I

IAPP

InterAP Protocol. A protocol being developed to support interoperability, mobility, handover, and coordination among APs in a WLAN. IAPP enables APs to communicate with one another.

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. An international organization of professionals whose activities include the development of communication and network standards. IEEE LAN standards are the predominant LAN standards today; this includes the wireless LAN standards.

IETF

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is an international organization dedicated to the development of the Internet through technical recommendations and specifications. It is not responsible for the establishment of standards, but it is the principal body for the development of specifications, many of which are later adopted as standards.

infrastructure network

Refers to an 802.11 framework in which communication takes place via an access point. In infrastructure mode, wireless devices use the AP to communicate with each other and with devices on a wired network. Most corporate WLANs operate in infrastructure mode to access the wired LAN.

initialization vector

See IV.

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

See IEEE.

interference

In wireless terms, the RF effects that occur when other signals, usually in the same frequency range, inhibit or negatively affect the reception of the originally desired signal.

Internet Engineering Task Force

See IETF.

IPsec

IP Security. IPsec is a security protocol defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that provides authentication and encryption over the Internet. IPsec is generally used to create VPNs.

ISO

International Organization for Standardization. An international organization of national standards bodies from many countries.

IV

Initialization vector. In encryption, random data used to make a message unique. The IV is usually a block of bits that is used to "scramble" the data you want to encrypt. WEP uses a 24-bit IV value.