Contact:
Karen McCabe
+1 732 562 3824, k.mccabe@ieee.org THE IEEE 802® LAN/MAN STANDARDS COMMITTEE
Networking Standards For Advanced Telecommunications
The IEEE 802® LAN/MAN Standards Committee creates
personal, local and metropolitan area network interface
standards for evolving wired and wireless networking
technologies. The standards developed by the Committee form the
foundation for nearly all data communication systems
and help ensure that packets are delivered reliably
from a source to a destination. These standards apply
to coaxial, copper and fiber optic cables, as well
as to air interfaces for radio frequency transmission
in personal area networks (PANs) having scales of
10 m, local area networks (LANs) having scales of
100 m, and municipal area networks (MANs) having scales
of 1,000 m.
IEEE 802 standards are developed by more than 1,000
experts worldwide. The Committee has created over
50 IEEE 802 LAN/MAN standards, mainly for the lowest
two layers of the seven layer network protocol stack
known as the Reference Model for Open Systems Interconnection.
Ten of these are major ISO/IEC/JTC1 8802 series equivalent
standards and in use worldwide.
The committee functions within the IEEE-Standards
Association* and is sponsored by the IEEE Computer
Society. It was formed in 1980 to develop wired LAN
standards and has expanded greatly since then. IEEE
802 currently contains 10 working groups active in
such areas as Ethernet, LANs, personal area networks,
broadband wireless and resilient packet rings. A brief
overview of these 10 groups appears below. For more
information on the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee,
see: www.ieee802.org.
The IEEE 802.1™ High Level Interface Working
Group
This Working Group is concerned with overall IEEE
802 network management and architecture in such areas
as internetworking among IEEE 802 LANs, MANs and other
wide area networks. It is also concerned with higher
level issues like addressing, security and advanced
protocol layers. For more information, see: www.ieee802.org/1/.
The IEEE 802.3™ Working Group for CSMA/CD
(Ethernet) LANs
The Ethernet LAN standards developed by this Working
Group began to appear in the early 1980s and have
evolved dramatically since then. In the area of data
rates, for example, this family of standards has progressed
from 10 Mb/s to 10 Gb/s. For more information on this
group, see: www.ieee802.org/3/.
The 802.11™ Working Group for Wireless Local
Area Networks
IEEE 802.11 standards support an air interface between
and among radio-frequency wireless clients in LANs.
The IEEE 802.11 group, which has been called Ethernet
without wires, specifies wireless networks having
a 50- to 150-ft. range in offices, warehouses, homes,
lounges, colleges, hotels and elsewhere. It allows
computers with wireless networking cards to share
files, send e-mail and access the Internet. For more
information, see: www.ieee802.org/11/.
The major segments of this Working Group include:
IEEE 802.11a™, which defines wireless LANs
(WLANs) having data rates to 54 Mb/s in the 5 GHz
band. By operating outside of the crowded 2.4 GHz
band, this standard reduces interference problems.
IEEE 802.11b™, which provides for data rates
to 11 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. This standard has
enabled the rapid growth seen in the WLAN industry.
IEEE 802.11e™, which supports streaming audio
and video for consumer products such as personal
video recorders and voice-over-IP wireless telephones.
IEEE 802.11g™, which allows for networks
having data rates of 54 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band.
They are a higher-speed, backward-compatible version
of IEEE 802 11b.
IEEE 802.11i™, which provides for wireless
security for 802.11 WLANs.
The IEEE 802.15™ Working Group for Wireless
Personal Area Networks (WPANs)
IEEE 802.15 standards provide for low-complexity,
low-power wireless connectivity for fixed and portable
devices in personal operating spaces (within 10 m
of a person). They address how devices like home theater
components, personal computers, and personal multimedia
appliances like PDAs and cell phones can coexist,
communicate and interoperate. The proximity networks
created under the standard enable devices to communicate
when they are in range of each other, creating bubbles
of wireless connectivity, and allow them to link to
LANs and the Internet. For more information, see:
www.ieee802.org/15/.
The major segments of this Working Group include:
IEEE 802.15.1™, which resolves issues of
interoperability, security and interference with
other radio technologies. It was developed in cooperation
with the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
IEEE P802.15.2™, which helps WPAN devices
and WLAN devices coexist to aid developers of wireless
toys, sensors, automation equipment and other products.
IEEE P802.15.3™, which provides for high-rate
(20Mbit/s or greater) WPANs, especially for multimedia
applications such as video and audio streaming,
printing and imaging.
IEEE P802.15.4™, which provides for low-data-rates
and extended battery life in sensors, interactive
toys, smart badges, remote controls and other applications.
The IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN™ Working Group
for Broadband Wireless Access
This Working Group develops standards to support
the global development of fixed broadband wireless
access (BWA) in wireless municipal area networks.
Standards published by the group so far, e.g., IEEE
802.16 and IEEE 802.16a, have created a foundation
for the deployment of interoperable BWA. BWA can extend
fiber optic networks rapidly and has become a preferred
way to meet the growing demand for rapid Internet
connection and integrated data, voice and video services.
The group is working on extending its base standards
to support mobile systems. For more information, see:
www.ieee802.org/16/.
The IEEE 802.17 Resilient Packet Ring Working
Group
This Working Group has created a resilient packet
ring (RPR) access protocol that transfers data packets
at rates scalable to many gigabits per second for
local, metropolitan and wide area networks. The standard
enables the fiber optic rings widely deployed in metropolitan
and wide area networks to carry more data with greater
reliability, efficiency and economy. For more information,
see: www.ieee802.org/17/.
The IEEE 802.18™ Radio Regulatory Technical
Advisory Group
This group supports all wireless IEEE 802 Working
Groups by interfacing with government agencies and
industry organizations that address regulatory issues.
It monitors changes to radio rules and regulations
that may affect IEEE 802 wireless standards and responds
with comment documents. It also is the liaison to
other standards bodies on radio regulatory. For more
information, see: www.ieee802.org/18/.
The IEEE 802.19™ Coexistence Technical Advisory
Group
This group defines the responsibilities of IEEE 802
standards developers to address coexistence with existing
IEEE 802 standards and other standards under development.
It also develops coexistence documentation for the
technical community outside IEEE 802.
IEEE 802.20™ Mobile Broadband Wireless Access
Working Group
This group is developing an air-interface standard
for mobile BWA systems that operate in licensed bands
below 3.5 GHz. It is targeting peak data rates of
over 1 Mb/s per user at vehicular speeds to 250 km/hour.
For more information, see: http://www.ieee802.org/20/.
IEEE 802.21™ Working Group for Media Independent
Handover and Interoperability
This group develops standards that enable handover
and interoperability among heterogeneous network types,
including 802 and non-802 networks.
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* The IEEE Standards Association, a globally recognized
standards-setting body, develops consensus standards
through an open process that brings diverse parts
of an industry together. It has a portfolio of over
900 completed standards and more than 400 standards
in development. It contains thousands of IEEE members
worldwide who voluntarily participate in standards
activities. For further information on IEEE-SA see:
http://standards.ieee.org/.
