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802.11g
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When developing its family of standards, the `IEEE 802.11 working group <http://www.ieee802.org/11/>`_ took a similar approach as the `IEEE 802.3 working group <http://www.ieee802.org/3/>`_ that developed various types of physical layers for Ethernet networks. 802.11 networks use the CSMA/CA Medium Access Control technique described earlier and they all assume the same architecture and use the same frame format.
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The architecture of WiFi networks is slightly different from the Local Area Networks that we have discussed until now. There are, in practice, two main types of WiFi networks : `independent` or `adhoc` networks and `infrastructure` networks [#fBSS]_. An `independent` or `adhoc` network is composed of a set of devices that communicate with each other. These devices play the same role and the `adhoc` network is usually not connected to the global Internet. `Adhoc` networks are used when for example a few laptops need to exchange information or to connect a computer with a WiFi printer.
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An 802.11 independent or adhoc network
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Most WiFi networks are `infrastructure` networks. An `infrastructure` network contains one or more `access points` that are attached to a fixed Local Area Network (usually an Ethernet network) that is connected to other networks such as the Internet. The figure below shows such a network with two access points and four WiFi devices. Each WiFi device is associated to one access point and uses this access point as a relay to exchange frames with the devices that are associated to another access point or reachable through the LAN.
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An 802.11 infrastructure network
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An 802.11 access point is a relay that operates in the datalink layer like switches. The figure below represents the layers of the reference model that are involved when a WiFi host communicates with a host attached to an Ethernet network through an access point.
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802.11 devices exchange variable length frames, which have a slightly different structure than the simple frame format used in Ethernet LANs. We review the key parts of the 802.11 frames. Additional details may be found in [IEEE802.11]_ and [Gast2002]_ . An 802.11 frame contains a fixed length header, a variable length payload that may contain up 2324 bytes of user data and a 32 bits CRC. Although the payload can contain up to 2324 bytes, most 802.11 deployments use a maximum payload size of 1500 bytes as they are used in `infrastructure` networks attached to Ethernet LANs. An 802.11 data frame is shown below.
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802.11 data frame format
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The first part of the 802.11 header is the 16 bit `Frame Control` field. This field contains flags that indicate the type of frame (data frame, RTS/CTS, acknowledgment, management frames, etc), whether the frame is sent to or from a fixed LAN, etc [IEEE802.11]_. The `Duration` is a 16 bit field that is used to reserve the transmission channel. In data frames, the `Duration` field is usually set to the time required to transmit one acknowledgment frame after a SIFS delay. Note that the `Duration` field must be set to zero in multicast and broadcast frames. As these frames are not acknowledged, there is no need to reserve the transmission channel after their transmission. The `Sequence control` field contains a 12 bits sequence number that is incremented for each data frame and a 4 bits fragment number.
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The astute reader may have noticed that the 802.11 data frames contain three 48-bits address fields [#f4addresses]_ . This is surprising compared to other protocols in the network and datalink layers whose headers only contain a source and a destination address. The need for a third address in the 802.11 header comes from the `infrastructure` networks. In such a network, frames are usually exchanged between routers and servers attached to the LAN and WiFi devices attached to one of the access points. The role of the three address fields is specified by bit flags in the `Frame Control` field.
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When a frame is sent from a WiFi device to a server attached to the same LAN as the access point, the first address of the frame is set to the MAC address of the access point, the second address is set to the MAC address of the source WiFi device and the third address is the address of the final destination on the LAN. When the server replies, it sends an Ethernet frame whose source address is its MAC address and the destination address is the MAC address of the WiFi device. This frame is captured by the access point that converts the Ethernet header into an 802.11 frame header. The 802.11 frame sent by the access point contains three addresses : the first address is the MAC address of the destination WiFi device, the second address is the MAC address of the access point and the third address the MAC address of the server that sent the frame.
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802.11 control frames are simpler than data frames. They contain a `Frame Control`, a `Duration` field and one or two addresses. The acknowledgment frames are very small. They only contain the address of the destination of the acknowledgment. There is no source address and no `Sequence Control` field in the acknowledgment frames. This is because the acknowledgment frame can easily be associated to the previous frame that it acknowledges. Indeed, each unicast data frame contains a `Duration` field that is used to reserve the transmission channel to ensure that no collision will affect the acknowledgment frame. The `Sequence Control` field is mainly used by the receiver to remove duplicate frames. Duplicate frames are detected as follows. Each data frame contains a 12 bits sequence number in the `Sequence Control` field and the `Frame Control` field contains the `Retry` bit flag that is set when a frame is transmitted. Each 802.11 receiver stores the most recent sequence number received from each source address in frames whose `Retry` bit is reset. Upon reception of a frame with the `Retry` bit set, the receiver verifies its sequence number to determine whether it is a duplicated frame or not.
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