1.3.2 ACCESS POINT
An access point is a station that transmits and receives data (sometimes referred to as a transceiver). An access point connects users to other users within the network and also can serve as the point of interconnection between the WLAN and a fixed wire network. Each access point can serve multiple users within a defined network area; as people move beyond the range of one access point, they are automatically handed over to the next one. A small WLAN may only require a single access point; the number required increases as a function of the number of network users and the physical size of the network.
Typical corporate use involves attaching several WAPs (Wireless Access Point) to a wired network and then providing wireless…show more content… In the traditional circuit-switched telephone network, one or more switches are used to set up a dedicated though temporary connection or circuit for an exchange between two or more parties. On an Ethernet local area network (LAN), a switch determines from the physical device (Media Access Control or MAC) address in each incoming message frame which output port to forward it to and out of. In a wide area packet-switched network such as the Internet, a switch determines from the IP address in each packet which output port to use for the next part of its trip to the intended…show more content… It does these using internal pre-configured directives, called static routes, or by learning routes using a dynamic routing protocol. Static and dynamic routes are stored in the Routing Information Base (RIB). The control-plane logic then strips the RIB from non-essential directives and builds a Forwarding Information Base (FIB) to be used by the forwarding-plane.
• Forwarding plane: The router forwards data packets between incoming and outgoing interface connections. It routes them to the correct network type using information that the packet header contains. It uses data recorded in the routing table control plane.
Routers may provide connectivity within enterprises, between enterprises and the Internet, or between internet service providers (ISPs) networks. The largest routers (such as the Cisco CRS-1 or Juniper T1600) interconnect the various ISPs, or may be used in large enterprise networks. Smaller routers usually provide connectivity for typical home and office networks. Other networking solutions may be provided by a backbone Wireless Distribution System (WDS), which avoids the costs of introducing networking cables into
