N-WEST News #16
National Wireless Electronic Systems Testbed (N-WEST)
July 26, 1999
Topics:
- 106 FOUNDING MEMBERS ATTEND IEEE 802.16 SESSION #1
- 802.16 LEADERSHIP CONTINUES TO DEVELOP
- 802.16 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS GROUP SEEK SPECIFIC INPUT
- 802.16 COEXISTENCE, PHY, AND MAC GROUPS SEEK INPUT
- UPCOMING PANEL SESSION ON WIRELESS STANDARDS AT RAWCON'99
- UPCOMING BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS OPERATOR'S FORUM AT RAWCON'99
- RECENT EVENTS REGARDING N-WEST AND 802.16
- TWO NEW N-WEST SUPPORTING COMPANIES
106 FOUNDING MEMBERS ATTEND IEEE 802.16 SESSION #1
130 people attended some part of the July 6-8, 1999 Session #1 of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access in Montreal, PQ, Canada. Meeting details, including the attendance list, are on the web.
During this session:
- 802.16 established its initial voting membership. 106 people are now Voting Members.
- 802.16 defined its charter: "to develop standards and recommended practices to support the development and deployment of fixed broadband wireless access systems."
- The Working Group approved a Project Authorization Request (PAR) to formally establish an IEEE standards project entitled "Coexistence of Broadband Wireless Access Systems." The PAR for this Recommended Practice was approved by the Executive Committee of the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee (Project 802). The Coexistence Task Group continued its progress toward a draft document and will meet again the week of September 13.
- A Systems Requirements document was debated extensively. The Systems Requirements Task Group approved the meeting's output as a working document and agreed to focus on resolving outstanding issues during its August 4-6 meeting.
- The PHY and MAC groups met briefly to hear contributions and begin planning for activity during meeting the week of September 13.
- Two ad hoc committees were appointed: "IF Interface" and "Patent Procedures."
802.16 LEADERSHIP CONTINUES TO DEVELOP
The Working Group elected a Chair and Vice Chair through March 9, 2000. The results were:
Chair: Roger Marks, NIST
Vice Chair: Lou Olsen, Director, Technology Development, Teligent, Inc.
An additional 802.16 official was appointed and confirmed by vote:
Secretary: J. Scott Marin, SpectraPoint Wireless LLC
The 802.16 System Requirements Task Group Leadership Team was appointed:
Chair: George Fishel, Communications Consulting Services
Vice Chair: David Jarrett, Lucent Technologies
Editor: Brian Petry, 3Com Corp.
The 802.16 Coexistence Task Group Leadership Team was appointed:
Chair: Leland Langston, Raytheon Telecommunications Co.
Vice Chair: Keith Doucet, Newbridge Networks Corporation
Editor: Erol Yurtkuran, Integrity Communications, Inc.
Secretary: Reza Arefi, WFI
The 802.16 Physical Layer Task Group Leadership Team was appointed:
Chair: Jay Klein, Ensemble Communications, Inc.
Vice Chair: John Liebetreu, SiCOM, Inc.
The 802.16 Medium Access Control Layer Task Group is being led by:
Acting Chair: Louis Olsen, Teligent, Inc.
802.16 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS GROUP SEEK SPECIFIC INPUT
The 802.16 System Requirements Task Group is working on a document that
describes system requirements that directly affect the development of the
802.16 air interface standard for broadband wireless access systems. It seeks input and
review by 802.16 members, participants, and the industry to ensure that the
802.16 standards meets industry expectations.
See the Call for Contributions for details on the information sought and procedures for submitting it. For full consideration in the draft document and on the meeting agenda, contributions should be submitted by July 28, 1999.
The current working draft is on-line. To comment on it, please see the Call for Comments.
802.16 COEXISTENCE, PHY, AND MAC GROUPS SEEK INPUT
Seeking input for the September 13-17 meeting are three other 802.16 Task Groups:
UPCOMING PANEL SESSION ON WIRELESS STANDARDS AT RAWCON'99
The program for the 1999 IEEE Radio and Wireless Conference (RAWCON'99, in Denver on August 1-4) includes a Panel Session entitled Wireless Standardization: Players, Stakes, and Opportunities. The panel expects to make a significant contribution to developing a common understanding of the importance of wireless standards and the best routes to achieving successful ones. The session is organized by Roger Marks and by Randy Bloomfield, Director of the International Center for Standards Research, who will moderate. Panelists include key representatives of 6 major international wireless standardization efforts.
UPCOMING BROADBAND WIRELESS ACCESS OPERATOR'S FORUM AT RAWCON'99
RAWCON'99 also features a Broadband Wireless Access Operator's Forum with three Panelists:
- Ray Nettleton, Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Formus Communications, Inc.
- Lou Olsen, Director of Technology Development, Teligent, Inc.
- Peter Soltesz, Senior Director, Network Architecture & Advanced Technologies, WinStar Communications, Inc.
RECENT EVENTS REGARDING N-WEST AND 802.16
On June 17, 1999, at the 1999 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium in Anaheim, CA, the Standards Coordinating Committee of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) held an informational meeting to discuss 802.16 and other standards projects of the MTT Society. The Symposium, with over 10,000 registrants, included two workshops on broadband wireless access:
- "Impact of ATM on Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint Microwave Systems"
- "The Emergence of New Microwave Systems above 45 GHz"
TWO NEW N-WEST SUPPORTING COMPANIES
We now have 73 N-WEST Supporting Companies as we welcome:
Dr. Roger Marks (marks@nist.gov)