IEEE 802 is a family of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards for local area networks (LANs), personal area networks (PANs), and metropolitan area networks (MANs). The IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee (LMSC) maintains these standards. The IEEE 802 family of standards has had twenty-four members, numbered 802.1 through 802.24, with a working group of the LMSC devoted to each. However, not all of these working groups are currently active.
The IEEE 802 standards are restricted to computer networks carrying variable-size packets, unlike cell relay networks, for example, in which data is transmitted in short, uniformly sized units called cells. Isochronous signal networks, in which data is transmitted as a steady stream of octets, or groups of octets, at regular time intervals, are also outside the scope of the IEEE 802 standards.
The number 802 has no significance: it was simply the next number in the sequence that the IEEE used for standards projects.[1]
The services and protocols specified in IEEE 802 map to the lower two layers (data link and physical) of the seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) networking reference model. IEEE 802 divides the OSI data link layer into two sub-layers: logical link control (LLC) and medium access control (MAC), as follows:
Everything above LLC is explicitly out of scope for IEEE 802 (as "upper layer protocols", presumed to be parts of equally non-OSI Internet reference model).
The most widely used standards are for Ethernet, Bridging and Virtual Bridged LANs, Wireless LAN, Wireless PAN, Wireless MAN, Wireless Coexistence, Media Independent Handover Services, and Wireless RAN. [2]
| Name | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| IEEE 802.1 | Higher Layer LAN Protocols Working Group | Active |
| IEEE 802.2 | LLC | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.3 | Ethernet | Active[3] |
| IEEE 802.4 | Token bus | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.5 | Token Ring MAC layer | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.6 | MANs (DQDB) | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.7 | Broadband LAN using Coaxial Cable | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.8 | Fiber Optic TAG | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.9 | Integrated Services LAN (ISLAN or isoEthernet) | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.10 | Interoperable LAN Security | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.11 | Wireless LAN (WLAN) & Mesh (Wi-Fi certification) | Active |
| IEEE 802.12 | 100BaseVG | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.13 | Unused[4] | Reserved for Fast Ethernet development[5] |
| IEEE 802.14 | Cable modems | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.15 | Wireless PAN | Active |
| IEEE 802.15.1 | Bluetooth certification | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.15.2 | IEEE 802.15 and IEEE 802.11 coexistence | Hibernating[6] |
| IEEE 802.15.3 | High-Rate wireless PAN (e.g., UWB, etc.) | ? |
| IEEE 802.15.4 | Low-Rate wireless PAN (e.g., Zigbee, WirelessHART, MiWi, etc.) | Active |
| IEEE 802.15.5 | Mesh networking for WPAN | ? |
| IEEE 802.15.6 | Body area network | Active |
| IEEE 802.15.7 | Visible light communications | ? |
| IEEE 802.16 | Broadband Wireless Access (WiMAX certification) | Hibernating |
| IEEE 802.16.1 | Local Multipoint Distribution Service | Hibernating |
| IEEE 802.16.2 | Coexistence wireless access | Hibernating |
| IEEE 802.17 | Resilient packet ring | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.18 | Radio Regulatory TAG | Active |
| IEEE 802.19 | Wireless Coexistence Working Group | Active |
| IEEE 802.20 | Mobile Broadband Wireless Access | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.21 | Media Independent Handoff | Hibernating |
| IEEE 802.22 | Wireless Regional Area Network | Hibernating |
| IEEE 802.23 | Emergency Services Working Group | Disbanded |
| IEEE 802.24 | Vertical Applications TAG | ? |
