IEEE 802.11ah: A Long Range 802.11 WLAN at Sub 1 GHz

Abstract

IEEE 802.11ah is an emerging Wireless LAN (WLAN) standard that defines a WLAN system operating at sub 1 GHz license-exempt bands. Thanks to the favorable propagation characteristics of the low frequency spectra, 802.11ah can provide much improved transmission range compared with the conventional 802.11 WLANs operating at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. 802.11ah can be used for various purposes including large scale sensor networks, extended range hotspot, and outdoor Wi-Fi for cellular traffic offloading, whereas the available bandwidth is relatively narrow.