IEEE 802.16 Session #73

IEEE 802.16 Session #73 Report

Overview

IEEE 802.16's Session #73 was held on 16-19 May 2011 at Lake Louise, Canada. The Member Host for this Interim Session of the Working Group was Ron Murias. The IEEE 802.21 Working Group co-located its interim session.

Attendance

The attendance list includes 76 individuals.

GRIDMAN Task Group

The Working Group's GRIDMAN Task Group met to discuss activity under the P802.16n project. The project is amending IEEE Std 802.16 to provide for "Higher Reliability Networks." Comment resolution led to updates to the 802.16n System Requirements Document and Amendment Working Document. The TG issued a closing report, with minutes to follow.

Machine-to-Machine Task Group

The new Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Task Group met to address the P802.16p project, which is amending IEEE Std 802.16 to provide "Enhancements to Support Machine-to-Machine Applications." Based on comment resolution, the 802.16p System Requirements Document and Amendment Working Document were progressed, and an Evaluation Methodology Document was initiated. A closing report and minutes were issued.

Maintenance Task Group

The Maintenance Task Group addressed change requests and updated its database. It also developed a response to a liaison statement from the WiMAX Forum. The TG issued a closing report and minutes. On 17 May 2011, the IEEE-SA Standards Board authorized a new P802.16Rev3 Project specified by the P802.16 Revision PAR. This project will develop a draft revision of IEEE Std 802.16-2009, incorporating three amendments (P802.16h, P802.16j, and P802.16m) but excluding the WirelessMAN-Advanced radio interface, which the WG intends to move to a standalone standard.

Project Planning Committee

The WG's Project Planning Committee met, reviewed contributions, and prepared a report. Updates were made to the Hierarchical Network Study Report.

Liaison Activities

The ITU-R Liaison Group met through the week and prepared a number of documents. For more details, see the ITU-R Liaison Group Report. Highlights include the following:

The group reviewed a liaison statement from ITU-R Working Party 5D (WP 5D) providing notification that WP 5D had "finalised and preliminarily agreed the draft new Rec. ITU-R M.[IMT.RSPEC]." That document contains the detailed specifications of IMT-Advanced, including the WirelessMAN-Advanced air interface of IEEE 802.16m.
A liaison statement was issued to the WirelessMAN-Advanced Transposing Organizations (WATO), notifying them of plans for the second WATO meeting to coordinate regarding the transposition of the WirelessMAN-Advanced air interface into national and international standards.

Publication of IEEE Std 802.16m

IEEE Std 802.16m-2011, which specifies the WirelessMAN-Advanced air interface, was published by IEEE on 6 May, following approval on 31 March by the IEEE-SA Standards Board. The document is now available for sale in the IEEE Standards Store.

Future Sessions

Session #74 will take place on 18-21 July 2011 in San Francisco, California, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session. Discounted Early Web Registration closes on 17 June.
Session #75 will take place on 19-22 September 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Kitti Wongthavarawat will serve as host, with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) as sponsor.
IEEE 802.16's Session #76 will take place on 7-10 November 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
IEEE 802.16's Session #77 is planned for 9-12 January 2012. Proposals are solicited. Please see the IEEE 802.16 Interim Session Guidelines..
IEEE 802.16's Session #78 will take place on 12-15 March 2012 in Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA in conjunction with the IEEE 802 Plenary Session.
The Future Sessions list and the WirelessMAN Interactive Calendar include all session information through 2012.

Working Group Minutes

The Working Group Session #73 minutes are available as IEEE 802.16-11/0017.

Documents

The Session #73 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® Standards 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 WirelessMAN 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.

This report (25 May 2011) was drafted and edited by:
Roger Marks (r.b.marks@ieee.org)
Chair, IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards