Dr.
Martin Hope CEng MIEE
Wireless
Communications
m.d.hope@salford.ac.uk
Newton 262
0161 2953305
High-Speed WLANs and
WLAN Security
High Speed WLANs
Three standards for high-speed WLANs that
transmit at speeds over 15 Mbps
IEEE 802.11a
IEEE 802.11g
HiperLAN / 2
All WLANs are concerned with security
How to prevent unauthorized access
3
IEEE 802.11a
Approved in 1999, 802.11b transmits at speeds of 5.5
Mbps and 11 Mbps
Great demand for 802.11a WLANS, also called Wi-Fi5,
with maximum speed of 54 Mbps
Devices use gallium arsenide (GaAs) or silicon germanium
(SiGe) rather than CMOS semiconductors
Increased speed achieved by higher frequency, more
transmission channels, multiplexing techniques, and more
efficient error-correction
4
U-NII Frequency Band
802.11b uses unlicensed Industrial, Scientific,
and Medical (ISM) band and specifies 14
frequencies
802.11a uses Unlicensed Information
Infrastructure (U-NII) band
Table 7-1 compares ISM and U-NII
U-NII is divided into three bands, shown in
Table 7-2
U-NII provides more bandwidth, faster transmission,
and increased power
Efforts underway to unify 5 GHz bands globally
5
ISM vs. U-NII
6
U-NII Spectrum
7
Channel Allocation
802.11a WLANs have have 11 channels in USA but
requires 25 MHz passband
See Figure 7.1
Figure 7-2 shows 8 channels in Low and Medium
Bands with 20 MHz channel supporting 52 carrier
signals, each 200 KHz wide
Supports eight networks per AP, as shown in
Figure 7-3
IEEE 802.11e Task Group is working on standard that
supports quality of service (QOS)
8
802.11b Channels
9
802.11a Channels
10
802.11b vs. 802.11a
Channel Coverage
11
Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing
Electromagnetic waves reflect off surfaces and
may be delayed in reaching their destination
Figure 7-4 illustrates multipath distortion
Receiving device waits until all reflections are
received before it can transmit
Increasing speed of WLAN only causes longer delays
waiting for reflections
802.11a uses Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM) to solve
this problem
12
Multipath Distortion
13
Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing
Dating to 1960s, OFDM’s primary role is to split
high-speed digital signal into several slower
signals running in parallel
Sending device breaks transmission into pieces and
sends it over channels in parallel
Receiving device combines signals to re-create the
transmission
See Figure 7-5
14
Multiple Channels of OFDM
15
OFDM Breaks 802.11B Ceiling
Limit
Slowing down transmissions actually delays
reflections, increases total throughput, and
results in faster WLAN
See Figure 7-6
802.11a specifies eight overlapping channels,
each divided into 52 subchannels that are 300
KHz wide
OFDM uses 48 subchannels for data and the
remaining four for error correction
16
OFDM vs. Single Channel
17
Modulation Techniques Vary
Depending on Speed
6 Mbps—phase shift keying (PSK)
Encodes 125 Kbps of data on each of 48
subchannels, resulting in 6Mbps data rate
See Figure 7-7
12 Mbps—quadrature phase shift keying
(QPSK)
Encodes 250Kbps per channel for 12 Mbps data rate
See Figure 7-8
18
PSK
19
QPSK
20
Modulation Techniques Vary
Depending on Speed
24 Mbps—16-level quadrature amplitude
modulation (16-QAM)
16 different signals can encode 500 Kbps per
subchannel
See Figure 7-9
54 Mbps—64-level quadrature amplitude
modulation (64-QAM)
Transmits 1,125 Mbps over each of 48 subchannels
See Figure 7-10
21
16-QAM
22
64-QAM
23
Higher Speeds
Official top speed of 802.11a is 54 Mbps
Specification allows for higher speeds known as
turbo mode or 2X mode
Each vendor can develop 2X mode by combining two
frequency channels
Produces 96 subchannels and speeds up to
108 Mbps
Other 2X mode techniques include increasing and
reallocating individual carriers and using different
coding rate schemes
24
Error Correction
802.11a transmissions significantly reduce
errors
Minimizes radio interference from outside sources
801.11a has enhanced error correction
Forward Error Correction (FEC) transmits secondary
copy of information that may be used if data is lost
Uses 48 channels for standard transmissions
and 4 for FEC transmissions
25
802.11a Physical Layer
802.11a changed only physical layer
PHY layer is divided into two parts
Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer defines
method for transmitting and receiving data over
wireless medium
Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP)
reformats data received from MAC layer into frame
that PMD sublayer can transmit
26
PLCP
Based on OFDM, PLCP frame has three parts
Preamble—allows receiving device to prepare for rest
of frame
Header—provides information about frame
Data—information to be transmitted
See Figure 7-11
27
802.11a PLCP Frame
28
Fields in PLCP Frame
Synchronization Tail
Rate Service
Length Data
Parity Pad
29
802.11a Rate Field Values
30
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
Good for area that need higher transmission speeds
Disadvantages
Shorter range of coverage
Approximately 225 feet as compared with
375 feet for 802.11b WLAN
31
IEEE 802.11g
In 2001, IEEE proposed 802.11g draft standard
to combine stability of 802.11b with faster data transfer
rates of 802.11a
Operates in 2.4 GHz ISM frequency
Has two mandatory modes: Complementary Code Keying
(CCK) mode and Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM)
Offers two optional modes: Packet Binary Convolutional
Coding (PBCC-22) and
CCK-ODFM
802.11g products made available in 2003
32
HiperLAN/2
Similar to 802.11a, HiperLAN/2 was standardized
by European Telecommunications Standards
Institute
Figure 7-12 shows protocol stack for HiperLAN/2
Has three basic layers: Physical, Data Link, and
Convergence
33
HiperLAN/2 Protocol Stack
34
Physical Layer
PHY layers of IEEE 802.11a and HiperLAN/2
are almost identical
Operate in 5 GHz band
Use OFDM
Transmit up to 54 Mbps
Connect seamlessly to wired Ethernet networks
35
Data Link Layer
HiperLAN/2 centralizes control of RF medium to
access point (AP)
AP informs clients, known as mobile terminals (MTs),
when they may send data
Channel allocation is based on dynamic
time-division multiple access (TDMA) that divides
bandwidth into several time slots
Quality of Service (QOS) refers to dynamically
allocated time slots based on needs of MT and
condition of network
36
Radio Link Control (RLC) Sublayer
Three primary functions of RLC sublayer
Connection setup procedure and connection monitoring—
authentication and encryption
Radio resource handling, channel monitoring,
and channel selection—automatic transmission frequency
allocation (known as Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS)
Association procedure and reassociation procedure—
standardized handoff to nearest AP
by roaming MTs
Logical Link Control (LLC) sublayer, also part of Data
Link Layer, performs error checking
37
Convergence Layer
HiperLAN/2 offers seamless high-speed wireless
connectivity up to 54 Mbps
Can connect to cellular telephone systems
Can connect to Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATMs)
systems using fiber-optic media and transmitting at
622 Mbps
Can connect to IEEE 1394 (also known as FireWire)
high speed external serial bus transmitting at 400
Mbps
38
WLAN Comparison
39
802.11 Security
Greatest strength of WLANs is ability to roam
freely
Greatest weakness is risk of unauthorized user
receiving RF signals
Some flawed IEEE WLAN security provisions
Basic Security involves two areas:
Authenticating users
Keeping transmissions private
40
Authentication
Verifies user has permission to access network
Each WLAN client can be given Service Set
Identifier (SSID) of network
Only clients that know SSID may connect
SSID may be entered manually into wireless device,
but anyone with device has access to network
Access points (APs) may freely advertise SSID to any
mobile device within range
41
Privacy
IEEE standard provides optional Wired
Equivalent Privacy (WEP) specification for data
encryption
Two types of keys used for encryption
Public key cryptography uses matched public and
private keys
IEEE uses shared key cryptography with same key
used for encryption and decryption
The longer the key, the more secure it is
WEP standard uses only a 40-bit shared key
See Figure 7-13
42
WEP
43
WEP Privacy Concerns
In late 2000, researchers revealed “initialization
vector” used to encrypt transmissions with WEP
were reused about once every five hours
Makes it easy for anyone to collect data to break
WEP encryption
Researches recovered 128-bit WEP key in less than 2
hours
Many think IEEE WLANs should be treated as
insecure
44
Enhanced Security
Administrators must use enhanced security
measures to prevent WLAN attacks
Four kinds of WLAN attacks
Hardware theft
Access point impersonation
Passive monitoring
Denial of service
45
Additional Security Procedures
IEEE task group working on draft known
as IEEE 802.1x to allow centralized
authentication of wireless clients
Uses Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)—
client negotiates authentication protocols with
separate authentication server
Uses Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
(RADIUS)—server on wired network sends security
keys to wireless client
See Figure 7-14
46
802.1x Security
47
Other Security Steps
Use an access control list with MAC addresses of
approved clients, as seen in Figure 7-15
Use digital certificates issued by trusted third party
for secure, encrypted online communication
Use digital wrapper or gatekeeper that secures data
by wrapping around another program or file
Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a secure,
encrypted connection between two points
48
Access Control List
49
Higher Levels of Security
Reduce transmission power used in WLANs
Decreases distance radio waves travel, thus limiting
range where hackers can pick up signals
Change default WLAN security settings
Keep WLAN traffic separate from that of wired
network
Use 128-bit WEP keys rather than default
40-bit keys
50
WLAN Summary
Released in 1990, 802.11 standard with slow
bandwidth of 1 or 2 Mbps was not sufficient for
most networks
IEEE approved two new standards in 1999
802.11b has maximum data rate of 11 Mbps but uses
crowded ISM band and offers no QoS
802.11a has maximum speed of 54 Mbps and
uses U-NII band, has 8 overlapping frequency
channels, each supporting 52 carrier signals
300 KHz wide
51
Chapter Summary
802.11b WLANs have ceiling limit because of
problems with multipath distortion
RF signals bounce off objects and are delayed
reaching the receiver
802.11a solves multipath distortion through
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
(OFDM) and parallel channels
52
Chapter Summary
802.11a uses 8 overlapping 20 MHz frequency
channels, each divided into 52 subchannels that
are 300 KHz wide
OFDM uses 48 subchannels for data and 4 for error
correction
802.11a reduces errors by using parallel
subchannels and Forward Error Correction
(FEC)
FEC transmits a secondary copy of data that can be
used to replace lost or corrupted data
53
Chapter Summary
802.11a changes only the physical layer (PHY
layer) of original 802.11 standard by dividing it
into two parts
Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer defines
method for transmitting and receiving data
Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) layer
reformats data from MAC layer into frame to be
transmitted by PMC sublayer
54
Chapter Summary
The new IEEE 802.11g draft combines stability
of 802.11b and higher transfer rates of 802.11a
Uses 2.4 GHz ISM frequency
HiperLAN/2, standardized by European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI),
uses three layer protocol stack
Physical Layer
Data Link Layer
Convergence Layer
55
Chapter Summary
HiperLAN/2 connects cellular telephones, ATMs,
and wide-area networks
HiperLAN/2 can use IEEE 1394 (FireWire) high-speed
external serial bus, transmitting at 400 Mbps
Various WAN technologies are complementary
rather than competitive
56
Chapter Summary
WLAN’s greatest strength—allowing users to roam freely
without being connected by wires—is also its greatest
weakness
Security measures for WLANs include authentication and
encryption to prevent unauthorized users
Questions have been raised about effectiveness of IEEE
authentication through Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) and
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption
A WLAN can suffer a variety of attacks
57
Chapter Summary
Because of limitations of IEEE WLAN security,
enhanced security measures should be used for
wireless transmissions that require protection
IEEE task groups is currently working on draft
known as IEEE 802.1x that will allow WLANs to
centralise authentication of wireless clients
Other security measures should be taken as
necessary
58
