Terms we use throughout the wiki with which you should become familiar.
.. glossary::
AP
Access Point.
BSS
BSS stands for *Basic Service Set*. The coverage of an access point is called a BSS.
cfg80211
Kernel side of configuration management for wireless devices.
:term:`nl80211` is the User-space side of configuration management for
wireless devices. Works together with :term:`FullMAC` drivers and also
with :term:`mac80211`-based drivers.
CLI
CLI stands for `Command-line interface
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command-line_interface>`__. These
are utilities you can run in the console or terminal emulator.
FullMAC
FullMAC is a term used to describe a type of wireless card where
the :term:`MLME` is managed in hardware. You would **not** use
:term:`mac80211` to write a :term:`FullMAC` wireless driver.
git-describe
git-describe is a git command. It outputs something like this::
v3.12-11297-g6579946
The first part is the *tag* for the current release. The second
part is the number of patches which have been applied since the tag
was applied. The last part, after the first *g* is the SHA1 commit
ID of the last commit applied.
IBSS
IBSS stands for *Independent Basic Service Set*. It's basically
Ad-Hoc mode. See `Independent Basic Service Set
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Basic_Service_Set>`__
Information Element
An Information Element (IE) is a part of management frames in the
IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN protocol. IEs are a device's way to
transfer descriptive information about itself inside management
frames. There are usually several IEs inside each such frame, and
each is built of `Type-length-value <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type-length-value>`__ (TLVs).
The common structure of an IE is as follows::
| 1 | 1 | 1-255 |
+-------+--------+-----------------+
| Type | Length | Data |
+-------+--------+-----------------+
Whereas the vendor specific IE looks like this::
| 1 | 1 | 4 | 1-251 |
+-------+--------+-------------------+------------+
| 221 | Length | OUI | Data |
+-------+--------+-------------------+------------+
iw
:doc:`iw <../../users/documentation/iw>` is a new :term:`nl80211`
based :term:`CLI` configuration utility for wireless devices.
nl80211
User-space side of configuration management for wireless devices.
It is a Netlink-based user-space protocol. :term:`cfg80211` is Kernel
side of configuration management for wireless devices.
:doc:`Several user-space applications <../../users/documentation>`
are available which utilize :term:`nl80211`. See :doc:`Developer
Docs for nl80211 <nl80211>`.
mac80211
A driver API for SoftMAC wireless cards. See :doc:`Developer Docs
for mac80211 <mac80211>`.
See also :term:`SoftMAC`.
MLME
MLME Stands for *Media Access Control (MAC) Sublayer Management
Entity*. MLME is the management entity where the Physical layer
(PHY) MAC state machines reside. Examples of states a MLME may
assist in reaching:
- Authenticate
- Deauthenticate
- Associate
- Disassociate
- Reassociate
- Beacon
- Probe
:term:`mac80211`'s MLME management implementation is currently
handled by ``net/mac80211/mlme.c``. This handles only the
client-side MLME.
PHY
physical-layer controller
SME
Station Management Entity, often prepended with AP (Access Point)
SoftMAC
SoftMAC is a term used to describe a type of WNIC where the
:term:`MLME` is expected to be managed in software.
:term:`mac80211` is a driver API for SoftMAC WNIC, for example.
SSID
SSID stands for *Service Set IDentifier*. The SSID is a code
attached to all packets on a wireless network to identify each
packet as part of that network. The code consists of a string of
1-32 octets (usually represented as case sensitive alphanumeric
characters).
See also `SSID <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_set_(802.11_network)>`__
STA
*Station* (or *STA*) is the generic term for a device with a radio
that can communicate with other *stations* in a wireless network.
Common forms of a *station* are access points (AP), computers, or
phones.
See also `Station\_(networking)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Station_(networking)>`__ or
`Wireless access point
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_access_point>`__.
WE
WE stands for :doc:`Wireless-Extensions <wireless-extensions>` -
the old driver API and user <--> kernel communication transport.
Obsoleted by :term:`cfg80211`
WEXT
WEXT stands for :doc:`Wireless-Extensions <wireless-extensions>` -
the old driver API and user <--> kernel communication transport.
Obsoleted by :term:`cfg80211`
WIPHY
Wireless :term:`PHY`