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The CWAP exam objectives list these primitives as covered material.

My question is - how many hardware implementations or chipset manufacturers [u]really[/u] follow these parts of the standard?

If a device is proprietary, and the interface is not made public, how often are they followed? Does Marvell, for example, use OR provide functions at this level?

I know that "niceities" such as these are often bypassed for both performance reasons and expediency.

Thanks

I'm answering my own question here, after coming across the definitive answer in the 802.11n section (20.1.3.4) of the standard.

I checked, and other sections dealing with other PHY's say essentially the same thing. Here is the original text from 18.1.3:

[i]The models represented by figures and state diagrams are intended to be illustrations of functions provided.
It is important to distinguish between a model and a real implementation. The models are optimized for
simplicity and clarity of presentation; [u]the actual method of implementation is left to the discretion of the
High-Rate-PHY-compliant developer[/u].

The service of a layer or sublayer is a set of capabilities that it offers to a user in the next-higher layer (or
sublayer). Abstract services are specified here by describing the service primitives and parameters that
characterize each service. [u]This definition is independent of any particular implementation.[/u][/i]

Wlanman

Wlanman, that's not how forums work. You post a question, someone else posts an answer. :P

Thanks though, you raise a good point, and I admit that this level of radio development is not in my wheelhouse. However, when we were working out the CWAP objectives, this topic came up and we decided to include it primarily as a way to indicate that we expect CWAP candidates to have an intimate knowledge of the specs. It is certainly not a focus in our materials.

Marcus,

That was what I was hoping originally, but I never got an answer :-(.

It's happend before, and I'm sure it will happen again.

I'd rather answer my own post if I have to - at least if someone searches on the topic they at least get some kind of answer.

Not that it always happens - it was 4 months before I "acidentally" ran across this answer.

Wow, I totally missed the dates of first and second posts. Shame on me. Your answer was good. :)