Subject: RE: [Fwd: Re: Does 802.11b do multi-hop well?]

From: Phillip Neumiller <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 05:25:46 -0500

Things will always evolve.  Clearly, a MAC well designed for the edge
of a network, i.e. first hop access may not perform well as an aggragating
/statistical multi-plexing MAC.  ATM was a compromise between the two 
camps.  What I think is needed is agility, i.e. the ability to address
specific hosts with the correct MAC at the correct time.  What is also
needed is a mechanism to interact with the MAC from the routing 
layer (3).  The advantages are many, for example making antenna diversity
choices on a per route (or neighbor) basis.  Also, given recent
geo-political
events, the gaping security holes in the current wireless options are not
going to stand long.  Denial of service attacks for 802.11b are trivial.
I think OFDM is really vulnerable too.  Its time to go back and rethink the
military roots of spread spectrum, i.e. LPI, jamming margin etc. and get 
these things into commercial wireless systems that will be carrying 
increasingly important Internet traffic.

My two cents,

Phil
****************************************************************************
This e-mail is intended only for the addressee named above and may contain
confidential, proprietary or privileged information. If you are not the
named addressee or the person responsible for delivering the message to the
named addressee, please inform us promptly by reply e-mail, then delete the
e-mail and destroy any printed copy. The contents should not be disclosed to
anyone and no copies should be made. We take reasonable precautions to
ensure that our emails are virus free. However we accept no responsibility
for any virus transmitted by us and recommend that you subject any incoming
e-mail to your own virus checking procedures.