IEEE 802.16 Session #56 Report

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IEEE 802.16's Session #56 was held 14-17 July 2008 in Denver, CO, 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 456 people, with a record participation level.

Task Group m (TGm): Advanced Air Interface
Task Group m (TGm) continued its work in the development of the P802.16m project to amend the IEEE 802.16 WirelessMAN-OFDMA specification to meet IMT-Advanced requirements while offering continuing support for legacy WirelessMAN-OFDMA equipment. Following comment resolution, a new version of the System Description Document (SDD) was issued. Five Rapporteur Groups (on HARQ, Preamble, Downlink MIMO, Uplink Control, and Uplink PHY) concluded their work, and five new Rapporteur Groups (on PHY, Upper MAC, HARQ, Link, and MIMO) were chartered until Session #57. An updated project Work Plan was adopted. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Update: A Call for Comments and Contributions on Project 802.16m System Description Document (SDD) runs through 5 September.

Update: Updated TGm System Requirements Document (SRD) completed in accordance with decisions from Session #56.

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 #26d. A WG request for conditional approval to forward the draft to Sponsor Ballot was approved by the 802 Executive Committee (EC). The EC also approved a WG interpretation response. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Update: WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #26e, on draft P802.16Rev2/D6, closed without comments or Disapprove votes. An editorially-revised draft P802.16Rev2/D6a subsequently entered IEEE Sponsor Ballot (12 Aug - 11 Sep).

Relay Task Group
The Relay Task Group completed the resolution of comments received in WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #28d. A WG request for conditional approval to forward the draft to Sponsor Ballot was approved by the 802 EC. A closing report and minutes were issued.

Update: WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #28e, on draft P802.16j/D6 closed without comments or Disapprove votes. An editorially-revised draft P802.16j/D6a subsequently entered IEEE Sponsor Ballot (11 Aug - 10 Sep).

License-Exempt Task Group
The Working Group's License-Exempt Task Group is developing the 802.16h project to revise IEEE Std 802.16. Prior to the session, WG Letter Ballot Recirculation #29d (on draft P802.16h/D7) closed without comments or Disapprove votes. The WG's request for approval to forward the draft to Sponsor Ballot was approved by the 802 EC. The EC also forwarded a WG request for a one-year PAR extension; this is on the agenda for IEEE-SA Standards Board approval on 26 September. The TG issued a closing report and minutes.

Update: An editorially-revised draft P802.16h/D7a subsequently entered IEEE Sponsor Ballot (6 Aug - 5 Sep).

Liaison Activities

The ITU-R Liaison Group met through the week and prepared a number of documents (see the closing report). The group drafted five contributions that were reviewed by the 802.18 TAG and approved by the IEEE 802.16 Working Group and the IEEE 802 Executive Committee: The IEEE 802.16 Working Group also approved the following documents drafted by the ITU-R Liaison Group:

Other liaison issues during Session #56 included:

Future Meetings

Minutes and Motions
The Working Group Session #56 minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-08/046.

IEEE 802 Executive Committee Actions
The results of the Working Group's requests at the 802 LMSC Executive Committee meeting of 18 July are available.

Documents
The Session #56 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 (1 September 2008) 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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