Which IEEE 802.11 standards are stated to use OFDM to achieve higher throughput?

Which IEEE 802.11 standards are stated to use OFDM to achieve higher throughput?

• A. 802.11b only
• B. 802.11a, 802.11n, and 802.11ac
• C. All 802.11 standards
• D. 802.11g and 802.11b

Answer: (B)

OFDM splits a data stream into many parallel subcarriers, which improves spectral efficiency and resilience to multipath, letting wireless networks achieve higher speeds. The standards that clearly use OFDM to reach higher throughput are the ones that introduced and expanded this technique across generations: 802.11a in the 5 GHz band, 802.11n with MIMO enhancements, and 802.11ac with even wider channels and more advanced MIMO. In contrast, 802.11b uses a different modulation scheme (DSSS/CCK) and does not employ OFDM, which is why it isn’t listed among the higher-throughput OFDM-based standards. While 802.11g also uses OFDM, the option that specifically groups the high-throughput OFDM standards together is the one including 802.11a, 802.11n, and 802.11ac.

OFDM splits a data stream into many parallel subcarriers, which improves spectral efficiency and resilience to multipath, letting wireless networks achieve higher speeds. The standards that clearly use OFDM to reach higher throughput are the ones that introduced and expanded this technique across generations: 802.11a in the 5 GHz band, 802.11n with MIMO enhancements, and 802.11ac with even wider channels and more advanced MIMO.

In contrast, 802.11b uses a different modulation scheme (DSSS/CCK) and does not employ OFDM, which is why it isn’t listed among the higher-throughput OFDM-based standards. While 802.11g also uses OFDM, the option that specifically groups the high-throughput OFDM standards together is the one including 802.11a, 802.11n, and 802.11ac.