IEEE 802 is a family of
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards for
local area networks (LAN),
personal area network (PAN), and
metropolitan area networks (MAN). The IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee (LMSC) maintains these standards. The IEEE 802 family of standards has had twenty-four members, numbered 802.1 through 802.24, with a working group of the LMSC devoted to each. However, not all of these working groups are currently active.
The IEEE 802 standards are restricted to
computer network
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ...
s carrying variable-size packets, unlike
cell relay
In computer networking, cell relay refers to a method of statistically multiplexing small fixed-length packets, called "cells", to transport data between computers or kinds of network equipment. It is a reliable, connection-oriented packet swit ...
networks, for example, in which
data
In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete Value_(semiotics), values that convey information, describing quantity, qualitative property, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of sy ...
is transmitted in short, uniformly sized units called cells.
Isochronous signal
In telecommunication, an isochronous signal is a signal in which the time interval separating any two significant instants is equal to the unit interval
In mathematics, the unit interval is the closed interval , that is, the set of all real n ...
networks, in which data is transmitted as a steady stream of
octets, or groups of octets, at regular time intervals, are also outside the scope of the IEEE 802 standards.
The number 802 has no significance: it was simply the next number in the sequence that the IEEE used for standards projects.
The services and protocols specified in IEEE 802 map to the lower two layers (data link and physical) of the seven-layer
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) networking reference model. IEEE 802 divides the OSI data link layer into two sub-layers:
logical link control
In the IEEE 802 reference model of computer networking, the logical link control (LLC) data communication protocol layer is the upper sublayer of the data link layer (layer 2) of the seven-layer OSI model. The LLC sublayer acts as an interface ...
(LLC) and
medium access control
In IEEE 802 LAN/MAN standards, the medium access control (MAC, also called media access control) sublayer is the layer that controls the hardware responsible for interaction with the wired, optical or wireless transmission medium. The MAC sublay ...
(MAC), as follows:
*
Data link layer
**LLC sublayer
**MAC sublayer
*
Physical layer
The most widely used standards are for
Ethernet, Bridging and Virtual Bridged LANs,
Wireless LAN,
Wireless PAN
A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network for interconnecting electronic devices within an individual person's workspace. A PAN provides data transmission among devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets and personal digital assi ...
,
Wireless MAN,
Wireless Coexistence, Media Independent Handover Services, and
Wireless RAN
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
.
Working groups
References
*IEEE Std 802-1990: IEEE standards for Local and Metropolitan Networks: Overview and Architecture New York:1990
External links
802 Committee websiteIEEE 802 Standards
available via IEEE Get Program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ieee 802
Working groups