Wireless Networks Lecture 3: Wireless Standards & Network Architecture

Wireless Networks
Lecture 3: Wireless Standards & Network Architecture

Wireless Standards
Regulatory standards regarding wireless use and technologies exist to guide us and act as a reference point for interoperability, efficiency, and other aspects of wireless technologies.

Standards are important for several reasons, including the following:
?? Interoperability Standards help to promote interoperability among devices made by different vendors. Individual vendors can build their devices to conform to a particular standard, ensuring that their devices will be able to work together.
?? Efficiency Every vendor can reuse existing solutions that a particular standard has addressed, instead of having to re-create individual solutions.
?? Prevention of vendor lock-in Standards give technology consumers the freedom to choose and buy whatever products they like, which helps to reduce or prevent consumers being locked into solutions provided by particular vendors. When solutions are designed according to standards and specifications, third-party vendors can provide continued support or complementary solutions when an original vendor is no longer able or willing to support its products.

Network Architecture
The architecture of a network defines the protocols and components necessary to satisfy application requirements. One popular standard for illustrating the architecture is the seven-layer Open System Interconnect (OSI) Reference Model, developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO). OSI specifies a complete set of network functions, grouped into layers which reside within each network component.
Each layer of the OSI model supports the layers above it.