The IEEE 802 standards are a set of network standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or the IEEE (Stallings, 384). The IEEE formed the IEEE 802 committee because they recognized that the communication across a local network is extremely complex and that no one method would satisfy all requirements (Stallings, 384). Therefore, the committee chose to standardize all thoughtful and important proposals rather than adopt only one. Each standard begins with a group of people interested in developing a standard. The group submits a project authorization request for approval to the IEEE. If approved, the group works collectively to draft a standard for approval. Currently there are several active groups working on drafting new IEEE 802 standards. .
The IEEE 802.1 group develops standards that relate to network management issues. IEEE 802.3 is a group that develops standards for the media access control layer for bus networks that use CSMA/CD. This is the foundation of the Ethernet standard. IEEE 802.11 develops recommendations for wireless local area networks or WLANs. The IEEE 802.15 group develops Personal Area Network consensus standards for short distance wireless networks or WPANs. IEEE 802.16 is a group that develops standards to support the development of broadband Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks. IEEE 802.17 is the Resilient Packet Ring Working Group (RPRWG) whom works on a Resilient Packet Ring Access Protocol for use in local, metropolitan and wide area networks for transfer of data packets at rates scalable to many gigabits per second. IEEE 802.18 monitors active participation in ongoing radio regulatory activities, such as those apparent in 802.11 (WLAN), 802.15 (WPAN), and 802.16 (WMAN). Lastly, IEEE 802.19 is the Coexistence Technical Advisory Group that develops coexistence policies (O"Hara).
In addition to the active groups mentioned above, there are also numerous inactive or disbanded groups within IEEE 802.