IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.11

To increase compatibility, international standards for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks were released by the IEEE Computer Society. These are updated on an ongoing basis.

IEEE 802.3 ~ CSMA/CD
IEEE 802.3 is the IEEE international standards for Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical layer specifications. IEEE 802.3 is the standard of the Ethernet network.

This standard is one part of a family of standards governing local and metropolitan area networks. IEEE 802.3 is part 3 and provides conformance test information to meet requirements for implementations of 10BASE-T. It was originally based on the Ethernet standard version 1.0 specification. The first draft of this standard was released in 1983, with the first official release following in 1985. Since 1985 numerous supplements have been released that have either added to, redefined or retired sections within the standard as technology has moved forward.

Under IEEE 802.3 there are currently 4 data rates defined governing operation of twisted-pair and optical fibre cables.

• 10 Mbps - 10Base-T Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)
• 100 Mbps - Fast Ethernet (IEEE 802.3u)
• 1000 Mbps - Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3z)
• 10-Gigabit - 10 Gbps Ethernet (IEEE 802.3ae)

The IEEE 802.3 standard defines requirements of layer 1, the Physical layer, and layer 2, the Data Link layer of the OSI.

IEEE 802.11 ~ Wireless LANs
IEEE 802.11 is the IEEE international standards for Wireless LANs, Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer specifications. IEEE 802.11 is the standard of Wi-Fi.

It denotes a set of standards that incorporate all Wireless LAN/WLANs and was first implemented in 1997. Similar to IEEE 802.3, it specifies the requirements of CSMA/CD though for data communications via the “air”, radio or infrared. Medium Access Control supports access point control and connection between independent stations. Included in the protocol is authentication, association and re-association services. There is also optional procedures for encryption and decryption as well as power management reducing power consumption in mobile devices.

IEEE 802.11 defines requirements of layer 1, the Physical layer, and layer 2, the Data Link layer of the OSI.