3. Standards allow manufacturers to produce products
that have known physical characteristics. E.g. two
wireless LAN systems could not communicate with each
other unless they use compatible radio frequencies and
modulation methods. The standard specifies such things in
detail.
Standards are very useful to manufacturers because
they outline a technical specification from which
designs can be made
4. IEEE
pronounced I Triple E
comprised of engineers, scientists and students
the standard setting body for matters relating to the
electrical, computing and electronic industries. They are
therefore the authors of the international standards for
networking
5. The IEEE 802.11 standards also
defines protocol messages and
operating algorithms making
them beneficial to both computer
engineers and system
programmers
6. IEEE STANDARDS
their standards for networking are all labelled with a
variant of 802 i.e. IEEE802.x
two of their more popular standards are:
IEEE 802.3 – Ethernet standards (for cabled networks)
IEEE 802.11 – Wireless networking standards (e.g. WLANs)
7. IEEE STANDARDS
Some of the other networking standards are:
IEEE 802.4 – for Token bus networks
IEEE 802.5 – for Token ring networks
IEEE 802.6 – MAN standards
9. IEEE 802.11
this is the family of standards for short range
wireless communication
has several updates or versions including.
•IEEE 802.11a
•IEEE 802.11b
•IEEE 802.11g
•IEEE 802.11n
10. The standards differ principally in
the maximum bandwidth (speed)
the distance over which the wireless signal can
travel (the range)
They also may differ in
the broadcast channel used and as a consequence
the amount of electromagnetic interference the
signal encounters
12. IEEE 802.11A
• IEEE 802.11a transmits data up to 50feet at 54Mbps
• Is not compatible with other versions of IEEE802.11
• Fast
• Uses a regulated band/channel, so less interference
• High cost
• Short range
• Easy obstruction
14. IEEE 802.11B
• IEEE 802.11b transmits data up to 300feet at 11Mbps
• Low cost
• Good signal range, less obstruction
• Slow maximum speed
• Home appliances may interfere depending on the band
being used
16. IEEE 802.11G
Aimed at getting the best of 802.11a and 802.11b
• IEEE 802.11g transmits data up to 150feet at 54Mbps
• Fast maximum speed
• Good signal range
• Not easily obstructed
• Cost more than 802.11b
• May suffer electromagnetic interference
18. IEEE 802.11N
• IEEE 802.11n transmits data up to 175 feet at speeds
between 100Mbps and 600Mbps
• Uses multiple signals and antennas
• Fast maximum speed
• Best signal range
• More resistant to interference from outside sources
• Costly
• Can itself interfere with other networks
19. IEEE 802.11 STANDARDS
IEEE Standard Frequency/Medium Speed Transmission Range Access Method
802.11 2.4GHz RF 1 to 2Mbps 20 feet indoors. CSMA/CA
802.11a 5GHz Up to 54Mbps 25 to 75 feet indoors; range
can be affected by building
materials.
CSMA/CA
802.11b 2.4GHz Up to 11Mbps Up to 150 feet indoors;
range can be affected by
building materials.
CSMA/CA
802.11g 2.4GHz Up to 54Mbps Up to 150 feet indoors;
range can be affected by
building materials.
CSMA/CA
802.11n 2.4GHz/5GHz Up to 600Mbps 175+ feet indoors; range
can be affected by building
materials.
CSMA/CA
20. DEVICES AND STANDARDS
Devices with wireless capabilities
will be labelled to show with
which of the IEEE standards the
device complies.
This can be seen on some switches
and cable modems for example
22. Despite the best efforts of the standards
body, there are bound to be areas that are
ambiguous or not fully defined
In the standards themselves, there are also a
number of features that are optional and
different manufacturers might make different
choices in their designs about whether to
include them or not.
23. So end users, who buy the products
have no guarantee that a product
from vendor A will completely
interoperate with a product from
vendor B.
24. To avoid interoperability problems, the Wi-Fi
Alliance was formed by a group of major
manufacturers and the logo ‘Wi-Fi’ was
created.
The Wi-Fi Alliance then created its own
test plan based on the IEEE 802.11
standards.
25. To obtain Wi-Fi certification, a manufacturer must
submit its product for testing against a set of ‘gold
standard’ Wi-Fi products.
Some features of IEEE 802.11 are not required for Wi-Fi certification.
Conversely, there are some requirements in Wi-Fi that are additional to
the IEEE standard.
Where there is ambiguity in the standard, the correct behavior is
defined by the way the gold standard products work.
In this way interoperability is ensured.
26. In summary, Wi-Fi defines a subset of IEEE
802.11 with some extensions, as shown in
this diagram
27. What this means is that not all
wireless networks are Wi-Fi
networks. The term Wi-Fi should
only be used for those wireless
networks that meet the Wi-Fi gold
standard