Mark,
Thanks
for the comments. I think your discussion actually made the case for
getting rid of the term air-interface because it really does lack any
descriptive information about what we are developing.
Therefore,
I would use the language of your definitions with the following
changes:
Definition:
1)
The radio-link is the radio-frequency
portion of the transmission path between the wireless terminal (usually
portable or mobile) and the active base station or access
point.
2)
The radio-link is the shared boundary
between a wireless terminal and the base station or access
point.
The
introduction to the final standard would read:
This
standard specifies the layer 1 and layer 2 Radio Link Protocol or RLP, between
compliant wireless terminals and base stations.
I
don't think there is anything that would preclude us from using terminology
that is already used in other standards. In fact, this may help many of
our 3GPP/2 members understand what it is we are trying to standardize, since
they have already done it.
Best
Regards,
geoff
Geoffrey T. Anderson
Polar Industries,
Inc.
45 Roe Avenue
Cornwall on
Hudson,
NY
12520-1403
Phone: 845-534-4589
Fax: 845-818-3513
Cell: 914-843-9572
-----Original
Message-----
From:
owner-stds-80220-requirements@majordomo.ieee.org
[mailto:owner-stds-80220-requirements@majordomo.ieee.org] On Behalf Of Klerer
Mark
Sent: Wednesday,
October 08, 2003
4:23
PM
To: 'Jim Mollenauer'; Geoff
Anderson
Cc: 'Gang Wu';
stds-80220-requirements@ieee.org
Subject: RE: stds-80220-requirements:
Definition of "air interface"
I
agree with Jim Mollenauer. Specifically the term RLP as used by Jim Tomcik
actually refers to a very specific protocol used in UMTS. Here is the
definition of RLP:
RLP
- Radio Link Protocol
Radio
Link Protocol terminates at the MS (Mobile Station) and the IWF (Interworking
Function) generally located at the MSC (Mobile Switching Centre). It utilizes
the reliability mechanisms of the underlying protocols in order to deliver
data. (http://www.mpirical.com/companion/mpirical_companion.html#http://www.mpirical.com/companion/GSM/RLP_-_Radio_Link_Protocol.htm)
I
would like to toss out the following for people to consider.
Considerata:
The word "Interface" is somewhat ambiguous in that we are using it in the two
senses given in Webster's:
2
a : the place
at which independent and often unrelated systems meet and act on or
communicate with each other <the man-machine interface> b : the means by which interaction
or communication is achieved at an interface
we seem to be using it in
both the sense of 2a and 2b. This is the root of the difference in the two
definitions that have been shared. So we could speak about an
air-interface and even an air-interface interface.
We have the definition
provided by Gang Wu (via the Intel website) :
the air interface is the radio-frequency portion of the circuit between the
cellular phone set or wireless modem (usually portable or mobile) and the
active base station.
And the one
provided by Dan Gal (via the Ericsson web-site): "The air interface is the shared boundary between a
mobile and the base station."
IEEE 100 (The
Authoritative Dictionary of IEEE Standards Terms) provides the following
"general definition" [def 4] for "interface": A shared boundary
Suggestion
for a way forward:
I would
therefore suggest the following: We define air-interface as:
Definition:
1)
The air
interface is the radio-frequency portion of the transmission path between the
wireless terminal (usually portable or mobile) and the active base station or
access point.
2)
The
air interface is the shared boundary between a wireless
terminal and
the base station or access point.
I
am trying to avoid using air-interface interface, and I believe that 2 in
essence is taking a look at the "cross section" of the air interface between
the mobile and base station. I have paraphrased definition one to remove the
term "circuit" and replace it with the more generic "transmission path" due to
the potential connectionless packet nature of the path.
The
intro/preamble to the actual standard could then read eg:
This standard
specifies the layer 1 and layer 2 protocols of the air-interface between
compliant wireless terminals and base stations. (English to be fixed and
polished when we get there).
In
the requirements document we can put a similar statement in the overview. Note
that the discussion as to whether we indicate what layer a requirement applies
to is a separate issue.
This is in line
with IEEE standards, 3G standards and ISO standards that all use the term air
interface in a similar manner.
Sorry about
this somewhat lengthy epistle. I hope it helps in getting us towards
closure.
Mark
-----Original
Message-----
From: Jim
Mollenauer [mailto:jmollenauer@technicalstrategy.com]
Sent: Wednesday,
October 08, 2003
3:04
PM
To: Geoff Anderson
Cc: 'Gang Wu';
stds-80220-requirements@ieee.org
Subject: Re: stds-80220-requirements:
Definition of "air interface"
I respectfully
disagree. A protocol and an interface are not the same thing. A
protocol specifies what happens when, and generally involves several
information transfers across one or more interfaces. An interface is the
boundary between two entities, across which information may flow according to
some protocol.
The term "air interface" emphasizes that we are
standardizing the information flow through the air between two systems, and
not across some internal wired interface within one of the systems.
Calling it a "radio link" is confusing: does that imply link layer or physical
layer?
Let's keep "air interface".
Jim Mollenauer
Geoff
Anderson wrote:
I think
Jim Tomcik had discussed a term Radio Link Protocol, or RLP during the
San
Francisco meeting. After
replacing Air Link with Radio Link or Radio Link Protocol in the document and
then re-reading, it seems to make much more sense.
I would
agree with Alan's 10/2 proposal to remove Air Interface and replace with Radio
Link or Radio Link Protocol where it makes sense. Also this decision
would carry forward to all documents of 802.20, as Alan
proposed.
geoff
Geoffrey
T. Anderson
45 Roe
Avenue
Cornwall on
Hudson, NY
12520-1403
Phone: 845-534-4589
Fax: 845-818-3513
Cell: 914-843-9572
-----Original
Message-----
From: owner-stds-80220-requirements@majordomo.ieee.org
[mailto:owner-stds-80220-requirements@majordomo.ieee.org]
On Behalf Of Gang Wu
Sent: Thursday, October
02, 2003 2:33
PM
To: stds-80220-requirements@ieee.org
Subject: stds-80220-requirements:
Definition of "air interface"
At least I found one from
the web.
"In cellular telephone
communications, the air interface is the radio-frequency portion of the
circuit between the cellular phone set or wireless modem (usually portable or
mobile) and the active base station."