IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks

TLDR

The IEEE 802.11 WLAN specification is nearing completion. The article explains the IEEE 802.11 protocol, focusing on the medium access control sublayer. The study evaluates packetized data and combined packetized data with voice performance on the WLAN. The investigation shows that IEEE 802.11 can support time‑bounded traffic via the point coordination function, but packetized voice requires an echo canceler.

Abstract

The draft IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) specification is approaching completion. In this article, the IEEE 802.11 protocol is explained, with particular emphasis on the medium access control sublayer. Performance results are provided for packetized data and a combination of packetized data and voice over the WLAN. Our performance investigation reveals that an IEEE 802.11 network may be able to carry traffic with time-bounded requirements using the point coordination function. However, our findings suggest that packetized voice traffic must be handled in conjunction with an echo canceler.