Virtualization of Wireless LAN Infrastructures

Abstract

In wired Ethernet networks (IEEE 802.3), a physical network interface can be connected to different network segments or shared among multiple virtual machines. In wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11) sharing a wireless network interface is recognized to be a difficult task. However, virtualization can solve this problem. This thesis describes a software approach for hosting multiple virtual wireless networks over a shared physical infrastructure by means of open source virtualization techniques. This approach is called virtual WLAN, which is an extension of wireless networking into virtualized environments. The virtual WLAN has been implemented to get the functionality of multiple virtual wireless routers while using only a single physical wireless network interface. Testing results have shown that a single wireless network interface can be shared among several virtual machines without compromising the performance, isolation, or wireless LAN security mechanisms.