Medium Access Control Sublayer (MAC

sublayer)
• The medium access control (MAC) is a sublayer of the data link layer of the open system
interconnections (OSI) reference model for data transmission.
• It is responsible for flow control and multiplexing for transmission medium.
• It controls the transmission of data packets via remotely shared channels.
Functions of MAC Layer
• It provides an abstraction of the physical layer to the LLC and upper layers of the OSI network.
• It is responsible for encapsulating frames so that they are suitable for transmission via the physical
medium.
• It resolves the addressing of source station as well as the destination station, or groups of
destination stations.
• It performs multiple access resolutions when more than one data frame is to be transmitted. It
determines the channel access methods for transmission.
• It also performs collision resolution and initiating retransmission in case of collisions.
• It generates the frame check sequences and thus contributes to protection against transmission
errors.
• In any broadcast network, the key issue is how to determine who gets
to use the channel when there is competition for it.
• The protocols used to determine who goes next on a multiaccess
channel belong to a sublayer of the data link layer called the MAC
(Medium Access Control) sublayer.
• The MAC sublayer is especially important in LANs, particularly
wireless ones because wireless is naturally a broadcast channel.
Wireless LAN’s
• Wireless LANs (WLANs) are wireless computer networks that use high-frequency
radio waves instead of cables for connecting the devices within a limited area
forming LAN (Local Area Network).
• Users connected by wireless LANs can move around within this limited area such
as home, school, campus, office building, libraries, airports etc.
• Wireless LANs can also be used to let two or more nearby computers
communicate without using the internet.
• The main wireless LAN standard is 802.11.
The 802.11 Architecture and protocol stack:
• 802.11 networks can be used in two modes.
• The most popular mode is to connect clients, such as laptops and smart
phones, to another network, such as a company intranet or the Internet.
This mode is shown in Fig. 23(a).
• In infrastructure mode, each client is associated with an AP (Access
Point) that is in turn connected to the other network. The client sends
and receives its packets via the AP.
• Several access points may be connected together, typically by a wired
network called a distribution system, to form an extended 802.11
network.
• In this case, clients can send frames to other clients via their APs.
• The other mode, shown in Fig. 23(b), is an ad hoc network.
• This mode is a collection of computers that are associated so that they
can directly send frames to each other.
• There is no access point. Since Internet access is the killer application
for wireless, ad hoc networks are not very popular.
• A partial view of the 802.11 protocol stack is given in Fig. 24.
• The stack is the same for clients and APS.
• The physical layer corresponds fairly well to the OSI physical layer,
but the data link layer in all the 802 protocols is split into two or more
sublayers.
• In 802.11, the MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer determines
how the channel is allocated, that is, who gets to transmit next.
• Above it is the LLC (Logical Link Control) sublayer, whose job it is to
hide the differences between the different 802 variants and make
them indistinguishable as far as the network layer is concerned.
• This could have been a significant responsibility, but these days the
LLC is a glue layer that identifies the protocol (e.g., IP) that is carried
within an 802.11 frame.
• Several transmission techniques have been added to the physical
layer as 802.11 has evolved since it first appeared in 1997.
• Two of the initial techniques, infrared in the manner of television
remote controls and frequency hopping in the 2.4-GHz band, are now
defunct.
• The third initial technique, direct sequence spread spectrum at 1 or 2
Mbps in the 2.4-GHz band, was extended to run at rates up to 11
Mbps and quickly became a hit. It is now known as 802.11b.
• To give wireless junkies a much-wanted speed boost, new
transmission techniques based on the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiplexing) scheme were introduced in 1999 and 2003.
• The first is called 802.11a and uses a different frequency band, 5 GHz.
The second stuck with 2.4 GHz and compatibility. It is called 802.11g.
Both give rates up to 54 Mbps.
• Most recently, transmission techniques that simultaneously use
multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver for a speed boost
were finalized as 802.11n in Oct. 2009.
• With four antennas and wider channels, the 802.11 standard now
defines rates up to a startling 600 Mbps.
802.11 Physical layer:
• Each of the transmission techniques makes it possible to send a MAC frame over
the air from one station to another.
• They differ, however, in the technology used and speeds achievable.
• All of the 802.11 techniques use short-range radios to transmit signals in either
the 2.4-GHz or the 5-GHz ISM frequency bands.
• These bands have the advantage of being unlicensed and hence freely available to
any transmitter willing to meet some restrictions, such as radiated power of at
most 1 W (though 50 mW is more typical for wireless LAN radios).
• The 2.4-GHz band tends to be more crowded than the 5-GHz band, so 5 GHz can
be better for some applications even though it has shorter range due to the higher
frequency.
• The initial 802.11 standard defines two forms of spread spectrum
modulation for the physical layer:
1)Frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)
2) Direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS)
• These two standards specify a 2.4 GHz operating frequency with data
rates of 1 and 2 Mbps.
• Another initial physical layer utilizes infrared passive reflection
techniques for transmission of data at 1 and 2 Mbps, how this
standard has not been implemented practically.
 • In late 1999, the IEEE published two supplements to this1) 802.11
standard:
1) 802.11 a
2) 802.11 b
• The 802.11 a defines operation at up to 54Mbps using orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation in the 5.8GHz
frequency band.
• The 802.11 b version of the standard is a data rate extension of the
initial 802.11 DSSS providing operation in 2.4GHz band with
additional data rates of 5.5 and 11 Mbps .
• Most companies implementing wireless LANs today are using
802.11b
802.11 MAC sublayer protocol:
The 802.11 Frame Structure:
• The 802.11 standard defines three different classes of frames in the air: data,
control, and management.
• Each of these has a header with a variety of fields used within the MAC
sublayer.
• The format of the data frame as shown in Fig. 29.
• First comes the Frame control field, which is made up of 11 subfields.
• The first of these is the Protocol version, set to 00. It is there to allow future
versions of 802.11 to operate at the same time in the same cell.
• Type: It is a 2 bit long field which determines the function of frame i.e
management(00), control(01) or data(10). The value 11 is reserved.
• The To DS and From DS bits are set to indicate whether the frame is going
to or coming from the network connected to the APS, which is called the
distribution system.
• The More fragments bit means that more fragments will follow.
• The Retry bit marks a retransmission of a frame sent earlier.
• The Power management bit indicates that the sender is going into
power-save mode.
• The More data bit indicates that the sender has additional frames for
the receiver.
• The Protected Frame bit indicates that the frame body has been
encrypted for security.
• Finally, the Order bit tells the receiver that the higher layer expects
the sequence of frames to arrive strictly in order.
• The second field of the data frame, the Duration field, tells how long the
frame and its acknowledgement will occupy the channel, measured in
microseconds. It is present in all types of frames, including control frames.
• Next field is addresses. Data frames sent to or from an AP have three ad-
dresses, all in standard IEEE 802 format. The first address is the receiver,
and the second address is the transmitter.
• The third address gives the distant endpoint.
• SC (Sequence control) – It is 16 bits long field which consists of 2 sub-fields,
i.e., Sequence number (12 bits) and Fragment number (4 bits). Since
acknowledgement mechanism frames may be duplicated hence, a sequence
number is used to filter duplicate frames.
• Data – It is a variable length field which contain information specific to
individual frames which is transferred transparently from a sender to the
receiver(s).
• CRC (Cyclic redundancy check) – It is 4 bytes long field which contains a 32 bit
CRC error detection sequence to ensure error free frame.
802.11 Services:
• The 802.11 standard defines the services that the clients, the access points, and the
network connecting them must be a conformant wireless LAN.
• The association service is used by mobile stations to connect themselves to APs.
• Typically, it is used just after a station moves within radio range of the AP.
• Upon arrival, the station learns the identity and capabilities of the AP, either from
beacon frames or by directly asking the AP.
• The station sends a request to associate with the AP. The AP may accept or reject
the request.
• Reassociation, lets a station change its preferred AP. This facility is useful for
mobile stations moving from one AP to another AP in the same extended 802.11
LAN, like a handover in the cellular network. If it is used correctly, no data will be
lost as a consequence of the handover.
• Either the station or the AP may also disassociate, breaking their relationship. A
station should use this service before shutting down or leaving the network. The
AP may use it before going down for maintenance.
• Stations must also authenticate before they can send frames via the AP, but
authentication is handled in different ways depending on the choice of security
scheme.
• If the 802.11 network is "open," anyone is allowed to use it.
• Otherwise, credentials are needed to authenticate. The recommended scheme,
called WPA2 (WiFi Protected Access 2), implements security as defined in the
802.11i standard.
• With WPA2, the AP can talk to an authentication server that has a username and
password database to deter- mine if the station is allowed to access the network.
• Once frames reach the AP, the distribution service determines how to route them.
If the destination is local to the AP, the frames can be sent out directly over the air.
• Otherwise, they will have to be forwarded over the wired network.
• Integration service handles any translation that is needed for a frame to be sent
outside the 802.11 LAN, or to arrive from outside the 802.11 LAN.
• Wireless is a broadcast signal. For information sent over a wireless LAN to be
kept confidential, it must be encrypted.
• This goal is accomplished with a privacy service that manages the details of
encryption and decryption.
• The encryption algorithm for WPA2 is based on AES (Advanced Encryption
Standard) Algorithm.
• To handle traffic with different priorities, there is a QOS traffic scheduling
service.
History of Bluetooth:
• In 1994, Dr. Jaap Haartsen, of L. M. Ericsson company became interested in
connecting its mobile phones to other devices (eg, laptops) without cables.
• Together with four other companies (IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba), it formed a
SIG (Special Interest Group, Le., consortium) in 1998 to develop a wireless
standard for interconnecting computing and communication devices and
accessories using short-range, low-power, inexpensive wireless radios.
• The project was named Bluetooth.
• Bluetooth 1.0 was released in July 1999, All manner of consumer electronic
devices now use Bluetooth, from mobile phones and laptops to headsets, printers,
keyboards, mice, gameboxes, watches, music players, navigation units, and more.
• After the initial proto- cols stabilized, higher data rates were added to Bluetooth
2.0 in 2004.
• With the 3.0 release in 2009, Bluetooth can be used for device pairing in
combination with 802.11 for high-throughput data transfer.
• The 4.0 release in December 2009 specified low-power operation.
Bluetooth Architecture:
• Bluetooth is a network technology that connects mobile devices wirelessly over a
short range to form a personal area network (PAN).
• They use short-wavelength, ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio waves within the
range 2.400 to 2.485 GHz, instead of RS-232 data cables of wired PANs.
There are two types of Bluetooth networks −
• Piconets
• Scatternets
Piconets:
• Piconets are small Bluetooth networks, formed by at most 8 stations, one of which
is the master node and the rest slave nodes (maximum of 7 slaves).
• Master node is the primary station that manages the small network. The slave
stations are secondary stations that are synchronized with the primary station.
• Communication can take place between a master node and a slave node in either
one-to-one or one-to-many manner.
• Besides the seven active slaves, there can be up to 255 numbers of parked nodes.
These nodes are devices that are not actively participating in the communication
but are still part of the network.
• When a device is parked, it is not using any of the network's resources, and it can
be activated at a later time.
•
Scatternodes:
• A scatternet is an interconnected collection of two or more piconets.
• They are formed when a node in a piconet, whether a master or a slave, acts as a
slave in another piconet. This node is called the bridge between the two piconets,
which connects the individual piconets to form the scatternet.
• All communication is between the master and a slave, direct
slave-slave communication is not possible.
Bluetooth Applications:
• Bluetooth technology is widely used in wireless headsets such
as Wireless Headphones, Speakers & Car Audio Systems.
• Bluetooth is used to transfer files, images, videos, and MP3 or
MP4 between cell phones & PC.
• Bluetooth is used in laptops, notebooks, and desktop
computers.
• Bluetooth is used in PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants).
• Bluetooth is also used in printers & Scanners.
• Bluetooth is almost used in wireless communication (WAN).
• Bluetooth is used in wireless mouse and keyboards.
• Bluetooth is used in data logging equipment.
Bluetooth protocol stack:
• The Bluetooth standard has many protocols grouped loosely into the layers shown
in Fig. 35.
• The first observation to make is that the structure does not follow the OSI model,
the TCP/IP model, the 802 model, or any other model.
• The bottom layer is the physical radio layer, which corresponds fairly well to the
physical layer in the OSI and 802 models. It deals with radio transmission and
modulation.
• The link control (or baseband) layer is similar to the MAC sub- layer but also
includes elements of the physical layer. It deals with how the master controls time
slots and how these slots are grouped into frames.
• The link manager handles the establishment of logical channels between devices,
including power management, pairing and encryption, and quality of service.
• It lies below the host controller interface line.
• This interface is a convenience for implementation: typically, the protocols below
the line will be implemented on a Bluetooth chip, and the protocols above the line
will be implemented on the Bluetooth device that hosts the chip.
• The link protocol above the line is L2CAP (Logical Link Control Adaptation
Protocol).
• It frames variable-length messages and provides reliability if needed. Many
protocols use L2CAP, such as the two utility protocols that are shown.
• The service discovery protocol is used to locate services within the network.
• The RFcomm (Radio Frequency communication) protocol emulates the
standard serial port found on PCs for connecting the keyboard, mouse, and
modem, among other devices.
• Applications Layer − This includes the application profiles that
allow the user to interact with the Bluetooth applications.

Bluetooth Radio Layer:

• The radio layer moves the bits from master to slave, or vice versa.
• It is a low-power system with a range of 10 meters operating in the same 2.4-GHz
ISM band as 802.11.
• The band is divided into 79 channels of 1 MHz each.
• To coexist with other networks using the ISM band, frequency hopping spread
spectrum is used. There can be up to 1600 hops/sec over slots with a dwell time of
625 µsec.
• Unfortunately, it turned out that early versions of Bluetooth and 802.11 interfered
enough to ruin each other's transmissions.
• Some companies responded by banning Bluetooth altogether, but eventually a
technical solution was devised.
• The solution is for Bluetooth to adapt its hop sequence to exclude channels on
which there are other RF signals.
• This process reduces the harmful interference. It is called adaptive frequency
hopping.
• Three forms of modulation are used to send bits on a channel.
• The basic scheme is to use frequency shift keying to send a 1-bit symbol every
microsecond, giving a gross data rate of 1 Mbps.
• Enhanced rates were introduced with the 2.0 version of Bluetooth. These rates use
phase shift keying to send either 2 or 3 bits per symbol, for gross data rates of 2 or
3 Mbps.
• The enhanced rates are only used in the data portion of frames.
Bluetooth link layer:
• The Bluetooth link layer outlines the way Bluetooth devices can use the raw transmission
facility given by the radio layer to exchange information. The functions of the link layer is
very close to MAC (medium access control) sublayer of the OSI model.
• The following diagram shows the position of link layers in the Bluetooth protocol
architecture −
Functions of the Bluetooth Link Layer
• Defining procedures for discovering Bluetooth devices.
• Establishing logical links between the Bluetooth devices that are communicating. One of
the devices is assigned as master and the other is the slave.
• Broadcasting data to be sent. Managing the links between the devices throughout data
communications.
• Sending data by converting the raw bit streams of the radio layer into frames and defining
key formats.
• Taking into consideration, the challenges of wireless transmission like interference, noise
and deep fades.
Protocols in the Bluetooth Link Layer
• There are two main protocols in the link layer, namely, Link Manager Protocol
(LMP) and Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP).
• Link Manager Protocol (LMP): LMP establishes logical links
between Bluetooth devices and maintains the links for enabling
communications. The other main functions of LMP are device
authentication, message encryption and negotiation of packet sizes.
• Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP): L2CAP
provides adaption between upper layer frame and baseband layer
frame format. L2CAP provides support for both connection oriented as
well as connectionless services.
• It handles multiplexing and demultiplexing of multiple packet sources.
• It handles error control and retransmission.
Working Principal
• Bluetooth devices are categorized into a master device and slave
devices.
• In the simplest method, time division multiplexing is used for master –
slave communications.
• Time slots of 625 µsec are defined the master starts transmitting in odd
slots while the slaves start transmitting in even slots. Length of frames
can be 1, 3 or 5 slots.
• Each frame is associated with 126-bits overhead for access code and
header, as well as a 250 µsec/hop setting time.
• The LMP sets up links by pairing method. Secure simple pairing
method is used where the master generates a passkey and both devices
display the same passkey. The users confirm the passkeys to pair the
devices.
• Once paired, the LMP sets up links. The two types of links used are −
• Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO): Here, a fixed slot is allotted in each
direction. It is used for real-time data.
• A slave may have up to three SCO links with its master.
• Asynchronous Connectionless (ACL): Here, communication is done on
best-effort basis. It is used for packet switched data, which is available at irregular
intervals.
• No guarantees are given. Frames can be lost and may have to be retransmitted.
• A slave may have only one ACL link to its master.
Bluetooth frame format:
• Bluetooth defines several frame formats, the most important of which is shown in two
forms in Fig.
• It begins with an access code that usually identifies the master so that slaves within
radio range of two masters can tell which traffic is for them.
• Next comes a 54-bit header containing typical MAC sublayer fields.
• If the frame is sent at the basic rate, the data field comes next. It has up to 2744 bits for a
five-slot transmission. For a single time slot, the format is the same except that the data
field is 240 bits.
• If the frame is sent at the enhanced rate, the data portion may have up to two or three
times as many bits because each symbol carries 2 or 3 bits instead of 1 bit.
• These data are preceded by a guard field and a synchronization pattern that is used to
switch to the faster data rate.
• That is, the access code and header are carried at the basic rate and only the data portion
is carried at the faster rate.
• Enhanced-rate frames end with a short trailer.
• The Address field identifies which of the eight active devices the frame is
intended for.
• The Type field identifies the frame type (ACL, SCO, poll, or null), the type of
error correction used in the data field, and how many slots long the frame is.
• The Flow bit is asserted by a slave when its buffer is full and cannot receive any
more data. This bit enables a primitive form of flow control.
• The Acknowledgement bit is used to piggyback an ACK onto a frame.
• The Sequence bit is used to number the frames to detect re- transmissions. The
protocol is stop-and-wait, so I bit is enough. Then comes the 8-bit header
Checksum.
RFID(Radio Frequency Identification):
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) refers to a wireless system comprised of
two components: tags and readers.
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a form of wireless communication
that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio
frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object,
animal or person.
• The reader is a device that has one or more antennas that emit radio waves and
receive signals back from the RFID tag.
• Tags, which use radio waves to communicate their identity and other information
to nearby readers, can be passive or active.
• RFID technology takes many forms used in smart cards, implants for pets,
passports, library books and more.
EPC Gen 2 Architecture:
• The architecture of an EPC Gen 2 RFID network is shown in Fig. 37.
• It has two key components: tags and readers.
• RFID tags are small, inexpensive devices that have a unique 96-bit EPC identifier and a
small amount of memory that can be read and written by the RFID reader.
• The memory might be used to record the location history of an item, for example, as it
moves through the supply chain.
• Often, the tags look like stickers that can be placed on, for example, pairs of jeans on the
shelves in a store. Most of the sticker is taken up by an antenna that is printed onto it.
• A tiny dot in the middle is the RFID integrated circuit. Alternatively, the RFID tags can
be integrated into an object, such as a driver's license.
• In both cases, the tags have no battery and they must gather power from the radio
transmissions of a nearby RFID reader to run.
• This kind of tag is called a "Class 1" tag to distinguish it from more capable tags that
have batteries.
• The readers are the intelligence in the system, analogous to base
stations and access points in cellular and WiFi networks.
• Readers are much more powerful than tags. They have their own
power sources, often have multiple antennas, and are in charge of
when tags send and receive messages.
EPC Gen 2 Physical layer:
• The physical layer defines how bits are sent between the RFID reader and tags.
• In the U.S., transmissions are sent in the unlicensed 902-928 MHz ISM band.
• This band falls in the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) range, so the tags are referred to as
UHF RFID tags.
• The reader performs frequency hopping at least every 400 msec to spread its signal across
the channel, to limit interference and satisfy regulatory requirements.
• The reader and tags use forms of ASK (Amplitude Shift Keying) modulation to encode
bits. They take turns to send bits, so the link is half duplex.
• There are two main differences from other physical layers that we have studied.
• The first is that the reader is always transmitting a signal, regardless of whether it is the
reader or tag that is communicating.
• Naturally, the reader transmits a signal to send bits to tags.
• For the tags to send bits to the reader, the reader transmits a fixed carrier signal that carries
no bits: The tags harvest this signal to get the power they need to run; otherwise, a tag
would not be able to transmit in the first place.
• To send data, a tag changes whether it is reflecting the signal from the
reader, like a radar signal bouncing off a target, or absorbing it.
• This method is called backscatter.
• It differs from all the other wireless situations we have seen so far, in
which the sender and receiver never both transmit at the same time.
• Backscatter is a low-energy way for the tag to create a weak signal of
its own that shows up at the reader.
• For the reader to decode the incoming signal, it must filter out the
outgoing signal that it is transmitting.
• Because the tag signal is weak, tags can only send bits to the reader at
a low rate, and tags cannot receive or even sense transmissions from
other tags.
• The second difference is that very simple forms of modulation are used so
that they can be implemented on a tag that runs on very little power and
costs only a few cents to make.
• To send data to the tags, the reader uses two amplitude levels.
• Bits are determined to be either a 0 or a 1, depending on how long the
reader waits before a low-power period.
• The tag measures the time between low-power periods and compares this
time to a reference measured during a preamble.
• Tag responses consist of the tag alternating its backscatter state at fixed
intervals to create a series of pulses in the signal.
• Anywhere from one to eight pulse periods can be used to encode each 0 or
1, depending on the need for reliability.
• 1’s have fewer transitions than 0’s, as is shown with an example of
two-pulse period coding.
EPC Gen 2 Tag Identification Layer:
• To inventory the nearby tags, the reader needs to receive a message from each tag that
gives the identifier for the tag.
• This situation is a multiple access problem for which the number of tags is unknown in
the general case.
• The reader might broadcast a query to ask all tags to send their identifiers.
• However, tags that replied right away would then collide in much the same way as
stations on a classic Ethernet.
• The sequence of messages used to identify tag is shown in Fig. 39.
• In the first slot (slot 0), the reader sends a Query message to start the process.
• Each QRepeat message advances to the next slot.
• The reader also tells the tags the range of slots over which to randomize transmissions.
• Using a range is necessary because the reader synchronizes tags when it starts the
process; unlike stations on an Ethernet, tags do not wake up with a message at a time of
their choosing
• Tags pick random slot in which to reply. In Fig. 39, the tag replies in slot 2.
• However, tags do not send their identifiers when they first reply. Instead, a tag
sends a short 16-bit random number in an RN16 message.
• If there is no collision, the reader receives this message and sends an ACK
message of its own.
• At this stage, the tag has acquired the slot and sends its EPC identifier.
• The reason for this exchange is that EPC identifiers are long, so collisions on these
messages would be expensive.
• Instead, a short exchange is used to test whether the tag can safely use the slot to
send its identifier.
• Once its identifier has been successfully transmitted, the tag temporarily stops
responding to new Query messages so that all the remaining tags can be identified.
• A key problem is for the reader to adjust the number of slots to avoid collisions,
but without using so many slots that performance suffers.
• This adjustment is analogous to binary exponential backoff in Ethernet.
• If the reader sees too many slots with no responses or too many slots with
collisions, it can send a QAdjust message to decrease or increase the range of slots
over which the tags are re- sponding.
Tag Identification Message Formats:
• The physical layer parameters for reader transmissions and tag responses are
determined by the next flags, DR, M, and TR.
• Three fields select the tags to respond and these three fields are Sel, Session,
Target. Whether they have been identified in those sessions and tags keep track of
up to for concurrent sessions.
• Readers are able to select a subset of identifiers. By using different sessions
multiple readers can operate in overlapping coverage areas.
• Q is the most important parameter for this command. From 0 to 2Q -1, defines the
range of slots over which tags will respond. To protect the message fields CRC is
there. It can be seen that at 5 bits, it is shorter than most CRCs. Whereas the Query
message is much shorter than most packets too.
• Tag-to-reader messages are simpler. It knows what message to expect in response
to each of its transmissions as the reader is in control. Such as the EPC identifier,
they simply carry data.