IEEE 802.16 Session #54 Report

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IEEE 802.16's Session #54 was held on 17-20 March 2008 in Orlando, FL, 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.

Attendance
The attendance was 430 people.

Task Group m (TGm): Advanced Air Interface
Task Group m (TGm) continued with its work in the development of the P802.16m project to amend the IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN-OFDMA specification so that, while offering continuing support for legacy WirelessMAN-OFDMA equipment, it can meet the emerging requirements of IMT-Advanced next generation mobile networks. TGm addressed comments on its draft System Description Document (SDD). Also, with the aid of a report from the Frame Structure Rapporteur Group, TGm completed a frame structure section for use in an updated SDD draft (IEEE 802.16m-08/003r1), on which a Call for Comments has been issued. Two Rapporteur groups (on DL control and DL PHY structure) were created to develop initial SDD text. TGm reviewed the report of the Uplink Access Rapporteur Group and agreed that OFDMA would be the mandatory UL access method specified in the SDD, without yet precluding other technologies as options. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Relay Task Group
The Relay Task Group completed the resolution of comments received in WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #28b. The Working Group agreed issue a new draft, P802.16j/D4, and initiate Recirc #28c. A request for conditional approval to forward the draft to Sponsor Ballot is expected to be considered at Session #56. A closing report was issued. The minutes followed later.

"16jm" Ad Hoc Group
The "16jm" Ad Hoc Group, a joint activity of TGm and the Relay TG, provided a report that was reviewed and discussed. The Ad Hoc Group was renewed until Session #55.

Maintenance Task Group
The Working Group's Maintenance Task Group is developing the 802.16Rev2 project to revise IEEE Std 802.16. It resolved comments received in WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #26b. The Working Group agreed to initiate Recirc #26c on the new draft, P802.16Rev2/D4. Rapporteur Groups chartered following Session #53 - on Handover, FDD , MIMO, Security, MBS, Persistent Allocation, and Network Management - made progress in harmonization and were renewed until Session #55. An additional Rapporteur Group - on ROHC - was added. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Update: WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #26c, reviewing P802.16Rev2/D4, opened 4 April, through 19 April.

License-Exempt Task Group
The License-Exempt Task Group completed the resolution of comments received in WG Letter Ballot Recirc #29a. The Working Group agreed to issue a new draft, P802.16h/D5, and initiate Recirc #29b. A request for conditional approval to forward the draft to Sponsor Ballot is expected to be considered at Session #56. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Network Management (NetMan) Task Group
The NetMan Task Group did not meet, as it has no current projects. On 26 March, the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved a WG request to withdraw the P802.16i project. The material has already been integrated into the P802.16Rev2 Revision draft.

Liaison Activities

The WG, through its ITU Liaison Group, drafted contributions to ITU-R Working Party 5D. The inputs, mainly regarding IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, were reviewed by the 802.18 TAG and were approved by the IEEE 802 Executive Committee as IEEE contributions to the WP 5D meeting of June 2008. The ITU-R Liaison Group prepared a closing report of its activities. The ITU Liaison Group's specific outputs included:

Other liaison issues during Session #54 included:

Future Meetings

Working Group Issues
Roger Marks was re-elected as Chair of the Working Group until March 2010. Jose Puthenkulam was re-elected as Vice Chair for the same term. Peiying Zhu will continue to serve as Working Group Secretary.

Minutes and Motions
The Working Group Session #54 minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-08/017.

IEEE 802 Executive Committee Actions
The results of the Working Group's requests at the 802 LMSC Executive Committee meeting of 21 March are available.

Documents
The Session #54 Document Guide 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.

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 an archive of previous Session Reports. The IEEE 802.16 Interactive Calendar includes sessions and deadlines.

"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 (27 April 2008 update) was drafted and edited by:

Roger Marks (r.b.marks@ieee.org)
Chair, IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards


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