The Study Group discussed and approved that a Frequently Asked Question document be written after the May Meeting in Irving, TX and prior to the LaJolla, CA Meeting. The authors of this submission envision a "rolling" document that will capture and document the on going questions and answers fielded by the WPAN SG.

Larry Ochs coordinated the responses from various members of the Study Group including but not limited to Pat Kinney, Rick LaRowe.

A: IEEE stands for The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. The IEEE is a not-for-profit association and has more than 330,000 individual members in 150 countries. Through its technical publishing, conferences and consensus-based standards activities, the IEEE

• Produces 30 percent of the world's published literature in electrical engineering, computers and control technology,
• Holds annually more than 300 major conferences and
• Has more than 800 active standards with 700 under development.

A: The IEEE 802 Local and Metropolitan Area Network Standards Committee has the basic charter to create, maintain, and encourage the use of IEEE/ANSI and equivalent IEC/ISO JTC 1 standards primarily within layers 1 and 2 of the OSI (Open System Interconnection) Reference Model. The committee was formed in February 1980 and met at least three times per year as a Plenary body ever since that time. An explicit objective since inception has been the goal of establishing international standards in JTC 1. The IEEE series of standards are known as IEEE 802.xxx and the JTC 1 series of equivalent standards are known as ISO 8802-nnn. In the P802 context "local" means campus and "metropolitan" means intracity.

A: WPAN stands for Wireless Personal Area Network. The WPAN Study Group (SG) was formed on March 12, 1998 by the IEEE 802.11 Working Group to investigate the need for a supplemental wireless network standard specifically targeted to provide very low power consumption, low complexity, wireless connectivity among devices within or entering a Personal Operating Space (POS). This includes devices that are carried, worn, or located near the body.

A: A Personal Operating Space (POS) is the space about a person that typically extends up to 10 meters in all directions and envelops the person whether stationary or in motion.

A: To define derivative versions of the 802.11 PHY and MAC specifications for wireless connectivity with fixed, portable and moving devices within or entering a Personal Operating Space (POS). A goal of the WPAN Group will be to achieve a level of interoperability (see -99/5) sufficient to transfer data between a WPAN device and an 802.11 device. The 802.11 PHY and MAC have been reviewed to determine their suitability to meet the Functional Requirements of the WPAN Applications as specified in IEEE documents -98/295-298 and -98/352. Detailed suggestions on proposed changes to the IEEE 802.11 MAC & PHY Standard have been reported in documents -98/322r2, 323, 324.

A: To provide a supplemental standard for low complexity, low power consumption wireless connectivity to support interoperability among devices within or entering the POS. This includes devices (

Examples of devices, which can be networked, include Computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)/Handheld Personal Computers (HPCs), printers, microphones, speakers, headsets, bar code readers, sensors, displays, pagers, and cellular & Personal Communications Service (PCS) phones.) that are carried, worn, or located near the body. The proposed project will address Quality of Service to support a variety of traffic classes.

A: There is currently an unfilled market need for a means of networking devices within the POS where power consumption, cost, and size optimization constraints prohibit the use of currently available standardized solutions.

A: The primary 802.11 design criteria are different from those of the WPAN. WPAN functional requirements are simpler, yet there is a much greater concern over power consumption, size, and realizable product cost. This is due to the WPAN focus on the requirements of wearable computing and peripherals.

A: The IEEE 802.11 WPAN Study Group is doing their work in an accredited Standards Development Organization both the HomeRF Working Group and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group are informal consortia-based groups defining wireless networks. HomeRF could be characterized as a "trimmed down 802.11". Bluetooth is a newer addition to the wireless space, and comes closer to satisfying WPAN requirements. In both cases, we would expect both consortia to propose technology to a WPAN working or task group.

A: A broad range of wireless industry leaders, academic researchers, semiconductor manufacturers, system integrators and end users. Individuals from more than 30 companies have thus far participated in development of the PAR including individuals from 3Com, Aironet Amerisys, AMP, Boeing, Broadband Access Systems, Inc., Butterfly Communications, Inc, Carnegie Mellon, Clarion, Commcepts, Consultant, DEC, FedEx, GTE, Harris, H-P, Informed Technology, Inc., Intermec/Norand, Lace, Lucent, McDonnel, Douglas, Micrilor, MIT Media Lab, Motorola, Netwave, PED Inc., Raytheon, Sanders, Symbol, TI, Unisys, ViA, Walt Disney, Xetron.

Q: Is there enough interest and product differentiation to warrant an additional standard?

A: Yes, the increasing adoption of wearable and handheld computing and communicating devices, and the proliferation of peripheral devices for them, has made clear the need to provide wireless connectivity. Examples of applications include Collaborative Maintenance, Mobile Worker, Medical Sensing, Data Synchronization, etc.

A: The study group will continue to investigate the issues of interoperability and co-existence. A goal of the WPAN Group will be to achieve a level of interoperability (see -99/5) sufficient to transfer data between a WPAN device and an 802.11 device.

A: Yes, multiple companies have demonstrated WPAN implementations using current technology.

A: The study group estimates that an unapproved draft specification can be ready for approval by the IEEE 802.11 Working Group in the Fall of 1999 and an approved draft specification can be ready for approval by the IEEE SAB in the Fall of 2000 and product available shortly thereafter.