Who Should Attend:

Non-technical personnel who wish to understand the business case, market opportunities and target deployments for wireless LANs and PANs and desire to develop a general appreciation for the challenges and solutions in this market.

Prerequisites:

A good knowledge about data communications and TCP/IP is expected.

Objectives:

At the end of this module participants will understand wireless LAN concepts and terminology, how wireless LANs can be used to benefit their organisation, the capabilities of and applications for wireless LANs, and how wireless LANs and wireline LANs (Ethernet) complement one another.

Contents:

The Business Case for Wireless LANs: Wireless and wireline LANs, Emergence of personal area networks, Communicating with mobile devices and resources, Battery operation and power conservation, Unlicensed spectrum and operation.

Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet: Ethernet evolution and common functions, IEEE 802.3 protocol, Shared Ethernet using CSMA/CD, Advantages of switched Ethernet, Role of TCP/IP and error recovery.

Essential Elements of Radio Communication and Spread Spectrum: Licensed vs. unlicensed bands and regional differences, Power restrictions and interference, Power absorption. Human safety regulations, Narrowband and spread spectrum compared, Frequency hopping and direct sequence methods, Air-links and antennas.

Understanding IEEE 802.11: Air link elements: 802.11, Hidden station problem, Accessing the shared spectrum CSMA/CA and virtual collisions, Comparing and contrasting with wireline Ethernet, Energy management and power-conserving modes, Wireline Equivalent Privacy (WEP), security.

Assembling Ad-hoc LANs using 802.11: Ad-hoc LANs basics, Limitations of ad-hoc networks, case studies.

Wireless and Wireline LAN Infrastructures: The role of access points, Access point operation, Link management. Network synchronization, Polling and traffic indication mapping, Combining data and voice: synchronous and asynchronous operation, Deployment scenarios and case studies.

Bluetooth: Enabling Personal Area Networks: RF link description, Hopping sequence, Bluetooth protocol stack, Air-link security, Device Modes and services, Voice and Data combined.

Piconets, Scatternets and Personal Area Networks: Master stations and slave stations, Direct connection and piconets, Datarates and spectrum, Scatternets, Deployment scenarios.

Alternative Wireless LANs: HiperLAN goals, Home RF target market, Operation of home RF, Combining voice and data, WLAN solutions.

Wireless LAN Evolution: Requirement for higher bandwidth, RF requirement: additional spectrum, improved modulation.