A WLC is a network element that manages the configuration and management of the APs in a domain. As discussed earlier, the WLAN APs provide a Media Access Control (MAC) function of the OSI stack. In a WLC-based deployment, the MAC functions are split between the AP and WLC. The functions that are time sensitive are managed by the AP, while the functions that can be centralized and are not very time sensitive, for example, authentication are handled by the WLC. The communication between the AP and WLC is done using a new protocol called Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP).
CAPWAP is the standardized version of its predecessor Lightweight access point protocol (LWAPP) and is defined ...
