IEEE 802.11 Standard and Amendments
David D Coleman, David A Westcott · 2018
This chapter discusses the original 802.11 standard, the ratified amendments any of which were incorporated into the 802.11-2007 standard, the 802.11-2012 standard, and the current 802.11-2016 standard, including the draft amendments of various 802.11 task groups. An RF signal is considered spread-spectrum when the bandwidth is wider than what is required to carry the data. Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) is a spread-spectrum technology that was first patented during World War II. Frequency-hopping 802.11 has been deprecated and removed from the 802.11-2016 standard. The 2.4 GHz ISM band is a much more crowded frequency space than the 5 GHz U-NII bands. Bluetooth devices, microwave ovens, cordless phones, and numerous other devices all operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and are potential sources of interference. The frequency space in which 802.11b radio cards can operate is the unlicensed 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz ISM band.