Session #42 Venue
IEEE 802.16's Session #42 took place on 6-9 March 2006 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, USA. This was an IEEE 802 LMSC Plenary Session and co-located with sessions of the other IEEE 802 Working Groups and Technical Advisory Groups. The attendance list includes the names of 218 individuals.
Publication of IEEE Std 802.16e-2005 for Mobile WirelessMAN®
IEEE Std 802.16e-2005 was published on 28 February 2006, following its IEEE-SA approval on 7 December 2005. Prior to publication, the standard was fully integrated with the corrigendum IEEE 802.16-2004/Cor1, which was approved on 8 November 2005. The operative version of IEEE Std 802.16 is now IEEE Std 802.16-2004, as amended by IEEE 802.16e-2005 (and the co-published corrigendum IEEE 802.16-2004/Cor1-2005) as well as by IEEE 802.16f-2005. You may follow the links for further information on obtaining the standards. IEEE Std 802.16-2004 is freely downloadable via the "Get IEEE 802" program. The others will be added to the program approximately six months after their publication date.
Mobile Multihop Relay Study Group
The Working Group's Mobile Multihop Relay Study Group met and reviewed comments on the P802.16j project authorization request (PAR) it had drafted in January. A revised PAR 802.16j was submitted to the IEEE 802 EC, which agreed to forward it to IEEE-SA's NesCom. Formal approval of the draft PAR by the IEEE-SA Standards Board is expected on 30 March. A closing report was issued, with minutes to follow.
Update: The P802.16j PAR was approved by the IEEE-SA Standards Board on 30 March 2006. A Call for Contributions was issued on 6 April.
Network Management (NetMan) Task Group
The NetMan Task Group met from Monday through Thursday, addressing the three project issues below. The Task Group issued a closing report and minutes.
Licensed-Exempt Task Group
The Working Group's Licensed-Exempt Task Group met again to develop the P802.16h draft. After reviewing about responses to a Call for Comments, the group agreed to issue a new working document, which will be subject to a Working Group Review. A closing report was issued, with minutes to follow. The Task Group also prepared a summary of the 802.16h Working Document for presentation.
Update: A Working Group Review was opened on 7 April, through 2 May, to review the new working document.
Conformance Task Group
The Conformance Task Group, addressing the P802.16/Conformance04 project on PICS Proforma for fixed operation below 11 GHz, met to resolve comments received in IEEE-SA Sponsor Ballot, where the initial approval stood at 96%. Subsequently, the IEEE 802 EC granted conditional approval to forward the draft to IEEE-SA's RevCom, provided that the ballot closes successfully. A new draft is in preparation for recirculation, to close prior to Session #43. The Task Group issued a closing report and minutes.
Update: Based on comment resolutions approved at Session #42, a new Draft 7 was developed and submitted for Sponsor Ballot recirculation.
Maintenance Task Group
The Maintenance Task Group met to review responses to a Call for Comments regarding the proposed 802.16 Maintenance Process drafted at Session #41. The group heard a presentation from 802.3 Vice Chair David Law on the well-developed 802.3 Maintenance Process. Following comment resolution, an updated draft Maintenance Process was completed. However, the work was not finalized. The WG decided to open a Working Group Letter Ballot #21 to consider the process in more detail. Simultaneously, the TG plans to open, prior to Session #43, a centrallized system for the reporting of maintenance requests. The Task Group issued a closing report and minutes.
Update: Working Group Letter Ballot #21, on the draft Maintenance Process, runs from 11 April - 4 May 2006.
Update: A Call for Maintenance Change Requests on IEEE Std 802.16 runs through 3 May 2006.
Liaison Activities
Registration Authority Issue
The WG Chair has opened discussions with the Chair of the IEEE-SA Registration Authority Committee (RAC) concerning the use of the IEEE-SA Registration Authority for assignment of the 24-bit 802.16 Operator ID that serves as the operator-unique subset of the 48-bit Base Station ID. The Chair sent a draft letter for review by RAC. As a followup, the WG Chair and Vice Chair, along with the NetMan TG Chair, met with the RAC Chair and the two IEEE 802 representatives to the RAC on 8 March. The consensus of the meeting was that the existing IEEE OUI number space might be appropriate for this purpose. The details will be considered prior to the next RAC meeting, in July 2006. This will require documentation for the RAC, including language that would be added to IEEE P802.16g.
Update: A Report and Call for Comments on Registration Authority Issues was issued, with a deadline of 5 May.
Working Group Issues
Roger Marks was re-elected as Chair of the Working Group until March 2008. In a three-candidate race, Ken Stanwood was re-elected as Vice Chair for the same term.
Dean Chang announced his resignation after serving as WG Secretary since 2001. His resignation was accepted with regret. Andy Sago, serving as Acting WG Secretary for the third consecutive session, declined to continue in that role on a standing basis. Peiying Zhu will serve as Acting WG Secretary for Session #43 and may agree to continue.
The Working Group Membership declined to 249. At least 87 other Potential Members will be eligible for membership by attending Session #44.
Awards
At the WG Opening Plenary of 6 March 2006, the IEEE-SA Standards Medallion was presented to Brian G. Kiernan "For steadfast and exemplary leadership of the Task Groups developing the IEEE 802.16a and 802.16e WirelessMAN standards specifying wireless metropolitan area networks for fixed and mobile broadband wireless access systems." Phil Barber and Joey Chou were presented with award plaques in recognition of their roles as the Task Group Chair and Technical Editor of the 802.16f project.
Documents
The Session #42 document list includes references to all session documents. Draft standards are available with a working group password or by purchase from IEEE-SA. Most IEEE 802.16 standards are available for free download via the Get IEEE 802® program. See the 802.16 publication list for details of published standards and drafts.
Minutes and Motions
The Working Group minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-06/019.
The Working Group's requests at the 802 LMSC Executive Committee meeting of 10 March were approved.
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. 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.
Roger Marks (r.b.marks@ieee.org)
Chair, IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards
tel: +1-303-497-7837