[STDS-802-16] changes and updates on Maintenance Task Group and Corrigendum project
Dear 802.16,
I'm writing with an update on 802.16's Maintenance Task Group
<http://ieee802.org/16/maint> and its "P802.16-2004/Cor 1"
Corrigendum project.
Due to the pressure of business, and to his obligations as 802.16
Working Group Vice Chair, Ken Stanwood has decided to resign as Chair
of the Maintenance Task Group. I thank Ken for his service in this
position and send him our appreciation for getting the Task Group up
and running over the past few months.
Ken and I are very happy to have identified and recruited an
excellent replacement as Task Group Chair: Jonathan Labs. I welcome
Jon to this assignment and thank him for his willingness to take on
the task.
I've been working with Jon to assess where the Corrigendum project
stands and where it is going. The most obvious fact is that it is
behind schedule. The PAR says that we expected the draft to begin
Sponsor Ballot this week, but we don't yet have a first draft. It's
clear that the TG has faced a lot more work than we originally
anticipated; it's equally true that, when the WG originally drafted
the PAR, we were planning on making quick work of this project. It's
obvious to me that many WG members are anxious to get this work
completed. It's also obvious that people need to see a concrete and
realistic plan so they know when to expect the work to be finalized.
With this in mind, Jon and I have developed a schedule
<http://ieee802.org/16/maint/schedule.html>. I'd like to walk you
through it:
*We begin with the two activities agreed to by the TG at Session #34.
The first is to open an additional Call for Reply Comments on
comments that were not resolved to due to lack of time. I've compiled
those comments into a new database IEEE 802.16maint-04/09
<http://ieee802.org/16/maint/docs/80216maint-04_09.zip>. The Call for
Reply Comments will be issued later today (Wednesday). The second
activity is to issue a Working Document embodying the resolved
comments and then issue a Call for Comments on that Working Document.
Editor Itzik Kitroser expects to have the Working Document available
by the end of this week.
*Based on comment resolution at Session #35, we expect to then issue
a draft D1 and run a Working Group Letter Ballot between Sessions #35
(January) and #36 (March).
*We plan to finalize the WG Letter Ballot comment resolution at
Session #36 and move promptly to Sponsor Ballot. This will be tricky.
One challenge is that the Working Group chose to hold Session #37
unusually early in May (May 2-5). However, the schedule shows that we
hope to work around this limitation. If the plan holds true, we will
wrap up Sponsor Ballot comment resolution at the May session.
I suspect that some people will be dissatisfied with this schedule
because it is too slow, and others will be unhappy because it is too
fast. In my view, it will be challenging to meet this schedule, but I
don't think we have any choice but to set up such a challenge. The
demands to get this work concluded are, I believe, quite severe. We
are allocating three more WG sessions and six more months to complete
this work. Jon and I think that is enough.
If you do want the corrigendum to be finished by May, then I strongly
urge you to support Jon in his effort to keep the scope of the work
narrowly focused. Also, if you have any new material to introduce,
please make sure it is absolutely necessary, and introduce it early
in the process. Sponsor Ballot should be for fine tuning and
polishing any last issues, not for new material.
Regards,
Roger