IEEE 802.16 Session #49 Report

Session #49 Venue and Attendance
IEEE 802.16's Session #49 was held on 7-10 May 2007 in Portland, OR, USA. This was an Interim Session of the Working Group. The session was hosted by Jose Puthenkulam, with Intel Corporation as Corporate Host. 303 people attended.

Task Group m (TGm): Advanced Air Interface
Task Group m (TGm) held its third meeting in the development of the P802.16m project. The intent of the project is to amend the IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN-OFDMA specification so that, while offering continuing support for legacy WirelessMAN-OFDMA equipment, it can meet the emerging cellular layer requirements of IMT-Advanced next generation mobile networks. The PAR mentions a few specific IMT-Advanced targets, such as 100 Mbit/s and high mobility. TGm refined its technical requirements document, producing an updated draft 802.16m-07/002r2, and initiated a Call for Comments for further review. TGm also reviewed comments on evaluation methodology developed by a drafting group; it initiated an additional Call for Comments on the evaluation methodology material.

A closing report and minutes were released.

Network Management (NetMan) Task Group
The NetMan Task Group met to address its projects, as detailed below. The Task Group issued a closing report and minutes.

P802.16i Project (Mobile Management Information Base)

The Task Group resolved comments received in Working Group Letter Ballot Recirc #25a regarding P802.16i/D2. P802.16i/D3 was prepared for Recirculation #25b (19 June - 8 July).

P802.16g Project (Management Plane Procedures and Services)

With the ballot approval standing at 98%, the draft P802.16g/D9 was submitted to RevCom for IEEE-SA approval. For procedural reasons, RevCom, on 6 June, requested an additional recirculation of the draft. This will defer approval until September.

P802.16k Project

Draft P802.16k/D4, to amend IEEE 802.1D for support of 802.16 bridging, was approved as an IEEE standard by the IEEE-SA Standards Board during its meeting of 22 March. Publication is still in progress.

Maintenance Task Group
The Working Group's Maintenance Task Group resolved comments received on draft corrigendum P802.16/Cor2/D3 during Working Group Letter Ballot Recirculation #23b. Draft P802.16/Cor2/D4 was prepared. However, the Working Group decided to terminate WG Letter #23, request the withdrawal of the P802.16/Cor2 PAR, and move the content of P802.16/Cor2/D4 into the P802.16Rev2 revision project. In the development of that revision work, the TG resolved comments received on initial editor's consolidation of IEEE Std 802.16-2004, 802.16e, and 802.16f. The TG resolved these comments, leading to a document P802.16Rev/D0a. An additional document, created from P802.16Rev/D0a by the application of the material in P802.16/Cor2/D4, was prepared as P802.16Rev/D0b and subjected to a Call for Editorial Comments. The TG issued a closing report, with minutes to follow.

Relay Task Group
The Relay Task Group reviewed comments and contributions regarding its baseline document for the P802.16j project. A closing report and minutes were issued. Subsequently, a Call for Technical Comments was issued.

License-Exempt Task Group
The Working Group's Licensed-Exempt Task Group resolved comments received during an additional review cycle conducted under WG Letter Ballot #24 regarding P802.16h/D2a. The Working Group decided to terminate WG Letter Ballot #24 and create Working Group Draft P802.16h/D2b, which will be subject to further development. The TG issued a Call for Comments on P802.16h/D2b. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Liaison Activities

• At its meeting of 23-31 May in Kyoto, Japan, ITU-R Working Party 8F forwarded for approval, to Study Group 8, a draft revision of M.1457-6 including IP-OFDMA (renamed "OFDMA TDD WMAN" and based on IEEE Std 802.16) as a new sixth terrestrial radio interface for IMT-2000. ITU announced this result. WP 8F delivered two liaison statements to IEEE, concerning the Inclusion of a Sixth Radio Interface in the Draft Revision of Recommendation ITU-R M.1457-6 and Draft Revisions of Recommendation ITU-R M.1580-1 and M.1581-1.
  
• The IEEE 802.16 WG approved, in WG Letter Ballot #26, a proposed response to the ITU-R Working Party 8F liaison statements. The IEEE 802 EC approved a version and a final statement was delivered.
• At its meeting of 25-26 June in Geneva, Switzerland, ITU-R Study Group 8 agreed to arrange a special meeting of Working Party 8F to complete the process of consensus building on M.1457-6. The meeting is scheduled for 29-31 August in Korea. . The intent is that a draft revision of M.1457-6 will be submitted for the consideration of the ITU's Radiocommunication Assembly (15-19 October).

• The Working Group cooperated with the IEEE 802.18 TAG in its efforts to develop a consolidated IEEE 802 position for a contribution to ITU-R WP 8F regarding IMT-Advanced technical requirements. The IEEE 802 EC approved the resulting document, which was contributed and considered by Working Party 8F at its Kyoto meeting.

• The Working Group received a statement from the WiMAX Forum (L802.16-07/027) regarding system profiles. It delivered a response (L802.16-07/030).
• The Working Group received a statement from the WiMAX Forum (L802.16-07/028) regarding the proposal to include IP-OFDMA (based on IEEE Std 802.16) in IMT-2000. It delivered a response (L802.16-07/031).
• The Working Group prepared a summary of responses to IP-OFDMA evaluation group questions and comments (IEEE L802.16-07/032).
• The Working Group received a statement from 3GPP TSG SA (L802.16-07/022) and delivered a response (L802.16-07/029).

Future Meetings

• IEEE 802.16's Session #50 will take place on 16-19 July 2007 in San Francisco, CA, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #51 will take place in Malaga, Spain on 17-20 September 2007. Gordon Antonello serves as Member Host, with AT4 wireless as Corporate Host.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #52 will take place on 12-15 November 2007 in Atlanta, GA, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #53 will take place in Levi, Finland on 21-24 January 2008. Carl Eklund serves as Member Host, with Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks as Corporate Hosts.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #54 will take place on 17-20 March 2008 in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session. The likely location is Orlando, FL, USA.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #55 will take place in May 2008. The site is to be determined during Session #50. Proposals are solicited; please see IEEE 802.16 Interim Session Guidelines.
• IEEE 802.16's Session #56 will take place on 14-17 July 2008 in Denver, CO, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.

Minutes and Motions
The Working Group Session #49 minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-07/034.

Documents
The Session #49 Document Guide 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.

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 an archive of previous Session Reports. The IEEE 802.16 Interactive Calendar includes sessions and deadlines.

"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