Postgraduate thesis
Information and Communication Technology
Modelling of coverage in
WLAN
Stig Erik Arnesen & Kjell Åge Håland
Grimstad, Norway
May 2001
Abstract
The freedom of being connected to the Internet everywhere without any wires has been a dream for people many years. Now there seems to be an opening for this dream. While waiting for the UMTS technology IP-Zones are now being build. An IP-Zone is a public place where Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) offers you a connection to the Internet. The WLAN technology has finally arrived with decent transmission speeds; with the introduction of IEEE 802.11b with transmission speeds up to11 Mbps. Subsequently we decided to take a closer look on this technology.
This thesis presents an introduction to several WLAN technologies. We have taken a closer look at IEEE 802.11, 802.11b, 802.11a and the ETSI/BRAN standard HiperLAN type 2.
We have been working on a general model of coverage within a room for WLAN. As a base model we had an indoor office path loss model intended for UMTS. The background of the model was unknown and had to be explored. We examined other free space models designed for indoor environments.
We ended up with the Log-distance path loss model. Measurements were performed and used to adjust the model to fit the actual environments.
We have also created a site survey on HiA 3rd floor in the old building in Grimstad, and proposed a way to cover the Master of Science room and the north-west wing of the building.
Preface
This postgraduate thesis is a part of the master of engineering degree in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the Agder University College. Stig Erik Arnesen and Kjell Åge Håland have made this report during spring semester 2001. This last assignment is a closure on the education that lead to the title Master of Engineering.
This assignment was given by Agder University College in Grimstad and gives an introduction to WLAN technologies. It also describes the work of creating a model of coverage for WLAN.
We would like to thank Magne Arild Haglund for guiding us through this project.
We would also like to thank Stian Andresen from Siemens for helping us get technical information on the Siemens WLAN equipment.
Grimstad,
28 May 2001
Stig Erik
Arnesen
Kjell Åge
Håland
Index
1.1 Background
for the Postgraduate thesis
1.2 The
Postgraduate thesis definition
1.3 Limitations
of the assignment
1.6 Structure
of the Postgraduate thesis
2 General
overview over WLAN technologies
2.1.1 Wireless
Local Area Network (WLAN)
2.1.3 What
WLAN offers as an advantage over traditional wired networks
2.2.1 Spread
Spectrum Technology
2.6 IEEE
802.11 and 802.11b specifications
2.6.2 IEEE
802.11 Physical layer
2.6.4 Most
Common Frame Formats
2.6.5 Wireless
LANs Operations
3 Factors
affecting coverage within a room