CWDP Cramberry Cards | Certified Wireless Design Professional | Complete Exam Review & Key Concepts
802.1X A port-based access control standard, 802.1X provides an authorization
framework that allows or disallows traffic to pass through a port and thereby
access network resources. An 802.1X framework may be implemented in either
a wireless or a wired environment. The three main components of an 802.1X
framework are the supplicant, the authenticator, and the authentication server.
802.1X/EAP A term used to specify an 802.1X authentication using an EAP authentication
protocol.
802.1X supplicant There are three roles in the 802.1X process: supplicant, authenticator, and
authentication server. The supplicant is the 802.1X software agent residing on
the device wishing to authenticate using the 802.1X protocol.
802.11 authentication The service used to establish the identity of one station (STA) as a member of
the set of STAs authorized to associate with another STA.
802.11e An amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard that defined QoS
enhancements. 802.11e was integrated into 802.11-2007.
802.11i An amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard that specifies enhanced
security mechanisms. 802.11i was integrated into 802.11-2007.
802.11r-2008 An amendment to the 802.11-2007 standard that specifies roaming
enhancements.
802.1D An IEEE standard, part of the 802.1 family, that defines MAC bridging.
802.1P An IEEE standard that defines a 3-bit priority code point (PCP) user priority
(UP) value for QoS support within the 802.1D bridging framework. 802.1p has
been rolled into the 802.1Q standard and is a legacy term, but is still commonly
used to refer to OSI Layer 2 QoS markings.
AAA Authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) is a security concept
involved in proving the identity of supplicants, granting them authorization to
network resources, and properly accounting for their activities. The term AAA
server is often referred to as the authentication server in the 802.1X process.
AAA client An AAA client is a RADIUS or authentication server term for each configured
authenticator that is allowed to request authentications for supplicants.
acceptable use policy (AUP) An AUP is a legal document that is provided by the operator of a network that
outlines the restrictions that a user of the network must abide by.
access category (AC) A label for a set of contention parameters used by QoS stations to contend for
prioritized access to the wireless medium.
,CWDP Cramberry Cards | Certified Wireless Design Professional | Complete Exam Review & Key Concepts
access control gateways Devices that are commonly used in guest networks that force users to a captive
portal (web page) to perform a set of actions that may eventually result in
access to the network. Until access control is granted to guest users, all traffic
is usually completely restricted to only the access control gateway itself. While
these devices may perform many different functions, they are referred to in this
book as the device that performs at least this basic function.
access controller (AC) The network entity in the centralized WLAN architecture that provides wireless
termination points (WTPs) with access to the centralized hierarchical network
infrastructure in the data plane, control plane, management plane, or a
combination therein.
Accounting Involves tracking the use of network resources by users. Accounting is an
important aspect of network security, and is employed to keep a paper trail of
who used what resource, when, and where.
active discovery The process used by 802.11 stations (STAs) to discover available access points
and SSIDs by actively transmitting probe requests.
root mesh node A mesh node with a direct backhaul connection.
active survey A survey that is performed while maintaining a full 802.11-based association (bi-
directional communication) to an AP.
adjacent channel interference Interference caused by power from a signal on an adjacent channel.
admission control A network requirement where admittance of new client or application sessions
must be approved by an algorithm that measures the availability and usage of
network resources.
AES-CCMP The default encryption method defined under the 802.11i amendment. This
method uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher. It uses a 128-bit
encryption key size and encrypts in 128-bit fixed-length blocks. An 8-byte
message integrity check (MIC) is used that is considered much stronger than
the one used with Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). AES-CCMP is the
default encryption method defined by Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2).
aggregated MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) A Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) structure containing multiple
MPDUs that can reach a length of 64 kilobytes as compared to the legacy
frame size limit of 2,304 bytes.
aggregated MAC service data unit (A-MSDU) An MPDU structure containing multiple MAC service data units that can reach a
length of 7,935 bytes
AIFS The interframe space used by QoS stations attempting to access the WLAN
medium for data frame transmissions.
, CWDP Cramberry Cards | Certified Wireless Design Professional | Complete Exam Review & Key Concepts
airtime fairness A proprietary frame queuing and scheduling feature designed to supplement
standardized QoS by regulating and fairly distributing client device airtime
usage.
airtime scheduling An algorithm that determines the order in which data frames are given access
to system resources.
amplifier saturation An amplifier will provide linear gain up to a well-defined power limit. Above
that limit, increasing the input power will not produce more output power. The
input power at which the amplifier starts to decrease its gain is the point where
the amplifier starts to go into saturation.
antenna diversity Antenna diversity incorporates the use of more than one antenna element for
single-input, single-output (SISO) clients. Antenna diversity helps to mitigate
the negative effects of multipath interference.
application-specific device (ASD) A hardware device designed for a single application; usually runs a proprietary
operating system.
Arbitration The process a transmitter uses to gain controller over the wireless medium.
Association After a station has authenticated with the access point, the next step is for it to
associate with the access point. When a client station associates, it becomes a
member of the Basic Service Set (BSS). Association means that the client station
can send data through the access point and exchange data with the
distribution system medium.
asymmetric key encryption The encryption method that is used with public key infrastructure (PKI) systems
and means that the encryption key that is used to encrypt a message (public
key) is different from the one that must be used to decrypt the message
(private key).
EAP-MD5 A legacy EAP type that uses one-way authentication and is susceptible to
offline dictionary attacks.
attribute-value pairs (AVPs) AVPs are data values that are often used in RADIUS communications. AVPs are
used to dynamically assign WLAN users to roles, VLANs, and a variety of other
attributes resulting from client authentications
authentication The verification of user identity and credentials. Users must identify themselves
and present credentials, such as usernames and passwords or digital
certificates. More secure authentication systems exist that require multifactor
authentication where at least two sets of different credentials must be
presented
802.1X A port-based access control standard, 802.1X provides an authorization
framework that allows or disallows traffic to pass through a port and thereby
access network resources. An 802.1X framework may be implemented in either
a wireless or a wired environment. The three main components of an 802.1X
framework are the supplicant, the authenticator, and the authentication server.
802.1X/EAP A term used to specify an 802.1X authentication using an EAP authentication
protocol.
802.1X supplicant There are three roles in the 802.1X process: supplicant, authenticator, and
authentication server. The supplicant is the 802.1X software agent residing on
the device wishing to authenticate using the 802.1X protocol.
802.11 authentication The service used to establish the identity of one station (STA) as a member of
the set of STAs authorized to associate with another STA.
802.11e An amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard that defined QoS
enhancements. 802.11e was integrated into 802.11-2007.
802.11i An amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard that specifies enhanced
security mechanisms. 802.11i was integrated into 802.11-2007.
802.11r-2008 An amendment to the 802.11-2007 standard that specifies roaming
enhancements.
802.1D An IEEE standard, part of the 802.1 family, that defines MAC bridging.
802.1P An IEEE standard that defines a 3-bit priority code point (PCP) user priority
(UP) value for QoS support within the 802.1D bridging framework. 802.1p has
been rolled into the 802.1Q standard and is a legacy term, but is still commonly
used to refer to OSI Layer 2 QoS markings.
AAA Authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) is a security concept
involved in proving the identity of supplicants, granting them authorization to
network resources, and properly accounting for their activities. The term AAA
server is often referred to as the authentication server in the 802.1X process.
AAA client An AAA client is a RADIUS or authentication server term for each configured
authenticator that is allowed to request authentications for supplicants.
acceptable use policy (AUP) An AUP is a legal document that is provided by the operator of a network that
outlines the restrictions that a user of the network must abide by.
access category (AC) A label for a set of contention parameters used by QoS stations to contend for
prioritized access to the wireless medium.
,CWDP Cramberry Cards | Certified Wireless Design Professional | Complete Exam Review & Key Concepts
access control gateways Devices that are commonly used in guest networks that force users to a captive
portal (web page) to perform a set of actions that may eventually result in
access to the network. Until access control is granted to guest users, all traffic
is usually completely restricted to only the access control gateway itself. While
these devices may perform many different functions, they are referred to in this
book as the device that performs at least this basic function.
access controller (AC) The network entity in the centralized WLAN architecture that provides wireless
termination points (WTPs) with access to the centralized hierarchical network
infrastructure in the data plane, control plane, management plane, or a
combination therein.
Accounting Involves tracking the use of network resources by users. Accounting is an
important aspect of network security, and is employed to keep a paper trail of
who used what resource, when, and where.
active discovery The process used by 802.11 stations (STAs) to discover available access points
and SSIDs by actively transmitting probe requests.
root mesh node A mesh node with a direct backhaul connection.
active survey A survey that is performed while maintaining a full 802.11-based association (bi-
directional communication) to an AP.
adjacent channel interference Interference caused by power from a signal on an adjacent channel.
admission control A network requirement where admittance of new client or application sessions
must be approved by an algorithm that measures the availability and usage of
network resources.
AES-CCMP The default encryption method defined under the 802.11i amendment. This
method uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher. It uses a 128-bit
encryption key size and encrypts in 128-bit fixed-length blocks. An 8-byte
message integrity check (MIC) is used that is considered much stronger than
the one used with Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). AES-CCMP is the
default encryption method defined by Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2).
aggregated MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) A Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) structure containing multiple
MPDUs that can reach a length of 64 kilobytes as compared to the legacy
frame size limit of 2,304 bytes.
aggregated MAC service data unit (A-MSDU) An MPDU structure containing multiple MAC service data units that can reach a
length of 7,935 bytes
AIFS The interframe space used by QoS stations attempting to access the WLAN
medium for data frame transmissions.
, CWDP Cramberry Cards | Certified Wireless Design Professional | Complete Exam Review & Key Concepts
airtime fairness A proprietary frame queuing and scheduling feature designed to supplement
standardized QoS by regulating and fairly distributing client device airtime
usage.
airtime scheduling An algorithm that determines the order in which data frames are given access
to system resources.
amplifier saturation An amplifier will provide linear gain up to a well-defined power limit. Above
that limit, increasing the input power will not produce more output power. The
input power at which the amplifier starts to decrease its gain is the point where
the amplifier starts to go into saturation.
antenna diversity Antenna diversity incorporates the use of more than one antenna element for
single-input, single-output (SISO) clients. Antenna diversity helps to mitigate
the negative effects of multipath interference.
application-specific device (ASD) A hardware device designed for a single application; usually runs a proprietary
operating system.
Arbitration The process a transmitter uses to gain controller over the wireless medium.
Association After a station has authenticated with the access point, the next step is for it to
associate with the access point. When a client station associates, it becomes a
member of the Basic Service Set (BSS). Association means that the client station
can send data through the access point and exchange data with the
distribution system medium.
asymmetric key encryption The encryption method that is used with public key infrastructure (PKI) systems
and means that the encryption key that is used to encrypt a message (public
key) is different from the one that must be used to decrypt the message
(private key).
EAP-MD5 A legacy EAP type that uses one-way authentication and is susceptible to
offline dictionary attacks.
attribute-value pairs (AVPs) AVPs are data values that are often used in RADIUS communications. AVPs are
used to dynamically assign WLAN users to roles, VLANs, and a variety of other
attributes resulting from client authentications
authentication The verification of user identity and credentials. Users must identify themselves
and present credentials, such as usernames and passwords or digital
certificates. More secure authentication systems exist that require multifactor
authentication where at least two sets of different credentials must be
presented
