B&B Electronics ESR901WB - Manual - Manual (Page 14)

Introduction
Manual Documentation Number: ESR901WB-2907m pn6870-rev002
B&B Electronics Mfg Co Inc – 707 Dayton Rd - PO Box 1040 - Ottawa IL 61350 - Ph 815-433-5100 - Fax 815-433-5104 – www.bb-elec.com
B&B Electronics Ltd – Westlink Commercial Park – Oranmore, Galway, Ireland – Ph +353 91-792444 – Fax +353 91-792445 – www.bb-europe.com
4 Chapter 1
802.11 Wireless Networking Basics
ESR901WB wireless serial servers allow you to connect non-network-
enabled serial devices into a wireless network, giving you the capability to
gather more data and implement remote programming and management.
Serial devices no longer are limited to a physical connection to a PC. The
serial device can be connected to an ESR901WB wireless serial server
anywhere within range of an 802.11b-compatible wireless access point.
Communication occurs transparently using TCP/IP or UDP/IP over a
wireless link. This allows traditional Windows PC software access to serial
devices anywhere on the wireless network.
The enabling technology for ESR901WB wireless serial servers is based on
the IEEE 802 standard. Some background on the standard follows.
802.11 Wireless Networking
IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards that defines how multiple devices can
communicate on a wireless network. The standard has grown into a set of
several standards that define various features and functions. The 802.11b
standard defines the physical and data link layers for a wireless network
using the 2.4 GHz frequency band, a band that does not require licensing. As
a part of the IEEE family of standards, 802.11 WLANs are easily connected
to 802.3 (Ethernet) LANs. Higher layer LAN protocols, network operating
systems and internetworking protocols such as TCP/IP integrate seamlessly.
Under the IEEE 802.11 standard there can be two different types of devices
on the wireless network: stations and access points (AP). A station may be a
PC equipped with a wireless network adapter or it can be a wireless serial
server such as the ESR901WB. An 802.11 access point is a radio with an
interface that allows connection to a wired LAN. Access points run bridging
software to facilitate the connection from wireless to wired network. The
access point becomes the base station for the WLAN. It aggregates access to
the wired network for multiple wireless stations. An access point may be a
standalone device, such as a wireless router or switch, or a card in a PC.