IEEE 802.16 Session #37 Report

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Session #37 Host and Venue
Session #37 of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group (WG) on Broadband Wireless Access took place on 2-5 May 2005 in Sorrento, Italy. The session was hosted by Giulio Cavalli of corporate host Siemens Communications, to whom the Working Group sent a letter of thanks. An IEEE 802.16 photo gallery was set up to display session photos contributed by the attendees.

The attendance list included 218 people.

Task Group e (Mobile WirelessMAN®) Activities
Task Group e resolved comments in the IEEE-SA Sponsor Ballot recirculation of draft P802.16e/D7. A new draft, P802.16e/D8, was prepared and submitted for recirculation through 8 June. A Ballot Resolution Committee was appointed to meet the week of 13 June to resolve the comments, after which a new draft D9 will be subject to an additional recirculation prior to Session #38. The current intent is that draft D10, to be developed at Session #38, will be the final draft. Task Group e issued a closing report and minutes. A web-based Security Forum was instituted to review security issues in the draft, particularly as part of a cooperative effort with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Maintenance Task Group Activities
The Working Group's Maintenance Task Group resolved comments received during Working Group Recirculation Ballot #17a, under which the P802.16-2004/Cor1/D2 draft was under review. Based on the comment resolutions, the third draft (P802.16-2004/Cor1/D3) of this Corrigendum to IEEE Std 802.16-2004 was developed and submitted for confirmation in Recirculation Ballot #17b, which closed 7 June without comment. The 802 EC approved the Working Group's request to forward D3 for IEEE-SA Sponsor Ballot, which is expected to begin around 10 June. The Maintenance Task Group issued a closing report and minutes.

Update: The P802.16-2004/Cor1/D3 Sponsor Ballot opened on 10 June, through 10 July.

Network Management Task Group Activities
The IEEE 802.16 Network Management (NetMan) Task Group resolved comments arising in the IEEE-SA Sponsor Ballot of P802.16f/D3 (the Management Information Base [MIB] for fixed operation). Those resolutions resulted in the new draft P802.16f/D4, which was submitted for Sponsor Ballot Recirculation through 15 June. The Task Group was authorized to resolve these comments, so an additional recirculation is expected before Session #38, where final comment resolution is expected to occur. Separately, the Task Group addressed responses to a Call for Comments regarding the P802.16g Baseline Document, and a new P802.16g Baseline Document will be released for a further Call for Comments. The Task Group issued a closing report.

Update: A Call for Comments was issued on the revised P802.16g Baseline Document, with a deadline of 11 July. 

Conformance Task Group Activities
The Conformance Task Group, addressing the P802.16/Conformance04 project on PICS Proforma for frequencies below 11 GHz, met to resolve comments received during Working Group Letter Ballot #18, in which the draft P802.16/Conformance04/D1 was under review. Comment resolutions will be incorporated into a second draft, which will be reviewed in Working Group Letter Ballot Recirculation #18a.

Update: Working Group Letter Ballot Recirculation #18a, reviewing P802.16/Conformance04/D2, runs from 19 June - 8 July.

Licensed-Exempt Task Group
The Working Group's Licensed-Exempt Task Group met and continue to develop the P802.16h draft. After reviewing several contributions, the group issued a revised working document and issued a Call for Contributions. A closing report and minutes were issued.

Relay/Mesh Activity
The Working Group reviewed a proposal suggesting the creation of a Working Group Study Group on "Mobile Multi-hop Mesh/Relay Networking in IEEE 802.16." A followup meeting was held on the topic during Session #37. A web-based Relay/Mesh Forum was instituted for the development of a Study Group proposal that is expected to be considered during Session #38.

Liaison and Communication Activities

Future Sessions

Documents
The Session #37 document list includes references to the session documents. Draft standards are available with a working group password or by purchase from IEEE-SA.

Minutes
The Working Group minutes from Session #37 are available as IEEE 802.16-05/027.

Working Group Membership
The Working Group Membership is now 261. Another 125 Potential Members will be eligible for membership by attending Session #38.

About IEEE 802.16
The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards has developed and is enhancing the WirelessMAN® Standard for wireless metropolitan area networks. IEEE 802.16 is a unit of the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee, the premier transnational forum for wired and wireless networking standardization. Standards developed by the Working Group are available for free download. A list of IEEE 802.16 standards and drafts is available on-line, as is a project milestone summary and an archive of previous Session Reports.

"802.16 News" Mailing List
The "802.16 News" mailing list ("stds-802-16-news") has the sole purpose of distributing major announcements related to the Working Group. Those interested in following the progress of the group but not in the day-to-day details may wish to subscribe. Only the Working Group Chair is eligible to post to the list, and mailings will be rare: once after each bimonthly session and additionally for major news, such as the approval of a new standard. Those subscribing to the stds-802-16 mailing list, for active Working Group participants, need not subscribe to stds-802-16-news since the postings will be redundant.


With the approval of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group, this report was drafted and edited (9 June 2005 release; 20 June update) by:

Roger Marks (r.b.marks@ieee.org)
Chair, IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards
tel: +1-303-497-7837


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