N-WEST News #25
National Wireless Electronic Systems Testbed (N-WEST)

10 May 2000

Topics:

LATE NEWS: LECTURE IN SUNNYVALE

On Thursday 11 May 2000 in Sunnyvale, California, Roger Marks will present an IEEE MTT-S Distinguished Microwave Lecture at a meeting of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques (MTT) Society. The meeting takes place in the National Semiconductor Credit Union Auditorium (Building 31 on Kifer Road between Wolfe Road and Lawrence Expressway in Sunnyvale) at 7 pm, following a 6:00 sandwich social. No reservations required. For more details, contact Chapter Chair Steve Kenney.

LATE NEWS: NEW MEETING PLANNED: SESSION #7.5 IN BOULDER

On 5 May, Task Group 802.16.1 decided to hold meeting from 30 May - 2 June 2000. Session #7.5 will take place in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

RECORD ATTENDANCE AT IEEE 802.16 SESSION #7

A record 158 people attended Session #7 of the IEEE Working Group 802.16 on Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Standardization on 1-5 May 2000 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA. 802.16 continued its progress:

802.16.1 AIR INTERFACE TAKES SHAPE

Coming into the session, two invited proposals were under consideration for both the physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) for the 10-66 GHz 802.16.1 air interface. According to the development plan, the group was scheduled to make a selection that week.

In the course of the week, a consolidation plan for the PHY arose. The resulting merged proposal, submitted by team of 27 people from 20 companies, was adopted by 802.16.1 as its initial draft physical layer. The plan provides for two optional modes of operation, but the Task Group may consider merging the two modes during its revision process.

Likewise, the Task Group was faced with two MAC proposals coming into Session #7. Discussion arose on development of a unified plan that, in a single mode of operation, would accomodate the best technical features of both plans. The discussions were not completed in detail, but the two teams were sufficiently satisfied with the course of the progress that the Task Group passed a motion to withdraw consideration of both proposals and instead invite a single MAC proposal from the unified team of 36 individuals from 21 companies

802.16.3 HOLDS FIRST MEETING ON AIR INTERFACE FOR LICENSED BANDS FROM 2-11 GHz

The new 802.16.3 Task Group, whose project was officially created on 30 March by the IEEE Standards Association Standards Board, held its first meeting. The Group, chartered to develop an air interface for licensed bands from 2-11 GHz, focussed on resolving comments on a Functional Requirements document.

NEW WirelessHUMANTM STUDY GROUP HOLDS FIRST MEETING

The new WirelessHUMANTM Study Group, which targets Wireless High-Speed Unlicensed Metropolitan Area Networks in the range 5-6 GHz, held its first meetings and also met jointly with 802.16.3. Key group participants met again on 8 March in Seattle during an interim session of the other two 802 Working Groups in wireless networking: 802.11 (Wireless Personal Area Networks [Wireless LANs]) and 802.15 (Wireless Personal Area Networks [Wireless PANs]).

802.16.2 COEXISTENCE TASK GROUP STUDIES SIMULATIONS

The 802.16.2 Coexistence Task Group continues to make progress on its recommended practice. New simulations are turning up some problems in assumptions that have been made by 802.16.2 and other coexistence groups. 802.16.2 expects a further delay in its process as it attempts to ensure that its results are fully supported.

PROPOSED ETSI BRAN HIPERACCESS AGREEMENT WITH GOAL OF INTEROPERABILITY

The HIPERACCESS group of the Broadband Radio Access Networks (BRAN) project (part of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)) held a co-located session with Session #7 at the invitation of 802.16. Joint meetings were also held. The discussions culminated with an agreement on a proposed cooperation agreement between 802.16 and HIPERACCESS. The agreement needs to be approved by IEEE and ETSI before it can take effect.

NEW 802.16 PATENT POLICY AND PROCEDURES

New 802.16 Patent Policy and Procedures and a new Contribution Release were unveiled.

N-WEST IN THE NEWS, PART I

An Editorial entitled "IEEE 802.16 Working Group Makes Progress on LMDS Standards" appeared in Applied Microwave & Wireless, March 2000, pp. 124.

N-WEST IN THE NEWS, PART II

At the Hall of Fame awards ceremony held at the Broadband Solutions Conference in Dallas on April 10, Roger Marks was announced as the recipient of an "Honorable Mention" award. Noting that "the broadband industry as a whole has grown significantly over the past several years, due mainly to the efforts of entrepreneurs and visionaries in the communications technology industry," Broadband Solutions magazine selected "individuals, nominated by peers in the industry," whose "ideas have come to represent the foundation upon which we, as an industry, continue to build." The magazine selected four people in the "Winner" category and two as "Honorable Mention". Roger Marks was named for leading "the drive for consistent and universal transmission standards to ensure secure and stable communications, minimal interference, and interoperability of equipment and services." 802.16.3 Chair Brian Kiernan accepted the award on Marks' behalf.

IEEE RADIO AND WIRELESS CONFERENCE: INVITATION TO EXHIBIT

The 2000 IEEE Radio and Wireless Conference (RAWCON2000) highlights interdisciplinary aspects of RF technology and communication system design. RAWCON, sponsored by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society and technically cosponsored by NIST, has for four years been an important forum for broadband wireless access as well as other technologies. RAWCON2000 will be held in Denver, CO on 10-13 Sept. 2000. RAWCON, which has regularly made front-page in the electronics industry, offers single-track sessions to ensure a broad audience for oral presentations and a stimulating environment for poster presentations. In addition to the technical program, RAWCON includes workshops, a panel session, and an exhibition. Furthermore, IEEE 802.16 will co-locate its Session #9 with RAWCON2000.

The RAWCON Call for Papers has expired. Approximately 100 papers are now in review.

RAWCON2000 offers an exhibition and is seeking displays of significant technical interest to the participants. For details, see the Invitation to Exhibit.

NEW N-WEST SUPPORTING COMPANY

We now have 82 N-WEST Supporting Companies as we welcome:
Dr. Roger Marks (marks@nist.gov)