N-WEST News #28
National Wireless Electronic Systems Testbed (N-WEST)

22 January 2001

Topics:

IEEE 802.16 SESSION #11 ON TAP

The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireelss Access is set for its Session #11 in Ottawa, Canada on 22-26 January 2001. An active week is planned, with over 60 documents set for consideration and 152 people preregistered.

IEEE 802.16 PROGRESSES IN SESSION #10

Since the previous N-WEST News, Session #10 was held in Tampa, Florida, USA on 6-9 November 2000. The attendance set a new 802.16 record. Membership swelled from 108 to 134. The meeting's progress is summarized in the Session #10 Report.

TASK GROUP 2 COEXISTENCE DRAFT APPROVED AT WORKING GROUP BALLOT

IEEE 802.16's Task Group 2 submitted its draft Recommended Practice for Coexistence of Broadband Wireless Access Systems for 802.16 approval in a Working Group Letter Ballot. The draft was approved, pending comment resolution and recirculation expected to be completed in February.

BALLOT GROUP FORMING FOR COEXISTENCE DRAFT

Plans are underway for the Task Group 2 Coexistence Draft to undergo Sponsor Ballot at the IEEE Standards Association Level. This final approval ballot, which takes the document review to balloters beyond the Working Group, is scheduled to begin by March. An invitation to participate in the Sponsor Ballot was issued on 18 January, but those who act soon may still have an opportunity to participate. More information is available.

TASK GROUP 1 PUBLISHES DRAFT 10-66 GHz AIR INTERFACE

Following several rounds of refinement and comment resolution, including a special session on 12-14 December in San Diego, CA, USA, IEEE 802.16's Task Group 1 has published Draft 1 of its 10-66 GHz Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems. The previous review document was publicly available and was downloaded over 20,000 times. Draft 1 is copyrighted and restricted to Members and Observers. Another comment period closed just prior to Session #11.

TASK GROUP 3 HEARS PROPOSALS

IEEE 802.16's Task Group 3 heard 20 presentations for the 2-11 GHz physical layer; 15 of these were invited back for further consideration at Session #11. This Task Group received a total of 28 contributions for Session #11 on the physical and MAC layers and on traffic and channels models.

NEW TASK GROUP 4 INITIATES LICENSE-EXEMPT WirelessHUMANTM PROJECT

Following a proposal developed by 802.16's WirelessHUMANTM (Wireless High-Speed Unlicensed Metropolitan Area Networks) Study Group, the IEEE-SA Standards Board, on 7 December, approved 802.16's WirelessHUMANTM project request chartering a project for License-Exempt Bands. The new Task Group 4 immediately issued a Call for Contributions and received 17 for consideration at Session #11. In addtion, a February 15-16 Task Group 4 Interim Meeting has been scheduled for San Jose, California, USA.

NEW 802.16 FOCUSED EMAIL REFLECTORS

Five focused 802.16 email reflectors (mailing lists) have been launched, for Task Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, and the MAC. Subscriptions are open.

OUTSIDE INTEREST IN 802.16 BOOMS

Interest in 802.16 continues to mushroom. Over 2.8 million files were downloaded from the 802.16 web site (http://wirelessman.org) in 2000.

NEWS RELEASES ON IEEE 802.16

The IEEE Standards Association issued a January 16 News Release entitled New IEEE WirelessHUMANTM Project Developing Standards for Fixed Wireless Access in License-Exempt Bands. This followed a November 2000 release reporting IEEE 802.16 Group Makes Key Decisions on Fixed Broadband Wireless Access.

PARTICIPATION AT WCA SYMPOSIUM

A number of 802.16 leaders and members, including Roger Marks, spoke at the 7th Annual Technical Symposium of the Wireless Communications Association from January 17-19, 2001. Standards for fixed broadband wireless access were a major topic of discussion. IEEE 802.16 held a "Meet and Greet" session, handing out literature and showing current drafts.

UPCOMING TALKS

Roger Marks will speak at the Broadband Wireless World Forum 2001 (at The Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, USA on February 19-21) in the General Session on "Emerging Global Standards and Industry Specifications."

N-WEST IN THE NEWS

The December 2000 issue of Broadband Week featured an article entitled The Long Road to Wireless Standards. The article featured extensive discussion of IEEE 802.16, including remarks by Roger Marks.

NEW N-WEST SUPPORTING COMPANIES

We welcome two new N-WEST Supporting Companies: