3 The name for a number of wireless clients
4 and an access point that are
5 communicating with each other (by sending
6 packets to the AP!) in the same group.
7 Also called "Managed mode" or "Infrastructure
9 IBSS means Independent BSS: peer-to-peer mode
10 with every client sending to each other, no AP used.
11 Also called "Ad-hoc mode".
13 The BSSID is a 48bit identity used to identify a
14 particular BSS (Basic Service Set) within an
15 area. In Infrastructure BSS networks, the BSSID
16 is the MAC (Medium Access Control) address of
17 the AP (Access Point) and in Independent BSS or
18 ad hoc networks, the BSSID is generated
20 CSMA/CD Carrier Sense Media Access/Collision Detection
21 Media access mechanism used by 802.3 wired ethernet
22 CSMA/CA Carrier Sense Media Access/Collision Avoidance
23 Media access mechanism used by 802.11 wireless ethernet
24 CCA Clear Channel Assessment
25 CCA makes sure that the channel you intend to send
26 on is clear (no signal before transmission).
28 The Access Point, upon receiving an RTS, transmits a
29 CTS (Clear To Send) signal that is "heard" by all the
30 stations that communicate with it.
31 DSSS Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
32 Current wireless cards send on several closely
33 aligned 2.4GHz channels at the same time.
34 DTIM Delivery Traffic Indication Message
35 Tells clients about the next window to listen to
36 broadcast/multicast messages. When a client
37 receives a DTIM, it wakes up to receive these
40 Threshold to find out whether a channel is
41 carrying energy (the channel is "busy") or not
44 Extended Service Set ID
45 The ESSID is the name of the network you want to
46 access. It is used to identify different
48 ESSID is just an extended SSID allowing for more
50 FHSS Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
51 Outdated - in contrast to DSSS, FHSS hops from
52 2.4GHz channel to 2.4GHz channel during
55 ICV Integrity Check Value
57 MAC Media Access Control
58 The MAC Address (6 Bytes) is a globally unique
59 number to tell apart different stations taking
60 part in communication.
61 MIB Managed Information Base
62 A virtual information store to contain Managed
63 Objects, which offer various network relevant
64 data to other network clients.
65 MLME MAC Layer Management Entity
67 PDU Protocol Data Unit
68 RSSI Received Signal Strength Intensity
70 When a station wants to transmit, it first sends
71 a RTS (Request To Send) packet to the Access
72 Point with information including how long it
74 SSID Service Set Identifier
75 A 32-character unique identifier attached to the
76 header of packets sent over a WLAN that acts as
77 a password when a mobile device tries to connect
78 to the BSS. The SSID differentiates one WLAN
79 from another, so all access points and all
80 devices attempting to connect to a specific WLAN
81 must use the same SSID. A device will not be
82 permitted to join the BSS unless it can provide
83 the unique SSID. Because an SSID can be sniffed
84 in plain text from a packet it does not supply
85 any security to the network
86 TIM Traffic Indication Map
88 One TU is 1024 microseconds long.
89 WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy