The IEEE 802.11 is a Wireless Local are a Network standard capable of providing data rates of 1 and 2 Mbps. The standard   specifies Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY) layer characteristics for data transmission in the unlicensed ISM band (2.4 GHz). The IEEE in late 1999 released the 802.11b WLAN standard for a higher speed physical (PHY) layer in the 2.4 GHz band to replace that specified in the 802.11 standard. This new PHY layer can support data speeds of up to 11Mbps, although the actual experienced data rate may be around half of this speed. The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) certifies all products that are 802.11b compliant as Wi-Fi.Similarly, there exists different 802.11x standards and also 802.15 and 802.16 has come up.

802.11x wireless embedded applications:
For developing applications on 802.11x, one needs to have a thorough knowledge of 802.11x standard. Applications like authentication server, chat system, Embedded Web Server, Encryption applications, etc can be built on 82.11x boards.