Wireless and
Mobile
Networks
Computer Networking: A
Top-Down Approach
8th edition
Jim Kurose, Keith Ross
Pearson, 2020
Wireless and Mobile Networks: context
more wireless (mobile) phone subscribers than fixed (wired) phone
subscribers (10-to-1 in 2019)!
more mobile-broadband-connected devices than fixed-broadband-
connected devices devices (5-1 in 2019)!
• 4G/5G cellular networks now embracing Internet protocol stack,
including SDN
two important (but different) challenges
• wireless: communication over wireless link
• mobility: handling the mobile user who changes point of attachment to
network
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7-2
outline
Introduction
Wireless Mobility
Wireless Links and network Mobility management: principles
characteristics Mobility management: practice
WiFi: 802.11 wireless LANs • 4G/5G networks
Cellular networks: 4G and 5G • Mobile IP
Mobility: impact on higher-layer
protocols
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 3
Elements of a wireless network
wired network
infrastructure
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 4
Elements of a wireless network
wireless hosts
laptop, smartphone, IoT
run applications
may be stationary (non-mobile) or mobile
wired network • wireless does not always mean mobility!
infrastructure
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 5
Elements of a wireless network
base station
typically connected to wired network
relay - responsible for sending packets
between wired network and wireless
wired network host(s) in its “area”
infrastructure • e.g., cell towers, 802.11 access points
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 6
Elements of a wireless network
wireless link
typically used to connect mobile(s) to
base station, also used as backbone link
multiple access protocol coordinates link
access
wired network various transmission rates and distances,
infrastructure frequency bands
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 7
Characteristics of selected wireless links
14 Gbps 802.11ax
10 Gbps 5G Cellular Vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X)
3.5 Gbps 802.11ac
802.11 af,ah
600 Mbps 802.11n
4G LTE
54 Mbps 802.11g
11 Mbps 802.11b
2 Mbps Bluetooth
Indoor Outdoor Midrange Long range
outdoor outdoor
10-30m 50-200m 200m-4Km 4Km-15Km
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 8
Elements of a wireless network
infrastructure mode
base station connects mobiles into
wired network
handoff: mobile changes base station
providing connection into wired
wired network
infrastructure network
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 9
Elements of a wireless network
ad hoc mode
no base stations
nodes can only transmit to
other nodes within link
coverage
nodes organize themselves
into a network: route among
themselves
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 10
Wireless network taxonomy
single hop
host connects to base
infrastructure station (WiFi, cellular)
(e.g., APs) which connects to
larger Internet
no base station, no
no connection to larger
infrastructure Internet (Bluetooth, ad
hoc nets)
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 11
outline
Introduction
Wireless Mobility
Wireless links and network Mobility management: principles
characteristics Mobility management: practice
WiFi: 802.11 wireless LANs • 4G/5G networks
Cellular networks: 4G and 5G • Mobile IP
Mobility: impact on higher-layer
protocols
Link Layer: 6-12
Wireless link characteristics (1)
important differences from wired link ….
decreased signal strength: radio signal attenuates
as it propagates through matter (path loss)
interference from other sources: wireless network
frequencies (e.g., 2.4 GHz) shared by many devices
(e.g., WiFi, cellular, motors): interference
multipath propagation: radio signal reflects off
objects ground, arriving at destination at slightly
different times
…. make communication across (even a point to point) wireless link
much more “difficult”
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 13
Wireless link characteristics (3)
Multiple wireless senders, receivers create additional problems (beyond
multiple access):
A B C
C
A’s signal C’s signal
strength
B strength
A
space
Hidden terminal problem Signal attenuation:
B, A hear each other B, A hear each other
B, C hear each other B, C hear each other
A, C can not hear each other means A, A, C can not hear each other
C unaware of their interference at B interfering at B
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 14
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
unique “code” assigned to each user; i.e., code set
partitioning
• all users share same frequency, but each user has own “chipping”
sequence (i.e., code) to encode data
• allows multiple users to “coexist” and transmit simultaneously with
minimal interference
encoding: inner product: (original data) X (chipping sequence)
decoding: summed inner-product: (encoded data) X (chipping
sequence)
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 15
Outline
Introduction
Wireless Mobility
Wireless links and network Mobility management: principles
characteristics Mobility management: practice
WiFi: 802.11 wireless LANs • 4G/5G networks
Cellular networks: 4G and 5G • Mobile IP
Mobility: impact on higher-layer
protocols
Link Layer: 6-16
IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN
IEEE 802.11 Year Max data rate Range Frequency
standard
802.11b 1999 11 Mbps 30 m 2.4 Ghz
802.11g 2003 54 Mbps 30m 2.4 Ghz
802.11n (WiFi 4) 2009 600 70m 2.4, 5 Ghz
802.11ac (WiFi 5) 2013 3.47Gpbs 70m 5 Ghz
802.11ax (WiFi 6) 2020 (exp.) 14 Gbps 70m 2.4, 5 Ghz
802.11af 2014 35 – 560 Mbps 1 Km unused TV bands
(54-790 MHz)
802.11ah 2017 347Mbps 1 Km 900 Mhz
all use CSMA/CA for multiple access, and have base-station and ad-hoc
network versions
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 17
802.11 LAN architecture
Internet
wireless host communicates with
base station
• base station = access point (AP)
switch Basic Service Set (BSS) (aka “cell”)
or router in infrastructure mode contains:
• wireless hosts
BSS 1 • access point (AP): base station
• ad hoc mode: hosts only
BSS 2
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 18
802.11: Channels, association
spectrum divided into channels at different frequencies
• AP admin chooses frequency for AP
• interference possible: channel can be same as that chosen by
neighboring AP!
arriving host: must associate with an AP
• scans channels, listening for beacon frames
containing AP’s name (SSID) and MAC address
• selects AP to associate with
• then may perform authentication [Chapter 8] BSS
• then typically run DHCP to get IP address in AP’s
subnet
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 19
802.11: passive/active scanning
BBS 1 BBS 2 BBS 1 BBS 2
1
1 1 AP 2 2 2 AP 2
AP 1 AP 1
2 3
3 4
H1 H1
passive scanning: active scanning:
(1) beacon frames sent from APs (1) Probe Request frame broadcast from H1
(2) association Request frame sent: H1 (2) Probe Response frames sent from APs
to selected AP (3) Association Request frame sent: H1 to
(3) association Response frame sent selected AP
from selected AP to H1 (4) Association Response frame sent from
selected AP to H1
Beacon Frames->management frames in IEEE 802.11 based WLANs
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 20
IEEE 802.11: multiple access
avoid collisions: 2+ nodes transmitting at same time
802.11: CSMA - sense before transmitting
• don’t collide with detected ongoing transmission by another node
802.11: no collision detection!
• difficult to sense collisions: high transmitting signal, weak received signal
due to fading
• can’t sense all collisions in any case: hidden terminal, fading
• goal: avoid collisions: CSMA/CollisionAvoidance
A B C
C
A’s signal C’s signal
B strength
A strength
space
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 21
IEEE 802.11 MAC Protocol: CSMA/CA
802.11 sender
sender receiver
1 if sense channel idle for DIFS then
transmit entire frame (no CD)
DIFS
2 if sense channel busy then
start random backoff time
timer counts down while channel idle data
transmit when timer expires
if no ACK, increase random backoff interval, repeat 2
SIFS
802.11 receiver ACK
if frame received OK
return ACK after SIFS (ACK needed due to hidden
terminal problem)
DIFS is the minimum medium idle time
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 22
Avoiding collisions (more)
idea: sender “reserves” channel use for data frames using small reservation
packets
sender first transmits small request-to-send (RTS) packet to BS using CSMA
• RTSs may still collide with each other (but they’re short)
BS broadcasts clear-to-send CTS in response to RTS
CTS heard by all nodes
• sender transmits data frame
• other stations defer transmissions
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 23
Collision Avoidance: RTS-CTS exchange
A B
AP
RTS(A) RTS(B)
reservation collision
RTS(A)
CTS(A) CTS(A)
time
DATA (A)
defer
ACK(A) ACK(A)
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 24
802.11 frame: addressing
2 2 6 6 6 2 6 0 - 2312 4
frame duration address address address seq address payload CRC
control 1 2 3 control 4
Address 1: MAC address Address 4: used only in
of wireless host or AP to ad hoc mode
receive this frame
Address 3: MAC address of
Address 2: MAC address router interface to which AP
of wireless host or AP is attached
transmitting this frame
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 25
802.11 frame: addressing
Internet
H1 R1
802.3 Ethernet frame
R1 MAC addr H2 MAC addr
MAC dest addr MAC source addr
AP MAC addr H1 MAC addr R1 MAC addr
address 1 address 2 address 3
802.11 WiFi frame
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 26
802.11 frame: addressing
duration of reserved frame sequence # (for reliable data
transmission time (RTS/CTS) transfer)
2 2 6 6 6 2 6 0 - 2312 4
frame duration address address address seq address payload CRC
control 1 2 3 control 4
2 2 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
protocol to from more power more
type subtype retry WEP rsvd
version AP AP frag mgt data
frame type (RTS, CTS, ACK, data)
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 27
802.11: mobility within same subnet
H1 remains in same IP subnet: IP
address can remain same
switch: which AP is associated
with H1?
• self-learning (Ch. 6): switch
will see frame from H1 and
“remember” which switch
port can be used to reach H1
H1 BBS 2
BBS 1
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 28
Personal area networks: Bluetooth
less than 10 m diameter
replacement for cables (mouse, C
P
keyboard, headphones) P
M
radius of
coverage
ad hoc: no infrastructure P
C C
P
2.4-2.5 GHz ISM radio band, up to 3
Mbps
master controller / clients devices: M master device
• master polls clients, grants requests for C client device
client transmissions P parked device (inactive)
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 29
Personal area networks: Bluetooth
TDM, 625 msec sec. slot
FDM: sender uses 79 frequency channels C
P
in known, pseudo-random order slot-to- P radius of
M
slot (spread spectrum) coverage
• other devices/equipment not in piconet only C P
C
interfere in some slots P
parked mode: clients can “go to sleep”
(park) and later wakeup (to preserve
M
battery) master device
C client device
bootstrapping: nodes self-assemble P parked device (inactive)
(plug and play) into piconet
Wireless and Mobile Networks: 7- 30
