IEEE 802.16 Session #29 Report

Summary
Session #29 of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access took place 12-15 January 2004 at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The session was co-located with sessions of the other 802 Working Groups and Technical Advisory Groups. 130 people attended.

Revision of IEEE Standard 802.16 moving toward Sponsor Ballot
The 802.16 Working Group resolved comments arising during the recirculation ballot of IEEE P802.16-REVd, a comprehensive (over 800 page) revision of IEEE Standard 802.16 ("Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems"), including amendments IEEE 802.16a and IEEE 802.16c. The Working Group unanimously approved moving the draft to IEEE Sponsor Ballot. Pending a confirmation ballot on the comment resolutions, and approval of the IEEE 802 LMSC Executive Committee, Sponsor Ballot will be scheduled to close before Session #30. The details are included in the revised development schedule, as approved by the Working Group.

Initial Draft of Mobile WirelessMAN^TM (P802.16e) Project Going to Ballot
The Working Group chose to adopt a first draft under the P802.16e project, which is developing an enhancement of the WirelessMAN^TM air interface to support mobile as well as fixed users. The WG also agreed to initiate Working Group Letter Ballot #14 on that draft as soon as editorial preparations are complete. The decision to proceed to ballot followed a fifth comment review cycle. Resolution of ballot comments is scheduled for Session #30.

Conformance Projects Nearing Completion
IEEE Sponsor Ballot of the P802.16/Conformance03 draft was completed with unanimous approval. Comments were received and resolved. Completion of the work, covering Radio Conformance Tests (RCT) for the 10-66 GHz WirelessMAN-SC Air Interface, is expected following recirculation. Submittal for approval as an IEEE standard is expected in March.

The previous volume in the conformance series, P802.16/Conformance02, was approved on 10 December 2003 by the IEEE-SA Standards Board as IEEE Standard 802.16/Conformance02-2003. The title is "IEEE Standard for Conformance to IEEE 802.16 - Part 2: Test Suite Structure and Test Purposes (TSS&TP) for 10-66 GHz WirelessMAN-SC Air Interface." Publication is anticipated in February 2004.

IEEE Standard 802.16.2 Nears Approval as Revised Recommended Practice
On 16 January 2004, the IEEE-SA's Review Committee recommended approval of the final P802.16.2-REVa draft as IEEE Standard 802.16.2-2004. This document will become a revision of IEEE Standard 802.16.2-2001 ("Coexistence of Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems") and will replace that document. The revision updates the content, adding new material addressing 2-11 GHz operation and coexistence with point-to-point systems. The content applies only to licensed-band operation. Final IEEE-SA approval as an IEEE Standard is expected in early February.

Working Group Liaison Activities

• The WG issued a liaison statement to ITU-R in reply to an input statement on Collaboration between ITU-R and IEEE 802.16 on broadband wireless access. In response to ITU-R's invitation, the reply suggests initial text for a preliminary draft new recommendation referencing IEEE 802.16.
• The WG issued a liaison statement to ITU-T SG 9 in response to input statements indicating the interest of SG 9, which addresses integrated broadband cable networks, in IEEE 802.16. The WG delegated its Chair and Vice Chair to interact with SG 9, beginning with the SG 9 meeting of 15-21 January 2004.
• The WG issued a liaison statement to TTA PG05 in response to an input statement from that group, which is addressing portable Internet service (PIS) in Korea.

Documents
The Session #29 document list indexes the session documents.

Minutes and Motions
The Working Group minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-04/05. Significant motions presented at the Closing Plenary are embedded in the Closing Plenary Agenda, although some were passed in amended form.

Future Meetings

• IEEE 802.16's Session #30 will take place in Orlando, FL, USA on 15-18 March 2004 in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session. Elections for Working Group Chair and Vice Chair are scheduled.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #31 will take place in Shenzhen, China on 17-20 May 2004. The host company, ZTE Corporation, presented its plans for the session.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #32 will take place in Portland, OR, USA on 12-15 July 2004 in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #33 is scheduled for September 2004. The site is to be determined during Session #30. Proposals are welcome; please see the IEEE 802.16 Interim Session Guidelines. During Session #29, indications of hosting interest were mentioned regarding Busan, Korea; Toyko, Japan; Montreal, Canada; and London, UK.

About IEEE 802.16
The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards has developed and is enhancing the WirelessMAN^TM 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 a project milestone summary.

Roger Marks (r.b.marks@ieee.org)
Chair, IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards
tel: +1-303-497-7837