Term Paper Synopsis

On

Analysis of

IEEE 802.11: WiFi Standards

Proposed Supervisor: Submitted By:

University School of Information and

AREA:
Wireless Communication

ABSTRACT:

Recent advances in the communications and connectivity has encouraged the development and
definition of various IEEE 802.11 series of standards. Each of the standards is equipped with
capabilities and features that suits the type of applications the standard is intended for. This is a
comparative study of these standards from the aspects of inception dates, evolution,
implementation, and operating conditions.

INTRODUCTION:

The most widely deployed 802.11 standard has a lot of extension and many more are currently
under development.The initial standards gave a maximum data rate of 2Mbps which increased to
11 Mbps. Newer extensions provided maximum data rate of 54Mbps.

The 802.11 family consists of a series of half-duplex over-the-air modulation techniques that use
the same basic protocol. 802.11-1997 was the first wireless networking standard in the family,
but 802.11b was the first widely accepted one, followed by 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11n, and
802.11ac.

COMMONLY USED WIFI STANDARDS:

802.11 (Legacy)

In 1997, IEEE created the first WLAN standard. Unfortunately, 802.11 only supported a
maximum network bandwidth of 2 Mbps – too slow for most applications, thus 802.11 wireless
products are no longer manufactured.
The best way to look at these standards is to consider 802.11 as the foundation, and all other
iterations as building blocks upon that foundation that focus on improving both small and large
aspects of the technology.

802.11b (WiFi-B)

IEEE expanded on the original 802.11 standard in July 1999, creating the 802.11b specification.
802.11b supports a theoretical speed up to 11 Mbps. A more realistic bandwidth of 5.9 Mbps
(TCP) and 7.1 Mbps (UDP) should be expected.

802.11b uses the same unregulated radio signalling frequency (2.4 GHz) as the original 802.11
standard. Vendors often prefer using these frequencies to lower their production costs. Being
unregulated, 802.11b gear can incur interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, and
other appliances using the same 2.4 GHz range. However, by installing 802.11b gear at a
reasonable distance from other appliances, interference can easily be avoided.

802.11a (WiFi-A)

While 802.11b was in development, IEEE created a second extension to the original 802.11
standard called 802.11a. Due to its higher cost, 802.11a is usually found on business networks.

802.11a supports bandwidth up to 54 Mbps and signals in a regulated frequency spectrum around
5 GHz. This higher frequency compared to 802.11b shortens the range of 802.11a networks. The
higher frequency also means 802.11a signals have more difficulty penetrating walls and other
obstructions.Because 802.11a and 802.11b utilise different frequencies, the two technologies are
incompatible with each other.

802.11g (WiFi-G)

In 2002 and 2003, WLAN products supporting a newer standard called 802.11g emerged on the
market. 802.11g attempts to combine the best of both 802.11a and 802.11b.

802.11g supports bandwidth up to 54 Mbps, and it uses the 2.4 GHz frequency for greater range.
802.11g is backward compatible with 802.11b

• Pros of 802.11g - Supported by essentially all wireless devices and network equipment in use
today; least expensive option

• Cons of 802.11g - Entire network slows to match any 802.11b devices on the network; slowest/
oldest standard still in use
802.11n (WiFi-N)

802.11n was designed to improve on 802.11g in the amount of bandwidth supported by utilising
multiple wireless signals and antennas (called MIMO technology) instead of one.

Industry standards groups ratified 802.11n in 2009 with specifications providing for up to 300
Mbps of network bandwidth. 802.11n also offers somewhat better range over earlier Wi-Fi
standards due to its increased signal intensity, and it is backward-compatible with 802.11b/g gear.

• Pros of 802.11n - Significant bandwidth improvement from previous standards; wide support
across devices and network gear

• Cons of 802.11n - More expensive to implement than 802.11g; use of multiple signals may
interfere with nearby 802.11b/g based networks

MIMO TECHNOLOGY:
MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) is an antenna technology for wireless communications in which
multiple antennas are used at both the source (transmitter) and the destination (receiver). The antennas at
each end of the communications circuit are combined to minimize errors and optimize data speed. MIMO
is one of several forms of smart antenna technology

All wireless products with 802.11n support MIMO. The technology helps allow 802.11n to reach higher
speeds than products without 802.11n.

MIMO technology uses a natural radio-wave phenomenon called multipath. With multipath, transmitted
information bounces off walls, ceilings, and other objects, reaching the receiving antenna multiple times
at different angles and slightly different times. In the past, multipath caused interference and slowed down
wireless signals. With multipath, MIMO technology uses multiple, smart transmitters and receivers with
an added spatial dimension, increasing performance and range.

LATEST WIFI STANDARDS:

802.11ac (WAVE-1, WAVE-2)

802.11ac supercharges Wi-Fi, with speeds ranging from 433 Mbps all the way up to several
Gigabits per second. To achieve this kind of performance, 802.11ac works exclusively in the 5
GHz band, and uses a technology called bean forming. With bean forming, the antennae
basically transmit the radio signals so they’re directed at a specific device.
Another significant advancement with 802.11ac is multi-user (MU-MIMO). While MIMO
directs multiple streams to a single client, MU-MIMO can direct the spatial streams to multiple
clients simultaneously.

• Pros of 802.11ac - Fastest maximum speed and best signal range; on par with standard wired
connections

• Cons of 802.11ac - Most expensive to implement; performance improvements only noticeable

802.11ah (HaLow)

To increase the relatively short range of WiFi specifically for IoT sensors that don’t require high
data rates—802.11ah was introduced. It is 900 MHz WiFi, meant for long-range data
transmission.

HaLow also theoretically addresses low power consumption. It does this by having devices wake
up for very short times at defined intervals say, for milliseconds every 15 seconds—to accept
messages.

• Pros of 802.11ah - Penetrates through walls and obstructions better than high frequency
networks like 802.11ad; ideal for short, bursty data that doesn’t consume a good deal of power.

• Cons of 802.11ah - There is no global standard for 900 MHz; AH is available, but isn’t being
used.

802.11af (White-Fi)

802.11af utilises unused television spectrum frequencies (i.e. “white spaces”) in UHF and VHF
to transmit information. It can be used for low power, wide-area range, like HaLow.

• Pros of 802.11af - Works well for very long range devices.

• Cons of 802.11af - Requires expensive, band-specific hardware; “White space” channels are
not available everywhere, particularly big cities; like HaLow, 802.11af is not a global standard-
it is U.S./Canada specific.

802.11ad

While AH is a potential low-power, wide area network option, AD is 60 GHz WiFi ideal for very
high data rate, very short range communications. In fact, AD is meant to be a fiber optic
replacement that can achieve speeds 50 times faster than 802.11n.
• Pros of 802.11ad - Good for high data rate file transfers and communication.

• Cons of 802.11ad - The chips are very expensive to manufacture; provides a very short range;
not a recognised international standard; not many people require multi-gigabit speeds in very
small networks

FUTURE WIFI STANDARDS:

802.11ax (HEW) - Est. Dec 2018

802.11ax, also called High-Efficiency Wireless (HEW), has the challenging goal of improving
the average throughput per user by a factor of at least 4X in dense user environments. This new
standard implements several mechanisms to serve more users consistent and reliable data
throughput in crowded wireless environments. 802.11ax will utilise MU-MIMO and Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology.

802.11ay - Est. Nov 2019

802.11ay will have a frequency of 60 GHz, a transmission rate of 20–40 Gbit/s and an extended
transmission distance of 300– 500 meters. It will not be a new type of WLAN in the IEEE 802.11
set, but will simply be an improvement on 802.11ad. Where 802.11ad uses a maximum of 2.16
GHz bandwidth, 802.11ay bonds four of those channels together for a maximum bandwidth of
8.64 GHz.