IEEE 802.11: Definitions
Definitions
access category (AC): A label for the common set of enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameters that are used by a quality-of-service (QoS) station (STA) to contend for the channel in order to transmit medium access control (MAC) service data units (MSDUs) with certain priorities.
access control: The prevention of unauthorized usage of resources.
access point (AP): An entity that contains one station (STA) and provides access to the distribution services, via the wireless medium (WM) for associated STAs.
access point (AP) path: Path between two tunneled direct-link setup (TDLS) peer stations (STAs) via the AP with which the STAs are currently associated.
access point (AP) reachability: An AP is reachable by a station (STA) if preauthentication messages can be exchanged between the STA and the target AP via the distribution system (DS).
active mode: A mesh power mode in which the mesh station (STA) operates in te Awake state towards a neighbor mesh STA.
additional authentication data (AAD): Data that is not encrypted, but is cryptographically protected.
ad hoc network: Often used as a venacular term for an independent basic service set (IBSS).
admission control: An algorithm to ensure that admittance of a new flow into a resource constrained network does not violate parameterized service commitments made by the network to admitted flows.
aggregate medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU): A structure containing multiple MPDUs, transported as a single physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) service data unit (PSDU) by the physical layer (PHY).
aggregate medium access control (MAC) service data unit (A-MSDU): A structure containing multiple MSDUs, transported within a single (unfragmented) data medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU).
aggregate medium access control (MAC) service data unit (A-MSDU) subframe: A portion of an A-MSDU containing a header and association MSDU.
aggregated schedule: The aggregation of delivery and/or poll schedules by the quality-of-service (QoS) access point (AP) for a particular QoS station (STA) into a single service period (SP).
antenna connector: The measurement point of reference for radio frequency (RF) measurements in a station (STA). The antenna connector is the point in the STA architecture representing the input of the receiver (output of the antenna) for radio reception and the input of the antenna (output of the transmitter) for radio transmission. In systems using multiple antennas or antenna arrays, the antenna connector is a virtual point representing the aggregate output of (or input to) the multiple antennas. In systems using active antenna arrays with processing, the antenna connector is the output of the active array, which includes any processing gain of the active antenna subsystem.
antenna selection (ASEL) receiver: A station (STA) that performs receive ASEL.
antenna selection (ASEL) transmitter: A station (STA) that performs transmit ASEL.
association: The service used to establish access point/station (AP/STA) mapping an enable STA invocation of the distribution system services (DSSs).
authentication: The service used to establish the identity of one station (STA) as a member of the set of STAs authorized to associate with another STA.
authentication and key management (AKM) suite: A set of one or more algorithms designed to provide authentication and key management, either individually or in combination with higher layer authentication and key management algorithms outside the scope of this standard.
Authentication Service (AS): An entity that provides an authentication service to an Authenticator. This service determines, from the credentials provided by the Supplicant, whether the Supplicant is authorized to access the services provided by the Authenticator.
Authenticator: An entity at one end of a point-to-point LAN segment that facilitates authentication of the entity attached to the other end of that link.
Authenticator address (AA): The medium access control (MAC) address of the IEEE 802.1X Authenticator.
authorization: The act of determining whether a particular right, such as access to a resource, is granted to an entity.
authorized: To be explicitly allowed.
average noise power indicator (ANPI): A medium access control (MAC) indication of the average noise plus interference power measured when the channel is idle as defined by three simultaneous conditions: (1) the Virtual Carrier Sense (CS) mechanism indicates idle channel, (2) the station (STA) is not transmitting a frame, and (3) the STA is not receiving a frame.
azimuth: The horizontal orientation of the front surface of a station or of a radio antenna system's main lobe measured clockwise from true north.
base channel: Channel on which the tunneled direct-link setup (TDLS) peer station (STA) is associated with an access point (AP).
basic service area (BSA): The area containing the members of a basic service set (BSS). It might contain members of other BSSs.
basic service set (BSS): A set of stations (STAs) that have successfully synchronized using the JOIN service primitives and one STA that has used the StARt primitive. Alternatively, a set of STAs that have used the START primitive specifying matching mesh profiles where the match of the mesh profiles have been verified via the scanning procedure. Membership in a BSS does not imply that wireless communications with all other members of the BSS is possible.
basic service set (BSS) transition: A station (STA) movement from one BSS to another BSS in the same extended service set (ESS).
beamformee: A station (STA) that receives a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) that was transmitted using a beamforming steering matrix.
beamformer: A station (STA) that transmits a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) using a beamforming steering matrix.
beamforming: A spatial filtering mechanism used at a transmitter to improve the received signal power or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at an intended receiver. Also called beam steering.
big endian: The concept that, for a given multi-octet numeric representation, the most significant octet has the lowest address.
broadcast address: A unique group address that specifies all stations (STAs).
BSS Max idle period: A time period during which the access point (AP) does not disassociate a station (STA) due to nonreceipt of frames from that STA.
calibration initiator: A station (STA) that initiates a calibration sequence.
calibration responder: A station (STA) that transmits during a calibration sequence in response to a transmission by a calibration initiator.
candidate peer mesh station (STA): A neighbor mesh STA to which a mesh peering has not been established but meets eligibility requirement to become a peer mesh STA.
channel: An instance of communications medium use for the purpose of passing protocol data units (PDUs) between two or more stations (STAs).
channel spacing: The difference between the center frequencies of two nonoverlapping and adjacent channels of the radio transmitter.
cipher suite: A set of one or more algorithms, designed to provide data confidentiality, data authenticity or integrity, and/or replay protection.
clear channel assessment (CCA) function: That logical function in the physical layer (PHY) that determines the current state of use of the wireless medium (WM).
collocated interference: Interference that is caused by another radio or station (STA) emitting radio energy located in the same physical device as the reporting STA, where the reported characteristics of the interference are known a priori without interference detection, measurement, or characterization by the reporting STA.
collocated radio: A radio capable of emitting radio-frequency energy located in the same physical device as the reporting station (STA), where the radio's type and some link characteristics are known without signal detection or measurement by the reporting STA.
configuration profile: A collection of parameters identified by a profile identifier (ID) that represent a current or available configuration of a station (STA).
contention-free period (CFP): The time period during the operation of a point coordination function (PCF) when the right to transmit is assigned to stations (STAs) solely by a point coordinator (PC), allowing frame exchanges to occur between members of the basic service set (BSS) without contention for the wireless medium (WM).
contention period (CP): The time period outside of the contention-free period (CFP) in a point-coordinated basic service set (BSS). In a BSS where there is no point coordinator (PC), this corresponds to the entire time of operation of the BSS.
controlled access phase (CAP): A time period when the hybrid coordinator (HC) maintains control of the medium, after gaining medium access by sensing the channel to be idle for a point coordination function (PCF) interframe space (PIFS) duration. It might span multiple consecutive transmission opportunities (TXOPs) and can contain polled TXOPs.
coordination function: The logical function that determines when a station (STA) operating within a basic service set (BSS) is permitted to transmit protocol data units (PDUs) via the wireless medium (WM). The coordination function within a BSS might have one hybrid coordination function (HCF), or it might have one HCF and one point coordination function (PCF) and has one distributed coordination function (DCF). A quality-of-service (QoS) BSS has one DCF and one HCF.
contention-free (CF) pollable: A station (STA) that is able to respond to a CF poll with a data frame if such a frame is queued and able to be generated.
Counter mode with Cipher-block chaining Message authentication code (CCM): A symmetric key block cipher mode providing confidentiality using counter mode (CTR) and data origin authenticity using cipher-block chaining message authentication code (CBC-MAC).
cryptographic encapsulation: The process of generating the cryptographic payload from the plaintext data. This comprises the cipher text as well as any associated cryptographic state required by the receiver of the data such as initialization vectors (IVs), sequence numbers, message integrity codes (MICs), and key identifiers.
data confidentiality: A property of information that prevents disclosure to unauthorized individuals, entities, or processes.
deauthentication service: The service that voids an existing authentication relationship.
decapsulate: To recover an unprotected frame from a protected one.
decapsulation: The process of generating plaintext data by decapsulating an encapsulated frame.
deep sleep mode: A mesh power mode in which the mesh station (STA) operates either in the Awake state or in the Doze state towards a neighbor mesh STA, and it not expected to receive beacons from this neighbor mesh STA.
delivery-enabled access category (AC): A quality-of-service (QoS) access point (AP) AC where the AP is allowed to use enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) to deliver traffic from the AC to a QoS station (STA) in an unscheduled service period (SP) triggered by the STA.
dependent station (STA): A STA that is not registered and whose operation parameters are dictated by messages it receives from an enabling STA. Once enabled by the dynamic STA enablement (DSE) process, a dependent STA's continued operation becomes contingent upon being able to receive messages from its enabling STA over the air.
destination mesh station (STA): A mesh STA that is the final destination of a MAC service data unit (MSDU). THis mesh STA might reside in a proxy mesh gate that might forward the MDSU to a STA outside of the MBSS. A destination mesh STA might be an end station as defined in IEEE Std 802.1.
directed frame: See individually addressed.
direct link: A bidirectional link from one quality-of-service (QoS) station (STA) to another QoS STA operating in the same infrastructure QoS basic service set (BSS) that does not pass through a QoS access point (AP). Once a direct link has been set up, all frames between the two QoS STAs are exchanged directly.
directed multicast service (DMS): A service in which the access point (AP) transmits group addressed frames as individually addressed frames to the requesting non-AP station (STA).
disassociation service: The service that removed an existing association.
distributed coordination function (DCF): A class of coordination function where the same coordination function logic is active in every station (STA) in the basic service set (BSS) whenever the network is in operation.
distribution service: The service that, by using association information, delivers medium access control (MAC) service data units (MSDUs) within the distribution system (DS).
distribution system (DS): A system used to interconnect a set of basic service sets (BSSs) and integrated local area networks (LANs) to create an extended service set (ESS).
distribution system medium (DSM): The medium or set of media used by a distribution system (DS) for communications between access points (APs), mesh gates, and portals of an extended service set (ESS).
distribution system service (DSS): The set of services provided by the distribution system (DS) that enable the medium access control (MAC) to transport MAC service data units (MSDUs) between stations (STAs) that are not in direct communication with each other over a single instance of the wireless medium (WM). These services include transport of MDSUs between the access points (APs) of basic service sets (BSSs) within an extended service set (ESS), transport of MSDUs between portals and BSSs within an ESS, transport of MSDUs between mesh gates in the same or different mesh basic service sets (MBSSs), transport of MSDUs between mesh gates and APs, transport of MSDUs between mesh gates and portals, and transport of MSDUs between STAs in the same BSS in cases where the MSDU has a group destination address or where the destination is an individual address and the STA is associated with an AP. Note that DSSs are provided between pairs of MACs not on the same instance of the WM.
downlink: A unidirectional link from an access point (AP) to one or more non-AP stations (STAs).
dynamic frequency selection (DFS): Facilities mandated to satisfy requirement in some regulatory domains for radar detection and uniform channel spreading in the 5 GHz band. These facilities might also be used for other purposes, such as automatic frequency planning.
dynamic frequency selection (DFS) owner: A station (STA) in an independent basic service set (IBSS) or off-channel TDLS direct link that takes responsibility for selecting the next channel after radar is detected operating in a channel. Due ot the nature of IBSSs, it cannot be guaranteed that there is a single DFS owner at any particular time and the protocol is robust to this situation.
dynamic station (STA) enablement (DSE): The process by which an enabling STA grants permission and dictates operational procedures to STAs that are subject to its control.
effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP): The equivalent power of a transmitted signal in terms of an isotropic (omnidirectional) radiator. The EIRP equals the product of the transmitter power and the antenna gain (reduced by any coupling losses between the transmitter and antenna).
emergency alert system (EAS): A U.S. national public warning system.
enabling station (STA): A registered STA that has the authority to control when and how a dependent STA can operate. An enabling STA communicates an enabling signal to its dependents over the air. An enabling STA chooses whether other dynamic STA enablements (DSE) messages are exchanging over the air, over the distribution system (DS), or by mechanisms that rely on transport via higher layers.
encapsulate: To construct a protected frame from an unprotected frame.
encapsulation: The process of generating a protected frame by encapsulating plaintext data.
enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA): The prioritized carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) access mechaism used by quality-of-service (QoS) stations (STAs) in a QoS basic service set (BSS). This access mechanism is also used by the QoS access point (AP) and operates concurrently with hybrid coordination function (HCF) controlled channel access (HCCA).
enhanced distributed channel access function (EDCAF): A logical function in a quality-of-service (QoS) station (STA) that determines, using enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA), when a frame in the transmit queue with the associated access category (AC) is permitted to be transmitted via the wireless medium (WM). There is one EDCAF per AC.
extended service area (ESA): The area within which members of an extended service set (ESS) can communicate. An ESA is larger than or equal to a basic service area (BSA) and might involve several basic service sets (BSSs) in overlapping, disjointed, or both configurations.
extended service set (ESS): A set of one or more interconnected basic service sets (BSSs) that appears as a single BSS to the logical link control (LLC) layer at any station (STA) associated with one of those BSSs.
extended service set (ESS) transition: A station (STA) movement from one basic service set (BSS) in one ESS to another BSS in a different ESS.
fast basic service set (BSS) transition: A station (STA) movement that is from one BSS in one extended service set (ESS) to another BSS within the same ESS and that minimizes the amount of time that data connectivity is lost between the STA and the distribution system (DS).
fast basic service set (BSS) transition (FT) 4-Way Handshake: A pairwise key management protocol using during FT initial mobility domain association. This handshake confirms mutual possession of a pairwise master key, the PMK-R1, by two parties and distributes a group temporal key (GTK).
fast basic service set (BSS) transition (FT) initial mobility domain association: The first association or first reassociation procedure within a mobility domain, during which a station (STA) indicates its intention to use the FT procedures.
fixed station (STA): A STA that is physically attached to a specific location. In licensed bands, a fixed STA might be authorized to operate only at a specific location.
flexible multicast service (FMS): A service that enables a non-access-point (non-AP) station (STA) to request a multicast delivery interval longer than the delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) interval for the purposes of lengthening the period of time a STA can be in a power save state.
flexible multicast stream identifier (FMSID): An identifier assigned by the access point (AP) to a particular group addressed steam subsequent to a successful FMS Request.
flexible multicast service (FMS) stream: A succession of frames transmitted by the access point (AP) that correspond to a single flexible multicast stream identifier (FMSID).
flexible multicast service (FMS) stream set: A collection of FMS streams identified by an FMS Token, used during the FMS Request procedure.
forwarding information: The information maintained by a mesh station (STA) that allows the mesh STA to perform its path selection and forwarding functions.
fragmentation: The process of segmenting a medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU) or MAC management protocol data unit (MMPDU) into a sequence of smaller MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) prior to transmission. The process of recombining a set of fragment MPDUs into an MSDU or MMPDU is known as defragmentation. These processes are desribed in 5.8.1.9 of ISO/IEC 7498-1:1994.
Gaussian frequency shift keying (GFSK): A modulation scheme in which the data are first filtered by a Gaussian filter in the baseband and then modulated with a simple frequency modulation.
group: The entities in a wireless network such as an access point (AP) and its associated stations (STAs) or all the STAs in an independent basic service set (IBSS) network.
group address: A medium access control (MAC) address that has the group bit equal to 1. This is also known as the multicast address.
group addressed: When applied to a medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU), it is an MSDU with a group address as the destination address (DA). When applied to a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU), it is an MPDU with a group address in the Address 1 field. This is also known as multicast.
Group Key Handshake: A group key management protocol defined by this standard. It is used only to issue a new group temporal key (GTK) to peers with whom the local station (STA) has already formed security associations.
group master key (GMK): An auxiliary key that might be used to derive a group temporal key (GTK).
group temporal key (GTK): A random value, assigned by the group source, which is used to protect group address medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) from that source. The GTK might be derived from a group master key (GMK).
hidden station (STA): A STA whose transmissions are not detected using carrier sense (CS) by a second STA, but whose transmissions interfere with transmissions from the second STA to a third STA.
homogenous extended service set (ESS): A collection of basic service sets (BSSs), within the same extended service set (ESS), in which every subscription service provider network (SSPN) or other external network reachable at one BSS is reachable to all of them.
hybrid coordination function (HCF): A coordination function that combines and enhances aspects of the contention-based and contention-free access methods to provide quality-of-service (QoS) stations (STAs) with prioritized and parameterized QoS access to the wireless medium (WM), while continuing to support non-QoS STAs for best-effort transfer. The HCK includes the functionality provided by both enhances distributed channel access (EDCA) and HCK controlled channel access (HCCA). The HCF is compatible with the distributed coordination function (DCF) and the point coordination function (PCF). It supports a uniform set of frame formats and exchange sequences that STAs might use during both the contention period (CP) and the contention-free period (CFP).
hybrid coordinator (HC): A type of coordinator, defined as part of the quality-of-service (QoS) facility, that implements the frame exchange sequences and medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU) handling rules defined by the hybrid coordination function (HCF). The HC operates during both the contention period (CP) and contention-free period (CFP). The HC performs bandwidth management including the allocation of transmission opportunities (TXOPs) to QoS stations (STAs). The HC is collocated with a QoS access point (AP).
hybrid coordination function (HCF) controlled channel access (HCCA): The channel access mechanism utilized by the hybrid coordinator (HC) to coordinate contention-free media use by quality-of-service (QoS) stations (STAs) for downlink individually addressed, uplink, and direct-link transmissions.
idle power indicator (IPI): A physical layer (PHY) indication of the total channel power (noise and interference) as measured in the channel at the receiving antenna connector while the station (STA) is idle such as neither transmitting nor receiving a frame.
IEEE 802.1X authentication: Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication transported by the IEEE 802.1X protocol.
independent basic service set (IBSS): A basic service set (BSS0 that forms a self-contained network, and in which no access to a distribution system (DS) is available.
individual address: A medium access control (MAC) address in which the group bit is 0. This is also known as directed address and unicast address.
individually addressed: When applied to a medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU), it is an MSDU with an individual address as the destination address (DA). When applied to a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU), it is an MPDU with an individual address in the Address 1 field. It is also known as directed and unicast.
infrastructure: The infrastructure includes the distribution system medium (DSM), access point (AP), and portal entities. It is also the logical location of distribution and integration service functions of an extended service set (ESS). An infrastructure contains one or more APs and zero or more portals in addition to the distribution system (DS).
infrastructure authorization information: The information that specifies the access rights of the user of a non-access-point (non-AP) station (STA). This information might include the rules for routing the user traffic, a set of permission about services that a user is allowed to access, quality-of-service (QoS) configuration information, or the accounting policy to be applied by the infrastructure.
integration service: The service that enables delivery of medium access control (MAC) service data units (MSDUs) between the distribution system (DS) and a local area network (LAN) (via a portal).
integrity GTK (IGTK): A random value, assigned by the broadcast/multicast source STA, which is used to protect group addressed medium access control (MAC) management protocol data units (MMPDUs) from that source STA.
light sleep mode: A mesh power mode in which the mesh station (STA) operates either in the Awake state or in the Doze state towards a neighbor mesh STA, and is expected to receive beacons from this neighbor peer mesh STA.
link: In the context of an IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) entity, a physical path consisting of exactly one traversal of the wireless medium (WM) that is used to transfer a MAC service data unit (MSDU) between two stations (STAs).
link margin: Ratio of the received signal power to the minimum required by the station (STA). The STA might incorporate rate information and channel conditions, including interference, into its computation of link margin. The specific algorithm for computing the link margin is implemented dependent.
link metric: A criterion used to characterize the performance, quality, and eligibility of a link.
little endian: The concept that, for a given multi-octet numeric representation, the least significant octet has the lowest address.
liveness: A demonstration that the peer is actually participating in this instance of communication.
location configuration information (LCI): As defined in IETF RFC 3825: includes latitude, longitude, and altitude, with resolution indicators for each.
location subject local: The term used when a location request is for the location of the requesting STA. For example when the requesting STA asks, "Where am I?"
location subject remote: The terms used when a location request is for the location of the reporting STA. For example when the requesting STA asks, "Where are you?"
location subject third party: The term used when the location request is for the location of a station (STA) other than the requesting STA or the requested STA. For example when the requesting STA asks, "Where is he/she?"
master session key (MSK): Keying material that is derived between the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) peer and exported by the EAP method to the Authentication Service (AS). Note that in this standard, this key is at least 64 octets in length.
medium access control (MAC) management protocol data unit (MMPDU): The unit of data exchanged between two peer MAC entities, using services of the physical layer (PHY), to implement the MAC management protocol.
medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU): The unit of data exchanged between two peer MAC entities using the services of the physical layer (PHY). Also known as frame.
medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU): Information that is delivered as a unit between MAC service access points (SAPs).
mesh basic service set (MBSS): A basic service set (BSS) that forms a self-contained network of mesh stations (STAs) that use the same mesh profile. An MBSS contains zero or more mesh gates, and can be formed from mesh STAs that are not in direct communication.
mesh facility: The set of enhanced functions, channel access rules, frame formats, mutual authentication methods, and managed objects used to provide transfer among autonomously operating stations (STAs) that might not be in direct communication with each other over a single instance of the wireless medium. Communication between STAs using the mesh facility takes place using only the wireless medium. The mesh facility transports an MSDU between source and destination STAs over potentially multiple hops of the wireless medium without transiting the MAC_SAP at intermediate STAs.
mesh gate: Any entity that has mesh station (STA) functionality and provides access to one or more distribution systems, via the wireless medium (WM) for the mesh basic service set (MBSS).
mesh link: A link from one mesh station (STA) to a neighbor mesh STA that have a mesh peering with each other.
mesh neighborhood: The set of all neighbor mesh stations (STAs) relative to a particular mesh STA.
mesh path: A concatenated set of mesh links from a source mesh station (STA) to a destination mesh STA.
mesh path selection: The process of selecting a mesh path.
mesh peer service period (MPSP): A contiguous period of time during which one or more individually addressed frames are transmitted between two peer mesh stations (STAs) with at least one of those mesh STAs operating in light sleep or deep sleep mode. A mesh peer service period is directional and may contain one or more transmission opportunities (TXOPs). A mesh STA may have multiple mesh peer service periods ongoing in parallel. No more than one mesh peer service period may be set up in each direction with each peer mesh STA.
mesh peer service period (MPSP) owner: A mesh station (STA) that obtains transmission opportunities (TXOPs), transmits individually addressed frames to the recipient mesh STA in the mesh peer service period, and terminates the mesh peer service period.
mesh peering: A relationship between two mesh stations (STAs) that is required for direct communication over a single instance of the wireless medium (WM). A mesh peering is established with a mesh peering protocol.
mesh peering management: A group of protocols to facilitate the mesh peering establishment and closure of the mesh peerings.
mesh power mode: The activity level identifier of a mesh station (STA) set per mesh peering or for nonpeer neighbor STAs. A lower activity level enables a mesh STA to reduce its power consumption.
mesh power mode tracking: Operation to observe the peering-specific mesh power modes from the peer mesh STAs and to maintain the peering-specific mesh power modes for each peer mesh STA.
mesh profile: A set of values of parameters that identifies the attributes of the mesh basic service set (MBSS) and that is used in a single mesh BSS. The mesh profile consists of the identifiers that are the values for the parameters: mesh ID, active path selection protocol, active path selection metric, congestion control mode, synchronization method, and authentication protocol.
mesh services: The set of services that enable the creation and operation of a mesh basic service set (MBSS).
mesh station (STA): A quality-of-service (QoS) STA that implements the mesh facility.
message integrity code (MIC): A value generated by a cryptographic function. If the input data are changed, a new value cannot be correctly computed without knowledge of the cryptographic key(s) used by the cryptographic function. Note that this is traditionally called a message authentication code (MAC), but the acronym MAC is already reserved for another meaning in this standard.
mobile station (STA): A type of STA that uses network communications while in motion.
mobility domain: A set of basic service sets (BSSs), within the same extended service set (ESS), that support fast BSS transitions between themselves and that are identified by the set's mobility domain identifier (MDID).
mobility domain identifier (MDID): An identifier that names a mobility domain.
multi-level precedence and preemption (MLPP): A framework used with admission control for the treatment of traffic streams based on precedence, which supports the preemption of an active traffic stream by a higher precedence traffic stream when resources are limited. Preemption is the act of forcibly removing a traffic stream in progress in order to free up resources for another higher precedence traffic stream.
multicast: See group addressed
multicast address: See group address
multicast-group address: A medium access control (MAC) address associated by higher level convention with a group of logically related stations (STAs).
multiple BSSID capability: The capability to advertise information for multiple basic service set identifiers (BSSIDs) using a single Beacon or Probe Response frame instead of using multiple Beacon or Probe Response frames, each corresponding to a single BSSID, and the capability to indicate buffered frames for these multiple BSSIDs using a single traffic indication map (TIM) element in a single Beacon.
multiple input, multiple output (MIMO): A physical layer (PHY) configuration in which both transmitter and receiver use multiple antennas.
neighbor access point (AP): Any AP that is a potential service set transition candidate.
neighbor station (STA): A STA in the following relationship: STA A is a neighbor to STA B if STA A can both directly transmit to and receive from STA B over the wireless medium.
network access identifier (NAI): The user identity submitted by the Supplicant during IEEE 802.1X authentication. Note see IETF RFC 4282.
network access server (NAS) client: The client component of a NAS that communicates with the Authentication Server (AS).
network allocation vector (NAV): An indicator, maintained by each station (STA), of time periods when transmission onto the wireless medium (WM) is not initiated by the STA regardless of whether the STA's clear channel assessment (CCA) function senses that the WM is busy.
next-hop mesh station (STA): The next per mesh STA on the mesh path to the destination mesh STA.
nonce: A numerical value, used in cryptographic operations associated with a given cryptographic key, that is not to be reused with that key, including over all reinstallations of the system through all time.
non-access-point (non-AP) station (STA): A STA taht is not contained within an AP.
nonoperating channel: A channel that is not the operating channel of the basic service set (BSS) of which that station (STA) is a member.
nonpeer mesh power mode: The activity level identifier of a mesh station (STA) towards nonpeer neighbor mesh STAs. Two nonpeer mesh power modes are defined: active mode and deep sleep mode.
non-quality-of-service (non-QoS) access point (AP): An AP does not support the quality-of-service (QoS) facility.
non-quality-of-service (non-QoS) basic service set (BSS): A BSS that does not support the quality-of-service (QoS) facility.
non-quality-of-service (non-QoS) station (STA): A STA that does not support the quality-of-service (QoS) facility.
nontransmitted BSSSID: A basic service identifier (BSSID) corresponding to one of the basic service sets (BSSs) when the multiple BSSID capability is supported, where the BSSID is not announced explicitly but can be derived from the information encoded in the transmitted beacon frames.
null data packet (NDP): A physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) that carries no Data field.
off-channel: Channel that is not the base channel.
operating channel: The operating channel is the channel used by the serving AP of the BSS to transmit beacons. In an IBSS the operating channel is the channel used by the IBSS DFS owner to transmit beacons.
operating channel width: The channel width in which the station (STA) is currently able to receive.
overlapping basic service set (OBSS): A basic service set (BSS) operating on the same channel as the station's (STA's) BSS and within (either partly or wholly) its basic service area (BSA).
over-the-air fast basic service set (BSS) transition (FT): An FT method in which the station (STA) communicates over a WM link to the target access point (AP).
over-the-DS (distribution system) fast basic service set (BSS) transition (FT): An FT method in which the station (STA) communicates with the target access point (AP) via the current AP.
pairwise: Referring to, or an attribute of, two entities that are associated with each other like an access point (AP) and an associated station (STA), or two STAs in an independent basic service set (IBSS) network. This term is used to refer to a type of encryption key hierarchy pertaining to keys shared by only two entities.
pairwise master key (PMK): The key derived from a key generated by an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) method or obtained directly from a preshared key (PSK).
pairwise master key R0 (PMK-R0): The key at the first level of the fast basic service set (BSS) transition (FT) key hierarchy.
pairwise master key (PMK) R0 name (PMKR0Name): An identifier that names the PMK-R0.
pairwise master key (PMK) R0 key holder identifier (R0KH-ID): An identifier that names the holder of the PMK-R0 in the Authenticator.
pairwise master key R1 (PMK-R1): A key at the second level of the fast basic service set (BSS) transition (FT) key hierarchy.
pairwise master key (PMK) R1 name (PMKR1Name): An identifier that names a PMK-R1.
pairwise master key (PMK) R1 key holder identifier (R1KH-ID): An identifier that names the holder of a PMK-R1 in the Authenticator.
pairwise master key (PMK) S0 key holder identifier (S0KH-ID): An identifier that names the holder of the PMK-R0 in the Supplicant.
pairwise master key (PMK) S1 key holder identifier (SiKH-ID): An identifier that names the holder of the PMK-R1 in the Supplicant.
pairwise transient key (PTK): A concatenation of session keys derived from the pairwise master key (PMK) or from the PMK-R1. Its components include a key confirmation key (KCK), a key encryption key (KEK), and one or more temporal keys that are used to protect information exchanged over the link.
pairwise transient key (PTK) name (PTKName): An identifier that names the PTK.
parameterized quality of service (QoS): The treatment of the medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) depends on the parameters associated with the MPDU. Parameterized QoS is primarily provided through the hybrid coordination function (HCF) controlled channel access (HCCA) mechanism, but is also provided by the enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) mechanism when used with a traffic specification (TSPEC) for admission control.
pass-phase: A secret text string employed to corroborate the user's identity.
password: A shared, secret, and potentially low-entropy word, phrase, code, or key used as a credential for authentication purposes. Note the method of distribution of a password to the units in the system is outside the scope of the standard.
path metric: An aggregate multi-hop criterion used to characterize the performance, quality, and eligibility of a mesh path.
peer mesh station (STA):' A mesh STA to which a mesh peering has been established.
peer trigger frame: A Mesh Data or quality-of-service (QoS) Null frame that initiates a mesh peer service period.
peer-specific mesh power mode: The activity level identifier of a mesh station (STA) set per mesh peering. Three peer-specific mesh power modes are defined: active mode, light sleep mode, and deep sleep mode.
peer-to-peer link: A direct link within a quality-of-service (QoS) basic service set (BSS), a tunnelled direct-link setup (TDLS) link, or a STA-to-STA communication in an independent basic service set (IBSS).
PeerKey Handshake: A key management protocol composed of the station-to-station link (STSL) master key (SMK) Handshake and the 4-Way STSL transient key (STK) Handshake. This is used to create new SMK security associations (SMKSAs) and STK security associations (STKSAs) to secure the STSLs.
per-frame encryption key: A unique encryption key constructed for each medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU). Note that a per-frame encryption key is employed by some security protocols defined in this standard.
piggyback: The overloading of a data frame with an acknowledgement of a previously received medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) and/or a poll to the station (STA) to which the frame is directed.
point coordinator (PC): The entity within the STA in an AP that performs the point coordination function.
point coordination function (PCF): A class of possible coordination functions in which the coordination function logic is active in only one station (STA) in a basic service set (BSS) at any given time that the network is in operation.
portable station (STA): A type of station (STA) that might be moved from location to location, but that only uses network communications while at a fixed location.
portal: The logical point at which the integration service is provided.
precursor mesh station (STA): A neighbor peer mesh STA on the mesh path to the destination mesh STA, that identifies the mesh STA as the next-hop mesh STA.
preshared key (PSK): A static key that is distributed to the units in the system by some out-of-band means.
primary channel: The common channel of operation for all stations (STAs) that are members of the basic service set (BSS).
prioritized quality of service (QoS): The provisioning of service in which the medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) with higher priority are given a preferential treatment over MPDUs with a lower priority. Prioritized QoS is provided through the enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) mechanism.
protection mechanism: Any procedure that attempts to update the network allocation vector (NAV) of all receiving stations (STAs) prior to the transmission of a frame that might or might not be detected as valid network activity by the PHY entities at those receiving STAs.
protection mechanism frame: Any frame that is sent as part of a protection mechanism procedure.
protocol instance: An execution of a particular protocol that consists of the state of the communicating parties as well as the messages exchanged.
proxy mesh gate: A mesh gate acting as an intermediary for IEEE 802 stations (STAs) outside the mesh basic service set (MBSS).
pseudorandom function (PRF): A function that hashes various inputs to derive a pseudorandom value. In order to ensure liveness of a communication in which a pseudorandom value is used, a nonce is used as one of the inputs to the function.
public safety answering point (PSAP): A physical location where emergency calls are received and routed to the appropriate emergency service dispath center. See NENA 08-002 [B52].
quadrature binary phase shift keying (QBPSK): A binary phase shift keying modulation in which the binary data is mapped onto imaginary (Q) axis.