IEEE 802.16 Session #40 Report

Session #40 Venue
Session #40 of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group (WG) on Broadband Wireless Access was held 14-17 November 2005 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, BC, Canada. This was an IEEE 802 LMSC Plenary Session and co-located with sessions of the other IEEE 802 Working Groups and Technical Advisory Groups. The attendance list includes 192 individuals.

Task Group e (Mobile WirelessMAN®) Status
With P802.16e/D12 complete and set for consideration on the agenda of the 6 December meeting of IEEE-SA Standards Board's Review Committee (RevCom), Task Group e did not meet. The final Sponsor Ballot results were 138 Approve and 2 Disapprove, for an approval ratio of 99%. The IEEE-SA Standards Board, meeting on 7 December, will consider the RevCom Recommendation.
Update: IEEE 802.16e is now an approved amendment to IEEE Std 802.16, following final action on 7 December 2005 by the IEEE-SA Standards Board. Approval had been unanimously recommended by the Board's Standards Review Committee (RevCom) on 6 December.

Maintenance Task Group Status
P802.16-2004/Cor1/D5 was approved by the IEEE-SA Standards Board on 8 November. The Maintenance Task Group did not meet but is considering the development of an ongoing maintenance process.

Network Management (NetMan) Task Group
IEEE Std 802.16f-2005, an approved amendment to IEEE Std 802.16-2004, was published by IEEE on 1 December 2005 following its approval on 22 September 2005. The document specifies the Management Information Base (MIB) for fixed systems.

The 802 Executive Committee (EC) agreed to forward a new project authorization request (PAR), prepared by the NetMan Task Group, to initiate a mobile management information base, essentially extending the 802.16f work in support of 802.16e. Formal approval of the draft PAR by the IEEE-SA Standards Board is expected on 7 December.
Update: The P802.16i PAR was approved by the IEEE-SA Standards Board on 7 December, activating the standard development project. A Call for Contributions was issued, with a deadline of 6 January.

The NetMan Task Group addressed responses to a Call for Comments regarding the P802.16g Baseline Document. It also held several joint meetings, including one with the 802.21 Working Group on Media Independent Handover, with which copperation is proceeding successfully. The Task Group issued a closing report and minutes.
Update: A new P802.16g Baseline Document was released for a further Call for Comments, with a deadline of 4 January.

Licensed-Exempt Task Group
The Working Group's Licensed-Exempt Task Group met again to develop the P802.16h draft. After reviewing about 14 responses to a Call for Contributions, the group agreed to issue a new working document for further review. A closing report and minutes were issued.
Update: A new Working Document was released, and a Call for Comments and Contributions was issued, with a deadline of 3 January.

Conformance Task Group Activities
The Conformance Task Group, addressing the P802.16/Conformance04 project on PICS Proforma for fixed operation below 11 GHz, met to resolve comments received in Working Group Letter Ballot Recirculation #18c. The IEEE 802 EC granted conditional approval to forward the draft for Sponsor Ballot, provided that the Working Group ballot closes successfully. A new draft is in preparation for recirculation, to close prior to Session #41. The Task Group issued a closing report.
Update: Working Group Letter Ballot Recirculation #18d opened, with a deadline of 4 January.

Mobile Multi-hop Relay Study Group
The Working Group's Mobile Multi-hop Relay Study Group met and reviewed 23 responses to a Call for Contributions. Initial PAR proposals were considered. The IEEE 802 EC approved renewal of the Study Group through March 2006, and PAR drafting is planned for Session #41. A closing report and minutes were issued.
Update: The Study Group posted some discussion text for a potential PAR and Five Criteria and issued a Call for Comments and Contributions with a deadline of 6 January 2006.

Liaison Activities

• The WG's ITU-R ad hoc committee met, reviewed liaison statements from ITU-R WP 8A and 8F, and prepared an activity report. The Working Group developed a proposed IEEE contribution to ITU-R WP 8F and forwarded it to the IEEE 802 EC, which approved it. Separately, the 802.16 Working Group's ITU-R Liaison Official, Dr. José Costa, provided the 802 EC with an invited presentation on "A Factual History of the IEEE — ITU-R Relationship," including a number of references to 802.16 activities.
• The WG sent a liaison statement to the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA) as a followup to a progress report from CCSA.
• The WG reviewed a report from ETSI BRAN.
• The Working Group heard a 802.21 Liaison Report and a 802 Architecture Committee Liaison Report.

Future Meetings

• IEEE 802.16's Session #41 will take place on 9-12 January 2006 in New Delhi, India. The Member Host will be Aditya Agrawal of corporate host Beceem Communications.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #42 will take place on 6-9 March 2006 in Denver, CO, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session. Note the change of dates and the change of venue from the original site of New Orleans, LA, USA.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #43 will take place on 8-11 May 2006 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Member Host will be Naftali Chayat of Corporate Host Alvarion.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #44 will take place on 17-20 July 2006 in San Diego, CA, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
• The Working Group decided to hold IEEE 802.16's Session #45 in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. The probable dates are 25-28 September 2006. The Member Hosts will be Frank Draper, Brian Kiernan, and Keith Doucet, with Corporate Hosts Wavesat Inc., InterDigital Communications, and Redline Communications.

Documents
The Session #40 document list 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.

Minutes and Motions
The Working Group minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-05/087. These were recorded by Andy Sago, serving as Acting Secretary for Session #40. The Working Group's requests at the 802 LMSC Executive Committee meeting of 18 November were approved.

Working Group Membership
The Working Group Membership grew to a record high of 310. At least 71 other Potential Members will be eligible for membership by attending Session #42.

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 a project milestone summary and an archive of previous Session Reports.

"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.

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