Wireless Communications

1
Wireless Communications

• An Overview
• with
• Lots of Acronyms
• and
• A Few Toys

Robert Minch Boise State University
2
Cellular Generations
2G 9.6 19.2 kbps Digital voice Messaging Voice
mail Very limited dial-up style Internet
2.5G 115 153 kbps 2G Always-on
data/Internet Landline speed
3G 0.4 5 Mbps 2.5G High-speed
Internet VoIP Multimedia
3
Cellular Evolution
2G
2.5G
3G
3-5 Mbps
1xEV-DV
14.4 kbps
144 kbps
2.4 Mbps
IS-95(CDMA)
1xRTT(CDMA2000)
1xEV-DO
W-CDMA(UMTS)
GSMTDMA
GPRS
2 Mbps
EDGE
115 kbps
9.6 kbps
384 kbps
1990s
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
(Approximate introduction dateswidespread
availability lags by years)
4
The Wireless WorldSpeeds and Distances for Major
Alternatives
1G
WWAN
2G
2.5G
3G
4G
Wireless Wide-Area Networks
802.20 Mobile-Fi
WMAN
IEEE 802.16aWiMAX (fixed),802.16e (mobile)
(Two most popular current applications)
Wireless Metropolitan-Area Networks
802.21 Inter-Network Handoffs
WLAN
IEEE 802.11b, a, g Wi-Fi
IEEE802.11n
Wireless Local-Area Networks
802.15.4Zigbee
WPAN
802.15.1Bluetooth
IEEE802.15.3a UWB WiMedia
Wireless Personal-Area Networks
10 kbps
100 kbps
1 Mbps
10 Mbps
100 Mbps
1 Gbps
Legacy
Current
Emerging
Future
WirelessWorld2.ppt RPM, 2/24/04
5
What If . . .

• We put you in a time machine, send you a few
  years into the future, give you
• A communications device
• A display device
• Some input devices
• A few sensing devices
• How might they communicate and work?

6
WLAN Security, Phase I

• Be aware of your signal reach
• Segregate firewall wireless from wired
• Change your default SSID dont beacon it
• Use MAC authentication (even though its
  spoofable)
• Use at least WEP (even though its crackable)
• Use a VPN/encryption on top of other security
• For many more guidelines, see http//www.sans.org/
  rr/papers/index.php?id1233