IEEE 802.11-2007

The scope of this standard is to define one medium access control (MAC) and several physical layer (PHY) specifications for wireless connectivity for fixed, portable, and moving stations (STAs) within a local area.

The purpose of this standard is to provide wireless connectivity to automatic machinery, equipment, or STAs that require rapid deployment, which may be portable or hand-held, or which may be mounted on moving vehicles within a local area. This standard also offers regulatory bodies a means of standardizing access to one or more frequency bands for the purpose of local area communication. Specifically, this standard -- Describes the functions and services required by an IEEE 802.11(TM)-compliant device to operate within ad hoc and infrastructure networks as well as the aspects of STA mobility (transition) within those networks. -- Defines the MAC procedures to support the asynchronous MAC service data unit (MSDU) delivery services. -- Defines several PHY signaling techniques and interface functions that are controlled by the IEEE 802.11 MAC. -- Permits the operation of an IEEE 802.11-conformant device within a wireless local area network (WLAN) that may coexist with multiple overlapping IEEE 802.11 WLANs. -- Describes the requirements and procedures to provide data confidentiality of user information being transferred over the wireless medium (WM) and authentication of IEEE 802.11-conformant devices. -- Defines mechanisms for dynamic frequency selection (DFS) and transmit power control (TPC) that may be used to satisfy regulatory requirements for operation in the 5 GHz band. The regulations and conformance tests are listed in Clause 2 -- Defines the MAC procedures to support local area network (LAN) applications with quality of service (QoS) requirements, including the transport of voice, audio, and video.

Revision Standard - Superseded. This revision specifies technical corrections and clarifications to IEEE Std 802.11 for wireless local area networks (WLANS) as well as enhancements to the existing medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) functions. It also incorporates Amendments 1 through 8 including a corrigendum.