Wireless network interface controller: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:38, 19 December 2020

Revision as of 21:56, 19 December 2020

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A '''wireless network interface controller''' ('''WNIC''') is a [[network interface controller]] which connects to a [[wireless network]], such as [[Wi-Fi]] or [[Bluetooth]], rather than a wired network, such as a [[Token Ring]] or [[Ethernet]]. A WNIC, just like other NICs, works on the layers 1 and 2 of the [[OSI model]] and uses an [[antenna (radio)|antenna]] to communicate via [[radio wave]]s.

TheA Wirelesswireless network interface controller may be implemented as an [[expansion card]] and connected using [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] bus or [[PCIe]] bus; or connected via [[USB]], [[PC Card]], [[ExpressCard]], [[Mini PCIe]] or [[M.2]].

The low cost and ubiquity of the [[Wi-Fi]] standard means that many newer mobile computers have a wireless network interface built into the [[motherboard]].

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{{Main|Comparison of open-source wireless drivers}}

In an 802.11 WNIC, the ''MAC Sublayer Management Entity'' (MLME) can be implemented either in the NIC's hardware or firmware, or in host-based software that is executed on the main CPU. A WNIC that implements the MLME function in hardware or firmware is called a ''FullMAC'' WNIC or a ''HardMAC'' NIC<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/developers/documentation/glossary#fullmac|title=Linux Wireless glossary|at=Definition of FullMAC|access-dateaccessdate=23 July 2020}}</ref> and a NIC that implements it in host software is called a ''SoftMAC'' NIC.<ref name="glossary-softmac">{{cite web|url=https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/developers/documentation/glossary#softmac|title=Linux Wireless glossary|at=Definition of SoftMAC|access-dateaccessdate=23 July 2020}}</ref>

A FullMAC device hides the complexity of the 802.11 protocol from the main CPU, instead providing an [[802.3]] (Ethernet) interface; a SoftMAC design implements only the timing-critical part of the protocol in hardware/firmware and the rest on the host.<ref name="Pathan2010">{{cite book|author=Al-Sakib Khan Pathan|title=Security of Self-Organizing Networks: MANET, WSN, WMN, VANET|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtBnZoijaDcC&pg=PA28|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-4398-1919-7|page=28}}</ref>

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[[Linux kernel]]'s ''mac80211'' framework provides capabilities for SoftMAC devices and additional capabilities (such as mesh networking, which is known as the [[IEEE 802.11s]] standard) for devices with limited functionality.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wireless.kernel.org/en/developers/Documentation/mac80211 |title=mac80211 documentation |work=[[kernel.org]]}}</ref><ref name="glossary-softmac"/>

[[FreeBSD]] also supports SoftMAC drivers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unix.com/man-page/FreeBSD/4/upgt/|title=FreeBSD 11.0 - man page for upgt (freebsd section 4) - Unix & Linux Commands|access-datepublisher=|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>

== See also ==