802.11a Data Rate



The IEEE 802.11a standard specifies an OFDM physical layer (PHY) that splits an information signal across 52 separate subcarriers to provide transmission of data at a rate of 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, or 54 Mbps. The 6, 12, and 24 Mbps data rates are mandatory. Four of the subcarriers are pilot subcarriers that the system uses as a reference to disregard frequency or phase shifts of the signal during transmission. A pseudo binary sequence is sent through the pilot subchannels to prevent the generation of spectral lines. The remaining 48 subcarriers provide separate wireless pathways for sending the information in a parallel fashion. The resulting subcarrier frequency spacing is 0.3125 MHz (for a 20 MHz with 64 possible subcarrier frequency slots).



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