Virtual AP Presentation Month Year doc.: IEEE 802.11-yy/xxxxr0 January, 2006 Virtual AP Presentation Date: 2006-01-12 Authors: Notice: This document has been prepared to assist IEEE 802.11. It is offered as a basis for discussion and is not binding on the contributing individual(s) or organization(s). The material in this document is subject to change in form and content after further study. The contributor(s) reserve(s) the right to add, amend or withdraw material contained herein. Release: The contributor grants a free, irrevocable license to the IEEE to incorporate material contained in this contribution, and any modifications thereof, in the creation of an IEEE Standards publication; to copyright in the IEEE’s name any IEEE Standards publication even though it may include portions of this contribution; and at the IEEE’s sole discretion to permit others to reproduce in whole or in part the resulting IEEE Standards publication. The contributor also acknowledges and accepts that this contribution may be made public by IEEE 802.11. Patent Policy and Procedures: The contributor is familiar with the IEEE 802 Patent Policy and Procedures <http:// ieee802.org/guides/bylaws/sb-bylaws.pdf>, including the statement "IEEE standards may include the known use of patent(s), including patent applications, provided the IEEE receives assurance from the patent holder or applicant with respect to patents essential for compliance with both mandatory and optional portions of the standard." Early disclosure to the Working Group of patent information that might be relevant to the standard is essential to reduce the possibility for delays in the development process and increase the likelihood that the draft publication will be approved for publication. Please notify the Chair <stuart.kerry@philips.com> as early as possible, in written or electronic form, if patented technology (or technology under patent application) might be incorporated into a draft standard being developed within the IEEE 802.11 Working Group. If you have questions, contact the IEEE Patent Committee Administrator at <patcom@ieee.org>. S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks) John Doe, Some Company

Non-transmitted BSSID January, 2006 Non-transmitted BSSID AP_BSSID is the legacy BSSID from beacon’s MAC header Virtual AP BSSID(i) = (AP_BSSID n LSBs set to zero) | ((n LSBs of AP_BSSID) + i) mod 2n) The BSSID Index (i) is part of the Multiple BSSID Index IE S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Multiple BSSID-TIM element January, 2006 Multiple BSSID-TIM element Element ID Length Bitmap Control Partial Virtual Bitmap Octets: 1 1 - 251 The format is the similar to the legacy TIM element DTIM Count/DTIM Period are carried separately in Multi-BSSID element Legacy stations interpret the legacy TIM element Stations associated with one of the non-transmitted BSSIDs interpret the Multiple BSSID-TIM element The first 2n bits of the TIM are reserved for broadcast The rest of the bits are shared by all non-transmitted BSSIDs S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Beacon Frame Format Order Information Notes 22 Multiple BSSID January, 2006 Beacon Frame Format Order Information Notes 22 Multiple BSSID The Multiple BSSID element is present only within Beacon frames generated by APs which support multiple BSSIDs. 23 Multiple BSSID-Index The Multiple BSSID-Index element is present only within Beacon frames generated by APs which support multiple BSSIDs. 24 Multiple BSSID-TIM The Multiple BSSID-TIM element is present only within Beacon frames generated by APs which support multiple BSSIDs. 25 Vendor Specific One or more vendor specific information elements may appear in the frame. S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Beacon size Basic multiple BSSID element Multiple BSSID-TIM January, 2006 Beacon size Basic multiple BSSID element SSID and multiple BSSID Index elements included Multiple BSSID-TIM An AP may opt to transmit one or more detailed BSSID profiles S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Beacon size comparison January, 2006 Beacon size comparison Average beacon length of 128 bytes The worst case includes all optional elements Medium access and PHY (preamble/PLCP) overhead is not counted S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Beacon size comparison data January, 2006 Beacon size comparison data # VAPs Legacy beacon size (multiple beacons) Minimum beacon size with proposed solution Maximum beacon size with proposed solution 1 128 2 256 152 209 3 384 169 283 4 512 186 357 5 640 203 431 6 768 220 505 7 896 237 579 8 1024 254 653 9 1152 271 727 10 1280 288 801 11 1408 305 875 12 1536 322 949 13 1664 339 1023 14 1792 356 1097 15 1920 373 1171 16 2048 390 1245 S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

January, 2006 Probe Responses Use similar format as beacons, with the exception of the BSSID-Index element DTIM information is nor present in probe response The number of BSSIDs returned could be different from the ones advertised The BSSID in the MAC header may be different from the one in the beacons S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

January, 2006 Probe Requests Ability to request responses from multiple BSSIDs using Multiple SSID element An STA can send a broadcast request with multiple SSIDs that may span multiple physical APs More than one Multiple SSID element may be included in a probe request S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Probe Request Format January, 2006 Order Information Notes 5 Multiple SSID The Multiple SSID element is present when the STA requests information on multiple SSIDs. 6 Vendor Specific One or more vendor specific information elements may appear in the frame. S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Probe Response Format January, 2006 Order Information Notes 21 Multiple BSSID-PR The Multiple BSSID-PR element is present only within Probe Response frames generated by APs supporting the Multiple BSSID capability. 22 Vendor Specific One or more vendor specific information elements may appear in the frame. S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

Legacy Interoperability January, 2006 Legacy Interoperability The beacon appears like a legacy beacon to legacy STAs The new IE should be ignored by legacy STAs Multiple BSSID aware STAs can use all the IEs defined in the document All frames from the AP, except the beacon, should use the appropriate BSSID in the MAC header S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

January, 2006 Motion Motion: “Instruct the editor to include the substantive text in document 11-05-1120r2-Virtual AP Proposal into the TGv draft” Mover/Seconder: Result Yes No Abstain S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)

January, 2006 References S. Ponnuswamy (Aruba Networks)