10 August 2001
The IEEE 802.16 WirelessMANTM air interface standard project passed another milestone as the IEEE P802.16 "Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems" entered IEEE Sponsor Ballot. In this final balloting step in the draft's approval process, it will be reviewed by a committee of volunteers who responded to an open worldwide solicitation.
This process follows the successful conclusion, on August 3, of a Letter Ballot by the IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access. In that multistage ballot, the group resolved over 1400 comments from members and nonmembers in many countries. Final approval to proceed to Sponsor Ballot was unanimously granted by the IEEE 802 Sponsor Executive Committee on August 9.
The IEEE P802.16 draft includes the Working Group's basic medium access control layer, which will support multiple physical layers for Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks. The draft also includes the group's first physical layer, which addresses frequency bands from 10-66 GHz. Enhancements to P802.16 are underway in the form of amendments P802.16a (for licensed bands from 2-11 GHz) and P802.16b (for unlicensed bands, primarily from 5-6 GHz).
The copyrighted draft is available to the Working Group's 161 Members and 56 Observers as well as to the 43 members of the Sponsor Ballot Group. The draft is slated to soon to be available for sale by the IEEE Standards Department. Beginning six months after publication, it will be available at no charge through the Get IEEE 802TM program.
The ballot runs through September 9. Comments will be resolved at 802.16's Session #15 on 10-14 September in Denver, Colorado, USA.
For more information:
IEEE 802.16 WirelessMANTM Working Group
or contact:
Roger Marks (r.b.marks@ieee.org)
Chair, IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards