually used for narrowband antennas, is used defined as The theoretical limit to percent bandwidth is 200%, which occurs for . Fractional bandwidth or Ratio bandwidth, usually used for wideband antennas, is defined as typically presented in the form of .

and is

. Fractional bandwidth is used for wideband antennas because of the .

compression of the percent bandwidth that occurs mathematically with percent bandwidths above 100%, which corresponds to a fractional bandwidth of 3:1.

Bandwidth (signal processing)

63

Photonics
In photonics, the term bandwidth occurs in a variety of meanings: the bandwidth of the output of some light source, e.g., an ASE source or a laser; the bandwidth of ultrashort optical pulses can be particularly large the width of the frequency range that can be transmitted by some element, e.g. an optical fiber the gain bandwidth of an optical amplifier the width of the range of some other phenomenon (e.g., a reflection, the phase matching of a nonlinear process, or some resonance) the maximum modulation frequency (or range of modulation frequencies) of an optical modulator the range of frequencies in which some measurement apparatus (e.g., a powermeter) can operate the data rate (e.g., in Gbit/s) achieved in an optical communication system; see bandwidth (computing). A related concept is the spectral linewidth of the radiation emitted by excited atoms.

References
[1] Van Valkenburg, M. E.. Network Analysis (http:/ / www. amazon. com/ Network-Analysis-Mac-Van-Valkenburg/ dp/ 0136110959) (3rd edition ed.). pp.383384. ISBN0-13-611095-9. . Retrieved 2008-06-22. [2] Stutzman, Warren L., and Gary A. Theiele. Antenna Theory and Design. 2nd Ed. New York: 1998. ISBN 0-471-02590-9

Channel (communications)
In telecommunications and computer networking, a communication channel, or channel, refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel. A channel is used to convey an information signal, for example a digital bit stream, from one or several senders (or transmitters) to one or several receivers. A channel has a certain capacity for transmitting information, often measured by its bandwidth in Hz or its data rate in bits per second In information theory, a channel refers to a theoretical channel model with certain error characteristics. In this more general view, a storage device is also a kind of channel, which can be sent to (written) and received from (read).

Examples
A channel can take many forms. Examples of communications channels include: 1. A connection between initiating and terminating nodes of a circuit. 2. A single path provided by a transmission medium via either physical separation, such as by multipair cable or electrical separation, such as by frequency-division or time-division multiplexing. 3. A path for conveying electrical or electromagnetic signals, usually distinguished from other parallel paths.
Old telephone wires are a challenging communications channel for modern digital communications.

Channel (communications) A storage which can communicate a message over time as well as space The portion of a storage medium, such as a track or band, that is accessible to a given reading or writing station or head. A buffer from which messages can be 'put' and 'got'. See Actor model and process calculi for discussion on the use of channels. 4. In a communications system, the physical or logical link that connects a data source to a data sink. 5. A specific radio frequency, pair or band of frequencies, usually named with a letter, number, or codeword, and often allocated by international agreement. Examples: Marine VHF radio uses some 88 channels in the VHF band for two-way FM voice communication. Channel 16, for example, is 156.800MHz. In the US, seven additional channels, WX1 - WX7, are allocated for weather broadcasts. Television channels such as North American TV Channel 2 = 55.25MHz, Channel 13 = 211.25MHz. Each channel is 6MHz wide. Besides these "physical channels", television also has "virtual channels". Wi-Fi consists of unlicensed channels 1-13 from 2412MHz to 2484MHz in 5MHz steps. The radio channel between an amateur radio repeater and a ham uses two frequencies often 600kHz (0.6MHz) apart. For example, a repeater that transmits on 146.94MHz typically listens for a ham transmitting on 146.34MHz. 6. A room in the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network, in which participants can communicate with each other. All of these communications channels share the property that they transfer information. The information is carried through the channel by a signal.

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Channel models
A channel can be modelled physically by trying to calculate the physical processes which modify the transmitted signal. For example in wireless communications the channel can be modelled by calculating the reflection off every object in the environment. A sequence of random numbers might also be added in to simulate external interference and/or electronic noise in the receiver. Statistically a communication channel is usually modelled as a triple consisting of an input alphabet, an output alphabet, and for each pair (i, o) of input and output elements a transition probability p(i, o). Semantically, the transition probability is the probability that the symbol o is received given that i was transmitted over the channel. Statistical and physical modelling can be combined. For example in wireless communications the channel is often modelled by a random attenuation (known as fading) of the transmitted signal, followed by additive noise. The attenuation term is a simplification of the underlying physical processes and captures the change in signal power over the course of the transmission. The noise in the model captures external interference and/or electronic noise in the receiver. If the attenuation term is complex it also describes the relative time a signal takes to get through the channel. The statistics of the random attenuation are decided by previous measurements or physical simulations. Channel models may be continuous channel models in that there is no limit to how precisely their values may be defined. Communication channels are also studied in a discrete-alphabet setting. This corresponds to abstracting a real world communication system in which the analog->digital and digital->analog blocks are out of the control of the designer. The mathematical model consists of a transition probability that specifies an output distribution for each possible sequence of channel inputs. In information theory, it is common to start with memoryless channels in which the output probability distribution only depends on the current channel input. A channel model may either be digital (quantified, e.g. binary) or analog.

Channel (communications)

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Digital channel models


In a digital channel model, the transmitted message is modelled as a digital signal at a certain protocol layer. Underlying protocol layers, such as the physical layer transmission technique, is replaced by a simplified model. The model may reflect channel performance measures such as bit rate, bit errors, latency/delay, delay jitter, etc. Examples of digital channel models are: Binary symmetric channel (BSC), a discrete memoryless channel with a certain bit error probability Binary bursty bit error channel model, a channel "with memory" Binary erasure channel (BEC), a discrete channel with a certain bit error detection (erasure) probability Packet erasure channel, where packets are lost with a certain packet loss probability or packet error rate Arbitrarily varying channel (AVC), where the behavior and state of the channel can change randomly

Analog channel models


In an analog channel model, the transmitted message is modelled as an analog signal. The model can be a linear or non-linear, time-continuous or time-discrete (sampled), memoryless or dynamic (resulting in burst errors), time-invariant or time-variant (also resulting in burst errors), baseband, passband (RF signal model), real-valued or complex-valued signal model. The model may reflect the following channel impairments: Noise model, for example Additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, a linear continuous memoryless model Phase noise model Interference model, for example cross-talk (co-channel interference) and intersymbol interference (ISI) Distortion model, for example a non-linear channel model causing intermodulation distortion (IMD) Frequency response model, including attenuation and phase-shift Group delay model Modelling of underlying physical layer transmission techniques, for example a complex-valued equivalent baseband model of modulation and frequency response Radio frequency propagation model, for example Log-distance path loss model Fading model, for example Rayleigh fading, Ricean fading, log-normal shadow fading and frequency selective (dispersive) fading Doppler shift model, which combined with fading results in a time-variant system Ray tracing models, which attempt to model the signal propagation and distortions for specified transmitter-receiver geometries, terrain types, and antennas Mobility models, which also causes a time-variant system

Types of communications channels


Digital (discrete) or analog (continuous) channel Baseband and passband channel Transmission medium, for example a fibre channel Multiplexed channel Computer network virtual channel Simplex communication, duplex communication or half duplex communication channel Return channel Uplink or downlink (upstream or downstream channel)

Broadcast channel, unicast channel or multicast channel

Channel (communications)

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Channel performance measures


These are examples of commonly used channel capacity and performance measures: Spectral bandwidth in Hertz Symbol rate in baud, pulses/s or symbols/s Digital bandwidth bit/s measures: Gross bit rate (signalling rate), net bit rate (information rate), Channel capacity, and maximum throughput. Channel utilization Link spectral efficiency Signal-to-noise ratio measures: Signal-to-interference ratio, Eb/No, Carrier-to-interference ratio in decibel Bit-error rate (BER), Packet-error rate (PER) Latency in seconds: Propagation time, transmission time Delay jitter

Multi-terminal channels, with application to cellular systems


See also network topology In networks, as opposed to point-to-point communication, the communication media is shared between multiple nodes (terminals). Depending on the type of communication, different terminals can cooperate or interfere on each other. In general, any complex multi-terminal network can be considered as a combination of simplified multi-terminal channels. The following channels are the principal multi-terminal channels which was first introduced in the field of information theory: A point-to-multipoint channel, also known as broadcasting medium (not to be confused with broadcasting channel): In this channel, a single sender transmits multiple messages to different destination nodes. All wireless channels except radio links can be considered as broadcasting media, but may not always provide broadcasting service. The downlink of a cellular system can be considered as a point-to-multipoint channel, if only one cell is considered and inter-cell co-channel interference is neglected. However, the communication service of a phone call is unicasting. Multiple access channel: In this channel, multiple senders transmit multiple possible different messages over a shared physical medium to one or several destination nodes. This requires a channel access scheme, including a media access control (MAC) protocol combiend with a multiplexing scheme. This channel model has applications in the uplink of the cellular networks. Relay channel: In this channel, one or several intermediate nodes (called relay, repeater or gap filler nodes) cooperate with a sender to send the message to an ultimate destination node. Relay nodes are considered as a possible add-on in the upcoming cellular standards like 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE). Interference channel: In this channel, two different senders transmit their data to different destination nodes. Hence, the different senders can have a possible cross-talk or co-channel interference on the signal of each other. The inter-cell interference in the cellular wireless communications is an example of the interference channel. In spread spectrum systems like 3G, interference also occur inside the cell if non-orthogonal codes are used. A unicasting channel is a channel that provides a unicasting service, i.e. that sends data addressed to one specific user. An established phone call is an example. A broadcasting channel is a channel that provides a broadcasting service, i.e. that sends data addressed to all users in the network. Cellular network examples are the paging service as well as the Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service. A multicasting channel is a channel where data is addressed to a group of subscribing users. LTE examples are the Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH) and MBSFN (Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network).

Channel (communications) From the above 4 basic multi-terminal channels, multiple access channel is the only one whose capacity region is known. Even for the special case of the Gaussian scenario, the capacity region of the other 3 channels except the broadcast channel is unknown in general.

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References
C. E. Shannon, A mathematical theory of communication, Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 27, pp.379423 and 623656, (July and October, 1948) Amin Shokrollahi, LDPC Codes: An Introduction [1]

References
[1] http:/ / www. ics. uci. edu/ ~welling/ teaching/ ICS279/ LPCD. pdf

Data link
In telecommunication a data link is the means of connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information. It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a transmitter and a receiver (two pieces of data terminal equipment) and the interconnecting data telecommunication circuit. These are governed by a link protocol enabling digital data to be transferred from a data source to a data sink. There are at least three types of basic data-link configurations that can be conceived of and used: Simplex communications, most commonly meaning all communications in one direction only. Half-duplex communications, meaning communications in both directions, but not both ways simultaneously. Duplex communications, communications in both directions simultaneously. In civil aviation, a data-link system (known as Controller Pilot Data Link Communications) is used to send information between aircraft and air traffic controllers when an aircraft is too far from the ATC to make voice radio communication and radar observations possible. Such systems are used for aircraft crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. One such system, used by NavCanada and NATS over the North Atlantic uses a five-digit data link sequence number which is confirmed between air traffic control and the pilots of the aircraft before the aircraft proceeds to cross the ocean. This system uses the aircraft's flight management computer to send location, speed and altitude information about the aircraft to the ATC. ATC can then send messages to the aircraft regarding any necessary change of course. In military aviation, a data-link may also carry weapons targeting information or information to help warplanes land on aircraft carriers. In unmanned aircraft, land vehicles, boats, and spacecraft, a two-way (full-duplex or half-duplex) data-link is used to send control signals, and to receive telemetry.

Data link

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Sources
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the General Services Administration document "Federal Standard 1037C" [1] (in support of MIL-STD-188). This article incorporatespublic domain material from the United States Department of Defense document "Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms".

References
[1] http:/ / www. its. bldrdoc. gov/ fs-1037/ fs-1037c. htm

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List of WLAN channels

List of WLAN channels


The List of WLAN channels is the set of legally allowed Wireless LAN channels using IEEE 802.11. The 802.11 workgroup currently documents use in three distinct frequency ranges, 2.4GHz, 3.6GHz and 4.9/5.0GHz bands.[1] Each range is divided into a multitude of channels. Countries apply their own regulations to both the allowable channels, allowed users and maximum power levels within these frequency ranges. In some countries, such as the United States, licensed Amateur Radio operators may use some of the channels at much higher power for long distance wireless access.

2.4GHz (802.11b/g/n)

Graphical representation of Wireless LAN channels in 2.4 GHz band

There are 14 channels designated in the 2.4GHz range spaced 5MHz apart (with the exception of a 12MHz spacing before Channel 14). As the protocol requires 25MHz of channel separation, adjacent channels overlap and will interfere with each other. Consequently, using only channels 1, 6, 11 is recommended in the US to avoid interference.[2] In much of the world, the four channels 1, 5, 9, 13 are recommended. There are exceptions to this however, for example in the UK, where British Telecom recommend use of three channels 1, 6, 11. Using the 3-channel system is recommended, since many existing access points are on channel 6 by factory default, causing the channel 6 to be likely to be in use anyway. Potential Wireless LAN uses of this range are documented by IEEE 802.11 clauses 18 (802.11b), 19 (802.11g) and 20 (802.11n). IEEE 802.11 clauses 14 and 15 also specify potential uses of this range, but did not see widespread implementation.

List of WLAN channels Countries apply their own regulations to both the allowable channels, allowed users and maximum power levels within these frequency ranges. Consult your local authorities as these regulations may be out of date as they are subject to change at any time. Most of the world will allow the first thirteen channels in the spectrum.
channel frequency (MHz) 2412 2417 2422 2427 2432 2437 2442 2447 2452 2457 2462 2467 2472 2484 North America [3] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes NoB NoB No Japan [3] Most of worldA [3][4][5][6][7] YesD YesD YesD YesD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

1* 2 3 4 5* 6 7 8 9* 10 11 12 13* 14

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 11b onlyC

*With 802.11g and newer only the channels 1, 5, 9, and 13 shall be used in order to obey the non-overlapping 20 MHz OFDM channel scheme borrowed from 802.11a. But please do a site survey first, then if channel 6 is already heavily occupied, follow the 3-channel system.

AEarlier, in Spain the only allowable channels were 1011, and in France 1013. These restrictions have been removed since, and these countries are currently following the common European policy (channels 113). BIn the USA, 802.11 operation in the channels 12 and 13 is actually allowed under low powered conditions. The 2.4GHz Part 15 band in the US allows spread-spectrum operation as long as the 50-dB bandwidth of the signal is within the range of 24002483.5MHz[8] which wholly encompasses both channels 12 and 13. A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) document clarifies that only channel 14 is forbidden and furthermore low-power transmitters with low-gain antennas may legally operate in channels 12 and 13.[9] However, channels 12 and 13 are not normally used in order to avoid any potential interference in the adjacent restricted frequency band, 2483.52500MHz,[10] which is subject to strict emission limits set out in 47 CFR 15.205.[11] In Canada, 12 channels are available for use, 11 of which at full power and channel 12's transmit power limited. However, few devices have a method to enable a lower powered channel 12. CChannel 14 is valid only for DSSS and CCK modes (Clause 18 a.k.a. 802.11b) in Japan. OFDM (i.e. 802.11g) may not be used. (IEEE 802.11-2007 19.4.2) DOutdoor use of channels 1-4 is not allowed in Israel, although indoor use is permitted.[12]

List of WLAN channels

3.6GHz (802.11y)
Except where noted, all information taken from Annex J of IEEE 802.11y-2008 This range is documented as only being allowed as a licensed band in the United States. Please see IEEE 802.11y for details. Countries apply their own regulations to both the allowable channels, allowed users and maximum power levels within these frequency ranges.
channel frequency (MHz) 131 132 132 133 133 134 134 135 136 136 137 137 138 138 3657.5 3662.5 3660.0 3667.5 3665.0 3672.5 3670.0 3677.5 3682.5 3680.0 3687.5 3685.0 3689.5 3690.0 United States 5MHz 10MHz 20MHz Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No No No Yes No No No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No No

5GHz (802.11a/h/j/n)
Except where noted, all information taken from Annex J of IEEE 802.11-2007 modified by amendments k, y and n. Countries apply their own regulations to both the allowable channels, allowed users and maximum power levels within these frequency ranges. Consult your local authorities as these regulations may be out of date as they are subject to change at any time. In 2007 the FCC (United States) began requiring that devices in operating on 5.250 - 5.350GHz and 5.47 5.725GHz must employ dynamic frequency selection (DFS) and transmit power control (TPC) capabilities. This is to avoid interference with weather-radar and military applications.[13] In 2010, the FCC further clarified the use of channels in the 5470 MHz - 5725 MHz band to avoid interference with Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) systems. [14] This statement eliminated the use of channels 120, 124, and 128. Channels 116 and 132 may be used, so long as they are separated by more than 30MHz (center-to-center) from a TDWR located within 35km of the device. Germany requires dynamic frequency selection (DFS) and transmit power control (TPC) capabilities on 5.250 5.350GHz and 5.47 - 5.725GHz as well, in addition the frequency range 5.150 - 5.250GHz is only allowed for indoor use.[15] Since this is the German implementation of EU-Rule 2005/513/EC, similar regulations must be expected throughout the European Union.[16][16] Austria adopted Decision 2005/513/EC directly into national law.[17] South Africa simply copied the European regulations.[18] Japan allows 34,38,42 and 46 channels for connecting J52 supported old APs.

List of WLAN channels In Brazil, the TPC use in 5150 MHz - 5725 MHz band is optional. DFS is required only in 5470 MHz - 5725 MHz band. [19] Australian DFS channels also require TPC, or the maximum allowed power is cut in half.[7]
channel frequency United States (MHz) 40/20MHz 183 184 185 187 188 189 192 196 7 8 9 11 12 16 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 4915 4920 4925 4935 4940 4945 4960 4980 5035 5040 5045 5055 5060 5080 5170 5180 5190 5200 5210 5220 5230 5240 5260 5280 5300 5320 5500 5520 5540 5560 5580 5600 No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS No Europe Japan 40/20MHz No Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes-clientonly Yes Yes-clientonly Yes Yes-clientonly Yes Yes-clientonly Yes Singapore 40/20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No China Israel 20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No Korea Turkey 40/20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Australia South Africa 40/20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Brazil 40/20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-indoors Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS

[20] 40/20MHz
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes

[21] 10MHz
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No

[22] 20MHz
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No

[6]

20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

[23]

[24]

40/20MHz No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes

[7]

[18]

[19]

Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC

Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC No

[14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC [14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC [14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC [14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC [14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC
Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC

[14]

List of WLAN channels


[14] [14]

124 128 132 136 140 149 153 157 161 165

5620 5640 5660 5680 5700 5745 5765 5785 5805 5825

No No

Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC

No No No No No No No No No No

No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

No No No No No No No No No No

Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC No No No No No

No No Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No

Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes-w/DFS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

[14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC [14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC [14] Yes-DFS/TPC Yes-DFS/TPC


No No No No No No No No No No

References
"Regulatory Database" [25]. Linux Wireless. An online database of allowed frequencies used by Linux 802.11 subsystem.
[1] "IEEE 802.11-2007: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications" (http:/ / standards. ieee. org/ getieee802/ 802. 11. html). IEEE. 2007-03-08. . [2] "Change the WiFi Channel Number to Avoid Interference" (http:/ / compnetworking. about. com/ od/ wifihomenetworking/ qt/ wifichannel. htm). . [3] IEEE 802.11-2007 Table 18-9 [4] France: "WLAN regulatory update" (http:/ / www. arcep. fr/ index. php?id=8571& L=1& tx_gsactualite_pi1[uid]=232& tx_gsactualite_pi1[annee]=2003& tx_gsactualite_pi1[theme]=0& tx_gsactualite_pi1[motscle]=& tx_gsactualite_pi1[backID]=2122& cHash=a558568045). 2003-02-03. . [5] Spain: http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080206082504/ http:/ / www. mityc. es/ Telecomunicaciones/ Secciones/ Espectro/ cnaf/ [6] Israel: "( "5002 ) ( )' 2(, "http:/ / www. moc. gov. il/ sip_storage/ FILES/ 3/ 293. pdf) (in hebrew). . [7] Australia: "Radiocommunications (Low Interference Potential Devices) Class Licence 2000" (http:/ / www. comlaw. gov. au/ Details/ F2009C00545#param6). comlaw.gov.au. . Retrieved 2011-03-28. [8] 47 CFR 15.247 (http:/ / edocket. access. gpo. gov/ cfr_2005/ octqtr/ pdf/ 47cfr15. 247. pdf) [9] "TCB workshop on unlicensed devices" (http:/ / www. fcc. gov/ oet/ ea/ presentations/ files/ oct05/ Unlicensed_Devices_JD. pdf). October 2005. p.58. . [10] NTIA comments to the FCC ET Docket 03-108, footnote 88 (http:/ / www. ntia. doc. gov/ ntiahome/ fccfilings/ 2005/ cogradio/ ETDocket03-108_02152005. htm#_ftn88) [11] http:/ / edocket. access. gpo. gov/ cfr_2004/ octqtr/ pdf/ 47cfr15. 205. pdf [12] "Cisco Enterprise Mobility 4.1 Design Guide, Chapter 3: WLAN Radio Frequency Design Considerations" (http:/ / www. cisco. com/ en/ US/ docs/ solutions/ Enterprise/ Mobility/ emob41dg/ ch3_WLAN. pdf). p.3. . [13] FCC 15.407 as of June 23, 2011 hallikainen.com / See paragraph 'h' (http:/ / louise. hallikainen. org/ FCC/ FccRules/ 2011/ 15/ 407/ ) [14] FCC Publication - 443999 D01 Approval of DFS UNII Devices v01 (http:/ / fjallfoss. fcc. gov/ oetcf/ kdb/ forms/ FTSSearchResultPage. cfm?switch=P& id=41732) [15] Bundesnetzagentur Vfg 7/2010 / See footnote 4 and 5 (german only) (http:/ / www. bundesnetzagentur. de/ cae/ servlet/ contentblob/ 38216/ publicationFile/ 6579/ WLAN5GHzVfg7_2010_28042010pdf. pdf) [16] 2005/513/EC: Commission Decision of 11 July 2005 on the harmonised use of radio spectrum in the 5 GHz frequency band for the implementation of wireless access systems (http:/ / eur-lex. europa. eu/ LexUriServ/ LexUriServ. do?uri=CELEX:32005D0513:EN:NOT) [17] Information der Obersten Fernmeldebehrde - Drahtlose lokale Netzwerke (WAS, WLAN, RLAN)(german only) (http:/ / www. bmvit. gv. at/ bmvit/ telekommunikation/ publikationen/ infoblaetter/ downloads/ 052010. pdf) [18] Frequency assignments for unlicensed devices / See page 14 (http:/ / www. ellipsis. co. za/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2008/ 07/ licence_exemption_frequency_regs_2008. pdf) [19] "Brazil: Resoluo n 506, de 01/07/2008, publicado no Dirio Oficial de 07/07/2008, atualizado em 24/11/2010 (in Brazilian Portuguese)" (http:/ / www. anatel. gov. br/ Portal/ verificaDocumentos/ documento. asp?numeroPublicacao=252315& assuntoPublicacao=null& caminhoRel=Cidadao-Biblioteca-Acervo Documental& filtro=1& documentoPath=252315. pdf). p.33. . [20] FCC 15.407 as of August 8, 2008 hallikainen.com (http:/ / sujan. hallikainen. org/ FCC/ FccRules/ 2008/ 15/ 407/ )

List of WLAN channels


[21] 802.11-2007 Japan MIC Released the new 5GHz band (W56) (http:/ / www. adt. com. tw/ english/ news_files/ 81. pdf). Bureau Veritas ADT. . Retrieved 2008-02-23. [22] "IDA Singapore: Spectrum Management Handbook" (http:/ / www. ida. gov. sg/ doc/ Policies and Regulation/ Policies_and_Regulation_Level2/ 20060421164253/ SpectrumMgmtHB. pdf). May 2011. p.30. . [23] Korea Frequency Distribution Table (http:/ / www. rra. go. kr/ join/ databoard/ law/ view. jsp?lw_type=3& lw_seq=187) 2008.12.31 (in Korean) [24] KISA MESAFE ERML TELSZ CHAZLARI (KET) YNETMEL Resmi Gazete 10.03.2010 (http:/ / www. tk. gov. tr/ mevzuat/ yonetmelikler/ dosyalar/ KET_yonetmeligi. pdf) Madde 8 - Geniband veri iletim sistemleri (in Turkish) [25] http:/ / wireless. kernel. org/ en/ developers/ Regulatory/ Database

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Article Sources and Contributors


List of WLAN channels Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=489701349 Contributors: 802geek, CecilWard, Cnewville, Compellingelegance, Daedalus01, Danroa, DarkRain42, Dawnseeker2000, Derfboy, Dicentra, EagleEye96, Econtechie, GCW50, Gauthierm, Ghalse, Ground Zero, Hanoteau, Hgonzale, Imroy, Ivanl, J0boyers, Joneskoo, JsyBird2532, Jwyatt140981, KelleyCook, Kozuch, Liebeskind, Mattreedywiki, Mikeblas, Moxfyre, MrBeauGiles, Ophirh22, Quibik, RHaworth, RokerHRO, Sathakselva, Serged, Skathol, SlimG, Softgear, Spazvt, TRS-80, Techmeology, Ufitec, Vrenator, WOSlinker, Wihwang, Wiki-ny-2007, Yyy, 110 anonymous edits

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Image:NonOverlappingChannels2.4GHzWLAN-en.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:NonOverlappingChannels2.4GHzWLAN-en.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: Liebeskind

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