beautypg.com

Atlantis Land WEBSHARE 3G 244WN User Manual

Page 127

background image

127

is, in effect, louder and thus easier to detect, provided that the

receiver knows the parameters of the spread-spectrum signal being

broadcast. If a receiver is not tuned to the right frequency, a

spread-spectrum signal looks like background noise. There are two

main alternatives, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) and

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS).

Question

What is DSSS? What is FHSS? And what are their differences?

Answer

Frequency-Hopping Spread-Spectrum (FHSS) uses a narrowband

carrier that changes frequency in a pattern that is known to both

transmitter and receiver. Properly synchronized, the net effect is to

maintain a single logical channel. To an unintended receiver, FHSS

appears to be short-duration impulse noise. Direct-Sequence

Spread-Spectrum (DSSS) generates a redundant bit pattern for each

bit to be transmitted. This bit pattern is called a chip (or chipping

code). The longer the chip, the greater the probability that the

original data can be recovered. Even if one or more bits in the chip

are damaged during transmission, statistical techniques embedded

in the radio can recover the original data without the need for

retransmission. To an unintended receiver, DSSS appears as low

power wideband noise and is rejected (ignored) by most

narrowband receivers.

Question

Would the information be intercepted while transmitting on air?

Answer

WLAN features two-fold protection in security. On the hardware

side, as with Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum technology, it has

the inherent security feature of scrambling. On the software side,

WLAN offers the encryption function (WEP) to enhance security and

access control.

Question

What is WEP?

Answer

WEP is Wired Equivalent Privacy, a data privacy mechanism based

on a 64-bit or 128-bit shared key algorithm, as described in the IEEE

802.11 standard.