802.16 Session #54 Report

IEEE 802.16 Session #54 Report

IEEE 802.16's Session #54 was held on 17-20 March 2008 in Orlando, FL, USA. This was an IEEE 802 LMSC Plenary Session and co-located with sessions of the other IEEE 802 Working Groups and Technical Advisory Groups.

Attendance
The attendance was 430 people.

Task Group m (TGm): Advanced Air Interface
Task Group m (TGm) continued with its work in the development of the P802.16m project 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 requirements of IMT-Advanced next generation mobile networks. TGm addressed comments on its draft System Description Document (SDD). Also, with the aid of a report from the Frame Structure Rapporteur Group, TGm completed a frame structure section for use in an updated SDD draft (IEEE 802.16m-08/003r1), on which a Call for Comments has been issued. Two Rapporteur groups (on DL control and DL PHY structure) were created to develop initial SDD text. TGm reviewed the report of the Uplink Access Rapporteur Group and agreed that OFDMA would be the mandatory UL access method specified in the SDD, without yet precluding other technologies as options. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Relay Task Group
The Relay Task Group completed the resolution of comments received in WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #28b. The Working Group agreed issue a new draft, P802.16j/D4, and initiate Recirc #28c. A request for conditional approval to forward the draft to Sponsor Ballot is expected to be considered at Session #56. A closing report was issued. The minutes followed later.

"16jm" Ad Hoc Group
The "16jm" Ad Hoc Group, a joint activity of TGm and the Relay TG, provided a report that was reviewed and discussed. The Ad Hoc Group was renewed until Session #55.

Maintenance Task Group
The Working Group's Maintenance Task Group is developing the 802.16Rev2 project to revise IEEE Std 802.16. It resolved comments received in WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #26b. The Working Group agreed to initiate Recirc #26c on the new draft, P802.16Rev2/D4. Rapporteur Groups chartered following Session #53 - on Handover, FDD , MIMO, Security, MBS, Persistent Allocation, and Network Management - made progress in harmonization and were renewed until Session #55. An additional Rapporteur Group - on ROHC - was added. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Update: WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #26c, reviewing P802.16Rev2/D4, opened 4 April, through 19 April.

License-Exempt Task Group
The License-Exempt Task Group completed the resolution of comments received in WG Letter Ballot Recirc #29a. The Working Group agreed to issue a new draft, P802.16h/D5, and initiate Recirc #29b. A request for conditional approval to forward the draft to Sponsor Ballot is expected to be considered at Session #56. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Network Management (NetMan) Task Group
The NetMan Task Group did not meet, as it has no current projects. On 26 March, the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved a WG request to withdraw the P802.16i project. The material has already been integrated into the P802.16Rev2 Revision draft.

Liaison Activities

The WG, through its ITU Liaison Group, drafted contributions to ITU-R Working Party 5D. The inputs, mainly regarding IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, were reviewed by the 802.18 TAG and were approved by the IEEE 802 Executive Committee as IEEE contributions to the WP 5D meeting of June 2008. The ITU-R Liaison Group prepared a closing report of its activities. The ITU Liaison Group's specific outputs included:

Draft Contribution to ITU-R WP 5D on modifications of Sections 4 of the ITU-R IMT-Advanced IMT.TECH draft.
Draft Contribution to ITU-R WP 5D on modifications of Sections 5 and 6 of the ITU-R IMT-Advanced IMT.TECH draft.
Draft Contribution to ITU-R WP 5D on an update of Subclause 5.6 (OFDMA TDD MWAN) of Rec. ITU-R M.1457.
Draft Contribution to ITU-R WP 5D on the Revision of the M.1457 Introduction.
Draft Contribution to ITU-R WP 5D on the Revision of M.1457 Administrative Procedures.
Draft Contribution to ITU-R WP 5D on the Submission and Evaluation Process for IMT-Advanced.
Draft Contribution to ITU-R WP 5D on ACS values, in response to a liaison statement from WP 5D, and a related liaison statement to the WiMAX Forum.
A Liaison statement from ITU-R WP 5A regarding Recommendation ITU-R M.1801 was reviewed, but a response was deferred.

Other liaison issues during Session #54 included:

The WG prepared a Statement to the WiMAX Forum in response to a note from the WiMAX Forum President.
The WG prepared a Liaison Statement to CCSA TC5/WG3 in response to a report from that group.
The WG prepared a liaison statement to the 802.11 and 802.15 Working Groups on co-located coexistence. The WG also sent a liaison statement to the Bluetooth SIG on similar issues.
The WG's IETF Liaison Official presented a report on the IETF's 16ng Working Group
The WG's 802.19 Liaison Official presented a report on activities in the 802.19 TAG regarding 802.16, primarily 802.16h.
The WG's received a report on Emergency Services discussions in the 802.21 WG.
WG members participated in a meeting of the 802.18 TAG considering IMT-Advanced issues. The TAG considered five contributions related to 802.16, including a previous statement from 802.16 to 802.18, a report on the first meeting of ITU-R WP 5D, and a process proposed by the current Chairs of the 802.11 and 802.16 Working Groups. That process was accepted as the basis of future IMT-Advanced preparations in 802.18.

Future Meetings

IEEE 802.16's Session #55 will take place in Macau, China on 12-15 May 2008. Jianmin Lu serves as Member Host, with Corporate Hosts China Mobile, Huawei, ZTE, and the China Academy of Telecommunications Research (CATR).
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.
IEEE 802.16's Session #57will take place in Kobe, Japan on 16-19 September 2008 (Tue-Fri). Mitsuo Nohara serves as Member Host, with Corporate Host KDDI.
IEEE 802.16's Session #58 will take place on 10-13 November 2008 in Dallas, Texas USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
The WG accepted a proposal to hold IEEE 802.16's Session #59 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil on 12-15 January 2009. The session will be hosted by Ramon Khalona, with Corporate Host NextWave Wireless.
IEEE 802.16's Session #60 will take place on 9-12 March 2009 in Vancouver, BC, Canada in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
IEEE 802.16's Session #61 will take place in May 2009, preferably on 12-15 January. The site is to be determined during Session #56. Proposals are solicited. Please see the IEEE 802.16 Interim Session Guidelines.

Working Group Issues
Roger Marks was re-elected as Chair of the Working Group until March 2010. Jose Puthenkulam was re-elected as Vice Chair for the same term. Peiying Zhu will continue to serve as Working Group Secretary.

Minutes and Motions
The Working Group Session #54 minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-08/017.

IEEE 802 Executive Committee Actions
The results of the Working Group's requests at the 802 LMSC Executive Committee meeting of 21 March are available.

Documents
The Session #54 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.

With the approval of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group, this report (27 April 2008 update) was drafted and edited by:

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

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