In the IEEE 802.11

wireless LAN A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building ...

protocols (such as

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio w ...

), a

MAC Mac or MAC most commonly refers to: * Mac (computer), a family of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * A variant of the word macaroni, mostly used in the name of the dish mac and cheese * Mac, ...

frame is constructed of common fields (which are present in all types of frames) and specific fields (present in certain cases, depending on the type and subtype specified in the first octet of the frame). 802

The very first two octets transmitted by a station are the Frame Control. The first three subfields within the frame control and the last field ( FCS) are always present in all types of 802.11 frames. These three subfields consist of two bits Protocol Version subfield, two bits Type subfield, and four bits Subtype subfield.

Frame Control

The first three fields (Protocol Version, Type and Subtype) in the Frame Control field are always present. The fields, in their order of appearance in transmission, are: # Protocol Version #

Type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

Subtype Subtype may refer to: * Viral subtypes, such as Subtypes of HIV * Subtyping In programming language theory, subtyping (also subtype polymorphism or inclusion polymorphism) is a form of type polymorphism in which a subtype is a datatype that is ...

# To-DS # From-DS # More-Fragments # Retry # Power Management # More Data # Protected Frame # +HTC/Order

Protocol Version Subfield

The 2-bits Protocol Version subfield is set to 0 for WLAN (PV0) and 1 for PV1 (

IEEE 802.11ah IEEE 802.11ah is a wireless networking protocol published in 2017 called Wi-Fi HaLowLow power, long ...

). The revision level is incremented only when there is a fundamental incompatibility between two versions of WLAN standard. PV1 description is incorporated in the latest 802.11-2020 standard.

Types and SubTypes

ToDS and FromDS

ToDS is one bit in length and set to 1 if destined to

Distribution System Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

, while FromDS is a one-bit length that is set to 1 if originated from Distribution System.

Retry

Set to 1 if the Data or Management frame is part retransmission of the earlier frame. This bit is reused for different purpose in Control frame.

+HTC/Order

It is one bit in length and is used for two purposes: * It is set to 1 in a non- QoS data frame transmitted by a non-QoS WLAN station to indicate the frame being transmitted is using Strictly-Ordered service class (this use is obsolete and will be removed from the future 802.11 Standard). * It is set to 1 in a QoS data or management frame transmitting at HT or higher rate to indicate that the frame contains HT Control field (see above)

IEEE 802.11bf

IEEE 802.11bf is a mature standard that is capable "to measure the range, velocity, direction, motion, presence, and proximity of people and objects". It is planned to enter into markets within 2024.

References

{{Telecommunications Wi-Fi Networking standards