15-441 Computer Networking

Lecture 3 Physical Layer

1
From Signals to Packets

Analog Signal

Digital Signal

Bit Stream 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1
0100010101011100101010101011101110000001111010101110101010101101011010111001
Packets
Header/Body Header/Body Header/Body

Packet Sender Receiver

Transmission
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Outline

RF introduction
Modulation
Antennas and signal propagation
Equalization, diversity, channel coding
Multiple access techniques
Wireless systems and standards

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Outline

RF introduction
Modulation
Antennas and signal propagation
Equalization, diversity, channel coding
Dynamic equalization
Diversity in space, frequency, and time
Multiple access techniques
Wireless systems and standards
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Diversity Techniques

Distribute signal over multiple channels.

Channels experience independent fading
Reduces the error, i.e. only part of the signal is affected
Time diversity: spread data out over time.
Useful for bursty errors, e.g. slow fading
Space diversity: use multiple nearby antennas and
combine signals.
Can be directional
Frequency diversity: spread signal over a multiple
frequencies.
For example, spread spectrum

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Time Diversity

Spread blocks out over time.

Can use FEC or other error recovery techniques
to deal with burst errors.

A1 A2 A3 A4 B1 B2 B3 B4 C1 C2 C3 C4

A1 B1 C1 D1 A2 B2 C2 D2 A3 B3 C3 D3

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Space Diversity

Use multiple antennas that pick up the signal in slightly

different locations.
If there is no direct path (Raleigh), chances are that the signals are
mostly uncorrelated
Antennas should be separated by wavelength or more
If one antenna experiences deep fading, chances are that the
other antenna has a strong signal
Can use more than two antennas!
Multiple space diversity reception methods:
Selection diversity: pick antenna with best SNR
Feedback/scanning: only switch is signals becomes weak
Maximal ratio combining: combine signals with a weight that is
based on their SNR
MIMO: multiple in multiple out.
Also have multiple transmitting antennas

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Spread Spectrum and CDMA

Basic idea: Use a wider bandwidth than needed

to transmit the signal.
Why??
Dont put all your eggs in one basket!
Resistance to jamming and interference
If one sub-channel is blocked, you still have the others
Good for military
Minimize impact of a bad frequency
Pseudo-encryption
Have to know what frequencies it will use
Two techniques for spread spectrum
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Frequency Hopping SS

Pick a set of frequencies within a band

At each time slot, pick a new frequency
Ex: original 1Mbit 802.11 used 300ms time slots
Each frequency has the bandwidth of the original signal
Dwell time is the time spent using one frequency
Spreading code determines the hopping sequence
Must be shared by sender and receiver (e.g. standardized)
Usually frequency determined by a pseudorandom generator
function with a shared seed

Frequency

Time
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Example: Original 802.11 Standard

Used frequency hopping.

96 channels of 1 MHz (only 78 used in US).
Each channel carries only ~1% of the bandwidth
The dwell time is 390 msec.
transmitter/receiver must be synchronized!
Standard defined 26 orthogonal hop sequences.
Transmitter used a beacon on fixed frequency to
inform the receiver of the hop sequence that will
be used.
Can support multiple simultaneous transmissions
use different hop sequences.

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Direct Sequence
Spread Spectrum
Each bit is encoded as multiple bits, called chips.
Each chip is XORed with a random bit sequence
called a spreading or chipping code.
The resulting bit sequence is used to modulate
the signal.

Original Signal 1 1 0 1 0 0

Spreading Code 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 XOR

Transmitted Chips 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

Modulated Signal
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Properties

Since each bit it sent as multiple chips, you need

more bps bandwidth to send the signal.
Number of chips per bit is called the spreading ratio
Given the Nyquist and Shannon results, you need
more spectral bandwidth to do this.
Spreading the signal over the spectrum
Advantage is that is transmission is more resilient.
DSSS signal will look like noise in a narrow band
Can lose some chips in a word and recover easily
Multiple users can share bandwidth (easily).
Follows directly from Shannon (capacity is there)
Use a different chipping sequence

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 Spectrogram:
Original FSK Signal
Frequency
Time

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 Spectrogram:
DSSS-encoded Signal
Frequency
Time

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Example: Original 802.11

The DS PHY used an 11-to-1 spreading ratio and

a Barker chipping sequence.
Barker sequence has low autocorrelation properties
why?
Receiver decodes by counting the number of 1
bits in each word
6 1 bits correspond to a 0 data bit
Chips were transmitted using B-PSK modulation.
Data rate was 1 Mbps (i.e. 11 Mchips/sec)
Extended to 2 Mbps by using a Q-PSK modulation
Requires the detection of a phase shift

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Example: Current 802.11b

(Maximum) data rate is 11 Mbs.

Uses Complementary Code Keying (CCK).
Complementary means that the code has good auto-
correlation properties
Want nice properties to ease recovery in the presence of noise,
multipath interference
Each word is mapped onto an 8 bit chip sequence
The CCK chip stream is transmitted using Q-PSK
modulation.
I.e. 4 values

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Discussion

Spread spectrum is very widely used.

Effective against noise and multipath
Multiple transmitters can use the same frequency range
FCC requires the use of spread spectrum in ISM
band.
If signal is above a certain power level
Is also used in higher speed 802.11 versions.
No surprise!

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Outline

RF introduction
Modulation
Antennas and signal propagation
Equalization, diversity, channel coding
Multiple access techniques
Dividing capacity: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA
Bursty traffic: carrier sense techniques
Capture effect and hidden terminal problem
Wireless systems and standards
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MAC Layer

Coordinate access to a shared medium

Requirements
Efficiency
Reliability
Fairness
Support priority
Support group communication

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MAC Layer (Cont.)

Base technologies
Frequency division multiple access (FDMA)
Time division multiple access (TDMA)
Code division multiple access (CDMA)

Access schemes
Centralized
GSM
IS-95
Distributed
CSMA/CD (Ethernet)
CSMA/CA (wireless LAN)

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Supporting Multiple Channels

Multiple channels can coexist if they transmit at a different

frequency, or at a different time, or in a different part of the
space.
Three dimensional space: frequency, space, time
Space can be limited (using wires or) using transmit power
of wireless transmitters.
Frequency multiplexing means that different users use a
different part of the spectrum.
Again, similar to radio: 95.5 versus 102.5 station
Time division multiplexing means that users send at
different times.
Static partitioning of time
Duplexing: splitting the time/frequencies between the up
and down link.

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Frequency Division Multiplexing

Frequency

Different users use

Different carrier frequencies

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FDM Example: AMPS

US analog cellular system in early 80s.

Each call uses an up and down link channel.
Channels are 30 KHz
About 12.5 + 12.5 MHz available for up and down
link channels per operator.
Supports 416 channels in each direction
21 of the channels are used for data/control
Total capacity (across operators) is double of this

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Time Division Multiplexing

Different users use the wire at different points in

time.
Aggregate bandwidth also requires more
spectrum.

Frequency

Frequency
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Frequency versus
Time-division Multiplexing
With frequency-division multiplexing
different users use different parts of

Frequency
the frequency spectrum.
I.e. each user can send all the time
at reduced rate Frequency
Example: roommates Bands
Hardware is slightly more expensive
and is less efficient use of spectrum

With time-division multiplexing

different users send at different
times.
I.e. each user can sent at full speed
some of the time Slot Frame
Example: a time-share condo
Drawback is that there is some
transition time between slots;
becomes more of an issue with
longer propagation times
Time
The two solutions can be combined.
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TDM Example: GSM
Global System for Mobile communication.
First introduced in Europe in early 90s
Uses a combination of TDM and FDM.
25 MHz each for up and down links.
Broken up in 200 KHz channels
125 channels in each direction
Each channel can carry about 270 kbs
Each channel is broken up in 8 time slots
Slots are 0.577 msec long
Results in 1000 channels, each with about 25 kbs of useful data;
can be used for voice, data, control
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).
Data service for GSM, e.g. 4 down and 1 up channel

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Code Division Multiple Access

Users share spectrum and time, but use different

codes to spread their data over frequencies.
DSSS where users use different spreading sequences
Use spreading sequences that are orthogonal, i.e. they
have minimal overlap
The idea is that users will only rarely overlap and
the inherent robustness of DSSS will allow users
to recover if there is a conflict.
Overlap = use the same the frequency at the same time
The signal of other users will appear as noise

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CDMA
DSS with orthogonal codes
If receiver is using code A:
Data xor A = signal
Output = sum(signal xor A)
Lets say someone else transmits with code B at the same time:
Signal = Data xor A + other xor B
Output: sum((signal xor A + other xor B) xor A)
= Data if A and B or orthogonal (dot product is zero)
Ex: A: 1 -1 -1 1 -1 1
B: 1 1 -1 -1 1 1
Decode function: sum (bitwise received)
Rx A1: 1*1 + -1*-1 + -1*-1 + 1*1 + -1*-1 + 1*1 = 6
A1 + B1 signal: 2 0 -2 0 0 2
Decode at A: 2*1 + 0 + -2*-1 + 0 + 0 + 2*1 = 6 (!)
In practice: use pseudorandom numbers, depend on balance and
uniform distribution to make other transmissions look like noise

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CDMA Discussion

CDMA does not assign a fixed bandwidth to each

user but a users bandwidth depends on the load.
More users results more noise and less throughput for
each user, e.g. more information lost due to errors
How graceful the degradation is depends on how
orthogonal the codes are
TDMA and FDMA have a fixed channel capacity
Weaker signals may be lost in the clutter.
This will systematically put the same node pairs at a
disadvantage not acceptable
The solution is to add power control, i.e. nearby nodes
use a lower transmission power than remote nodes

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CDMA Example

CDMA cellular standard.

Used in the US, e.g. Spring
Allocates 1.228 MHz for basestation to mobile
communication.
Shared by 64 code channels
Used for voice (55), paging service (8), and control (1)
Provides a lot error coding to recover from errors.
Voice data is 8550 bps
Coding and FEC increase this to 19.2 kbps
Then spread out over 1.228 MHz using DSSS; uses
QPSK

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Supporting Bursty Data Traffic

FDMA, TDMA, and CDMA carve up bandwidth in fixed-

bandwidth channels not efficient for bursty traffic.

Alternative is to do dynamic time sharing of a single

channel, i.e. users send packets as they become
available.
Called multiple access protocols
Challenge: users need contend for access to the channel.
Class of contention-based MAC protocols
When two users transmit at the same time, we have a collision, i.e.
data is lost due to heavy interference

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Medium Access Control

Think back to Ethernet MAC:

Wireless is a shared medium
Transmitters interfere
Need a way to ensure that (usually) only one person
talks at a time.
Goals: Efficiency, possibly fairness
But wireless is harder!
Cant really do collision detection:
Cant listen while youre transmitting. You overwhelm your
antenna
Carrier sense is a bit weaker:
Takes a while to switch between Tx/Rx.
Wireless is not perfectly broadcast

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Example MAC Protocols

Pure ALOHA
Transmit whenever a message is ready
Retransmit when ACK is not received

Slotted ALOHA
Time is divided into equal time slots
Transmit only at the beginning of a time slot
Avoid partial collisions
Increase delay, and require synchronization

Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)

Listen before transmit
Transmit only when no carrier is detected

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Wireless Ethernet
Collision detection is not practical.
Signal power is too high at the transmitter
So how do you detect collisions?

Signals attenuate significantly with distance.

Strong signal from nearby node will overwhelm the weaker signal
from a remote transmitter
Capture effect: nearby node will always win in case of collision -
receiver may not even detect remote node
Hidden transmitter

Two transmitters may not hear each other, which can cause
collisions at a common receiver.
Hidden terminal problem
RTS/CTS is designed to avoid this

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Hidden Terminal Problem

A B C

B can communicate with both A and C

A and C cannot hear each other
Problem
When A transmits to B, C cannot detect the transmission
using the carrier sense mechanism
If C transmits, collision will occur at node B
Solution
Hidden sender C needs to defer
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 Possible Solution: RTS/CTS

A B C

When A wants to send a packet to B, A first sends a

Request-to-Send (RTS) to B

On receiving RTS, B responds by sending Clear-to-Send

(CTS), provided that A is able to receive the packet

When C overhears a CTS, it keeps quiet for the duration of

the transfer

Transfer duration is included in both RTS and CTS

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Collision Detection & Reliability

Impossible to detect collision using half-

duplex radios

Wireless links are prone to errors. High

packet loss rate detrimental to transport-
layer performance.

Mechanisms needed to reduce packet loss

rate experienced by upper layers
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Simple Solution

When B receives a data packet from A, B

sends an Acknowledgement (ACK) to A.

If node A fails to receive an ACK, it will

retransmit the packet

A B C

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802.11 Frame Priorities

DIFS
content Frame transmission
Busy SIFS
window
Time

Short interframe space (SIFS)

For highest priority frames (e.g., RTS/CTS,
ACK)
DCF interframe space (DIFS)
Minimum medium idle time for contention-based
services
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SIFS/DIFS

SIFS makes RTS/CTS/Data/ACK atomic

RTS Data
Sender1 Time

SIFS CTS SIFS SIFS ACK DIFS

Receiver1 Time

DIFS RTS
Sender2 Time
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802.11 RTS/CTS

RTS sets duration field in header to

CTS time + SIFS + CTS time + SIFS + data pkt
time
Receiver responds with a CTS
Field also known as the NAV - network
allocation vector
Duration set to RTS dur - CTS/SIFS time
This reserves the medium for people who hear
the CTS

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IEEE 802.11

RTS = Request-to-Send

RTS
A B C D E F

assuming a circular range

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IEEE 802.11

RTS = Request-to-Send

RTS
A B C D E F
NAV = 10

NAV = remaining duration to keep quiet

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IEEE 802.11

CTS = Clear-to-Send

CTS
A B C D E F

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IEEE 802.11

CTS = Clear-to-Send

CTS
A B C D E F
NAV = 8

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IEEE 802.11

DATA packet follows CTS. Successful data reception

acknowledged using ACK.

DATA
A B C D E F

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IEEE 802.11

ACK
A B C D E F

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IEEE 802.11

Reserved area

ACK
A B C D E F

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IEEE 802.11

Interference Carrier sense

range range

DATA
A B C D E F

Transmit range

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Outline

RF introduction
Modulation
Antennas and signal propagation
Equalization, diversity, channel coding
Multiple access techniques
Wireless systems and standards
802.11

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Readings

Performance analysis of the IEEE 802.11 dis

tributed coordination function
, JSAC, Mar 2000
Ultra-Wideband Technology for Short- and
Medium-range Wireless Communication,
Foerster, Green, Somayazulu, Leeper, Intel
Technology Journal, Q2 2001.
"The Bluetooth radio system," J. C.
Haartsen, IEEE Pers. Commun. Mag., pp.
28--36, Feb. 2000.
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