Wireless and Mobile Networks
Reading: Sections 2.8 and 4.2.5
COS 461: Computer Networks
Spring 2007 (MW 1:30-2:50 in Friend 004)
Jennifer Rexford
Teaching Assistant: Ioannis Avramopoulos
[Link]
Goals of Todays Lecture
Wireless links: unique channel characteristics
High, time-varying bit-error rate
Broadcast where some nodes cant hear each other
Mobile hosts: addressing and routing challenges
Keeping track of the hosts changing attachment point
Maintaining a data transfer as the host moves
Two specific technologies
Wireless: 802.11 wireless LAN (aka WiFi)
Mobility: Mobile IP
Many slides adapted from Jim Kuroses lectures at UMass-Amherst
Wireless Links and Wireless
Networks
Wireless Links: High Bit Error Rate
Decreasing signal strength
Disperses as it travels greater distance
Attenuates as it passes through matter
Wireless Links: High Bit Error Rate
Interference from other sources
Radio sources in same frequency band
E.g., 2.4 GHz wireless phone interferes with
802.11b wireless LAN
Electromagnetic noise (e.g., microwave oven)
Wireless Links: High Bit Error Rate
Multi-path propagation
Electromagnetic waves reflect off objects
Taking many paths of different lengths
Causing blurring of signal at the receiver
receiver
transmitter
Dealing With Bit Errors
Wireless vs. wired links
Wired: most loss is due to congestion
Wireless: higher, time-varying bit-error ate
Dealing with high bit-error rates
Sender could increase transmission power
Requires more energy (bad for battery-powered hosts)
Creates more interference with other senders
Stronger error detection and recovery
More powerful error detection codes
Link-layer retransmission of corrupted frames
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Wireless Links: Broadcast Limitations
Wired broadcast links
E.g., Ethernet bridging, in wired LANs
All nodes receive transmissions from all other nodes
Wireless broadcast: hidden terminal problem
A and B hear each other
B and C hear each other
But, A and C do not
B
A
So, A and C are unaware
of their interference at B.
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Wireless Links: Broadcast Limitations
Wired broadcast links
E.g., Ethernet bridging, in wired LANs
All nodes receive transmissions from all other nodes
Wireless broadcast: fading over distance
B
C
Cs signal
strength
As signal
strength
space
A and B hear each other
B and C hear each other
But, A and C do not
So, A and C are unaware
of their interference at B.
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Example Wireless Link Technologies
Data networks
Indoor (10-30 meters)
802.11n: 200 Mbps
802.11a and g: 54 Mbps
802.11b: 5-11 Mbps
802.15.1: 1 Mbps
Outdoor (50 meters to 20 kmeters)
802.11 and g point-to-point: 54 Mbps
WiMax: 5-11 Mbps
Cellular networks, outdoors
3G enhanced: 4 Mbps
3G: 384 Kbps
2G: 56 Kbps
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Wireless Network: Wireless Link
Wireless link
Typically used to connect
mobile(s) to base station
Also used as backbone link
network
infrastructure
Multiple access protocol
coordinates link access
11
Wireless Network: Wireless Hosts
Wireless host
Laptop, PDA, IP phone
Run applications
network
infrastructure
May be stationary (nonmobile) or mobile
12
Wireless Network: Base Station
Base station
Typically connected to
wired network
network
infrastructure
Relay responsible for
sending packets between
wired network and wireless
host(s) in its area
E.g., cell towers, 802.11
access points
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Wireless Network: Infrastructure
Network infrastructure
Larger network with which
a wireless host wants to
communicate
Typically a wired network
network
infrastructure
Provides traditional network
services
May not always exist
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Scenario #1: Infrastructure Mode
Infrastructure mode
Base station connects
mobiles into wired network
Network provides services
(addressing, routing, DNS)
network
infrastructure
Handoff: mobile changes
base station providing
connection to wired network
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Scenario #2: Ad Hoc Networks
Ad hoc mode
No base stations
Nodes can only transmit to other
nodes within link coverage
Nodes self-organize and route
among themselves
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Infrastructure vs. Ad Hoc
Infrastructure mode
Wireless hosts are associated with a base station
Traditional services provided by the connected network
E.g., address assignment, routing, and DNS resolution
Ad hoc networks
Wireless hosts have no infrastructure to connect to
Hosts themselves must provide network services
Similar in spirit to the difference between
Client-server communication
Peer-to-peer communication
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Different Types of Wireless Networks
Infrastructure-based
Infrastructure-less
Single hop Base station connected
to larger wired network
(e.g., WiFi wireless
LAN, and cellular
telephony networks)
No wired network; one
node coordinates the
transmissions of the
others (e.g., Bluetooth,
and ad hoc 802.11)
Multi-hop
No base station exists,
and some nodes must
relay through others
(e.g., mobile ad hoc
networks, like vehicular
ad hoc networks)
Base station exists, but
some nodes must relay
through other nodes
(e.g., wireless sensor
networks, and wireless
mesh networks
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WiFi: 802.11 Wireless LANs
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802.11 LAN Architecture
Internet
AP
hub, switch
or router
BSS 1
Access Point (AP)
Base station that
communicates with the
wireless hosts
Basic Service Set (BSS)
Coverage of one AP
AP acts as the master
Identified by an network
name known as an SSID
AP
BSS 2
SSID: Service Set Identifier
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Channels and Association
Multiple channels at different frequencies
Network administrator chooses frequency for AP
Interference if channel is same as neighboring AP
Access points send periodic beacon frames
Containing APs name (SSID) and MAC address
Host scans channels, listening for beacon frames
Host selects an access point to associate with
Beacon frames from APs
Associate request from host
Association response from AP
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Mobility Within the Same Subnet
H1 remains in same IP subnet
IP address of the host can remain same
Ongoing data transfers can continue uninterrupted
H1 recognizes the need to change
H1 detects a weakening signal
Starts scanning for stronger one
router
hub or
switch
Changes APs with same SSID
H1 disassociates from one
And associates with other
BBS 1
AP 1
Switch learns new location
Self-learning mechanism
AP 2
H1
BBS 2
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CSMA: Carrier Sense, Multiple Access
Multiple access: channel is shared medium
Station: wireless host or access point
Multiple stations may want to transmit at same time
Carrier sense: sense channel before sending
Station doesnt send when channel is busy
To prevent collisions with ongoing transfers
But, detecting ongoing transfers isnt always possible
A
C
A
C
Cs signal
strength
As signal
strength
space
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CA: Collision Avoidance, Not Detection
Collision detection in wired Ethernet
Station listens while transmitting
Detects collision with other transmission
Aborts transmission and tries sending again
Problem #1: cannot detect all collisions
Hidden terminal problem
Fading
Problem #2: listening while sending
Strength of received signal is much smaller
Expensive to build hardware that detects collisions
So, 802.11 does not do collision detection
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Medium Access Control in 802.11
Collision avoidance, not detection
Once a station starts transmitting, send in its entirety
More aggressive collision-avoidance techniques
E.g., waiting a little after sensing an idle channel
To reduce likelihood two stations transmit at once
Link-layer acknowledgment and retransmission
CRC to detect errors
Receiving station sends an acknowledgment
Sending station retransmits if no ACK is received
Giving up after a few failed transmissions
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Host Mobility
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Varying Degrees of User Mobility
Moves only within same access network
Single access point: mobility is irrelevant
Multiple access points: only link-link layer changes
Either way, users is not mobile at the network layer
Shuts down between changes access networks
Host gets new IP address at the new access network
No need to support any ongoing transfers
Applications have become good at supporting this
Maintains connections while changing networks
Surfing the net while driving in a car or flying a plane
Need to ensure traffic continues to reach the host
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Maintaining Ongoing Transfers
Seamless transmission to a mobile host
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E.g., Keeping Track of Mobile Friends
Sending a letter to a friend who moves often
How do you know where to reach him?
Option #1: have him update you
Friend contacts you on each move
So you can mail him directly
Option #2: ask his parents when needed
Parents serve as permanent address
They can forward your letter to him
Or, they can update you
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Letting Routing Protocol Handle It
Mobile node has a single, persistent address
Address injected into routing protocol (e.g., OSPF)
A
[Link]/24
Mobile host with IP address [Link]
B
[Link]/32
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Example: Boeing Connexion Service
Boeing Connexion service
Mobile Internet access provider
WiFi hot spot at 35,000 feet moving 600 mph
Went out of business in December 2006
Communication technology
Antenna on the plane to leased satellite transponders
Ground stations serve as Internet gateways
Using BGP for mobility
IP address block per airplane
Ground station advertises into BGP
[Link]
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Example: Boeing Connexion Service
[Link]/24
Internet
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Summary: Letting Routing Handle It
Advantages
No changes to the end host
Traffic follows an efficient path to new location
Disadvantages
Does not scale to large number of mobile hosts
Large number of routing-protocol messages
Larger routing tables to store smaller address blocks
Alternative
Mobile IP
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Home Network and Home Agent
Home network: permanent
home of mobile
(e.g., 128.119.40/24)
Permanent address:
address in home
network, can always be
used to reach mobile
e.g., [Link]
Home agent: entity that will
perform mobility functions on
behalf of mobile, when mobile
is remote
wide area
network
correspondent
Correspondent: wants to
communicate with mobile
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Visited Network and Care-of Address
Permanent address: remains
constant (e.g., [Link])
Visited network: network
in which mobile currently
resides (e.g., 79.129.13/24)
Care-of-address: address
in visited network.
(e.g., 79,129.13.2)
wide area
network
Correspondent: wants to
communicate with mobile
Home agent: entity in
visited network that
performs mobility
functions on behalf
of mobile.
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Mobility: Registration
visited network
home network
wide area
network
foreign agent contacts home
agent home: this mobile is
resident in my network
mobile contacts
foreign agent on
entering visited
network
Foreign agent knows about mobile
Home agent knows location of mobile
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Mobility via Indirect Routing
foreign agent
receives packets,
forwards to mobile
home agent intercepts
packets, forwards to
foreign agent
home
network
visited
network
3
wide area
network
correspondent
addresses packets
using home address
of mobile
4
mobile replies
directly to
correspondent
37
Indirect Routing: Efficiency Issues
Mobile uses two addresses
Permanent address: used by correspondent (making
mobiles location is transparent to correspondent)
Care-of-address: used by the home agent to forward
datagrams to the mobile
Mobile may perform the foreign agent functions
Triangle routing is inefficient
E.g., correspondent and mobile in the same network
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Mobility via Direct Routing
correspondent forwards
to foreign agent
foreign agent
receives packets,
forwards to mobile
home
network
4
wide area
network
2
correspondent
requests, receives
foreign address of
mobile
visited
network
No longer transparent to the correspondent
4
mobile replies
directly to
correspondent
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Impact on Higher-Layer Protocols
Wireless and mobility change path properties
Wireless: higher packet loss, not from congestion
Mobility: transient disruptions, and changes in RTT
Logically, impact should be minimal
Best-effort service model remains unchanged
TCP and UDP can (and do) run over wireless, mobile
But, performance definitely is affected
TCP treats packet loss as a sign of congestion
TCP tries to estimate the RTT to drive retransmissions
TCP does not perform well under out-of-order packets
Internet not designed with these issues in mind
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Conclusions
Wireless
Already a major way people connect to the Internet
Gradually becoming more than just an access network
Mobility
Todays users tolerate disruptions as they move
Tomorrows users expect seamless mobility
Challenges the design of network protocols
Wireless breaks the abstraction of a link
Mobility breaks association of address and location
Higher-layer protocols dont perform as well
Next time: review of the course for last lecture
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