1.(a)Explain the entities in the protocol stack of the about IEEE802.11 standard.

[6]

IEEE 802.11 was the first WLAN standard that faced the challenge of organizing a
systematic approach for defining a standard for wireless wideband local access (small-scale
networks capable of transmitting data at high rates). As mentioned earlier, in contrast to
otherLAN standards, wireless standards need to have provisions to support mobility of nodes. The
IEEE802.11 working group had to examine connection management, link reliability management,
and power management none of which was a concern for other standards in IEEE 802. In
addition, provision for security had to be introduced. For all these reasons and because of several
competing proposals, it took nearly ten years for the development of IEEE 802.11, which was
much longer compared to the time taken for the development of other 802 standards for the wired
media. Once the overall picture and the ideas became clear, it took only a reasonable duration of
time to develop theIEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b enhancements. Under the IEEE 802.11
standard, MTs can operate in two modes: (i) infrastructure mode, in which MTs can communicate
with one or more APs which are connected to a WLAN, and (ii) ad hoc mode, in which MTs can
communicate directly with each other without using an AP.
1. Physical Layer
2. BasicMAC Layer Mechanisms
(b)Explain about CSMA/CA mechanisim.[6]
Carrier sense with multiple access and collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) is the MAC layer
mechanism used by IEEE 802.11 WLANs. Carrier sense with multiple access and collision
detection (CSMA/CD) is a well-studied technique in IEEE 802.x wired LANs. This technique
cannot be used in the context of WLANs effectively because the error rate in WLANs is much
higher and allowing collisions will lead to a drastic reduction in throughput. Moreover, detecting
collisions in the wireless medium is not always possible. The technique adopted here is therefore
one of collision avoidance.