IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Overview and Architecture

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Introduction
(This introduction is not part of IEEE Std 802-2001®, IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks:
Overview and Architecture.)
IEEE Std 802-2001® provides an overview to the family of IEEE 802® Standards. It defines compliance
with the family of IEEE 802® Standards; it describes the relationship of the IEEE 802® Standards to the
Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model [ISO/IEC 7498-1: 1994] and explains the
relationship of these standards to higher layer protocols; it provides a standard for the structure of LAN
MAC addresses; and it provides a standard for the identification of public, private, and standard protocols.



Conformance test methodology
An additional standards series, identified by the number 1802™, has been established to identify the
conformance test methodology documents for the IEEE 802® family of standards. Thus the conformance
test documents for IEEE 802.3® are numbered 1802.3™, the conformance test documents for IEEE 802.5®
will be 1802.5™, and so on. Similarly, ISO will use 18802 to number conformance test standards for 8802
standards.



General
This document serves as the foundation for the family of IEEE 802® Standards published by IEEE for Local
Area Networks (LANs) and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). It contains descriptions of the networks
considered as well as a reference model (RM) for protocol standards. Compliance with the family of IEEE
802® Standards is defined, and a standard for the identification of public, private, and standard protocols is
included.

Key concepts
The LANs described herein are distinguished from other types of data networks in that they are optimized for
a moderate-sized geographic area, such as a single office building, a warehouse, or a campus. An IEEE 802®
LAN is a peer-to-peer communication network that enables stations to communicate directly on a
point-to-point, or point-to-multipoint, basis without requiring them to communicate with any intermediate
switching nodes. LAN communication takes place at moderate-to-high data rates, and with short transit
delays, on the order of a few milliseconds or less.