The Signal Studio for WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac software enables you to create physical layer, physical medium dependent (PMD) test signals, which contain the physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) Preamble (long and short), PLCP Header, and the payload.
Although the signal does not provide medium access control (MAC) or PLCP protocol handling, it does enable testing of the PMD layer for receiver and component tests.
Figure 1. PMD layer
The PMD sublayer is the physical layer, which provides the transmission of the signal over the air interface. The PMD layer provides the framing, scrambling, and modulation of the signal. Measurements that can be made on the physical layer signal include standards-based measurements and measurements that can be used as troubleshooting tools in design and development, such as spectral measurements. To make these measurements, the MAC and PLCP layers are not needed.
Signal Studio for WLAN gives the user the ability to add a MAC header and frame check sequence (FCS) to the data payload. This is useful for specifying addresses or other MAC fields to append to the payload data. The FCS should be enabled if the user intends to use this test signal to perform FER/PER measurements.