IEEE 802.

11e and WMM – Quality of

Service
IEEE 802.11e
• IEEE 802.11e-2005 or 802.11e is an approved amendment to the IEEE
802.11 standard that defines a set of quality of service (QoS)
enhancements for wireless LAN applications.
•  The standard is considered of critical importance for delay-sensitive
applications, such as Voice over Wireless LAN and streaming
multimedia.
WMM
• Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) is a subset of the IEEE 802.11e standard for
wireless LAN applications. 
• WMM stands for Wi-Fi Multimedia. It is a standard created to define
quality of service (QoS) in Wi-Fi networks. It is a precursor to the
IEEE 802.11e WLAN QoS draft standard.
Need for WMM
• If, however, a multimedia transmission already requires a significant
amount of the available bandwidth while other applications,
potentially on other devices, start a file transfer or other bandwidth-
intensive operations, it is likely that this transmission will interfere
with the multimedia streaming.
• To prevent such issues, QoS measures were added with IEEE 802.11e.
• There are some parts which must be supported by all devices while
the support of others is optional.
802.11e functionalities used by WMM
• The core of the QoS enhancements is an extension of the DCF that
controls access to the air interface.
• 802.11e extends the channel allocation method of DCF with the
Hybrid Coordination Function (HCF).
• HCF describes two channel access methods –
1. Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA)
2. Hybrid Coordination Function Controlled Channel Access (HCCA).
1.Enhanced Distributed Channel Access
• EDCA specifies four QoS classes with queues. Each QoS queue is then
assigned a different window length before the air interface can be
accessed.
• WMM defines queues for voice, for video, for background and for
best effort transmissions.
Each class with its queue has the following variable parameters:
• The minimum number of slots that a device has to wait for before it is allowed to
transmit a frame (Arbitration Interframe Space Number, AIFSN).
• Shortest Contention Window (CWmin): The minimum number of slots that can
be selected with the random number generator.
• Longest Contention Window (CWmax): Maximum number of slots from which
the random number generator can select a value.
• Transmit Opportunity (TXOP): Maximum transmission time. The granularity of
the parameter is 32 microseconds.
• Admission Control: Indicates if devices have to request for permission to use a
transmission class.
• The values for CWmin, CWmax and TXOP are variable and many
vendors allow the user to change these values via the user interface
of the access point.
• If WMM is activated, the parameters are broadcast in the WMM
parameter contained in beacon frames.
• In addition, these values are also included in association- and probe
response frames.
• The access point can prevent other devices from using a certain QoS
class once the current network load reaches the limit at which
additional streams can no longer be supported. These devices or
applications can then choose to use a lower QoS class. For this
purpose, the 802.11e standard specifies an optional admission control
mechanism.
Traffic Specification
• A device can register a new data stream by sending a Traffic
Specification (TSPEC) in an Add Traffic Specification (ADDTS)
management message to the access point.
• The access point then verifies if the network can support the
additional traffic load and either grants or denies the request in a
response message.
Packet bursting
• 802.11e also introduces enhancements to improve air interface usage
efficiency. The most important functionality is packet bursting.
• For packet bursting, several data frames need to be in the
transmission buffer of a device.
• Instead of waiting for the default DCF backoff period after the
acknowledgment for the frame has been received, the next frame is
sent after an SIFS period.
• In addition, the sender and receiver can agree on using a block
acknowledgment.
Direct link protocol(DLP)
• To improve the performance of data transfers between devices in the
wireless network, 802.11e contains an extension referred to as the DLP.
• When two devices wish to communicate with each other directly, one
of them sends a request to the access point. The access point in turn
forwards the request to the other device.
• In case the other device is within the range of the first device and
supports the DLP protocol, it returns an answer to the access point
which returns it to the originator.
• Subsequently, the two devices can establish a direct connection and
exchange data frames without involving the access point
HCCA
• An alternative scheduling algorithm to the EDCA framework is HCCA. It is
optional, however, and not part of the WMM specification.
• HCCA is centrally scheduled and allows the access point to control the
channel access of all devices in the network. This is done by periodically
transmitting poll frames to each device, which then has the opportunity to
transmit their data within a given time frame.
• It is ensured that only devices that have previously sent an ADDTS message
to the network with a TSPEC message can transfer data.
• HCCA supports the previously mentioned QoS classes and can hence, in a
similar way as EDCA, give precedence to frames with certain QoS
requirements.
Wireshark
• To get an idea of how these options are used in practice, a number of
freely available network analysis tools can be used.
• A popular tool is Wireshark (http://www.wireshark.org).
• With the Linux operating systems, many WLAN adpaters can be set
into a mode in which they record Wi-Fi frames. Wireshark is also
available for other operating systems, but a special Wi-Fi card is
required for the recording.
Comparison of Wireless LAN and UMTS
Wireless LAN
• In recent years, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in many public
places such as hotels, airports and train stations. In the future, it is
likely that this trend continues.
• Owing to their limited range, however, a suitable hotspot is not
necessarily available at all locations desired.
• This can, for example, be an issue in hotels if the advertised Wi-Fi
access is only available in certain areas.
Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System 
• In many countries, UMTS networks cover significant areas and most
cities with more than just a few thousand inhabitants are usually fully
covered.
• UMTS can also be found in many countries, and GSM, GPRS and EDGE
usually provide almost countrywide connectivity.
• With roaming agreements, it is furthermore assured that UMTS and
GSM networks can be used in most countries around the world and it
is only pricing that hinders a more global use while traveling.
Tariff
• Wi-Fi hotspots do not have a standardized charging model and, owing
to a missing standard, numerous variants exist, for example, prepaid
top-up cards, online payment via credit cards or charging the use to a
postpaid mobile phone contract.
• As UMTS is an enhancement of GSM and GPRS, international billing is
usually in place through roaming agreements and is an integral part of
the system.
• Some network operators have started to offer special data roaming
tariffs in order to compete with hotspot offers
Law amendment
• For all telecommunication networks including GSM, GPRS and UMTS,
laws have been put in place by most countries that describe which
interfaces network operators have to provide to the police and other
security organizations.
• In many countries, there are no laws yet for small hotspot providers,
and it remains to be seen as to how this will be dealt with in the
future.
Coverage
• Wi-Fi has been designed for the coverage of small areas.
• As all access points are part of the same IP subnet, the range of a
network is usually limited to a single building.
• For most Wi-Fi applications, this is sufficient and devices can seamlessly
move between different access points within the same ESS.
• UMTS networks have been designed for countrywide coverage.
• Significant efforts have been taken to ensure that a connection is
maintained while the user roams through the network, even at high
speeds. This way, it is possible to communicate on the move and to
maintain a continuous connection to the Internet.
Transmission power
• The different cell ranges of the two systems are also a result of the
different maximum transmission powers.
• Wi-Fi access points are limited to 0.1 W, and hence their maximum
range is a few dozen meters. Inside buildings, the range of a single
access point is even more limited because of the signal absorption by
walls and other obstacles.
• UMTS base stations have a coverage range of several hundred meters
in urban areas and several kilometers in less densely populated areas.
The transmission power per carrier is usually around 20 W.
Security
• WPA and WPA2 authentication and encryption offer good security for home
and office networks.
• Public hotspots, however, are usually not encrypted because of the
complexity involved in the user obtaining and entering security credentials.
It is uncertain if security measures will be introduced for public hotspots at
some point.
• In UMTS networks, security is part of the system concept and users do not
have to deal with encryption settings.
• Encryption is automatically activated and secret keys that are stored on the
SIM card of the user and in the AuC, which is part of the HLR in the network,
are used for strong encryption.
Video and Voice telephony
• The circuit-switched part of UMTS networks has been specifically
designed for voice and video telephony, which are two of the main
services of such networks.
• Wi-Fi networks are usually not used primarily for voice and video
telephony, although there is a growing trend to migrate voice and
video telephony from circuit-switched channels to voice and video
over IP.
• VoIP and video applications such as Skype are increasingly used via
notebooks and smartphones, and Wi-Fi networks are therefore being
increasingly used for this kind of application as well.
Summary
• Wi-Fi is a hotspot technology that • UMTS provides fast datarates that
gives users access to local devices enable users to communicate at
and the Internet at a specific multimegabit speeds at almost any
location and for a limited amount location, that is, without looking
of time. for the next hotspot location.
• Wi-Fi access is sometimes also said • UMTS enables to communicate
to offer ‘nomadic’ Internet access. while being stationary and while
• license-free operation, installation moving.
is simple and operation of Wi-Fi • Much more expensive to deploy
networks are much cheaper than than Wi-Fi hotspots
those of a UMTS macronetwork