IEEE 802.3 Working Group editorial guidelines

The following is a list of editorial guidelines such as words and compound words that are either not defined in dictionaries, or have multiple acceptable spellings (zeros vs zeroes), formatting of Layer diagrams, and editorial instructions.

Compound or undefined words

aggregateable
auto-negotiation (not auto negotiation)
common-mode (when used as an adjective)
Energy-Efficient Ethernet (not Energy Efficient Ethernet)
high-frequency
high-pass (when used as an adjective)
intersymbol (not inter-symbol)
linear feedback shift register
low-frequency
low-pass (when used as an adjective)
multimode
multiport
multisegment
peak-to-peak (in text)
Physical Layer (always capped)
pk-pk (in tables and subscripts)
point-to-point
pseudo-random bit sequence
remateable
self-clearing
setup (not set-up)
signal-to-noise ratio
single-mode
steady-state
subcarrier
subchannel
subdomain
sublayer

Alternative spellings

crosstalk (not cross-talk)
IEEE 802.3 MAC (not CSMA/CD MAC)
implementer (not implementor)
interlayer (not inter-layer)
signaled (not signalled)
writeable (not writable)
zeros (not zeroes) for the plural, zeroes if it is a verb

Frames and packets

frame or MAC frame packet or MAC packet	From Destination Address to Frame Check Sequence inclusive MAC frame plus Preamble, Start Frame Delimiter and Extension
Data frame data frame	Deprecated, renamed MAC frame Any frame that contains data and is not control
Control frame control frame	Frames generated by MAC Control Any control frame
MAC Client Data MAC client data or MAC data	The field in a frame/packet The data received from the MAC client and inserted in the field

Capitalization of Boolean

Since Boolean is named after George Boole the capitalization Boolean should always be used (and not boolean) with the exception of the MIB clauses and annexes described below.

Presentation of numbers

Thousands separator to the left of the decimal point.
In tables, follow the IEEE-SA Standards Style Manual: Digits should be separated into groups of three, counting from the decimal point toward the left. The groups should be separated by a space, and not a comma, period, or dash. In numbers of four digits, the space is not necessary, unless four-digit numbers are grouped in a column with numbers of five digits or more.
In text, where this improves clarity, follow the IEEE Editorial Style Manual: Use spaces instead of commas between numbers in tens or hundreds of thousands (e.g., 62 000, 100 000, but 4000).

Digits to the right of the decimal point.
Do not include any separators in the digits to the right of the decimal point or include any trailing zeros in tables or in text.

Number alignment in tables.
Do not align numbers in a table at the decimal point unless this happens naturally.

Acronyms and abbreviations

Within the text of each clause and annex, the acronym or abbreviation should follow the first use of the full term. The abbreviation or acronym should be placed in parentheses when following the full term.

Listing of prior amendments in editing instructions

The editing instructions list only amendment(s) that have edited the specific part (e.g. paragraph) of the subclause being changed. Based on this: [1] For insert, the only other amendments included in the editing instruction are those that affect the insert point. [2] For Change, the only other amendments included in the editing instruction are those that include the base text that follows. [3] For Delete, the only amendments cited are the amendments including text deleted by the strikethrough text that follows.

Some examples are provided below.

Example 1:

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX modifies the first sentence of the first paragraph of subclause 45.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the first sentence of the first paragraph of 45.123.456 as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX modifies the second sentence of the second paragraph of subclause 45.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the second sentence of the second paragraph of 45.123.456 as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX modifies the second sentence of the second paragraph of subclause 45.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the second sentence of the second paragraph of 45.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX) as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yd-20XX modifies the second sentence of the second paragraph of subclause 45.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the second sentence of the second paragraph of 45.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX and IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX) as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3ye-20XX modifies the fourth sentence of the first paragraph of subclause 45.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the fourth sentence of the first paragraph of 45.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX) as follows:'

Example 2:

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX modifies the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of 30.123.456 as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX modifies the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of 30.123.456 as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX modifies the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of 30.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX) as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yd-20XX modifies the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of 30.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX and IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX) as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3ye-20XX modifies the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of 30.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX) as follows:'

Example 3:

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX modifies the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of subclause 30.123.456 to add the enumeration 10somethingelse
Editing instruction to read 'Insert 10somethingelse into the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of 30.123.456 after 10something as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX modifies the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of subclause 30.123.456 to add the enumeration 10somethingnew
Editing instruction to read 'Insert 10somethingnew into the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of 30.123.456 after 10something and before 10somethingelse (as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX) as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX modifies the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of subclause 30.123.456 to add the enumeration 100somethingelse
Editing instruction to read 'Insert 100somethingelse into the "APPROPRIATE SYNTAX" section of 30.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX and IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX) after 100something as follows:'

Example 4:

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX modifies the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the second paragraph of the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of 30.123.456 as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX modifies the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the second paragraph of the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of 30.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3ya-20XX) as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX modifies the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the third paragraph of the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of 30.123.456 as follows:'

Amendment IEEE Std 802.3yd-20XX modifies the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of subclause 30.123.456
Editing instruction to read 'Change the second and third paragraphs of the "BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS" section of 30.123.456 (as modified by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX and IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX) as follows:'

Subclause numbering

The following is guidance in addition to that found in the IEEE Standards Style Guide with respect to subclause numbering:

1a)	When inserting a new subclause before the first subclause of a particular heading level in the base standard the new subclause is given the clause number of the heading above it with a dot alpha (e.g., ".a") appended to it.
1b)	Additional added subclauses immediately following a subclause inserted according to 1a) increment the appended alpha character (e.g., ".b", ".c", ".d" etc). The character ".z" is followed by ".z1", ".z2", and so on.
2a)	When inserting a new subclause before a subclause inserted according to 1a), the new subclause is given the clause number of the parent subclause with a dot with one more alpha than the subclause it is being inserted before (e.g., ".aa", ".aaa", etc) appended to it.
2b)	Additional added subclauses immediately following a new subclause added according to 1a), 1b), or 2a) increment the last of the appended alpha characters (e.g., ".ab", ".ac", ".aab", ".aac", etc). The added ".az" is followed by ".az1", ".az2", and so on.
3a)	When inserting a new subclause between two subclauses at the same header level created according to 1a), 1b), 2a), or 2b) the the new subclause takes the clause number of the first of the two subclauses with a numeric appended to it. For example if the previous amendment added 999.2.1a and 999.2.1b the new subclause would be 999.2.1a1.
3b)	Additional added subclauses immediately following a new subclause added according to 3a) increment the numeric character of the appended tag (e.g., ".1a2", ".1a3", etc).

Some examples are provided below:

+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |  802.3xa  |  802.3xb  |  802.3xc  | Editing Instruction                                                                           | Rule |  
|        +-----------+-----------+-----------+                                                                                               |      |
|  Base  |   Amd 1   |   Amd 2   |   Amd 3   |                                                                                               |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
| 43.2   |           |           |           |                                                                                               |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.a    |           |           | Insert 43.2.a and 43.2.b before 43.2.1                                                        |  1a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.b    |           |           |                                                                                               |  1b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
| 43.2.1 |           |           |           |                                                                                               |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           |           | 43.2.1aaa | Insert 43.2.1aaa between 43.2.1 and 43.2.1aa as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3yy-20XX             |  2a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           | 43.2.1aa  |           | Insert 43.2.1aa between 43.2.1 and 43.2.1a as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3xx-20XX               |  2a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.1a   |           |           | Insert 43.2.1a through 43.1.1z2 after 43.2.1                                                  |  1a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           | 43.2.1a1  |           | Insert 43.2.1a1 and 43.2.1a2 between 43.2.1a and 43.2.1b as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3xx-20XX |  3a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           | 43.2.1a2  |           |                                                                                               |  3b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.1b   |           |           |                                                                                               |  1b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.1c   |           |           |                                                                                               |      |
|        | through   |           |           |                                                                                               |  1b  |
|        | 43.2.1y   |           |           |                                                                                               |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.1z   |           |           |                                                                                               |  1b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.1z1  |           |           |                                                                                               |  1b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.2.1z2  |           |           |                                                                                               |  1b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+


+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |  802.3ya  |  802.3yb  |  802.3yc  |  802.3yd  | Editing Instruction                                                               | Rule |  
|        +-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+                                                                                   |      |
|  Base  |   Amd 1   |   Amd 2   |   Amd 3   |   Amd 4   |                                                                                   |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
| 43     |           |           |           |           |                                                                                   |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           |           | 43.aa     |           | Insert 43.aa before 43.a as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX                     |  2a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           |           |           | 43.ab     | Insert 43.ab after 43.aa as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3yc-20XX and                 |  2b  |
|        |           |           |           |           | before 43.a as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX                                  |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           | 43.a      |           |           | Insert 43.a and 43.b before 43.1                                                  |  1a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           |           | 43.a1     |           | Insert 43.a1 between 43.a and 43.b as inserted by IEEE Std 802.3yb-20XX           |  3a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        |           | 43.b      |           |           |                                                                                   |  1b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
| 43.1   |           |           |           |           |                                                                                   |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.1.a    |           |           |           | Insert 43.1.a and 43.1.b before 43.1.1                                            |  1a  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|        | 43.1.b    |           |           |           |                                                                                   |  1b  |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+
| 43.1.1 |           |           |           |           |                                                                                   |      |
+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+------+

Definition sort order

The sort order in 1.4 Definitions uses the following algorithm:

Take the definition name up to the ":" and convert all uppercase characters to lowercase
Change subscripts and superscripts to normal text
Remove all characters that are not in the list: ".0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
(This removes space, hyphen, comma, en-dash, em-dash, (, ), \, +, etc. and converts "10BASE-FB port" to "10basefbport")
Sort the resulting strings using the sort order:
".0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
Where "." is first and "z" is last

Enumeration sort order

Sort enumerations defined in 30.3.2.1.2 (aPhyType), aPhyTypeList (30.3.2.1.3), and 30.5.1.1.2 (aMAUType) in order of increasing data rate with the entries with a common data rate sorted alphanumerically.

Sort order for PHYs in tables

The sort order for PHYs listed in table uses the following algorithm:

Increasing speed
Increasing reach (maximum supported distance over the medium)
Decreasing number of lanes

The following supplemental rules address are included to address special cases.

PHY "family" designations, by convention, are assigned a reach of 0
"Copper" PHYs precede "Fiber" PHYs (all else being equal)
Alphanumeric sort (all else being equal)

MBd, GBd, Mb/s, Gb/s Mbps and Gbps

The definition and use of baud and bit per second is specified in IEEE Std 260.1 'IEEE Standard for Letter Symbols for Measurement Units (SI and Other Common Units)'. This is maintained by the IEEE Quantities, Units, and Symbols Standards Committee (QUSCom).

        Excerpt from table 3 - Units of the SI and units used with the SI
+----------------+------------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| Unit           | Symbol     | Notes                                                      | 
+----------------+------------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| baud           | Bd         | In telecommunications, a unit of signaling speed equal to  |
|                |            | to one element per second.                                 |
+----------------+------------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| bit            | b          | In information theory, the bit is a unit of information    |
|                |            | content equal to the information content of a message,     |
|                |            | the a priori probability of which is one-half. In computer |
|                |            | science, the name bit is used as a short form of binary    |
|                |            | digit.                                                     |
+----------------+------------+------------------------------------------------------------+
| bit per second | bit/s, b/s |                                                            |
+----------------+------------+------------------------------------------------------------+

In summary baud is used to indicate the signaling rate, b/s is used to indicate rate of binary digits. For example 64B66B used for 10GBASE-R has a signalling speed of 10.3125 GBd and a bit rate of 10 Gb/s. The symbol 'bps' is not used, instead 'b/s' is used to conform to the above so only Mb/s, Gb/s, and Tb/s should be used. The phrase "baud rate" is not used and "signaling rate" should be used instead.

Layer diagram guidelines

All capitals will be used in these diagrams - the only exception will be text in brackets such as '(Optional)'
Abbreviations can be used in these diagrams - but these will not be expanded in the diagram
All abbreviations used in these diagrams will be included in the abbreviation list provided below.

Clause 30 MIB exceptions

The management information base (MIB) clauses, and their associated annexes, have a number of exceptions. This is because the managed objects within IEEE Std 802.3 are defined in accordance with IEEE 802.1, ISO/IEC 10165-4:1991 Information Technology - Open Systems Interconnection - Structure of Management Information - Part 4: Guidelines for the Definition of Management Objects and IEC/ISO 8824 Information Technology - Open Systems Interconnection - Specification of Abstract Notation One (ASN.1). The MIB clauses are Clause 30 'Management' and the deprecated clauses, Clause 5, 19 and 20 and the annexes are Annex H, 30A, 30B and 30C.

Use of the spelling 'behaviour'

In IEEE Std 802.3 the spelling 'behaviour' is used throughout MIB clauses and their associated Annexes, and in any references to the behaviours defined there. Since ISO/IEC 10165-4:1991 is an ISO standard it uses the spelling 'behaviour' and to meet this externally defined template we need to use the same spelling. In all other instances the spelling 'behavior' is used.

Capitalization of keywords

Within the MIB Clauses, the subclauses defining the behaviours for the attributes, actions and notifications use a number of keywords that are capitalized as follows:

ACTION
ATTRIBUTE
NOTIFICATION

APPROPRIATE SYNTAX:
BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS:

BIT STRING
BOOLEAN
ENUMERATED VALUE LIST
ENUMERATED VALUE
INTEGER
OCTET STRING
REAL
SEQUENCE OF
SEQUENCE

Punctuation of 'BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS:' text

The text contained in the 'BEHAVIOUR DEFINED AS:' description must be terminated by a semi-colon, to not do so would be a syntax error. Due to this the normal punctuation rules that, for example, would place the semi-colon before a close quotation marks must not be followed.

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Last Update: 15 May 2024