Wireless Network Logical Architecture

The logical architecture of a network refers to the structure of standards and protocols

that enable connections to be established between physical devices, or nodes, and which

control the routing and fl ow of data between these nodes.

Since logical connections operate over physical links, the logical and physical

architectures rely on each other, but the two also have a high degree of independence,

as the physical confi guration of a network can be changed without changing its logical

architecture, and the same physical network can in many cases support different sets of

standards and protocols.

The logical architecture of wireless networks will be described in this chapter with

reference to the OSI model.