802.11 A set of protocols for wireless communication. The 802.11 protocols occupy the Network Access layer of the TCP/IP stack, which is equivalent to the OSI Data Link and Physical layers.
access point A device that serves as a connecting point from a wireless network to a conventional network. An access point typically acts as a network bridge, forwarding frames to and from a wireless network to a conventional Ethernet network.
associate A procedure in which a wireless device registers its affiliation with a nearby access point.
Bluetooth A protocol architecture for wireless appliances and devices in very close proximity.
Independent Basic Service Set A wireless network consisting of two or more devices communicating with each other directly.
Infrastructure Basic Service Set A wireless network in which the wireless devices communicate through one or more access points connected to a conventional network.
open authentication An authentication technique in which the device must supply a preconfigured string known as the Service Set Identifier (SSID) to access the network.
RC4 A stream encryption algorithm commonly used for network transmissions. RC4 is the encryption algorithm used in WEP.
reassociate The procedure in which a wireless device changes its affiliation from one access point to another.
shared key authentication An authentication technique in which the device must prove its knowledge of a secret key.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) A standard for security on 802.11 wireless networks.
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) An upper-layer protocol stack for wireless devices.
Wireless Markup Language (WML) A scaled-down form of XML used in conjunction with the WAP protocols.
WAP Session Protocol (WSP) The WAP equivalent of HTTP. WSP provides a system for exchanging data between applications.
WAP Transaction Protocol (WTP) A WAP protocol that provides handshake and acknowledgement services to initiate and confirm WAP transactions.
WAP Transaction Layer Security (WTLS) A WAP security protocol modeled on SSL (see Hour 20).
WAP Datagram Transport Protocol (WDP) A WAP connectionless Transport layer protocol modeled on UDP (see Hour 6).
