English
802.11b
4.3 Mbps
11 Mbps
38/140
802.11g
19 Mbps
802.11n
2.4/5 GHz
74 Mbps
150 Mbps
70/250
When developing its family of standards, the `IEEE 802.11 working group <http://www.ieee802.org/11/>`_ took a similar approach as the `IEEE 802.3 working group <http://www.ieee802.org/3/>`_ that developed various types of physical layers for Ethernet networks. 802.11 networks use the CSMA/CA Medium Access Control technique described earlier and they all assume the same architecture and use the same frame format.
The architecture of WiFi networks is slightly different from the Local Area Networks that we have discussed until now. There are, in practice, two main types of WiFi networks : `independent` or `adhoc` networks and `infrastructure` networks [#fBSS]_. An `independent` or `adhoc` network is composed of a set of devices that communicate with each other. These devices play the same role and the `adhoc` network is usually not connected to the global Internet. `Adhoc` networks are used when for example a few laptops need to exchange information or to connect a computer with a WiFi printer.
An 802.11 independent or adhoc network
Most WiFi networks are `infrastructure` networks. An `infrastructure` network contains one or more `access points` that are attached to a fixed Local Area Network (usually an Ethernet network) that is connected to other networks such as the Internet. The figure below shows such a network with two access points and four WiFi devices. Each WiFi device is associated to one access point and uses this access point as a relay to exchange frames with the devices that are associated to another access point or reachable through the LAN.
An 802.11 infrastructure network
An 802.11 access point is a relay that operates in the datalink layer like switches. The figure below represents the layers of the reference model that are involved when a WiFi host communicates with a host attached to an Ethernet network through an access point.
802.11 devices exchange variable length frames, which have a slightly different structure than the simple frame format used in Ethernet LANs. We review the key parts of the 802.11 frames. Additional details may be found in [IEEE802.11]_ and [Gast2002]_ . An 802.11 frame contains a fixed length header, a variable length payload that may contain up 2324 bytes of user data and a 32 bits CRC. Although the payload can contain up to 2324 bytes, most 802.11 deployments use a maximum payload size of 1500 bytes as they are used in `infrastructure` networks attached to Ethernet LANs. An 802.11 data frame is shown below.
802.11 data frame format
The first part of the 802.11 header is the 16 bit `Frame Control` field. This field contains flags that indicate the type of frame (data frame, RTS/CTS, acknowledgment, management frames, etc), whether the frame is sent to or from a fixed LAN, etc [IEEE802.11]_. The `Duration` is a 16 bit field that is used to reserve the transmission channel. In data frames, the `Duration` field is usually set to the time required to transmit one acknowledgment frame after a SIFS delay. Note that the `Duration` field must be set to zero in multicast and broadcast frames. As these frames are not acknowledged, there is no need to reserve the transmission channel after their transmission. The `Sequence control` field contains a 12 bits sequence number that is incremented for each data frame and a 4 bits fragment number.