This article outlines the complete list of 802.11 standards and amendments and is updated as developments are made. As each 802.11 standard is updated by the IEEE, the previous iterations and any amendments that exist at the time are revised and incorporated into a single document. Published standards are listed below in the order that they were ratified, while amendments still in a draft state are listed in the order that the task group was formed.
- Who is the IEEE?
- Current Standards and Ratified Amendments
- 802.11-1997
- 802.11-1999
- 802.11b-1999
- 802.11a-1999
- 802.11d-2001
- 802.11-1999 (R2003)
- 802.11g-2003
- 802.11h-2003
- 802.11i-2004
- 802.11j-2004
- 802.11e-2005
- 802.11-2007
- 802.11k-2008
- 802.11r-2008
- 802.11y-2008
- 802.11n-2009
- 802.11w-2009
- 802.11p-2010
- 802.11z-2010
- 802.11v-2011
- 802.11u-2011
- 802.11s-2011
- 802.11-2012
- 802.11ae-2012
- 802.11aa-2012
- 802.11ad-2012
- 802.11ac-2013
- 802.11af-2014
- 802.11-2016
- 802.11ah-2016
- 802.11ai-2016
- 802.11aj-2018
- 802.11ak-2018
- 802.11aq-2018
- 802.11-2020
- 802.11ax-2021
- 802.11ay-2021
- 802.11ba-2021
- Draft Amendments
- Withdrawn and Transferred Standards
Who is the IEEE?
The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) defines itself as “the world’s largest technical professional society – promoting the development and application of electrotechnology and allied sciences for the benefit of humanity, the advancement of the profession, and the well-being of our members.” The IEEE is responsible for developing and maintaining more than 1200 technology and communication standards including 802.11 – The standard for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) communications.
Current Standards and Ratified Amendments
The following standards and amendments have been consolidated in to the current 802.11 standard document, or will be consolidated in to the next iteration of the standard.
802.11-1997
Title: IEEE Standard for Wireless LAN Medium Access Control MAC and Physical Layer PHY Specifications
Date Approved: June 1997
AKA: 802.11 Prime, 802.11 Legacy Mode
Status: Superseded by 802.11-1999
Description: The very first 802.11 standard specifying Wi-Fi technologies at the Physical (PHY), and MAC sublayer of the Data-Link layer within the OSI model. It allowed for three physical layer technologies: Infrared at 1 Mbps data rates, Frequency-Hopping Spread-Spectrum (FHSS) at 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps data rates, and Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum (DSSS) at 1 MBps and 2 Mbps data rates. FHSS and DSSS made use of the unlicensed 2.4 GHz frequency Industrial Scientific Medical (ISM) frequency band. DSSS allowed for up to fourteen 22 MHz wide channels (three non-overlapping), while FHSS used seventy-nine non-overlapping 1 MHz wide channels. 802.11 was originally written for compliance in the United States, Japan, Canada, and Europe only.
802.11-1999
Title: Part II Wireless LAN Medium Access Control MAC and Physical Layer PHY Specifications
Date Approved: March 1999
Status: Superseded by 802.11-1999 (R2003)
Description: A minor Revision of the original 802.11-1997 standard. Management Information Base (MIB) and many redundant management items were removed. Many minor modifications were made throughout the document.
802.11b-1999
Title: Higher Speed PHY Extension in the 2.4 GHz Band
Date Approved: September 1999
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007
AKA: Wi-Fi 1
Description: An amendment to 802.11-1999 introducing data rates of 5.5 Mbps and 11 Mbps by utilising Complementary Code Keying (CCK) or Packet Binary Convolutional Coding (PBCC). These data rates are known as High-Rate Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum (HR-DSSS). 802.11b devices are only backward compatible with 802.11 devices that utilise DSSS due to the same preamble and header used in both systems. The standard was updated in 2001 to include support for higher rate Physical (PHY) layer operations in the 2.4 GHz band.
802.11a-1999
Title: Higher Speed PHY Extension in the 5 GHz Band
Date Approved: September 1999
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007b
AKA: Wi-Fi 2
Description: An amendment to 802.11-1999 allowing for data rates up to 54 Mbps in the 5 GHz ISM band by utilising Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). 802.11a specified twelve non-overlapping 20 Mhz wide channels in the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) frequency bands.
802.11d-2001
Title: Operation in Additional Regulatory Domains
Date Approved: June 2001
Type: Amendment to 802.11-1999
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007
AKA: World Mode, Country Information
Description: An amendment to 802.11-1999 introducing transmit power and frequency compliance for regulatory domains not specified in the original 802.11 standard. It includes the addition of a country information element to beacons, probe requests, and probe responses. This allows client devices to configure its operating parameters and meet the regulations enforced in different parts of the world.
802.11-1999 (R2003)
Title: IEEE Std 802.11-1999 (R2003)
Date Approved: June 2003
Status: Superseded by 802.11-2007
Description: This was simply a reaffirmation of the 802.11-1999 standard. Every IEEE Standard is subjected to review at least every five years for revision or reaffirmation.
802.11g-2003
Title: Further Higher Data Rate Extension in the 2.4 GHz Band
Date Approved: June 2003
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007
AKA: Wi-Fi 3
Description: 802.11g was an amendment to 802.11-1999 (R2003) introducing 802.11a Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission mechanisms into the 2.4 GHz band. It reverts back to using Complementary Code Keying (CCK) to achieve 5.5 Mbps and Differential Binary Phase-Shift Keying (DBPSK)/Differential Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (DQPSK)/Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum (DSSS) for 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps data rates. 802.11g also utilises 20 MHz wide channels and is backward compatible with the previous DSSS based protocols.
802.11h-2003
Title: Spectrum and Transmit Power Management Extensions in the 5 GHz Band in Europe
Date Approved: September 2003
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007
Description: An amendment to 802.11-1999 (R2003), 802.11h was originally designed to allow 5 GHz radios to operate without causing interference to satellite and radar transmissions in the same band. It specifies two Physical (PHY) layer features: Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) – which at a high-level is a radar detection and interference avoidance technology, and Transmit Power Control (TPC) – which ensures that the average radiated power from an Access Point (AP) is less than the regulatory maximums to further reduce interference to radar. While designed for use in Europe, it has since become utilised in many other countries.
802.11i-2004
Title: MAC Security Enhancements
Date Approved: May 2004
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007
AKA: Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2), Robust Security (RSN)
Description: 802.11i was an amendment to 802.11-1999 (R2003) upgrading Wired Protected Access (WPA) and designed as a replacement for the much older, less secure Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). 802.11i mandates the use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) along with Counter Mode CBC-MAC Protocol (CCMP), a big improvement over WPA’s Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) encryption scheme, which is still an option in WPA2.
802.11j-2004
Title: 4.9 GHz-5 GHz Operation in Japan
Date Approved: September 2004
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007
Description: 802.11j was an amendment to 802.11-1999 (R2003) and was specifically designed for use in Japan to adhere to the Japanese regulatory domain rules. It allows for 10 MHz and 20 MHz wide channels within the 4.9 GHz and 5 GHz band. Registration is required to make use of this spectrum. It should be noted that Japan does not allow parts of the UNII-2C and UNII-3 band to be used for 802.11 transmissions.
802.11e-2005
Title: MAC Enhancements QoS
Date Approved: September 2005
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2007
Description: An amendment to 802.11-1999 (R2003) defining much-needed Quality of Service (QoS) enhancements to Wi-Fi applications. This includes the Media Access Control (MAC) layer enhancements: Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) and HCF Controlled Channel Access (HCCA), Automatic power save delivery, Block acknowledgments, NoAck, and Direct Link Setup.
802.11-2007
Title: 802.11 Standard Maintenance Revision
Date Approved: March 2007
Status: Superseded by 802.11-2012
Description: 802.11-2007 was a major major update to the 802.11-1999 (R2003) rolling up the 802.11a, b, d, e, g, h, i, and j amendments.
802.11k-2008
Title: Radio Resource Measurement
Date Approved: May 2008
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: Assisted Roaming
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 defining ways in which the Wi-Fi infrastructure and client stations can work together to determine the best Access Point (AP) for clients to roam to when on the move. Prior to 802.11k, a client station would generally connect to an AP transmitting the strongest signal alone. An 802.11k enabled device will request a neighbor report from its current AP as it looks to roam. Neighbor reports provides the client with a wealth of additional RF information, which the client will use the make better roaming choices. Transmit Power Control (TPC) was also updated to be permitted for use in other regulatory domains and frequencies outside of those listed in 802.11h. Not to be confused with Cisco WLC’s ‘Radio Resource Management’ feature used to dynamically adjust AP channels and transmit power levels.
802.11r-2008
Title: Fast Roaming
Date Approved: May 2008
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: Fast Transition, Fast Roaming, Fast Secure Roaming
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 introducing roaming efficiencies for WPA2-Personal and WPA2-Enterprise networks. The amendment was primarily introduced to minimise the disruption to mobile and latency-sensitive applications while moving between Access Points (APs).
802.11y-2008
Title: 3650-3700 MHz Operation in USA
Date Approved: November 2008
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 allowing 802.11 technologies to operate over further distances by allowing for much higher transmit power limits – 20 Watts Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP), and enhanced Media Access Control (MAC) timers in the licensed 3650 to 3700 MHz band. 802.11y brought three new features to the standard used: Contention Based Protocol (CBP), Extended Channel Switch Announcement (ECSA), and Dependent Station Enablement (DSE).
802.11n-2009
Title: High Throughput
Date Approved: September 2009
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: Wi-Fi 4
Description: A major amendment to 802.11-2007 increasing throughput via features such as Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), 40 MHz wide channels, and frame aggregation along with various other Physical Layer (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) enhancements. 802.11n can be used in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and is backward compatible with 802.11a,b, and g.
802.11w-2009
Title: Protected Management Frames
Date Approved: October 2009
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: Robust Management Frames
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 providing an optional mechanism to increase the security of 802.11 management frames. Data frame protection was previously introduced in 802.11i. 802.11w specifically introduced data confidentiality of management frames, mechanisms that enable data integrity, data origin authenticity, and replay protection. These features heavily reduce the chances that an attacker could perform DoS attacks at Layer 2 by spoofing management frames. Not to be confused with Cisco’s proprietary Management Frame Protection (MFP) technology.
802.11p-2010
Title: Wireless Access for the Vehicular Environment
Date Approved: July 2010
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: WAVE
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 defining mechanisms for data transfer between vehicles, and between vehicles and roadside infrastructure, to support Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications. 802.11p utilises Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) with an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)-based signal modulation. It is required to operate at 10 MHz channel widths within the upper 5 GHz band which at the time was not a recognised Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (UNII) allocation.
802.11z-2010
Title: Extensions to Direct Link Setup
Date Approved: October 2010
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS)
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 defining ways in which client stations can exchange data directly with one another without first passing the traffic through WLAN infrastructure, i.e. an Access Point (AP). Direct Link Setup (DLS) communications were specified in prior 802.11 amendments; 802.11z was simply an enhancement to these. Not to be confused with Wi-Fi Direct – 802.11z still requires that client stations associate with and connect to the WLAN infrastructure.
802.11v-2011
Title: Wireless Network Management
Date Approved: February 2011
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: BSS Transition Management, BSS Transition Support
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 defining ways in which the WLAN infrastructure and client stations can exchange information about the state of the RF environment and topology to assist clients in their roaming decisions. Client stations also have the ability to exchange information regarding the state of the RF environment amongst themselves. This allows client stations to be more aware of their surroundings and hopefully improve the overall performance of the network. 802.11v also introduces ‘Network Assisted Power Savings’ providing ways for the infrastructure to help clients stay asleep for longer and increase battery life. The protocol used for data exchange in 802.11v is Wireless Network Management (WNM).
802.11u-2011
Title: InterWorking with External Networks
Date Approved: February 2011
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
AKA: Hotspot 2.0, Wi-Fi Passpoint, Wireless Internetworking with External Networks (WIEN)
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 allowing client devices to seamlessly roam between participating Wi-Fi networks, and Wi-Fi and cellular networks. The protocol streamlines the network detection, association, and authentication process, providing a greater user experience and better performance.
802.11s-2011
Title: Mesh Networking
Date Approved: August 2011
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2012
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2007 providing standards for wireless mesh networking. By introducing a mandatory default routing protocol – Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP) the mesh network could provide a wireless backbone while still serving clients. Vendors are still free to implement their own routing protocols, however. 802.11 defines three types of devices in a Mesh Topology: Mesh Point Portal (MPP) – provides a gateway to the wired network, Mesh Point (MP) – provides a wireless backbone between other meshed devices, and Mesh AP (MAP) – provides a wireless backbone as well as serves client stations.
802.11-2012
Title: 802.11 Accumulated Maintenance Changes
Date Approved: March 2012
Status: Superseded by 802.11-2016
Description: 802.11-2012 was a major update to the 802.11-2007 standard rolling up the 802.11k, r, y, n, w, p, z, v, u, s amendments while cleaning up the document.
802.11ae-2012
Title: Prioritization of Management Frames
Date Approved: March 2012
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2016
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2012 expanding Quality of Service (QoS) capability to management frames. A QoS Management Frame (QMF) service was introduced to meet the demands of the increase in expansion of management frame categories. The default QMF policy sets Access Categories (AC) for 32 of the management frames to Best Effort (BE), Video (VI), and Voice (VO). BE is the default category for the remainder.
802.11aa-2012
Title: Video Transport Streams
Date Approved: June 2012
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2016
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2012 introducing mechanisms to further enhance audio and video streaming Quality of Service (QoS) while maintaining high-quality data and voice transmissions. While the standard introduces a number of enhancements, the two most crucial are Stream Classification Service (SCS), and Group Cast with Retries (GCR) service. SCS assists in differentiating between streams within the same 802.11e Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) access categories for better prioritisation of simultaneous transmissions. GCR improves the delivery of multicast frames to client stations.
802.11ad-2012
Title: Very High Throughput 60GHz
Date Approved: October 2012
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2016
Description: An amendment to 802.11-2012 allowing for data rates up to 6.7 Gbps in the 60 GHz unlicensed frequency band using a new Physical (PHY) layer transmission known as Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG). DMG introduces the use of Galois/Counter Mode Protocol (GCMP) which is a far more efficient and performance-friendly encryption protocol than CCMP introduced in 802.11i. 60 GHz Wi-Fi transmissions do not have the same effective range as 2.4 and 5 GHz signals, so have different applications than those that primarily service client mobile devices. At the time of writing, 802.11ad chipsets were primarily implemented in wireless displays, wireless docks, several VR headsets and devices which do not need to transmit signals further than several metres and are within line of sight.
802.11ac-2013
Title: Very High Throughput 6GHz
Date Approved: December 2013
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2016
AKA: Wi-Fi 5
Description: A major amendment to 802.11-2012 introducing a number of improvements within the 5 GHz ISM band only, ultimately increasing throughput to 6.9 Gbps. 802.11ac introduced support for 80 MHz and 160 MHz wide channels, 256-QAM Modulation Coding providing a further~25% higher data rate over 256-QAM, up to eight spatial streams, Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO), and improved beamforming compatibility between vendors. 802.11ac is backward compatible with 802.11a, and n.
802.11af-2014
Title: TV White Spaces
Date Approved: December 2014
Status: Incorporated into 802.11-2016
Description: An amendment to 802.11.2012 allowing WLAN operations in the unused Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) bands between 54 and 790 MHz within each region. The Physical (PHY) layer utilises the same Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology used in 802.11ac, specifying regulatory dependant channel widths of 6-8 MHz wide and data rates of up to 569 Mbps through the use of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) and four spatial streams. Access Points (APs) adhere to regulatory domain frequency and transmit power requirements by utilising positioning systems such as GPS and accessing a Geolocation Database (GDB) via the Internet. Not to be confused with 802.22 Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN) standard.
802.11-2016
Title: 802.11 Accumulated Maintenance Changes
Date Approved: December 2016
Status: Superseded by 802.11-2020
Description: 802.11-2016 was a major update incorporating the 802.11ad, ae, aa, ac, and af amendments. Some existing Media Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY) layer functions have been enhanced while other obsolete features were removed or have been marked for removal.
802.11ah-2016
Title: Sub 1 GHz
Date Approved: December 2016
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2016
AKA: Wi-Fi HaLow
Description: Permits Wi-Fi usage in frequencies below 1 GHz (between 755 and 928 MHz – region-specific) in order to increase transmission ranges, decrease power consumption, better support the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor network devices. 802.11ah utilises the same Multiple Input Multiple Output Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) technology as 802.11n/ac/ax. Data rates of up to 347 Mbps are possible using four spatial streams and 16 MHz wide channels.
802.11ai-2016
Title: Fast Initial Link Setup
Date Approved: December 2016
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2016
Description: 802.11ai was introduced as an attempt to decrease WLAN connection times and roaming latency, specifically in dense environments. FILS introduced the concept of FILS Discovery Frames (FD); a 40-55 byte frame sent at a minimum rate of 6 Mbps every 20ms allowing clients to discover Access Points (APs) with a passive scan. This results in less client probe requests and responses, less overhead, and an increase in available airtime ultimately increasing capacity for wireless networks.
802.11aj-2018
Title: China Millimeter Wave
Date Approved: January 2018
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2016
Description: 802.11aj is a rebanding of 802.11ad created specifically to meet the ever-growing high-speed WLAN capacity demands in China. 802.11aj allows for four spatial streams and is backward compatible with 802.11ad in the 60 GHz band utilising 540 MHz wide channels. It also provides an additional 5 GHz of new bandwidth in the 45 GHz band utilising 1080 MHz wide channels. The standard allows for data rates of up to 15 Gb/s.
802.11ak-2018
Title: General Link
Date Approved: March 2018
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2016
Description: 802.11ak allows client devices with both 802.11 Wi-Fi and 802.3 wired capability to bridge the two mediums and provide services inside of an 802.1Q network to other Wi-Fi enabled devices. Services offered can include VLAN support, audio-visual stream support, and time synchronization for audio-visual streams etc.
802.11aq-2018
Title: Pre-Association Discovery
Date Approved: June 2018
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2016
Description: 802.11aq defines Media Access Control (MAC) layer and Physical (PHY) layer enhancements allowing Access Points (APs) to advertise network service information to client devices prior to connecting a network.
802.11-2020
Title: 802.11 Accumulated Maintenance Changes
Date Approved: December 2020
Status: Current 802.11 Standard
Description: The current 802.11 standard revising 802.11-2012 by incorporating the 802.11ai, ah, aj, ak, and aq amendments. Some existing Media Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY) layer functions have been enhanced while other obsolete features were removed or have been marked for removal. Minor clauses and annexes were added.
802.11ax-2021
Title: High-Efficiency WLAN
Date Approved: February 2021
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2020
AKA: Wi-Fi 6
Description: 802.11ax will be a major amendment to the 802.11-2016 standard introducing a number of performance enhancements and efficiencies. Devices operate in the previously allocated 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands while also extending support to the 6GHz band which introduces an additional 59 channels over 1200 MHz of additional spectrum. A key improvement over 802.11 is the introduction of Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) – allowing the subdivision of a channel into smaller frequency allocations called Resource Units (RUs). This allows Access Points (APs) to transmit small amounts of data to multiple users simultaneously allowing much more efficient use of the wireless medium in some cases. Other improvements include BSS Coloring, Target Wake Time, and 1024-QAM Modulation Coding. Utilising 160 MHz channels and 8 spatial streams the amendment defines a maximum data rate of 9.6 Gb/s.
802.11ay-2021
Title: Next Generation 60GHz
Date Approved: March 2021
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2020
Description: 802.11ay is an improvement to 802.11ad providing increased throughput, transmission range, and additional use-cases in the 60 GHz band. The amendment brings peak data rates of 20 Gb/s using single carrier Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM), 4 spatial streams and 8000 MHz wide channels. 802.11ay expands on the Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG) protocol used in 802.11ad with the introduction of Enhanced Directional Multi-Gigabit (EDMG). The main use cases include indoor operations, outdoor backhaul, and very short-range communications as per 802.11ad.
802.11ba-2021
Title: Wake Up Radio
Date Approved: March 2021
Status: Amendment to 802.11-2020
Description: 802.11ba was primarily introduced to increase the battery life of low powered IoT devices and wearables without hindering speed and performance. It achieves this with an additional radio called Wake-UP Radio (WUR), used for the sole purpose of transmitting control information from to and from an AP when the primary data radio is switched off.
Draft Amendments
The following amendments are currently in a draft state and not yet officially part of the current 802.11 standard. It should be noted that if vendors are marketing infrastructure that supports the technologies listed below, there is no guarantee that the current product line will be interoperable with products that are certified if and when the amendment is ratified.
802.11az
Title: Next Generation Positioning
Status: Draft Amendment
Description: 802.11az was introduced to improve the location tracking and positioning of Wi-Fi devices on a network. It aims to bring accuracy into the sub 0.1m domain. Some use cases might include – automatically and securely unlocking devices with a smartphone or smartwatch and location-based link adaptation (connect to the best-performing Access Point).
802.11bb
Title: Light Communications
Status: Draft Amendment
Description: 802.11bb specifies a new Physical (PHY) layer and modifications to the Media Access Control (MAC) layer that enable 802.11 operations over the visible light spectrum. It will provide uplink and downlink operations in the 380 nm to 5000 nm band and interoperability among solid-state light sources with different modulation bandwidths. At the time of writing, data rates of 5 Gb/s and beyond are defined. Use cases include – industrial wireless applications, medical environments, enterprise and home WLANs, backhaul networks, vehicle to vehicle communications, underwater WLANs, and gas pipeline communications.
802.11bc
Title: Enhanced Broadcast Service
Status: Draft Amendment
Description: 802.11bc aims to allow client devices to broadcast data via servers to other client devices regardless of whether they are associated with an Access Point (AP).
802.11bd
Title: Enhancements for Next Generation V2X
Status: Draft Amendment
Description: 802.11bd was introduced in an attempt to enhance throughput and range in vehicular environments and meet the reliability of time-critical use cases by taking advantages of advances in technologies made available since the introduction of 802.11p such as the unlicensed 60 GHz band. 802.11bd will be capable of operating at relative velocities of up to 500 km/hr and will be backward compatible with 802.11p.
802.11be
Title: Extremely High Throughput
Status: Draft Amendment
AKA: Wi-Fi 7?
Description: 802.11be is still in its early stages, but will build upon 802.11ax introducing features such as 320 MHz wide channels, 16 spatial streams and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) protocol enhancements, Multi-Access Point (AP) Coordination, Enhanced link adaptation and retransmission protocol, 4096-QAM (4K-QAM), and support for client direct links, amongst many others.
802.11bf
Title: WLAN Sensing
Status: Draft Amendment
Description: TBA
802.11bh
Title: Randomized and Changing MAC Addresses
Status: Draft Amendment
Description: TBA
802.11bi
Title: Enhanced Data Privacy
Status: Draft Amendment
Description: TBA
Withdrawn and Transferred Standards
802.11c-1998
Title: Media Access Control MAC Bridges – Supplement for Support by IEEE 802.11
Date Approved: October 1998
Status: Incorporated into 802.1D-2004
Description: 802.11c was an amendment to the MAC bridging standard – 802.1D-1998 and specified mechanisms for bridging WLAN infrastructure. 802.11c was never rolled up into the base 802.11 standard and instead incorporated into 802.1D-2004.
802.11F-2003
Title: Inter-Access Point Protocol Across Distribution Systems Supporting IEEE 802.11 Operation
Date Approved: 14th of July, 2003
Status: Withdrawn (Febraury 2006)
AKA: Inter-Access Point Protocol
Description: 802.11F defined recommendations for Wireless Access Point (AP) communications among multivendor systems. It wasn’t implemented by a single vendor and was withdrawn as an 802.11 amendment in 2006. Note that an uppercase F was designated, indicating that the amendment was considered a recommendation and not part of the 802.11 standard.
802.11.2
Title: Wireless Performance
Status: Withdrawn (May 2008)
Description: TBA
Nice overview. little typo at ‘Draft Amendments’. You listed twice 802.11ay while it should be 802.11ax and 802.11ay
Good eyes, thanks Tom! Appreciate you bringing that to my attention. All fixed.