[STDS-802-16] ***Going Mobile: IEEE 802.16e is Approved by IEEE-SA***
Dear 802.16 Friends and Family,
I have received word that IEEE Std 802.16e (Draft
12) was approved this morning by the IEEE-SA
Standards Board, following yesterday's unanimous
recommendation by the Board's Standards Review
Committee (RevCom). The operative version of IEEE
Std 802.16 is now IEEE Std 802.16-2004, as
modified by the corrigendum IEEE 802.16-2004/Cor1
and amended by IEEE Stds 802.16e and 802.16f. The
WirelessMAN standard has gone mobile!
This action brings to a close the work of Task
Group e and its project that began with the
approval of the original 802.16e PAR in December
2002, following its development by the Mobile
WirelessMAN Study Group beginning in July 2002.
Throughout that time, the work was ably led by
the steady hand of Brian Kiernan. I salute him
for his heroic efforts. The 802.16e Editor, Ron
Murias, deserves a separate special salute.
Please take the opportunity to send them both
your appreciations.
Looking back on the original PAR from 2002, we
projected completion in about 18 months. Actual
development took about twice that long. Though we
all would have preferred to stick closer to
schedule, the reality is that the Working Group
changed dramatically during those years, growing
from 82 Members at PAR approval to 310 now. The
influx of new participants, from many regions of
the world and with a variety of applications in
mind, brought in a wide range of views. I'm proud
of the fact that we addressed all of the
resulting needs, continuing to harmonize and
build consensus to ensure a result with broad
support and broad applicability. After 12
official drafts, over 6000 comments (from members
and nonmembers alike), and over 900 contributed
documents (over 1600 if you count revisions), we
ended up with a 684 page standard with 99%
approval and far more than 99% of the comments
fully resolved. That's impressive!
To all the 802.16 Working Group participants,
past and present, I send congratulations on
adding the IEEE seal of approval to the 802.16e
deliverable. I'd like you to pause and reflect on
what this means. IEEE standards are not
mandatory, and the IEEE logo is not by itself
going to convince anyone to adopt our standards
and put them to use. What WILL make a difference
is an IEEE logo earned the hard way, based on a
diligent and largely successful effort to recruit
the participation of the world's interested
parties, coupled with the dedication to building
a team and driving a consensus. THAT is what
gives 802.16 the opportunity to be a success, not
just here or there but, as we say in dot16,
"AOE": Anywhere On Earth!
So, wherever on Earth you are, please join me in
raising a glass and sending out a virtual toast
to the 802.16 family. Konbe! Ganbei! Kampai!
L'Chaim! Belsalamati! Kippis! Skĺl! Santé!
Sláinte! Salute! Salud! Prost! Proost! Cheers!
Roger
Dr. Roger B. Marks <mailto:r.b.marks@ieee.org> +1 303 497 7837
Chair, IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access
<http://WirelessMAN.org>
P.S. IEEE 802.16f-2005 was published on 1 Dec
2005. IEEE-SA staff are currently merging
802.16-2004/Cor1 and 802.16e into a single
document, to be entitled IEEE 802.16e-2005. The
plan is to publish this before the year's end.
Unapproved drafts are available for sale through
the IEEE Store. However, approved drafts are
removed from the catalog. Therefore, if you wish
to buy the document, I suggest you act quickly
before it is deleted. For details, see:
http://ieee802.org/16/pubs/P80216e.html