802.11 is an evolving family of specifications for wireless local area networks (WLANs) developed by
a working group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). There are
several specifications in the family and new ones are occasionally added.
All the 802.11 specifications use the Ethernet protocol and Carrier Sense
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The
original modulation used in 802.11 was phase-shift keying (PSK). However,
other schemes, such as complementary code keying (CCK),
are used in some of the newer specifications. The newer modulation methods provide higher data
speed and reduced vulnerability to interference.
The 802.11 specifications are summarized in our IEEE
802 Wireless Standards: Fast Reference.
Contributor(s): Matt Kirk
This was last updated in September 2000
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