Expectations for the January Meeting -- PMD meeting alert
For those of you who have looked closely, you will see that the schedule is
set for 2-1/2 days of meetings with a 1/2 day on Thursday afternoon for an
"ad-hoc." The first 2-1/2 days will be pretty much like the last couple of
meetings. The "ad-hoc" time is reserved for an off-line meeting with the PMD
experts. I do not expect (and we do not have room for) the general body at
this ad-hoc.
See http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/3/interims/dallas.html
This meeting should represent the final crescendo for brainstorming for
802.3ae. March will close the brainstorming phase. In July, we will see the
last new proposals.
In this meeting, we again (at perhaps for the last time) will give everyone
an opportunity to hear all presentations and all discussion. By May, we will
certainly be running in topical tracks organized around likely clauses (and
related groups of clauses).
In a previous note, I discussed the importance of getting all the new ideas
floated quickly (see append below); most especially, complex and
controversial concepts. These will take several meeting cycles for the body
to embrace -- a process that cannot be initiated at the July meeting with
any reasonable expectation for adoption into the baseline proposal (read
that, 1st draft).
See you all in Dallas.
jonathan
Jonathan Thatcher, Gigabit Evangelist
Chair, IEEE 802.3 High Speed Study Group (10 Gigabit Ethernet)
Director of Engineering, World Wide Packets
PO BOX 141719, Suite B; 12720 E. Nora, Spokane, WA 99214
509-242-9000 X228; Fax 509-242-900; jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Cut from previous note (for quick reference):
I expect that we will close the "brainstorming" phase in March 2000. Until
that time (and especially at the Jan 2000 meeting), the door is wide open
for any idea that supports our objectives, PAR, and 5 criteria. As you are
all aware, I have already asked the different PMD camps to begin to codify
their proposals per the style of clause 38 (as appropriate). I expect that
in March we will switch this into high gear. I similarly expect that any
proposal that does not start moving strongly in this direction by March,
never will. This is entirely appropriate since the last new proposal,
according to our schedule, is July 2000.
It is my opinion that "last new proposal" means a proposal that is
sufficiently documented and understood so that it can be voted into (July
2000) and compiled into the first draft (available at Sept, 2000 meeting).
While this does not mean that all the details and language need to be worked
out, it does mean that all of the key features need to be defined. To what
degree? To the degree that 75% of the committee believe that they can
support it!
Remember, once a proposal is voted in, it will take 75% of the vote to
remove it! The most likely case for removal of a proposal is that it does
not meet the "technical feasibility requirement" prior to going to LMSC
ballot). Amongst other things, this means that the committee will most
likely NOT vote something in that they are deeply concerned about. The
bottom line? The "day of judgment" isn't as far off as some people think.