[[http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/download/802.11b-1999.pdf|IEEE 802.11b]] is a popular standard for wireless networking.  It has a
theoretical maximum speed of 11Mb/s, though in practice the maximum you will get is just over 6Mb/s. 802.11b is basically an extension on top of [[802.11]] with
emphasis on rate improvement, it introduces modulation techniques to achieve 8 bits/symbol (allowing for 11Mb/s) and optionally shorter frames to reduce overhead. Also, while [[802.11]] describes three general PHY methods: [[FHSS]], [[DSSS]], and Infrared; 802.11b specifically uses DSSS (DirectSequenceSpreadSpectrum).

802.11b allows for the use of these digital modulation techniques (in order of rate improvement):

  * DifferentialBinaryPhaseShiftKeying (DBPSK)
  * DifferentialQuadraturePhaseShiftKeying (DQPSK)
  * ComplimentaryCodeKeying (CCK)
  * PacketBinaryConvolutionCoding (PBCC)

Frame headers (and preambles) are always transmitted using DBPSK at 1Mb/s, but the modulation and rate of the data portion is variable.

See also: [[802.11]], [[802.11g]], [[802.11a]], AccessPointReviews

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[CategoryGlossary]