Unconfirmed Minutes
IEEE 802.3 Plenary
Enschede, the
Netherlands
July 8-12, 1996
Andy Luque
Open Communications
Monday, March 11, Administrative
Geoff Thompson convened the meeting at about 15:30 as IEEE 802.3 chair.
Andy Luque, IEEE 802.3 secretary, recorded the minutes. Participants introduced
themselves. The attendance sign-up list was circulated. The attendance list for
the July 8-12 Enschede plenary is included (Attachment A2).
The IEEE 802.3 voters list was presented (Attachment A2). There are about 130 voters. The qualifications needed to become an IEEE 802.3 voter were reviewed. Need a mailing address to remain a voter. The mailing list is purged after every meeting.
The potential voters list was presented. Participants need to indicate if they want to become voters. The following were added to the voters list: Bob Grow, Alan Flatman, Tad Szostak, Del Hansen, Igor Zhovnirovsky, Satoshi Obara, Tommy Leung, Michael Salzman, Rebecca Farley, Menachem Abraham, Tremont Miao, Greg McClenon, Sanjay Desai, John Bowerman, Mohan Kalkunte, Jayant Kadambi, Martin Green, Richard Cam, Moti Weizman, Thomas Mathey, and Miles Benson. To contribute toward voting qualifications, interim meetings must be announced 30 days in advance and extend for a 2 day period.
The at-risk voters list was presented. They need to attend 75%, 3 days, during Enschede. None were removed from the at-risk list.
Copies of the Enschede Agenda were distributed (Attachment A1). The Agenda was reviewed. Pattay was added to the SC25/WG3 report. There will be a call for patents on Tuesday. The BLAM and 100BASE-T2 periods were adjusted. There were no objections to adopting the Enschede Agenda, as amended.
The La Jolla Minutes, which had been previously mailed, were be considered. Geoff noted the correct spelling of Mart Molle's name. The Minutes were approved by consensus.
Executive Committee Liaison - Geoff Thompson
Geoff reported on the election of IEEE 802 officers. The election
was delayed at Don Loughry's request so that IEEE 802 members had some time to
consider this issue. Jim Carlo will become chair, and Paul Nikolich is the only
candidate for vice-chair. A new chair will need to be elected by IEEE 802.5.
There is also a need to replace the IEEE 802.3 vice-chair if Paul is
elected.
Books will be distributed by mail after the plenary. The publication of ISO 8802-3:1996 has been delayed. The schedule slipped. There will be a meeting this week on book distribution at future meetings.
The IEEE 802 Executive Committee will meet on several issues this week. They will consider electronic ballots, future book distribution, and the conditional approval procedure when documents are moving to sponsor ballot or the IEEE Standards Board.
Liaison TR41 - Geoff Thompson
Geoff reported on the activities of TR41 (Attachment A3). TR41
met in June. Geoff attended the meeting. Propagation delay and delay skew was
the last major hold on the cabling specification. It is now in the document
that is being balloted. Copies of this draft were distributed. The Tables look
good. It solves a problem. This information was missing in the cabling
specifications.
SC25/WG3 Liaison - Geoff Thompson, v. Pattay
Geoff reported on the status of SC25/WG3 (Attachment A4).
SC25/WG3 met 17-20 June in London. Geoff attended the meeting. They are working
on the second edition of ISO 11801. It includes errata, minor technical, and
editorial errors. Technical changes have also been proposed. They include
propagation velocity, power summation, and hybrid cables. It has been proposed
that the 850nm modal bandwidth be modified from 200 MHz to 160 MHz. This would
be consistent with other documents in the industry. The Europeans think that
the second edition should be not be published before the year 2000.
The IEC 603-7 Connector specification was reviewed. It deals with 100 MHz modular connectors. Several changes were proposed. There were no figures for transfer impedance and attenuation.
There are three different projects on link testing. One from USA and two others. A decision will be made in late July on how to split the work.
An Active Interface proposal would classify cables by construction and suitability to certain applications. What is the value added? No progress at meeting. A formal proposal has not emerged.
The deletion of 120 ohm media from the ISO 11801 revision was suggested. The UK proposed that it be deleted due to lack of market presence. A 4/2/6 vote supported its retention.
No real discussion on Cat 6/Class D. The group did note the emerging CENELEC 300 MHz shielded cable specification.
There is an urgent need to define a standard cabling set-up for EMC testing. The EMC standard refers to "appropriate cabling", but is not specific. There were three proposals:
a- Cable and equipment tested together.
b- Cable only.
c- Absorbing clamp method.
Calculate the difference between the in/out energy.
The group supported the first proposal. It can be measured. A model will be developed and it will be forwarded to CISPR.
Del Hansen, was there a discussion on conducted radiation below 30MHz? Geoff, no, it was not discussed.
Several foils summarized the information the two groups have exchanged.
v. Pattay, chair of SC25/WG3, presented additional information (Attachment A4). Class D is specified up 100 MHz for 100, 120, and 150 ohms cables. It is not practical to place new requirements on class D. The door is open for 150 ohm cables. The differences are not too big in that case.
To change the 100 ohm specification above 100 MHz is a legal problem. There is a need for a clear justification. It is pretty hard to change the label for Class D.
There is a clear dividing line where the need for shielding begins.
Cat 6 demands can only be met with a shield. It is useful to have something beyond the limits of Cat 5. This discussion has not happened yet in WG3. The group is open to guidance from others.
It is a problem to extend class D beyond 100 MHz. Its a legal problem. Need to separate 1995 version from later editions.
A link with connectors and cross-connect could be documented in a technical report. Just list of things.
WG3 has not looked at this issue. Waiting for the subject to ripen.
Geoff Thompson, there was no reason to cut 150 ohm at 100 MHz. It was defined up 150 MHz. What was the justification for not including it? Class D does not make any difference between 100, 120, 150 ohm.
IEEE 802.1 Liaison - Andy Luque
Andy reported on the status of IEEE 802.1. The IEEE 802.1Q, VLAN, and
IEEE 802.1p, Enhanced MAC, efforts are of particular interest to IEEE 802.3.
There will be a technical plenary Wednesday morning on this subject.
IEEE 802.1 would like to change our frame size. This project is being handled as an extension to the core IEEE 802.1D MAC Bridge standard.
If possible, copies of the relevant material will be distributed before the Wednesday meeting.
IEEE 802.12 Liaison - Geoff Thompson
Members of IEEE 802.12 will be sitting in on the PHY Gigabit
presentations. This is not a joint meeting.
IEEE 802.14 Liaison
The group is dealing with numerous MAC and PHY proposals. The
DAVIC standard is point-to-point.
Andy Luque, concerned about the executive meeting proposed by the IEEE 802.14 chair. The chairs of groups working on CATV would meet and make a deal that the groups would follow. This is contrary to the way IEEE 802 works. It is not a joint meeting of the working groups.
ESTA Liaison - Geoff Thompson
Geoff reported on the status of the ESTA standard. The standard
is out for final public review. It recommends 10BASE-T, 10BASE-F, and 10BASE-2.
100BASE-T will be in the next revision. ESTA plans to meet July 27-28 in San
Jose.
Administrative - Geoff Thompson
The schedule for the week was briefly discussed. The Wednesday
morning technical plenary slot was noted. The plenary adjourned at about 17:30.
It will resume Tuesday at 8:30.
Tuesday, March 12, Administrative
The IEEE 802.3 plenary re-convened at about 8:40. Geoff Thompson chaired
the meeting. Andy Luque, IEEE 802.3 secretary, recorded the minutes. The voting
rules were reviewed.
A new vice-chair needs to be selected for the IEEE 802 Executive Committee. Candidates were solicited. The qualifications of the IEEE 802 vice-chair were reviewed.
There was a call for patents. According to IEEE Rules, patents need to be made available under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. A letter to that effect needs to be sent. Beyond that, Geoff requires a letter on pending patents that are under application. These letters can go directly to Geoff or to the IEEE. These letters facilitate the licensing process later. A typical letter was shown. An unresolved patent can prevent a standard from being issues or force its withdrawal.
The voters list was presented (Attachment A2). New qualified voters were solicited. Shinkyo Kaku was added to the voter list. The at-risk voter list was presented. No one requested to be removed.
A publication report was provided. ISO 8802-3:1996 is not available yet. The schedule slipped. It is 519 pages long. It has everything except for 100BASE-T and Conformance. It will be available for purchase in August. There is still a need for a 5 year reaffirmation ballot of IEEE 802.3. The goal is to reaffirm before the November plenary. Work is proceeding with SPAG. Two books are to be mailed after Enschede. The rules for their distribution have not been determined. They will probably go to IEEE 802 voters present at Enschede.
Enhanced MAC Algorithm - Mart Molle
Mart reported on the status of the Enhanced MAC task force
(Attachment B). A second simulation model has been developed. The first version
was incompatible with the standard. The new model is compatible with the Pascal
and the State Machines. It is still not complete. It can simulate mixed
environments.
Their was a review of the University of South Florida simulations.
Received BLAM Managed Object contribution.
DEC is working on a simulator. They are starting to generate results. They confirmed some of the observations made by others. Expect results in the next few weeks.
Received BLAM semiconductor parts from IBM. 3 beta test parts. Just started experiments with 3 adapters. More details at the next meeting. Testing at 10 Mb/s. Mart needs a 100 Mb/s repeater to do the 100BASE-T test. Vendor donations are welcome. It is easier to stress the network at 10 Mb/s. The test network is very simple.
The plans for Enschede were discussed. Need a 3 hour slot. Will discuss the IBM implementation. More details on this test network at the next meeting. Plan to review the simulations and update the market potential information during the Enschede plenary.
Full Duplex is moving faster than BLAM. Does it make sense to incorporate the Full Duplex changes into BLAM?
The Management MIB is a page and half. There have been no conceptual changes to the document. Balloting would be on version 1.6 + MIB. Need to review BLAM against the 1996 edition of ISO 8802-3.
100BASE-T2 - Scott Carter
Scott reported on the status of the 100BASE-T2 task force
(Attachment C). The activities since the March 96 plenary were outlined. The
results of the letter ballot and the confirmation ballot were reviewed. The
plans for Enschede were discussed.
The draft 3 letter ballot resulted in 42 Approve, 11 Approve with Comment, 10 Disapprove, and 23 Abstain. There was an 84% approval rate and a 67% response rate. These comments were all resolved at the May interim meeting in Wakefield.
There were five major areas of technical comments:
1. Lengthen Scrambler, increased it to 48 bits.
2. Removed References-Directed Startup option. Simplifies the draft.
3. Move Control, Status, and T2 specific bits to T2 registers.
4. Verify bit budget numbers.
5. Merge T2 and FD together.
There was a confirmation ballot between June 5 and July 1 based on draft 5.
The confirmation ballot resulted in 6 disapproves and 45 comments.
The goal is to review and resolve the comments from the confirmation ballot at Enschede. The draft will be updated so that another confirmation ballot can be conducted, if needed. A request will be made for conditional approval of a LMSC sponsor ballot. Need to form a LMSC ballot pool.
Full Duplex - Rich Seifert
Rich reported on the status of the Full Duplex task force
(Attachment D). There was an interim at Wakefield and Monday morning at
Enschede. The letter ballot was discussed. There was a 92% approval rate, 73%
return rate. 226 comments were offered.
Draft 2 was submitted to a confirmation ballot between June 5 and July 1. In this instance, there were 4 disapproves from voters and 2 disapproves from non-voters.
The Xerox type field is going to be managed by the IEEE. There is an agreement in principle. Working on the details.
The task force reviewed all of the confirmation ballot comments at the Monday meeting. Four comments from one person need to be resolved. The two non-voters, who cast disapproves, need to be contacted.
The technical changes caused by the ballot will be presented Thursday. The goal is to have a short cycle confirmation ballot on the small number of technical changes. Then go to LMSC.
The document will be converted to the publication format before submission to the IEEE Standards Board.
Andy Luque, need to initiate an ISO NWI for Full Duplex. The next ISO meeting is in September.
The Full Duplex group does not plan any further meeting this week.
A short break was taken between 9:50 and 10:15.
Gigabit Ethernet - Howard Frazier
Howard reported on the status of the Gigabit Ethernet task force
(Attachment E). The IEEE Standards Board approved the PAR. There was interim in
Wakefield with over 125 in attendance. The objectives were reviewed. No changes
were made. A total of 17 technical presentations at interim. Buffered repeaters
at each port to avoid collisions and optical cable characteristics were
significant issues. There were discussions on the new 62.5 multi-mode fiber.
Devices can operate at up to 200 meters. No decision was made on the 200 meter
goal, it will be considered this week.
The Enschede agenda was discussed. The task force will work on a preliminary outline for the document. A timeline for IEEE 802.3z will be considered. The high speed objectives will be reviewed. A total of 17 technical presentations are scheduled for Enschede.
Maintenance/SC6 - Geoff Thompson
Geoff reported on the status of Maintenance (no Attachments). The
100BASE-T. change requests are ready for a ballot. This may require a new PAR.
All of the 10BASE-T change request have been processed.
Several documents are under consideration by SC6. 100BASE-T and MB#4 are undergoing ISO ballots that are still open. These DIS ballots may be completed by the end of the year. The next SC6 meeting will be in September in Guernsey, UK.
Administrative - Geoff Thompson
The task forces were assigned meeting rooms for the week. BLAM
will meet Tuesday afternoon. Full Duplex will not meet. 100BASE-T2 will meet
Tuesday afternoon. Gigabit Ethernet will meet Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday.
Maintenance will meet late Wednesday afternoon. There will a technical plenary
Wednesday morning.
Paul Nikolich's presentations will be on Thursday.
The meeting adjourned at 10:52.
Thursday, March 14, Administrative
The IEEE 802.3 closing plenary convened at 8:45. Geoff Thompson presided
over the meeting. Andy Luque, IEEE 802.3 secretary, recorded the minutes. The
Thursday Agenda (Attachment A1) was presented. Feedback on the Enschede meeting
site was added to the Agenda. No other changes were requested.
The list of voters, at-risk voters, and potential voters was presented (Attachment A2). None were added or removed. The attendance sign-up list was circulated.
Book distribution was discussed. Voting members in attendance will get the recently published IEEE 802.9 and IEEE 802.10 books. They will be mailed after the plenary.
The deadline for new PARs is August 2.
The new Conditional Approval procedure was discussed (Attachment A5).
The IEEE 1802.3-1991 AUI Conformance standard needs to be reaffirmed (Attachment A6).
TECHNICAL MOTION: Do not reaffirm 1802.3-1991.
M:Paul Nikolich S:Alan Flatman Y:23 N:0 A:1; Approved
Paul Nikolich, IEEE 1802.3 is not useful. It has several errors that have never been corrected due to lack of interest. It should be withdrawn due to the errors.
Geoff Thompson, there is a lack of volunteers to update this document. The AUI capability is no longer a big seller.
A vote was taken on the Nikolich/Flatman motion. It was approved. IEEE 802.3 does not support the reaffirmation of IEEE 1802.3-1991.
The LMSC sponsor ballot procedure was discussed. Sign-up forms were distributed. 100BASE-T2 and Full Duplex voter pools are being formed.
Vice-Chair Election - Geoff Thompson
We need a new IEEE 802.3 vice-chair. Paul Nikolich will become
IEEE 802 vice chair. Nominations were opened. David Law was nominated by Alan
Flatman and James Binder. Scott Carter was nominated by Scott Carter and George
Eisler. Additional candidates were solicited. No others were nominated. The
nominations were closed. David and Scott made lengthy, winded speeches and
promised bread for all.
The IEEE 802.3 voters list was presented. A simple majority will determine the outcome. Requests for a secret ballot were entertained. No one requested a secret ballot. David and Scott took a short walk.
Election IEEE 802.3 Vice-Chair
David Law 16
Scott Carter 16
Abstained 4
Three options were considered to resolve the tied vote.
-Judgement call.
-Flip a coin.
-Vote again.
It was agreed to postpone the vote until before the morning break. More voters
will be present at that time.
IEEE 802.1 Liaison
Andy Luque reported on the status of IEEE 802.1 (Attachment A9).
The VLAN proposal adds 4 bytes to our frames. We do not have a formal request
to do this work. Need a PAR and a champion. There was a discussion on the use
of Ethernet Type field.
Motion: IEEE 802.3 requests that IEEE 802.1 rationalize and compare the various VLAN implementation alternatives before the IEEE 802.3 WG and in written form.
M:Paul Nikolich S:Andy Luque Y:35, N:0, A:0; Approved
A friendly amendment is offered to include IEEE 802.1p. It is accepted. Another friendly amendment suggests that the IEEE 802.1Q designation be added. It is also accepted. As amended the motion reads "...various IEEE 802.1Q VLAN and 802.1p implementations...".
This is the wrong way to accomplish our goal.
We need a written description. We need to do our homework. What alternatives have they not considered?
Andy Luque, called the question. There were no objections. A vote was then taken on Nikolich/Luque motion. The motion was approved.
Geoff will follow up with Bill Lidinsky, chair of IEEE 802.1.
IEEE 802.12 Liaison
No additional information to report.
IEEE 802.14 Liaison
No report.
IEEE 802.3 State of the Standard and Operating Rules - Paul
Nikolich
Paul reported on the status of various IEEE 802.3 documents and
the IEEE 802.3 Operating Rules (Attachment A10).
Need a new PAR for 100BASE-T Maintenance. The fifth edition will be published by July 31.
The results of the IEEE 802.3 Operating Rules ballot were presented. The ballot has not closed. 40 responses have been received. A total of 53 are needed. 13 more ballots required.
It was announced that the IEEE 802.3 vice-chair election will take place before the morning break.
Maintenance 100BASE-T - Gary Robinson
Gary reported on the status of Maintenance (no Attachments). MB#4
done at IEEE, but it is not in the document. It has to complete ISO approval
before it can be incorporated. It will be in the 5th edition, if it completes
its SC6 and JTC1 review. Currently, completing the disposition of ballot
comments.
Geoff Thompson, it needs to be done by tonight.
Gary, it is a JTC1 ballot. The rule does not apply. It will be printed in the back of the book and will not be integrated.
Gary, Japan's comment page has been misplaced.
100BASE-T is undergoing a JTC1 ballot. Received comments and prepared responses. A section was missing from the ballot. There was a typo that called for the deletion of clause 5. Part of that clause is to be retained. If the responses are accepted, the changes go into 100BASE-T. This is a 4 month ballot.
150 ohm Annex is out for ballot at JTC1.
Need to start a NWI for Full Duplex and 100BASE-T2.
The SC6 TAG was discussed. It needs to find a new home. X3 needs to be shifted to IEEE. Some financial responsibility. Membership is open, and is not limited to LAN/MAN. Need to find an international representative.
A total of 13 changes have been proposed to 100BASE-T. 5 changes are editorial and can be handled by modifications to a Table. 8 changes require more review. 3 of these have been returned for further work. The revised list will be published next week. Additional input was solicited on any known problems.
Enhanced MAC - Mart Molle
Mart reported on the status of the Enhanced MAC task force
(Attachment F). The group met Tuesday afternoon. Scott Carter made a
presentation on IBM's BLAM implementation. It is simple to implement. About
1200 2-way NAND gates. 1% change to die size.
Discussed Dave Davies and Mart Molle simulations. Tests are planned for the prototype NIC cards.
Reviewed the broad market potential statement in the PAR. Decided not to make any changes.
Discussed timing for a WG letter ballot. Decided to wait. The results from the new prototype network and additional simulations are not ready to be presented. TI is doing a quickturn implementation.
How much does performance improve? The 50 page technical report from the University of South Florida provide some information. Up to last week, there were no hardware implementations to provide actual data.
There was an error in the South Florida simulation. The bug has been corrected. This fix did not change the conclusions. These results were presented at the interim.
TI is working on an implementation. They are weeks away from obtaining results. It will be done by summer. There may be something to report at the interim meeting.
An interim meeting will be held in conjunction with the Gigabit group.