CSR-T Volume 9 #1, January-February 1998

COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Volume 9, Number 1 January-February 1998

IN THIS ISSUE

The following reports of recent standards meetings represent the view of the reporter and are not official, authorized minutes of the meetings.

TR-41, User Premises Telecom Equipment, November 17 - 21, 1997, San Antonio, TX...... 3 TR-41.1 Multi-Line Telecommunication Systems...... 3 TR-41.1.1 Multi-Line Telecommunication Systems - Transmission...... 4 TR-41.1.9, Multi-Line Telecommunication Systems Support of Enhanced 911 Service...... 4 TR-41.2 Conformity Assessment...... 5 Joint Meeting of TIA TR-41.3 ...... 7 TR-41.5 Multimedia - Building Distribution Systems...... 10 TR-41.6, Wireless User Premises Equipment (WUPE)...... 12 TR-41.7 Environmental and Safety Considerations...... 13 TR-41.7.1 Harmonization of International Safety Standards...... 15 TR-41.8, Commercial and Residential Premises Wiring...... 15 TR-41.8.1 Commercial and Industrial Building Wiring...... 15 TR-41.8.2, Residential & Light Commercial Premises Distribution...... 18 TR-41.8.3, Building Pathways and Spaces for Telecommunications...... 18 TR-41.8.4, Customer-Owned Outside Plant...... 19 TR-41.8.5, Definitions...... 19 TR-41.9, Regulatory Considerations on Terminal Attachment Program...... 19 TR-41.10, Private Integrated Service Network (PISN)...... 24 TR-41 Partial Meeting Roster, November 17 – 21, San Antonio, TX...... 25 ETSI Committee TM6 Transmission And Multiplexing, November 17 – 21, 1997, Verona, Italy...... 26 ETSI TM6 Meeting Roster, November 17 – 21, 1997, Verona, Italy...... 31 TR-30, Data Transmission Systems and Equipment, December 1 – 2, 1997, Lake Buena Vista, FL...... 32 TR-30.1, Modems...... 32 TR-30.2, Data Transmission...... 32 TR-30.3, Data Communications Equipment Evaluation and Network Interfaces...... 33 TR-30 Meeting Roster, December 1 – 2, 1997, Orlando, FL...... 36 Q11/16 Circuit-Switched Network Multimedia Systems and Terminals, Dec. 2 – 5, 1997, Eibsee, Germany...... 37 Systems...... 37 H.245 Communication and Control...... 39 Mobile H.324 Annex C...... 39 Text Telephony...... 40 Non-Conversational Services (NCS)...... 40 Closing...... 41 Q15/16 Video Coding Experts Group, December 2 – 5, 1997, Eibsee, Bavaria, Germany...... 42 Deployment and Support of H.120, H.262, H.263, H.263+...... 42 Video Coding for Sign Language and Lip Reading Use...... 45 Workplan for H.263++...... 45 Workplan for H.26L...... 45 Technical Content Proposals And Demos For H.263++ And H.26L...... 48

Status of Work in Other Organizations...... 50 Closing Plenary...... 50 Q15/16 Meeting Roster, December 2 – 5, Eibsee, Germany...... 51 Q23/16 Rapporteur Meeting, Pcm Modems, December 3 – 5, 1997, Orlando, FL...... 52 Q23/16 Rapporteur Meeting Roster, December 3 – 5, 1997, Orlando, FL...... 55 Acronym Definitions...... 56 1998 Standards Committee Meeting Schedules, as of January 12, 1998...... 58

Communications Standards Review – Telecommunications regularly covers the following committee meetings:

TIA TR-29 Facsimile TR-30 Modems TR-41 User Premises Equipment ITU-T SG 8 Telematic Terminals SG 15 WP1 Network Access SG 16 Multimedia ETSI ATA Analog Terminal Access DTA Digital Terminal Access MTA Multimedia Terminals TC SP Speech Processing TC STQ Speech Transmission Quality TIPHON Voice Over Internet

REPORT OF TR-41, USER PREMISES TELECOM EQUIPMENT NOVEMBER 17 - 21, 1997, SAN ANTONIO, TX TR-41.1 MULTI-LINE TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

T1E1 LIAISON TR-41.1/97-11-037 (C. Sacco, Bellcore) provides the T1E1 liaison. The contribution notes the continuing work on T1.401 (Interface Between Carriers and Customer Installations - Analog Voicegrade Switched Access Lines with Distinctive Alerting Features) with a completion target of end of 1998, and the expected approval and publication of the Enhanced 911 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) access standard following passing of the third default ballot. Also noted was the intent to complete revision work on the merged T1.403 (Network-to-Customer Installation - DS1 Metallic Interface) and T1.408 (ISDN Primary Rate - Customer Installation Metallic Interfaces, Layer 1 Specification) standards at the T1E1.2 December 1997 meeting. TIA-464B: R EQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE BRANCH EXCHANGE (PBX) SWITCHING EQUIPMENT

(A) Living List for Future Revision TR-41.1/97-11-030 (R. Frank, Siemens) provides the current living list for the TIA-464-B (PBX standard) update. There were no major changes to the living list. (B) Comparison of TIA-464B to the New Harmonized FCC Part 68 TR-41.1/97-11-033 (J. Schick and E. Hansson, Nortel) provides an overview comparison between the Harmonized FCC Part 68 and TIA-464-B. Several minor discrepancies were identified; in most cases, these will result in modifications for the next TIA-464 issue. These modifications will be added to the 464 update living list; in a few cases, errors noted in the Part 68 document will be brought to the FCC’s attention. (C) Line-Side Interface Requirements TR-41.1/97-11-032 (J. Schick, Nortel) provides the Project Request and Authorization (PR&A) form for writing a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) for Basic Rate Interface (BRI) Terminal Lineside Interconnection to Multi-Line Telecommunications Systems (MLTS). It uses the scope and purpose text from an earlier contribution, TR- 41.1/97-08-023 (J. Needham, Mitel and P. Weismantel, NEC). To avoid a possible commitment of evolving this TSB to a standard, a portion of the scope text from that contribution was changed. The PR&A was approved by the TR-41 Plenary and was sent to TIA for project number assignment. In a related matter, TR-41.1/97-11-031 (P. Melton, Cortelco) provides the initial returns/ responses of the North American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF) survey of BRI terminal manufacturers on their characteristics and requirements for interfacing with the BRI line-side of PBXs. As there were only eight responses (Arescom, Cortelco, Interack, ITK, Jetstream, Lucent, Stollmann, Tone Commander) to date, the results have not been summarized or combined; NEC agreed to do so for the next meeting. Other contributions promised for the next meeting include a description of what a BRI terminal should do (Mitel), and a BRI functional specification from the terminal perspective (Cortelco). TIA/ETSI STANDARDS HARMONIZATION Details of the joint TR-41.1/ETSI CN7 meeting appear in the TR-41.1.1 meeting report. TR- 41.1/97-11-034 (same as TR-41.1.1/97-11-023) (T. Tung, Siemens and J. Schick, Nortel), is EG 201 050, ETSI overall transmission plan aspects for telephony in a private network. TR-41.1/97-11-035 (J. Schick, Nortel) is the report of the joint TIA/ETSI meeting on transmission planning. Helpful cooperation between TIA and ETSI was achieved (see TR-41.1.1 report below for additional details). ETSI CN7 is now in the process of closing down and its functions will be transferred to the ETSI Speech Transmission Quality (STQ) committee. Hence, in support of TIA’s desire to continue cooperative work on transmission planning with ETSI, it is proposed that the joint activities between TIA and ETSI be maintained via formal liaison between ETSI STQ and TIA TR-41 (User Premises Equipment), with TR-41.1 as the main TIA point of contact. At TIA’s request, the TR-41.1 chair drafted a letter to be sent from TIA and the TR-41 chair to STQ (TR-41.1/97-11-036). This letter was approved by TR- 41.1 and by the TR-41 Plenary.

TR-41.1.1 MULTI-LINE TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - TRANSMISSION

PRIVATE NETWORK TRANSMISSION PLANNING GUIDE (JOINT WORK WITH ETSI) TR-41.1.1/97-11-025 (same as TR-41.1/97-11-035) (J. Schick,. Nortel) is the report of the joint TIA TR- 41.1/ETSI CN7 meeting in Oxford, U.K. At the meeting, ETSI agreed to proceed with a single global transmission planning document, presently drafted as EG 201 050 (TR-41.1.1/97-11-023). ETSI and TIA agreed that ETSI would publish the first version without the TIA input, so that it would become available prior to the retirement of the author (R. Maerz, Siemens-Germany), but would then publish a second version which would include TIA material specific to North American network parameters and North American examples. TIA would then publish the document (once approved) as the update to TSB-32. Therefore, TIA has a 6-month commitment to complete its portion of the document. To allow for the inclusion of the TIA text, the present document provides “hooks” in Annexes C (parameters) and D (planning examples) for this material. It was mutually recognized that the tone of the current document is basically tutorial in nature. The inclusion of application examples, such as those in TR-41.1.1/97-11-026 (J. Schick, K. Cheung, R. Britt, Nortel) covering various access line (i.e., PBX to public network) scenarios, as well as those in a similar earlier document on tie trunks, would make the document too unwieldy. However, the scenario application analysis, based on the ETSI E- model for transmission rating, was unanimously agreed to be very valuable and needing publication, perhaps as a companion document to the planning guide. Concern was raised over the designation of reference points for calculation. In the ETSI guide, the “0-dBr reference point” is generally selected at a digital interface, but in TIA connection scenarios, this interface does not always exist. To help clarify the concept of a uniform level reference point, TR-41.1.1/97-11-022 (C. Sacco, Bellcore) provides an overview of the use of Transmission Level Points. COMPARISON OF TRANSMISSION RATING MODELS TR-41.1.1/97-11-024 (J. Schick, Nortel) provides a detailed comparison between the Bellcore Transmission Rating Model and the ETSI E-Model; the contribution was presented at the recent T1A1.7 meeting and posted on the T1 web-site, and copies were provided to TR-41.1.1 members for information. Though the predicted results for equivalent connections exhibited slight differences in absolute ratings, such differences were mainly attributed to the fact that the Bellcore model computation uses a single subjective data base, while the E-model computation employs an average of three subjective data bases. Thus, it is concluded that both models would predict the same relative grade of service as the input parameters - such as impairment factors - are varied. Based on the fact that the E-model offers an advantage in ease of computation and that it is becoming universally accepted in the global telecommunications community, the paper endorses the E-model as recommended practice. ACTIONS RELATED TO THE T1A1.7 UPDATE OF T1.508 A verbal report was given of the September 18, 1997 T1A1.7 teleconference held for Standard T1.508 (Network Performance - Loss Plan for Evolving Digital Networks) update editing. Two TR-41.1.1 members participated. There were no major changes from the earlier responses to the TR-41.1.1 comments on the update. In the update, access line loudness characteristics will be defined in ITU-T terms; furthermore, digital access line loudness values reflect ITU-T values - rather than IEEE values - so as to be consistent with the revised TIA-579 standard on digital terminals. Since these values differ by 2-3 dB from the earlier IEEE values, they will have an impact on MLTS loss plans. That impact remains to be studied. T1A1.7 declined to make any changes to the guidelines for CPE delay limits (5 ms round-trip), beyond which Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) should consider providing echo control; however the document wording recognizes that new technologies in CPE may exceed this value and, therefore, flexibility is needed in applying the guidelines. TR-41.1.9, MULTI-LINE TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS SUPPORT OF ENHANCED 911 SERVICE

TIA-689, MLTS Support of Enhanced 9-1-1 Calling, has been published and is now available from Global Engineering Documents. FCC RULING ON PBX SUPPORT OF E911 The FCC has still not issued a ruling for PBX support of E911. There seem to be some conflicting views as to the reasons for the delay and when the ruling will be made. Once a ruling is made, TR-41.1.9 expects to develop a re-

4 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 January-February 1998 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS sponse, as appropriate. (It was also noted that there has been recent activity on the FCC “wireless” ruling with respect to E911 caller location - e.g., stipulation that the caller location must be determinable within 75 ft. - but nothing final.) DIGITAL ACCESS FOR E911 Committee T1S1.1 is in the process of reviewing proposals for digital access support of E911 calling. Under consideration are ISDN solutions, as well as SS7-compatible solutions. The TR-41.1.9 chair expects to report on progress at the next meeting. It was also suggested that T1S1.1 representatives be invited to a future TR-41.1.9 meeting. HANDLING OF 311 (NON-EMERGENCY) CALLS A short discussion took place regarding calls to 311 (non-emergency calls to public safety agencies). It is currently unclear whether there will be any rulings on 311 calls (recognizing that there may be occasions when a 311 call needs to be transferred to 911 status, or vice versa). John Schick, Nortel

TR-41.2 CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT

FEEDBACK FROM MRA-RELATED MEETINGS On September 17, 1997 P. Adornato (Nortel, Chair TR-41.2), A. Wride (CCL, Chair TR-41.9) and C. Berestecky (Lucent, Chair TR-41) met with the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) Common Carrier Bureau and FCC International Bureau to discuss feedback from MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreements)-related meetings. The Common Carrier Bureau did not consider it a priority and recommended a presentation to the assistants of the FCC Commissioners. Initially, the EU (European Union) foresaw the implementation of the proposed CTE (European Connected Telecommunications Equipment) Directive going in effect the end of the first quarter of 1999. However, near the end of October, the EU Government, frustrated with the slow progress of the CTE Directive proposal, issued a counter proposal. The new proposal is called Radio and TTE (Telecommunications Terminal Equipment) Directive proposal (R&TTE proposal, TR-41.2/97-11-028). It is reported that the new R&TTE Directive proposal will likely replace the CTE Directive proposal. It puts more emphasis on the declaration of conformity process. A non-comprehensive list of changes proposed by the Radio and TTE directive was also distributed for information. It was decided to monitor closely the progress of the new directive in Europe. CANADIAN ADVISORY GROUP ON JOINT ELECTRICAL SAFETY COMMITTEE (CAGJES) The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) called the first meeting of the CAGJES to discuss safety issues related to implementation of the Canada/EU MRA. It was reported that there still is no direct input received from the Euro- peans on issues such as what are the minimum qualifications for CABs (Conformity Assessment Bodies), as well as on other related issues. TIA/ACIL MEETING It would seem that there has been significant internal discussion regarding the implementation of the MRA since the previous meeting with FCC participants J. Knapp and M. Gordon. The main interface will be with the Office of Engineering Technology which will take full responsibility for preparation of the NPRM (FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making) that will be required, with input from the Common Carrier Bureau. There was a workshop for assessors of CABs held at the “Global Market Place for EMC Testing Services” conference sponsored by the ACIL. EUROPEAN UNION-U.S. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT As called for in the MRA text, seminars will be organized during the familiarization period. A list of CABs is to be provided by both U.S. and the EU by 1998.

EUROPEAN UNION-CANADA CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT A meeting was held by Industry Canada on November 14, 1997 in Toronto to present the main requirements (dealing with ElectroMagnetic Compatibility, Telecom and Radio Equipment) to interested industry participants. APEC STATUS REPORT C. Berestecky (Lucent) reported that the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, http://www.apecsec.org.sg/telewg/telmain.html) meeting was held in Wellington, New Zealand September 24-27, 1997. His impression was that there was a willingness to make the MRA agreement work. The US delegation put in a proposed (EU model based) MRA. The model MRA text and guidelines were adopted. One of the items in the text deals with layer 1 and layer 2 testing. The US had included words that testing should be limited to the physical layer (layer 1). Some of the delegates took exception to this wording and the US will have to provide justification for this statement. Subsequently there has been a meeting in the USA among manufacturers to develop this as a TIA position. This will be addressed again at the Hong Kong APEC meeting. Manufacturers recognize that Layer 2 and 3 testing will be required to ensure that equipment complies with these compatibility requirements. However they DO NOT want this to be part of the regulatory process (i.e., they do not want it to be mandatory). There are various flavors of ISDN being deployed. It was proposed in the wording that up to Layer 3 testing would be acceptable on an interim basis, for existing products, gradually being reduced to Layer 1 over a period of two or three years for new equipment and services. “Mandatory based requirements should be phased out as soon as feasible based on the economies’ infrastructures.” There is a proposal from the US that participation in APEC by CABs should be contingent on participation in groups such as TR-41.9, (TAPAC in Canada) etc., where exchange of information on interpretation of rules occurs. NAFTA/CCT PROGRESS There was a meeting of the CCT (Consultative Committee - Telecommunications) working groups during the week of October 20 in Washington. It is unclear what change in the metrology law and what processes are being set up to enable national treatment of US and Canadian NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) labs. COFETEL (Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones de Mexico) wants to continue conformity assessment activities. COFETEL would remain the Accreditor. The Mexican delegations want to extend the scope of the agreements to include ITI (Information Technology Industry Council). The next meeting of the TSSC is December 9 in Mexico City. Under NAFTA, Chapter 9 (Standards-Related Measures ) should be effective for all sectors on January 1, 1998. OSHA RELATED ACTIVITIES There will be an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) meeting in Washington, DC on December 3 with manufacturers and test labs to map out further recommendations. SDoC (Suppliers Declaration of Confor- mity) is considered to be one of the options that should be included in any proposals to OSHA. OSHA has abandoned their petition to register the NRTL (Nationally Recognized Test Laboratory) mark. OSHA is still going forward with the development of fees for their NRTL program. Quarterly follow-up inspections are being reviewed by OSHA to determine the appropriate number of follow-up visits per year. Rulemaking output from OSHA is expected by year end (1997). CTE DIRECTIVE TR-41.2/97-11-027 (ICT97/1376) is a Proposal for a European parliament and Council Directive on the mutual recognition of radio and telecommunication terminal equipment. Subsequent to the CTE (European Connected Telecommunications Equipment) which has had considerable comment in the EU, there has been a new directive issued on the mutual recognition of the conformity of radio and telecommunication terminal equipment. TR-41.2/97-11-028 is the Draft Directive R&TTE. It would appear that Europe is looking at liberalizing their systems to go to Supplier’s Declaration for telecom equipment. There will likely be a push from the EU for US agencies to go to a similar liberalized approach.

TRANS-ATLANTIC BUSINESS DIALOGUE (TABD) DISCUSSIONS TABD is made up of CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) from businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. TR-41.2/97-11-026, Recommendations for Eliminating Regulatory and Standards-Related Trade Barriers and for improving the Global Standards Development Process (TABD 1997), contains recommendations from the TABD for eliminating regulatory and standards-related trade barriers and for improving the global standards development process. This has been endorsed in Europe. A document titled “Conformity Assessment Procedures on Marking and Labeling” will be distributed to TR-41.2 members with the meeting notes. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT MATRIX There have been no changes made to the matrix since August. The information on the matrix is essentially current. TR-41.2/97-11-031 is a listing of Conformity Assessment Procedures presented at a seminar on the impact of European regulatory changes on North American exporters. It was generated in Council Directive 93/465/EEC. MARKING AND LABELING It was noted that there needs to be continued coordination between ITE (Information Technology Equipment) and Telecom groups on marking and labeling issues. INDUSTRY ACTION PLAN The short term action plan is to put together an overall view on the requirements for designation of CABs. The biggest concern expressed by the FCC is delegation of the certification process. Laboratory testing and accreditation of laboratory testing needs to be addressed. There is a connection between activities related to the EU/USA MRA and the MRA being proposed in APEC. FCC NPRM An NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) from FCC is expected early in 1998 regarding changes to be made to accommodate the EU/USA MRA. TR-41.2 will be one of the groups involved in coordinating comments for TIA to use in their response.

JOINT MEETING OF TIA TR-41.3 AND CSA T-510, ANALOG AND DIGITAL WIRELINE TELEPHONES

IPR QUESTION In response to the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) question, Bellcore, CIDCO and Nortel indicated they may hold patents related to PN-3674 (Enhanced Calling Features), which is out for ballot. LIAISON REPORTS

CSA D. Rittenhouse (Spectrum Sciences Institute, chair of TR-41.3) reported that there was a CSA Steering Committee on Telecommunications (SCOT) meeting a few weeks ago. It would appear that the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) does not have sufficient support for this work. D. Rittenhouse has indicated he will distribute the SCOT meeting report to interested parties by email. ITU ITU-T SG 12 has not met since the last TR-41.3 meeting. One of the objects of work in TIA/EIA-579, Acoustic- to-Digital and Digital-to-Acoustic Requirements for ISDN Terminals, is to harmonize with ITU P.310 (Transmission characteristics for telephone band [300-3400 Hz] digital telephones) as much as possible. R. Britt (Nortel) indicated that he intends to submit information on TIA/EIA-579-A to ITU as there are some differences that might need to be resolved. IEEE J. Bareham (Consultant) reported that there was a successful ballot on IEEE-661, Standard Method for Determining Objective Loudness Ratings of Telephone Connections, for reaffirmation. The documents have been sent to the IEEE board for next month’s meeting and it looks like this should be approved. TR-41.3/97-11-028 (D. Rittenhouse, TR-41.3 Chair) contains a liaison letter has been sent advising IEEE that TR-41.3 supports

January-February 1998 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 7 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS reaffirmation of the standard this time and recommends that it should be superseded by ITU-T Recommendation P.79 the next time it is due for reaffirmation. This plan is in concert with TR-41.3 which proposes to supersede IEEE- 661 with ITU-T P.79, Calculation of Loudness Ratings, in the future. It was noted that the Receive Objective Loudness Rating (ROLR) equation in IEEE-661 is missing a minus sign; this will be identified in an errata slip sheet. The draft of this sheet has been prepared. IEEE-269, Standard Method for Measuring Transmission Performance of Analog and Digital Telephone Sets, is ending its five year life this year and the IEEE subcommittee needs to identify what will be done with this standard next year. The intention of the subcommittee is to revise IEEE-269. TR-41.3/97-11-025 (J. Bareham, Consultant) summarizes some of proposed changes to bring IEEE-269 more in line with Recommendation P.64, Determination of Sensitivity/Frequency Characteristics of Local Telephone Systems to Permit Calculation of Their Loudness Ratings, and P.79. P.79 cannot be mentioned while IEEE-661 is still in effect. The IEEE subcommittee is asking for input from TR-41.3 regarding the proposed changes, plus any other additions or changes that may be identified. Interested parties may send information to S. Graham (Nortel) by email to: [email protected]. The program to revise IEEE-269 will start early in 1998 and input should be sent as early as possible. Alternatively, comments may be sent to Dennis Rittenhouse (Spectrum Sciences Institute) at: [email protected]. TR-41.3/97-11-031© (IEEE), P1329 draft 15, the Standard Method for Measuring Transmission Performance of Hands-Free Telephone Sets, has been completed. A limited number of copies of this standard were made available to TR-41.3 members. Interested members may request a copy in electronic form by contacting G. Hess (Lucent) at [email protected]. Work is still progressing on this standard. T1 It was reported that T1A1.7 has revised their standard T1.508, Loss Plan for Evolving Digital Networks, and this document has been balloted. The loudness ratings from TIA/EIA-470-B and TIA/EIA-579-A have been added to T1.508. ETSI D. Rittenhouse (Spectrum Sciences Institute) has received a notice of new draft ETSI standards. TIA members may contact S. Vargish (TIA, [email protected]) for copies in order to comment on these standards. TR-41 M ANAGEMENT ISSUES RELATING TO TR-41.3 TIA is in the process of republishing the scope statements for its subcommittees. A proposal presented in TR-41.3 to change the TR-41.3 committee title to “Analog and Digital Wireline Telephones” was approved with one abstention and no objections. It was reported that TR-41 Chair C. Berestecky announced his retirement from Lucent Technologies at the end of 1997. He expects to be acting as a consultant and will remain involved in his present capacity in TR-41. ACTION ITEMS FROM LAST MEETING

Electronic Document Coordinator (EDC) Function D. Dulmage (KTL-Certelecom Laboratories) reported that TIA is ready to implement the information web site and that he, as EDC, will be obtaining a password from S. Jones (TIA). ANSI S.48.1 Hearing Aid Standard Status D. Dulmage (KTL-Certelecom Laboratories) reported that he had not contacted the chair of ANSI S1.48. He will attempt to do so before the next meeting. Investigation of Replacement of WECO 221 Relays J. Bipes (Mobile Engineering) reported that he obtained the WECO (Western Electric Co.) relays specified in TIA/EIA-470-A and had built the test set-up specified in the figure of the standard. He impulsed these relays at 10 Hz and captured the transients on a digital storage oscilloscope. The results have been shared with W. Becker (Lucent) who had previously volunteered to investigate this issue. J. Bipes (Mobile Engineering) found that the inductors intended to replace the relays gave approximately twice the inductive effect of the WECO parts. The effect of the relays is difficult to replicate with simple inductors. Midcom, who make the suggested equivalent parts, have expressed a willingness to go ahead with work to replicate the WECO relays and have been in contact with a relay manufacturer in this regard. TR-41.3 needs to decide whether the test circuit specified in TIA/EIA-470 will remain or will be changed.

TIA/EIA-470-B P UBLISHED TIA/EIA-470-B, Performance and Compatibility Requirements for Telephone Sets with Loop Signaling, has been published and is available from Global Engineering Documents. This publication still contains a typographical error in section 4.2.4.6.2(b); it remains unclear how this error is being resolved. TIA/EIA-504-A AND CSA T-515 PUBLICATION STATUS TIA/EIA-504-A, Acoustic and Magnetic Output Requirements for telephone Sets with loop Signaling, is in the ANSI approval process. TIA/EIA-579 C OMMITTEE LETTER BALLOT STATUS TR-41.3/97-11-030 (TIA) is a revised draft of PN-3724, Transmission Requirements for Digital Wireline Telephones, incorporating several proposed changes resulting from the ballot comments. TR-41.3/97-11-027 contains comments on the letter ballots. R. Britt (Nortel) reported that additional replies have been received on the letter ballot since TR-41.3/97-11-027 was prepared. The return address shown on the ballots was incorrect and there was some delay in them reaching R. Britt (Nortel). The revised figures for the ballots are: Total Returned: 25 Approved without comment: 18 Approved with comment: 3 Not approved: 1 No comment: 3 TR-41.3/97-11-023contains comments on the No ballot submitted by Siemens Business Communications: • Siemens believes that Sidetone Masking Rating (STMR) should not be normalized to nominal Send Loudness Rating (SLR) as specified in Section 5.2.3.2, Talker Sidetone Requirement, of the proposed standard. This was a technical change and was accepted by TR-41.3. • TCLw (Terminal Coupling Loss weighted) should not be normalized to nominal Receive Loudness Rating (RLR) and SLR at nominal volume as specified in Section 5.5.2, Weighted Terminal Coupling Loss. There was consensus, after much discussion of this subject, not to change this requirement at this time. R. Magnussen (Siemens) indicated agreement with the existing wording of the proposed standard. TR-41.3 agreed to a technical change to remove the requirement to test with the volume control increased and place it as a note. This technical change was acceptable to Siemens. • The SLR of 8 and STMR of 18 may be incorrect values. Based on tests conducted by R. Magnussen (Siemens), Siemens withdrew this objection. Several additional editorial changes were made in accordance with the ballot comments received. The changes to the proposed standard resulting from the review of ballot comments were approved. REPORT ON PN-3674 ENHANCED CALLING FEATURES T. Russell (Philips Broadband Networks) reported that T1E1 had responded to the liaison letter sent from TR-41.3.1 and indicated they would be changing their specification in accordance with the suggestions of TR-41.3.1. The default ballot in Type 1 enhanced calling features is in process and is expected to be approved. Consensus has been reached on the preferred multiple extension interworking method and this is pending the outcome of feasibility study of the signaling method by Bellcore.

FCC NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING ON HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY TR-41.3/97-11-024 (A. Wride, Chair TR-41.9) contains a liaison from TR-41.9 to FCC attorney A. Firth, with questions pertaining to the implementation of the Report and Order on Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) Receive Amplified Volume Control telephones. The contribution was presented for information. No response has been received. FCC COMPLAINT ON BELL TAP TR-41.3/97-11-026 (S. Whitesell, Lucent) is a copy of a presentation made at the September 1997 FCC industry meeting. This notes that TIA-470-B in section 4.3.1.3.1 describes some test circuits which are not in

January-February 1998 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 9 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS common use today and raises other issues. There was considerable discussion related to the concern that the tests specified in TIA/EIA-470 may not be related to the conditions of the tests conducted by carriers which result in the bell tap that is the source of complaints to FCC. It is also not clear that there are a significant number of reports being received by the RBOCs. It was decided to write to T1E1.1 to inquire which signals are being sent out by carriers as part of line testing which might be potentially the source of bell tap complaints. TR-41.1 will be contacted as well, as they are dealing with complaints that have been received regarding Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs). The set of bell tap tests specified in TIA/EIA-470 may not be valid and might be considered for removal from the standard and be replaced by a more appropriate test.

PROPOSAL FOR STUTTER DIAL TONE DETECTOR STANDARD T. Russell (Philips Broadband Networks) reported that there is a problem with the requirement for coordination with other stutter dial tone devices on the same line as required in the Part 68 waiver process requirements for stutter dial tone detection. This issue was discussed in TR-41.9; members of TR-41.3.1 attended this discussion. It was proposed that TR-41.3 should maintain liaison with TR-41.9 on this issue and that TR-41.3 should take on a new project to develop stutter dial detector requirements. T. Russell (Philips Broadband Networks) agreed to present the proposal at the TR-41 plenary session on Friday, November 21, 1997. FCC NEW UNIVERSAL SERVICE ORDER The FCC New Universal Service Order, stemming from the Telecom Act of 1996, defines in Section 54.101 of Confirmation to Receive (CFR) 47, a new voice grade access frequency band of 500 to 4000 Hz which is different than the traditional limits of 300 to 3300 Hz and different than the voice band limits in Part 68 of 200 to 3995 Hz. There are great concerns regarding the fact that perhaps switching and transmission equipment may not support this new bandwidth, particularly in the high end of the band where the roll off occurs around 3300 Hz. There are also concerns that hearing aids may not work in this new bandwidth. TR-41.9 has been designated as the lead committee to work with the other subcommittees such as TR-41.1, TR-41.3 and TR-41.5 to help TIA draft comments for a petition of reconsideration to the FCC. It is anticipated that a conference call will be set up with B. Breden (TIA) to get everyone’s inputs and concerns so that she can prepare the petition. C. Chamney (Sprint) has agreed to participate in this conference call and task group. David Dulmage, KTL-Certelecom Laboratories

TR-41.5 MULTIMEDIA - BUILDING DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS The TIA TR-41.5 web site will move from MIS labs to the TIA web site. IPR Vendors were requested to identify any IPR they have which is relevant to the RG (Residential Gateway) standard being drafted. No IPR was disclosed or discussed at the meeting. VESA LIAISON REPORT R. Cochran (GTE) gave the VESA (Video Electronic Standard Association) liaison report. The July and October VESA (http://www.vesa.org) meetings had about 20 people in attendance, mainly consumer electronics industry participants. VESA continues to make progress on their standard based on IEEE1394 (High Performance Serial Bus). 1394b Long Distance (LD) is still in progress. VESA is working with the IETF on IP (Internet Protocol) over 1394. VESA is interested in TR-41.5 meeting issues, and responded to TIA-570 (Residential and Light Commercial Telecommunications Wiring Standard). Their main question is where POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) is in this new standard. VESA is also working on network protocol issues. Mr. Rajvi (Intel) is leading this work. VESA looked at wireless systems for backbone in the home, but the current work doesn’t fulfill all the requirements. In the 2.4 GHz band, there is not enough bandwidth: IEEE 802.11 plus interferes with microwave frequency, and

VESA requires about 600-800 Mbps - max. capacity. A 5 GHz band solution being is worked using IEEE-1394 over wireless (physical layer plus other protocol layers) carrying a 25 Mbit/s capacity. R. Cochran presented a GTE contribution at the VESA meeting regarding the implications of life-line service (also TR-41.5/97-11-04). It notes the regulatory and technical aspects of this service. It notes that the RG is introduced into the telephone service delivery path and therefore must support some level of service during power outages. The next VESA meeting is Dec. 4-5, hosted by Bellcore. The highlight is expected to be proof-of-concept (POC) Phase 2. Lab equipment will be in place for this meeting. Work will continue on a version of 1394 for the home (i.e., long distance [LD] version needed). The physical layer had to be extended beyond the current 4.5m. Mix media is supposed to work as well (PCs, TVs, etc.). Last June (POC Phase 1) in Sunnyvale, vendors demonstrated mix media but not with the LD version. There were some issues with Sony equipment but the issues were resolved. This POC will show the LD version, i.e., 100 Mbps at 100m without active equalizers. It will also meet FCC Part 15: Fast Ethernet can give 100 Mbps at 100m over Cat. 5 cable but the hubs are very expensive - too expensive for the home. Therefore home use will need NRZ coding and active equalizers. Mitsubishi, Sony, etc. are planning to show multi-media as well. Work continues on 1394 physical medium, with 3-pair: 2-pair for data strobe and 1-pair for powering. VESA is assuming that devices will have their own powering and therefore demonstration/POC will be based on using Cat. 5 cable only. T1E1 LIAISON REPORT T1E1.4 (reported by L. Baker, RELTEC) is balloting of T1.413, Issue 2 (ADSL) and RADSL standards. RADSL (Rate-Adapting ADSL) is being worked in T1E1.4 since the RADSL Ad Hoc is no longer active. T1E1.4 decided to move interoperability aspects of DMT into T1.413 Issue 2. RADSL is viewed to be very controversial. It is not one standard but two standards in one. Issue 2 of HDSL Technical Report (i.e., HDSL2) will use a single pair instead of the current 2 pair link. There was general agreement to add more subrates of operation to VDSL (Very high speed ADSL). The goal is to have a line code by the December meeting. The contenders are ping-pong DMT (Discrete Multi-tone Carrier), QAM downstream and DMT upstream, and pure QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation). RESIDENTIAL GATEWAY (RG), PN-3771 On Oct. 14-15, TR 41.5 held RG specification editing conference calls. The editing group made subtle changes to the RG specification: plug in card to plug in device. They identified follow-up work, particularly regarding security which is already embedded. Finally, the group structured the document into the TIA engineering format (TR- 41.5/97-11-003). At this TR-41.5 Meeting, there was considerable review of RG specification, TR-41.5/97-11-003. Discussion on the current state of the specification focused on whether it should be centralized vs. distributed - i.e., what layer of detail needs to be addressed? Many agreed only upon the interface and not the details of the internal design. There was debate/discussion on whether the “internetworking of the devices” functionality in the home should be in the RG standard, and whether VESA should handle the internetworking of devices within the home and TR-41.5 look at only internetworking between the access and the home network node 0. VESA proponents suggested that internetworking of the devices functionality in the home should not be in the RG standard, and that VESA should handle it, but TR-41.5 notes that it can define a common control language/protocol for both functions (internetworking within the home and interworking between the outside and inside of the home). S. Ungar’s (Bellcore) underlying argument is that you don’t have to have the internetworking function in the RG specification since this function doesn’t have to reside in the RG (not saying it can’t or shouldn’t, for it may even be convenient): the RG specification/standard should just have the minimum subset of requirements for an RG only. Sprint noted that the RG must also include the internetworking functionality for an RG to make sense for them, confirmed by an internal study they did. Lucent and CommHouse will put together a contribution summarizing this debate. The RG architecture document stipulates that the RG will do mediation of the access to the home network plus the internetworking of the home networks.

S. Ungar noted that many different connotations to a gateway add confusion. There is also confusion regarding routing vs. bridging vs. RG: • Bridge - MAC addressing - has a MAC address (if it doesn’t have a specific address then it doesn’t accept it) • Router - works at Network layer (IP); it has an address (has traffic address to it), strips packets then repackages and sends to other routers. Needs routing tables (complicated therefore expensive) • RG doesn’t have to have all the router functionality (routing traffic to other routers) but needs to put addresses to be able to communicate with other devices J. Romlein (MIS, TR-41.5 chair) moved to start a task force to address this issue. The proposal on NIUs (Network Interface Unit) and CPIs (Customer Premises Interfaces) and protocol layers needs to be defined to achieve internetworking and interoperability plus management functions (sections 5.1-5.5). He will mail out a “grocery list” within a couple of weeks to R. Janow (Lucent) who will head the task group. The discussion on RG Security Section 5.7 centered on where the firewall functionality should go - central or on each CPI card? Because the answer isn’t clear at this time, the group agreed to disagree until later. Section 5.8, on different levels of performance, needs to be completed. It is necessary to specify delay and jitter that is allowed in the RG itself (not the actual plug-in cards). There will be line-by-line editing of the RG draft specification v4a. The revised version will be mailed to participants before year-end 1997.

TR-41.6, WIRELESS USER PREMISES EQUIPMENT (WUPE) The following documents were submitted to the November TR-41.6 meeting: TR-41.6/97-11-24 (P. Murray, Chair TR-41.6) is a letter to TG 8.1 chair R. Engleman. TR-41.6 requests that the US TAG (Technical Advisory Group) to ITU-R submit a proposal to ITU-R recommending they allocate the frequencies 1910-1930 MHz for TDD (time division duplex), low-powered, unlicensed premises-based wireless applications for IMT-2000. TR-41.6/97-11-25 is the response, noting that the request was approved with minor modifications. This allocation aligns the ITU IMT-2000 TDD frequency allocation with the TDD designation in the Personal Communications Services (PCS) band plan adopted by the Americas. Also included (in TR-41.6/97-11- 25) is the final document in the form considered by the TG 8/1 (Doc. 8-1/230-E) regarding Question ITU-R 39/8 (Spectrum). TR-41.6/97-11-26 (P. Murray, Chair TR-41.6) is a list of recommended editorial changes to PCC.I-318/97, Draft Coordinated Standards Document on 1910-1930 MHz. TR-41.6.1/97-11-032© (P. Murray, Ericsson Inc.) is a draft of Personal Wireless Telecommunications Interoperability Standard (PWT) Part 13 which covers the Data Service Access Profiles A (optimized for low power and simplicity) and B Class 1 (optimized for high speed and throughput). Profile A and B are fully compatible with each other and can inter-work with each other. These provide a generic frame relay service used within closed user groups. This will become a part of TIA-662 PWT Interoperability. TR-41.6.1/97-11-33 (V. Pan, Lucent) is a formal reply to P. Murray’s (Ericsson) and M. Lenzo’s (Qualcomm) comments on TR-41.6.1/ 97-08-25, Probability of PWT-E Interference: TDMA PCS Base Station Victims. PWT-E systems operating in the PCS licensed bands emit undesirable RF energy into adjacent bands. Because PWT-E is a TDD system, there is no frequency separation between the FT (Fixed Terminals) or PP (Portable Parts) transmit and the PCS FDD base station receive bands. This makes PCS base stations extremely vulnerable to out- of-band PWT-E emissions. TR-41.6.1/97-11-34© (M. Lenzo, Ericsson Business Communications) is a response to the Lucent PWT-E submittal TR-41.6.1/97-08-25. This paper notes that TR-41.6.1/97-08-25 contained considerable errors in its conclusion, identifies those errors, and offers a revised conclusion with a 42.5 dB correction factor. TR-41.6.1/97-11-35 (W. Cruz, Lucent) provides comments on draft 662-13, Data Services Access Profiles A and B Class 1.

TR-41.7 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS T1E1.7 The next revisions of T1.313, Electrical Protection of Central Office Facilities, and T1.316, Electrical Protection of Telecommunications Outside Plant Facilities, were approved for ANSI processing and publication. Work is continuing on the “Electrical Protection of Broadband Facilities” project. A project on bonding and grounding of telecommunications network equipment was approved, and joint work with T1E1.5 will begin at the next meeting. IEEE The next meeting of IEEE 1100, Recommended Practice for Powering and Grounding Sensitive Electronic Equipment (IEEE Emerald Book), will be in May 1998. They are still resolving ballot comments. BI-NATIONAL WORKING GROUP (UL-1950, CSA-950) The revised draft third edition of the Bi-National Safety Standard (CSA 22.2 #950/UL 1950) is expected to be published by the end of 1997. It contains the fourth amendment of International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) 950 (Safety of information technology equipment) second edition as deviations, since the IEC second edition, fourth amendment has not been published. Publication of the IEC fourth amendment is expected early next year. Once IEC 950 second edition, fourth amendment is published, the requirements in CSA 950/UL 1950 can be changed from deviations. TR-41.7 discussed whether TIA should take a position on the work assignments for the Bi-National Working Group (BNWG). One position was for the BNWG to update the Bi-National Standard as soon as the IEC fourth amendment is published to remove the associated deviations. The other position was to wait until the third edition was stable, expected in the middle of 1998, and then begin the update to incorporate both the fourth amendment of the second edition and the third edition publishing after the third edition was published. No decision was made at the meeting. NEC The Report on Comments (ROC) on the 1999 National Electric Code (NEC) will be available to the public in April 1998 and will be available as hardcopy, CD ROM or on the web site of the National Fire Protection Association (sponsor of the NEC): www.nfpa.org. Panel meetings will be held in early December 1997 to develop the ROC. The annual meeting to finalize the code will be held in May 1998. The beginning of the cycle for the 2002 NEC will be in the fall of 1998. IEC-65 Work is under way on a proposal to be available at the next WG7 and U.S. Technical Advisory Group (USTAG) meeting. The proposal will add requirements for coax interfaces to IEC-950, including under certain conditions a 10 kV impulse like the one in IEC-65 (Safety requirements for mains operated electronic and related apparatus for household and similar general use). NAFTA CCT Significant progress was made in the Product Safety Work Group at the September 1997 Consultative Committee - Telecommunications (CCT) meeting in Arlington, VA. The Mexican delegation brought their IEC-950 based voluntary Standard, NMX-I-250-1997, which will allow the development of a Tri-National Safety Standard for telephony and information systems equipment. ANSI/TIA/EIA-631, I MMUNITY STANDARD R. Breden (TIA) presented TR-41.7/97-11-unnumbered-a, a preliminary marketing plan for ANSI/TIA/EIA- 631-1996, Standard on Radio Frequency (RF) Immunity for Telephones. The plan includes promotional contacts to manufacturers, Standards Organizations and others, web page collection of information about telephone interference problems, additions of the subject to seminars and trade shows, and the development of measurement tools to gauge the program’s success. TR-41.7 agreed to continue to have TIA develop the program with another presentation at the February 1998 meeting. The main reservation was the effectiveness of the program versus regulation which would force everyone to the same level.

A draft UL Bulletin on the same issue was distributed (TR-41.7/97-11-unnumbered-b). This draft offers a new UL testing service for Telephone Radio Frequency Immunity. This service has not yet been formally announced. TR-41.9 LIAISON TR-41.7/97-11-10 (L. Baker, RELTEC) is a revision of the transverse surge proposal for changes to FCC Part 68 which was presented to TR 41.9 as TR-41.9/97-08-73 (same as TR-41.7/97-08-07) at the last meeting. The contribution proposes that the transverse surge be conducted in the un-powered mode, which was understood to be in the original proposal but did not reflect SP-3283A, Telecommunications User Premises Equipment Environmental Considerations. It was presented to TR-41.9 before the-TR 41.7 meeting, with the understanding that it had not been reviewed by TR-41.7. TR-41.9 decided not to submit the transverse surge to the FCC because the harmonized version had a 1500 vrms dielectric test added between the power lines and the telephony lines. TR- 41.7 decided to leave the powering of equipment during the transverse surge in SP-3283A, thereby negating the proposed revision. BROADBAND SAFETY AND PROTECTION, NEC ARTICLE 800 The high powered class (150 Vrms, 15 amps) brought into the customer facility in Article 830 being proposed for the 1999 NEC is meeting a lot of resistance and there is a high likelihood that it will be removed. The low and medium power classes, up to 100 volts or 250 VA from 100 to 250 volts will likely stay. As reported in the T1E1.7 liaison, they are continuing to work on a standard for outside plant broadband facilities which includes coaxial cable. SP-3283A, TIA-571-A L. Baker (RELTEC) volunteered to be the editor for SP-3283B, Telecommunications User Premises Equipment Environmental Considerations (to become TIA-571-A). TR 41.7/97-11-12 (TR-41.7 Chair) is the version of SP-3283A. TR-41.7/97-11-11 (L. Baker, RELTEC) and TR-41.7/97-11-11A (C.A. Tenorio, Lucent) provide ballot comments on SP-3283A. There were five no votes (but two from the same company [Lucent], counted as one) making the no vote count four (Lucent, Bellcore, GTE, Teccor Electronics). There were five yes votes with comments. The main technical comments concerned the M-2 surge in 4.3.3.3, and Figure 3. The reason for three of the no votes was the M-2 surge had too low an I2t value; the reason for the fourth no vote was that the M-2 surge had too high an I2t value. A compromise value could not be agreed upon. The SP-3283B default ballot will have the same value for M-2 as SP-3283A based on the Chair’s decision after a split informal TR-41.7 vote. Proposals for changes to the figures were made by C. Tenorio (Lucent) and included in TR-41.7/97-11-11. Further changes to Figure 3 were made to eliminate all power and dc loop feed circuits in the figures, and add the following as the second sentence in the first paragraph of 4.3.3.2: “Appropriate care should be taken to ensure that powering circuits and loop feed circuits used to power the equipment and interfaces do not significantly affect the surge present to the EUT.” There was one other contentious editorial issue: the use of the terms “normal,” “extreme,” and “abnormal,” primarily used to describe the surge levels in section 4.3.3. TR-41.7 approved a proposal to change them to level A, level B, and level C. In most places in the Standard the word normal is not used in this context and will not be changed. An alternate proposal was introduced at the end of the meeting, after several of the members had left and a quorum was no longer present: eliminating “extreme,” including it with normal and changing abnormal to objective. Communication with TR-41.7 members after the meeting by email indicated that some objected to the change, and it was not adopted into SP-3283B. The recommended change to section 4.3.5.3.2 by Nortel was not accepted. The error in the equation in 4.3.6.3. was correctly identified and will be changed in SP-3283B. There were date changes to items 1 and 2 in Annex A and the addition of item 21, ANSI C84.1, a reference in section 4.3.2.2 submitted by GTE. Other editorial items discussed at the last meeting will also be reflected in SP-3283B. BALANCED RINGING SAFETY ISSUES R. Ivans (Underwriters Laboratories) reported that UL had tested units which incorporated Subscriber Line Integrated Circuits (SLICs), which produced 72 volts between tip and ring during the ringing cycle. This item was on the agenda but was not discussed due to lack of time.

TR-41.7.1 H ARMONIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL SAFETY STANDARDS

BI-NATIONAL SAFETY STANDARD, UL-1950/CSA-950 The CSA Committee responsible for 950 was meeting the following day, November 20 in Toronto. No meetings of the UL 1950 IAC (Industry Activity Committee) or the BNWG are scheduled. The WG expressed a desire to have future UL IAC and CSA C22.2 -950 meetings held jointly and provide common recommendations to the BNWG. TR-41.7.1 reaffirmed their understanding that C. Tenorio (Lucent) and J. Brunssen (Bellcore) were still the TIA representatives to the BNWG. IEC 950 (INTERNATIONAL) Voting on the Committee Draft for Vote (CDV) for the 3rd Edition of IEC 950 has completed. Resolution of the CDV comments are expected to be complete early next year. The acoustic safety limits may be removed from this edition because of the threat of a no vote on the CDV by some nations. Final approval and publication of the third edition is estimated to be late 1998 or early 1999. Work items on the first amendment of the third Edition have begun and will be discussed at the next WG7 and WG 8 meetings. The next US TAG will be in April and the WG7/8 and TC74 meetings in March 1998 (WG7) and May 1998 (WG8/TC74). Items likely to be included include Telephone Network Voltage (TNV) circuit chances, remote feed (60 ma @ class 3 voltages), and coaxial connection safety. ETRO-12, a draft IEC Technical Report (TR) on safety classes of telephone interfaces, is being revised. It was suggested that TR 41.7 should review the TR and consider publishing a modified version for North America. LeRoy Baker, RELTEC

TR-41.8, COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL PREMISES WIRING

TR-41.8.1 C OMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BUILDING WIRING The TR-41.8.1 Chair reported that TIA’s web-accessible FTP site should be up and running by the next meeting, and that TIA is looking for sponsorships to subsidize costs. TIA distributed a letter concerning sponsorship responsibilities, estimated costs, and benefits that a sponsorship could enjoy. TR-41.8.1/97-11-058a (TR-41.8.1 Co-Chairs M. Shariff, Lucent and J. Siemon, The Siemon Company) is the amended and accepted proposal for a scope and name for the Working Group. The new name is “Working Group on Commercial and Industrial Building Cabling.” The scope supports address cabling options up to a geographic span of 3 km serving up to 50,000 users. OPTICAL FIBER CONNECTORS Following the procedures previously agreed, five connector presentations were given at this TR-41.8.1 meeting in the second round of possibly choosing a new connector over the existing 568-SC connector specified in TIA-568-A for the TIA-568-B standard. In addition to the presentations, TR-41.8.1 members were given the opportunity to evaluate all proposed connectors through hands-on sessions. The following contributions contain presentations: TR-41.8.1/97-11-069 (T. Beam, AMP/Siecor/NTT): Mini-MT (Connector A) TR-41.8.1/97-11-061 (W. Mostowy, IBM and M. Giebel, Siecor): SCDC (Connector B) TR-41.8.1/97-11-062 (Y. Reeves, Lucent): LC connector (Connector C) TR-41.8.1/97-11-059 (D. Cook, 3M): Volition (Connector D) TR-41.8.1/97-11-057 (Panduit): Fiber Jack. (Connector E) All five presenters have indicated that they are aware of companies that hold intellectual property on the respective connectors. TR-41.8.1/97-11-060 (P. Phillips, Argonne National Laboratory) contains a testimonial for 3M’s Volition. TR-41.8.1-11-063 contains a testimonial for Lucent’s LC. Rather than have the names of the various connector options being used in the selection process, it was opted to denote them as “Connector A” through “Connector E”. The presentations were given prior to hands-on sessions. After the hands-on sessions, members were asked to complete the Survey of TR-41.8.1 Members for Fiber Connectors. The survey forms were developed at the August 1997 meeting to weigh each criteria listed within the survey for evaluating the connectors. TR-41.8.1/97-11-

064 (TR-41.8.1 Chair) contains the results obtained from the August 1997 meeting combined with those from Building Industry Consulting Services International (BICSI, TIA distributed the survey at a BICSI conference; BICSI has distributed their own survey yet to be compiled). TIA noted that their survey was not valid because they did not specify the ranking system to be “1” for the highest mark, or for the lowest. TR-41.8.1/97-11-064a (TR- 41.8.1 Chair) presents the data from the TR-41.8.1/97-11-064 survey, placing all connectors within 5 percentage points of each other and indicating Connector A as the highest ranking. From the discussion about these surveys, other items of interest to the TR-41.8.1 membership were solicited at the meeting. These items included: • Performance in the field vs. factory installed performance • Exposure to/opinions from user member companies (professional installers) • Users’ response to samples • Complete patent listing to implement the connector • Proposed Fiber Optic Connector Intermateability Standard (FOCIS) documents • Tuned vs. untuned performance • Complete performance results per TIA-568-A including Single Mode (SM) and Multimode (MM) test conditions TR-41.8.1/97-11-065 (TR-41.8.1 Chair) is the polling form for the First Poll of TR-41.8.1 Members on Fiber Connectors. The result was that Connector A was the only connector to achieve a majority. This was released after the Chair asked if anyone had any amendments to make to the process established at the August meeting. The survey results were tabulated over 66 possible voting members of which 53 were valid. It was announced that only Connector A advanced to the next stage. CONNECTOR A This connector utilizes a two-fiber MT-style ferrule and a snag-free spring latch to engage and disengage the connector. It is suitable for single and multi-mode applications. The connector falls within the space envelope of an 8-position modular jack. Technical details will be specified in TIA-604-8 (FOCIS-8). An example of this connector is the MT-RJ developed by AMP and Siecor. The members of TR-41.8.1 appeared bewildered at the results and asked that the percentages for each connector be released. After much discussion, five options were considered by TR-41.8.1 in advancing the connectors to the next stage. These included: • Stay with the existing process established in August 1997 (the default if there is no consensus to change) • Show results and advance all • Allow all within 10% of the leader to advance • Advance top 3 • Number 1 then: IEEE rules – Poll each connector in turn to eliminate all but one (Feb) The percentages for the five connector proposals were then presented to TR-41.8.1 without identifying the corresponding connector. These percentages are show in the following table with the number of votes attained. Percentage of # of votes # of members the Poll attained voting 68% 36 53 49% 26 53 45% 24 53 38% 20 53 36% 19 53 9% other 5 53 4% none of the 2 53 above

There was no consensus to change the process, therefore only Connector “A” (AMP/Siecor Mini-MT) would advance to the next stage.

UTP SYSTEMS TASK GROUP The Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Systems Task Group met in Santa Clara, CA and received a considerable amount of contributions. From their work, addenda to TIA-568-A have been drafted as Addendum 4a for Additional Transmission Performance Specifications for 100Ω 4-Pair Category 5 Cabling, and Addendum 4b for Additional Transmission Performance Specifications for 4-Pair 100Ω Enhanced Category 5 Cabling. Proposals were also provided to modify the reporting requirements of hand-held test instruments. In addition to these proposed requirements was a draft addendum to TIA-568-A for Additional Field Testing Specifications for Open Offices. This addendum would require that the installer scale attenuation measurements. An interim meeting is planned for January 22-23, 1998, in conjunction with the BICSI Conference in Orlando, FL. CONNECTOR TASK GROUP A test method for measuring category 5 connectors is being investigated as well as for patch cords. Round Robin testing will continue with patch cords between patch cord manufacturers. For the connector, the specifications for Far End Cross Talk (FEXT) and return loss are being investigated, and whether crosstalk should be measured by power-sum or pair-to-pair. As yet the category 6 specifications have many blanks. OPTIC FIBER TASK GROUP The Fiber Optic Task Group have not received any responses from the IEEE, Society of Cable Television Engineers (SCTE), or Fiber Channel regarding requirements for reflection to be better than –26dB. The Fiber Optic Task Group is still struggling with the constraints of TIA detail specifications in FO-6.3. Minor work items remain on TIA-568-B.3 such as handling fibers. Open issues still remain on 50 µm fiber, and 62.5 µm fiber operating over 300 meters. The Task Group plans to fully discuss this item at the next Task Group meeting. EDITORIAL TASK GROUP D. Fish (Wavetek), editor of TIA-568-B, reported that little has taken place in editing. TIA-568-B is intended to include category 3, 5, 5E, and 6. Category 5 will include requirements for FEXT and return loss. HARMONIZATION OF TIA-568-A TO ISO/IEC 11801 The Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC1)/SC25/WG3 met in Munich, Germany on September 15-17, 1997, where five US delegates attended. Two main topics addressed at the meeting were Addenda to ISO/IEC 11801, the Generic Cabling Standard, and the second edition of ISO/IEC 11801. TR-46.8.1/97-11-066 (R. Pritchard) is the liaison report. The intent of the addenda is to harmonize TIA-568-A and 11801 insofar as possible considering philosophical differences. The proposed addenda include specifications for both link and channel specifications, whereas previously, ISO/IEC 11801 only specified link specifications. The current draft of the addenda lists new channel requirements using TIA-568-A Annex E values. A major topic of discussion for the second edition of ISO/IEC 11801 was the next generation of cabling. A proposal for objectives was developed based on the US list developed after the August TR-41.8.1 UTP Systems Task Group conference call. Two classifications were considered: • Class E/category 6 built around a channel with “0 dB ACR” at 200 MHz • Class F/category 7 to be specified to 600 MHz It was understood that the category 6 cabling is based on the use of the current modular connector, whereas category 7 allows the introduction of a new connector. SCTP TASK GROUP TR-41.8.1/97-11-67 (TR-41.8.1 Chair) contains comments on SP-3193, Technical Specifications for 100 Ω Screened Twisted Pair Cabling (TR-41.8.1/97-11-68©). The comments required significant changes; hence, the contribution will be re-balloted to become an Interim Standard (IS). STP-A TASK GROUP D. Hess (Alcatel), Chair of the Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)-A Task Group, reported that there have been no responses to the to-be-determined (TBD) areas in the TIA-568-B.4 draft.

INSTALLATION CABLING REQUIREMENTS TASK GROUP The Installation Requirements Task Group met for about ten minutes. No contributions were received and no other work required discussion. The Installation Cabling Requirements Task Group will not meet again, but will turn any comments and questions to TR-41.8.1 to be included in the meeting notes and raised at the next meeting. NEXT GENERATION STUDY GROUP F. Peri (CTC) has volunteered to do the legwork for this effort; however, other volunteers are needed for laboratory work and field measurements. TR-41.8.2, R ESIDENTIAL & LIGHT COMMERCIAL PREMISES DISTRIBUTION TR-41.8.4/97-11-026© contains Draft 10 of PN-3490, Residential Telecommunications Cabling Standard. The following contributions were provided: • TR-41.8.2/97-11-027 (The Siemon Company) provides detailed edits to Draft 10 of PN-3490 • TR-41.8.2/97—11-028 (M. Shatzkin, Leviton Manufacturing Co.) provides edits on coaxial cabling connectors section 7.3. • TR-41.8.2/97-11-030 (S. Vaden, Superior Teletec) proposes changes to the wording in Draft 10 of PN-3490 (par. 7.1.4.2) to assure reliable operation of the 8-pin jack after insertion of a 6-pin plug. • TR-41.8.2/97-11-031 (NORDX/CDT) discusses Power Separation and ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC). TR-41.8.2 decided to incorporate all of the materials with edits. TR-41.8.2/97-11-030 was discussed at length with a decision made to incorporate selected text from the contribution with that of the existing TIA-570 standard. TR-41.8.2/97-11-031 proposed modifying the separation between electric and telecommunications cabling to 1-1/2 inches (the width of 2-by construction material). TR-41.8.2/97-11-029 (K. Taylor, Boston Optical Fiber) discusses plastic optical fiber systems. It suggests a 100m link budget supporting a receiver sensitivity of -29 dBm. A demonstration of 100 Mb/s transmission over 100 meters of graded-index plastic optical fiber having one computer transmitting video to another computer was started. However, once the transmission started, it immediately stalled. A contribution on coaxial cable did not arrive on time for the meeting; however, TR-41.8.2 agreed to release draft 11 to a 60-day industry ballot if the contribution could be incorporated, and the document went through an editing session. By the end of the week, draft 11 was created and approved for balloting by TR-41.8. TR-41.8.3, BUILDING PATHWAYS AND SPACES FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS ANSI/TIA/EIA-569-A, Commercial Building Standard for Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces, has not yet been released for publication for administrative reasons. The following contributions were provided as proposed addenda to ANSI/TIA/EIA-569-A: • TR-41.8.3/97-11-003 (G. Fishel, AMP) originates from Access Floor Task Group and proposes changes to the access flooring section of TIA-569-A. • TR-41.8.3/97-11-006 (J. Penczak, Walker Systems) originates from the Task Group on Underfloor Systems and proposes changes to TIA-569-A section 4.2, underfloor pathways. • TR-41.8.3/97-11-005 (G. Fishel, AMP) discusses separation of power conductors and communications cable, and recommends referencing NEC article 800-52, Installation of Communications Wires, Cables and Equipment, in the next revision of the standard. TR-41.8.3/97-11-004 from Wiremold (M. Michalak) and Steelcase (G. Weller) describes extensive but inconclusive tests to determine the effect of the separation of power and data cabling on the amplitude of EFT disturbances induced on data lines from power cables and their effect on 100 Mbits LAN performance. The Access Floor Task Group and the Task Group on Underfloor Systems will re-convene to write of their addenda. Both Task Groups need to collaborate with other Task Group members prior to finalizing their documents. The contributions on Pathway Separation resulted in the Working Group recommending that a white paper be constructed on the information. Discussions ensued about it becoming a Telecommunications Systems Bulletin (TSB) and also that it should focus on category 5 cable since testing with category 3 cable has not been done. Conduit fill and cable tray fill are still doing studies. The Pathway Fill Task Group hopes to have more information by the February 1998 meeting.

The work on revising ANSI/TIA/EIA-606 has not started. A project request will be initiated at this meeting and an interim meeting scheduled for February 6, 1998, in Harrisburg, PA.

TR-41.8.4, CUSTOMER-OWNED OUTSIDE PLANT TR-41.8.4/97-11-016© (ANSI/TIA/EIA) contains Draft 10 of PN-3339, Customer Owned Outside Plant Telecommunications Cabling Standard. The following contributions were provided as additions to the proposed standard: • TR-41.8.4/97-11-020 (J. Wilson, Wiltec) provides ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) maintenance hole specifications as references. • TR-41.8.4/97-11-021 and TR-41.8.4/97-11-022 (J. Gage, IBM) discuss, respectively, maintenance hole placement in proximity to street intersections and bridge expansion joints for conduit and cable. • TR-41.8.4/97-11-018 (D. Ballast, BICSI) discusses the requirements for the pressurization of air-core cables and implementations. • TR-41.8.4/97-11-019 (H. Congdon, Siecor) discusses optical fiber cabling jacketing options (section 6.3). • TR-41.8.4/97-11-017 (B. Jensen dbi) discusses OSP (outside plant) symbols. • TR-41.8.4/97-11-023 (AMP) discusses the definition of innerduct. All the contributions (except the dbi and AMP, due to lack of time) were discussed and edited at the meeting. The contributions discussed at the meeting will be incorporated into the proposed standard. In a discussion about transmission characteristics of protectors, it was decided that all protectors shall meet or exceed category 3 performance requirements. Protectors are usually placed on cables entering a building to protect interior cabling (and occupants) from lightening and overvoltage. TR-41.8.5, DEFINITIONS T. Toher IBM provided one contribution (TR-41.8.5/97-11-unnumbered) which is the compilation of definitions prepared for the November meeting. Several terms were submitted for discussion by TR-41.5, Multimedia. These terms will be added to the definitions. In addition, fire-stopping terms were modified to harmonize with the BICSI Telecommunications Distribution Methods Manual (TDMM). Bob Jensen, dbi

TR-41.9, R EGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS ON TERMINAL ATTACHMENT PROGRAM A. Wride (TR-41.9 Chair) asked members to identify whether there was knowledge of patents, the use of which might be essential to the standard being considered. None were identified. CANADIAN TAPAC, TAPAC TTF, TAPAC ATF LIAISON REPORT The Terminal Attachment Program Advisory Committee (TAPAC) and its Task Forces last met October 7-8, 1997 in Toronto, Ontario. Technical editor’s note: the full meeting report may be found at http://www.tsacc.ic.gc.ca/TAPAC/DOCS/tapoct97.html Highlights of the meeting are as follows: The re-balloting of the draft proposal on Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) Receive Volume Control for Telephone Handsets will be conducted after the TR-41.9 November 1997 meeting. The same issues will be resolved and the same questions answered in the US by the FCC. The re-balloting is expected early in 1998. The Provisional Document for Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Loop (ADSL) Terminal equipment was Gazetted November 14, 1997, and is now available in both English and French. It is not available on the web site yet. TAPAC has approved a Provisional Document process from the TAPAC Administrative Task Force (ATF). This process has been incorporated into the TAPAC Procedure. As the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) is looking to have local competition start in January 1998, the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) and its working groups are working hard to resolve all outstanding issues on time. It was reported that no major new issues have been identified on the terminal attachment side. TAPAC has received reports on many international activities including Canada-EU Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC)-MRA, Canada-Korea MRA, Canada-Chile FTA (Free

Trade Agreement) and NAFTA/CCT (Consultative Committee - Telecommunications). For implementation of all these agreements, Industry Canada needs support from our industry and coordination with the FCC and TIA. The next TAPAC meeting will be February 3-4, 1998 in Ottawa. FCC ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEES AND PROCEEDINGS R. Cook (Bellcore) discussed the FCC’s October 17, 1997 Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (CS [Cable Services] Docket No. 95-184; MM [Multimedia] Docket No. 92-260), that amends cable wiring rules. The action by the FCC attempts to broaden competition in multi-dwelling unit buildings by making it possible for more multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to compete to provide service to the same building. Key elements of the FCC’s Order address the following: disposition of home run wiring; subscriber access to cable home wiring prior to termination of service; demarcation point; state mandatory access laws; and exclusive contracts. Comment is sought in the Second Further Notice on issues applying FCC rules regarding the following: customer access to cable inside wiring before termination of service to all MVPDs; whether small broadband service providers should be exempt from signal leakage reporting requirements; and the viability of the simultaneous use of cable home run wiring by multiple MVPDs. Comments are due December 23, 1997 on the Second Further Notice. Reply comments are due January 22, 1998. TR-41.9/97-11-088 (E. Hansson, Nortel) describes the FCC New Universal Service Order, stemming from the Telecom Act of 1996 (http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html). A new voice grade access frequency band of 500 to 4000 Hz is defined in Part 54.101 of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 47. This frequency band is different than the traditional limits of 300 to 3300 Hz, and different than the voice band limits in Part 68 of 200 to 3995 Hz. There are great concerns regarding the fact that perhaps switching and transmission equipment may not support this new bandwidth, particularly in the high end of the band where the roll off occurs around 3300 Hz. There are also concerns that hearing aids may not work in this new bandwidth. TR-41.9 has been designated as the lead committee to work with the other subcommittees such as TR-41.1, TR-41.3 and TR-41.5 to help TIA draft comments for a petition of reconsideration to the FCC. It is anticipated that a conference call will be set up with R. Breden (TIA), who will prepare the petition. REPORT ON ADMINISTRATIVE JOINT HARMONIZATION GROUP TR-41.9/97-11-089 (A. Wride, TR-41.9 Chair) is the fourth draft of the comparison of the requirements of Industry Canada’s certification procedure CP-01 with those of FCC Form 730 application guide, dated September 18, 1997. The Joint Harmonization Group has reviewed CP-01 and FCC Form 730 application forms and are continuing work on the matter. TSB-31-B PART 68 HARMONIZED STATUS INDUSTRY MEETING TR-41.9 addressed the progress in the harmonized Part 68 rules. The harmonized rules were forwarded November 14, 1997 for publication in the Federal Register. The effective date is 150 days after publication in the Federal Register. On September 17, 1997, members of TIA and Association of Independent Scientific, Engineering and Testing Firms (ACIL), including P. Adornato (Nortel), C. Berestecky (Lucent) and A. Wride (CCL), met with the FCC Common Carrier Bureau (CCB) regarding the changes to be instigated in the Part 68 registration program in order to implement the EU MRA that was initialed in June 1997. The CCB was not very aware of the MRA and did not consider it a priority, since most of its resources were tied up in the implementation of the Telecom Act of 1996. CCB suggested that the industry contact some of the FCC’s assistants to obtain some level of priority for the project; however, at that time most of the Commissioners were being changed, so it was decided to wait for the change over to take place first. The same group also visited the FCC International Bureau and found it much more aware and supportive of the MRA; however, it is not up to the International Bureau to make the changes in the other Bureaus. It was noted that the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) at the FCC has been extremely pro-active in the area of regulatory reforms. The OET has already issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) under ET Docket 97-94 to streamline the conformity assessment procedures for radio equipment. It is anticipated that the OET will be issuing an Order and a second Further NPRM by the end of the year to include changes to the Part 68 registration program. Many industry groups, including TR-41.2, are discussing the issue and developing the guidelines for the designation of Conformity Assessment Bodies in the US that will be able to perform the certification functions that the FCC is currently performing.

TSB-31-B PART 68 HARMONIZED STATUS PUBLICATION UPDATE A. Wride (TR-41.9 Chair) is completing the editing of TSB-31-B and expects to deliver it to TIA by the first week of December 1997. There should give enough time for it to be published by TIA prior to the upcoming seminar in February 1998. TR-41.9/97-11-078 (FCC 97-270) contains CC (Common Carrier Bureau) Docket No. 96-28, the text of the amendment of Part 68. It was announced that the FCC published the harmonized Part 68 rules in the Federal Register, Wednesday, November 19, 1997, with a 150 day effective date. MAKE BUSY JACKS REMOVAL TR-30 has developed a proposal for make busy which provides a means of accommodating the requirements of Part 68.312(k) of Part 68 rules. Part 68.312(k) prohibits registered terminal equipment from going off-hook except for the purpose of originating or answering a call. There has been a practice among modem pool users to busy out lines in hunt groups where modems were out of service for maintenance or other reasons. This practice is technically a violation of FCC rules 68.312(k). Make busy jacks have been used for a number of years to accomplish this function without violating Part 68 rules. No make busy jacks have ever been registered. T. Bishop (Bell Atlantic) reported that these jack configurations are being used, although the specific jacks have not been registered. TR-41.9 will defer any recommendation for removal from the Form 730 Application Guide pending the receipt of more information regarding their deployment. TR-41.9 agreed to send the FCC a letter updating B. von Alven (FCC) on this issue. ADSL TR-41.9/97-11-076 (P. Walsh, Paradyne) proposes Part 68 technical requirements and definitions for customer premises located ADSL terminal equipment. TR-41.9 considered whether Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) needed to be specifically addressed in the proposal. It was agreed that this is already covered in the Part 68 rules and could be clarified in the Form 730 Application Guide, if necessary. TR-41.9 agreed that there was no need to mention the POTS interface in the proposal under consideration. There was considerable discussion of proposed requirements. It was agreed to delete Section (3) Voice Band Signal Requirements from the proposal. There was discussion of a need to apply out-of-band signal limitations starting at a lower frequency than the 270 kHz proposed. After much discussion it was moved to accept the proposal without changing the 270 kHz limit and to present this to the TR-41 plenary for approval. It was moved by J. Balinski (Bellcore) and seconded by H. Van Zandt (GTE) to approve the proposal presented in TR-41.9/97-11-076 (P. Walsh, Paradyne), with the modifications incorporated from the discussion of this proposal, for forwarding to the TR-41 plenary for approval for ballot. The vote was unanimous. There was consensus in TR-41.9 to look into a new work program involving all the different Digital Subscriber Lines (xDSL). P. Walsh (Paradyne) has agreed to bring a contribution with definitions regarding each technology to the next meeting. A technical survey article on ADSL is available at http://www.ednmag.com/reg/ bin/high.pl/1996/101096/21df_01.htm:ADSL. Access to this article requires logging on to the EDN Magazine site. PCM MODEMS TR-41.9/97-08-070 is a contribution from TR-30.1 for the relaxation of Part 68 rules which limit equipment which generate signals in digital form to -12 dBm. TR-41.9/97-11-079 (A. Wride, TR-41.9 Chair) contains a liaison from TR-41.9 to TR-30.1 regarding the Signal Power Level for PCM modems. TR-41.9/97-11-083 (B. Lerich, Bellcore) and TR-41.9/97-11-093 (E. Guevara and J. Zebarth, Stentor Resource Center) are further responses. Bellcore and Stentor both state that they are unwilling to support a relaxation of the Part 68 signal power rules until testing has been completed which demonstrates that such a relaxation will not result in network harm. B.

Lerich (Bellcore) suggested that testing of 6 to 12 configurations would be sufficient and that Bellcore would be interested in participating in such a study. There was consensus in TR-41.9 that the results of any study should be provided to Committee T1E1.4 for their analysis and that TR-41.9 should rely on their expertise to make any recommendation for relaxation of the rules. WEB REPORT TR-41.9/97-11-085 (S. Roleson, Hewlett-Packard) provides web sites relating to disabled access, the Telecom Act of 1996, ADSL, and other new transmission technologies. HAC (HEARING AID COMPATIBLE) TASK GROUP On September 17, 1997 a task group under TR-41.9 met with FCC Attorney A. Firth at FCC on some of the questions regarding the upcoming Volume Control requirements for Part 68. The task group had requested written answers from the FCC and were advised to write a formal request letter with questions to the chief of the Common Carrier Bureaus, which could then receive a formal docket number and permit A. Firth to do thorough research on each question. TR-41.9/97-11-092 (J. Green, Comdial) is a summary of questions to the FCC on Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) Volume Control. TR-41.9 reached a consensus to delete Issue 2, Product Labeling, from the list of questions and put the other questions in a letter to the FCC. TR-41.9 was in agreement to include the questions from TR-41.9/97-11-077 (A. Wride, TR-41.9 Chair) and TR-41.9/97-11-082 (A. Firth, FCC Attorney) as well. A small task group chaired by S. Crosby (Lucent) met immediately after the Tuesday TR-41.9 meeting to prepare a draft of the letter for review by TR-41.9. The draft letter prepared by the HAC task group was discussed extensively. The HAC task group was scheduled to meet immediately after the meeting to make the changes resulting from the discussion of this proposal. This letter will be forwarded to the FCC by TR-41.9 Chair A. Wride. It was the consensus of TR-41.9 that the HAC task group should present this draft letter to TR-41.3 for their information. T. Russell (Philips) will bring it. A. Wride (TR-41.9 Chair) will distribute a copy of this letter by email to TR-41.9 members prior to sending it to the FCC. STUTTER DIAL TONE TASK GROUP Stutter dial tone has been kept on the agenda based on a request from B. von Alven (FCC). There is presently a waiver process to accommodate connection of stutter dial tone detectors. These devices violate Part 68.312(k) of the FCC rules. B. von Alven (FCC) has asked TR-41.9 to look at the eight conditions of the waiver to determine whether there could be a change in the Part 68 rules to permit conventional registration of these devices. In Canada there has been a Provisional Document published which specifies Certification requirements for stuttered dial tone detectors. A task group was formed to look at these requirements and to gather the rationale for the original requirements. There are technical limits placed in the requirements which may be either incorrect or are lacking in clear rationale. The eighth requirement in the waiver appears to be a miscalculation and is already covered in the Part 68 rules. This eighth requirement is not included in the Canadian Provisional Document. The sixth requirement for coordination with other devices is addressed in the Canadian Provisional Document by permitting a statement in the equipment manual, if the device is not capable of detecting the number of stutter dial tone devices on the line or coordinating with them. The rationales for the waiver requirements were apparently based on minimizing traffic on the network and there was not a lot of identifiable justification for the numbers specified in the limits. Members of TR-41.3 attended the TR-41.9 meeting for the discussion on this issue. There has been informal discussion in TR-41.3.1 on the possibility of developing a technical standard for these devices. No formal project proposal has been developed at this time. SEMINAR TASK GROUP The speaker packages have been sent out by TIA staff. The schedule for the seminar, “Removing Technical Barriers to Trade,” is available from the TIA website at http://www.tiaonline.org/sfg/trade. Registration for the seminar may be made electronically at http://www.tiaonline.org/stan/ trade.htm. TR-41.9/97-11-090 contains pages from this website with details on the seminar.

TR-30.3 REQUEST S. Roleson (Hewlett-Packard) reported that he attended the TR-30.3 meeting on October 13-14, in Galveston, Texas. TR-41.9/97-11-084 (S. Roleson, Hewlett-Packard) summarizes his observations from that meeting. TR-30.3 is formally asking TR-41.9 to review TIA/EIA-496-A, Interface between Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment (DCE) and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and ascertain its compatibility with the new harmonized rules. This publication was last revised in 1989 and TR-30.3 is working to update TIA-496-A. E. Wright (ITS) has agreed to chair a task group to review the document and provide a report for discussion at the next TR-41.9 meeting in February 1998. S. Roleson (HP) will work in this task group and A. Wride (CCL) has agreed to participate as well. INTENTIONAL PATHS TO GROUND TR-41.9/97-11-086 (J. Bipes, Mobile Engineering) addresses the methodology for conducting Dielectric/Leakage Current and Hazardous Voltage tests on Direct Inward Dialing (DID) circuits with a Subscriber Line Integrated Cir- cuit (SLIC) chip tip/ring interface. The harmonized Part 68 rules require an operational ground integrity test (≤0.1 V @ 1 Amp) (Part 68.306(e)(1), and a protective ground Ileakage test ≤10 mA @ 120 Vac (Part 68.306(e)(2). The test conducted by forcing a 1 Amp current through the SLIC chip would likely be destructive. Removing the SLIC chip and checking the ground integrity only from the point of the SLIC chip’s grounding would not provide assurance of adequate ground integrity to “ground out” a 120V ac mains fault on tip/ring. The consensus of TR-41.9 is that the SLIC chip should remain in place and only the 1A Operation path to ground integrity test should be performed. TR-41.9 agreed with the proposal presented by J. Bipes (Mobile Engineering ) which states: “EUT [Equipment Under Test] which have intentional conducting paths to ground and are therefore deferred from HV AC tests contained in CS-03’s 2.2.1/FCC’s 68.304 shall, if that path is operational, require only the ground integrity test of 2.3.9.1/68.306(e)(1). Even if there should also be a protective path to ground in the same network interface, the operational path takes exclusive precedence over the protective, negating the requirement for the I-Leakage test. Only those EUT with protective only paths to ground shall require the I-Leakage test of 2.3.9.2/68.306(e)(2).” It was mentioned that this issue should be included in the letter to the FCC in order to provide for future questions. A. Wride (CCL) will include this issue, its description, and TR-41.9’s consensus to B. von Alven (FCC). COMPARISON OF FCC 97-270 (FCC PART 68 HARMONIZED RULES) TO TIA-464-B-1996 TR-41.9/97-11-094 (J. Schick and E. Hansson, Nortel) discusses the updated, harmonized issue of FCC Rules and Regulation, Part 68, compared to TIA-464-B 1996 (Requirements for PBX Switching Equipment). It notes possible changes needed to TIA-464-B and corrections and clarifications to the FCC document. TR-41.9 members were requested to review this contribution and bring any comments to the next TR-41.9 meeting. TR-41.9 TECHNICAL OUTPUTS A. Wride (CCL) and S. Roleson (Hewlett-Packard) are working on developing a means of providing relevant TR- 41.9 information on the TIA website in HTML format. A task group will report on the review of TIA/EIA-496-A (Network Channel Terminating Equipment for Public Switched Digital Service) at the TR-41.9 meeting in February 1998. SURGE PROPOSAL FROM TR-41.7 TR-41.9/97-11-087 (L. Baker, RELTEC) contains a proposal on transverse surge from TR-41.7. This surge is a 1.2 x 50 µs open circuit voltage waveform, 8 x 20 µs short circuit current waveform. The open circuit voltage is 2500 Volts. This is a transverse surge (T surge) applied to phase and neutral lines with the surge generator ground connected to the tip and to the ring, each through a 3 ohm series resistor, simulating the minimum resistance of the tip and ring leads between the protector and the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). If the CPE has a ground, it is also connected to the surge generator ground. The unit under test is NOT powered from the ac source for this test. The need for a T surge was initially raised from the North American Telephone Association (NATA), an association of small telephone carriers in the southern United States, who reported problems of failures from transients occurring

in this mode due to problems with ground connections. B. von Alven (FCC) has requested that TR-41.9 consider this issue. There was consensus in TR-41.9, after discussion of the proposal in TR-41.9/97-11-087, that this issue is adequately addressed in the new dielectric test applied, under the harmonized Part 68 rules, with the stress applied from tip/ring to AC input leads. TR-41.9 has adopted the new 1.2 x 50 µs open circuit voltage waveform, 8 x 20 µs short circuit current waveform power line surge of TR-41.7 SP-3283 (TIA/EIA-571-B) to replace the 2 x 10 µs power line surge currently specified in Part 68. This proposal will be submitted to the FCC in a future petition for rulemaking relating to Part 68.

TR-41.10, PRIVATE INTEGRATED SERVICE NETWORK (PISN) TR-41.10 is working to develop PISN standards based on ISO work (termed QSIG). TR-41.10 was briefed on the revised ISO standardization process as well as US Technical Advisory Group (TAG) function. EIA has invited TR- 41.10 members to join the US TAG (annual membership fee $300.00). Both the European Communications Manufacturers Association (ECMA) and the Asynchronous Transfer Mode Forum (ATMF) have welcomed the TR-41 liaison request. The TR-41.10 Chair participated in the November 1997 ECMA meeting to discuss logistics and set up the process for exchange of documents via the web and ftp server. NATIONAL ISDN All documents noted were provided by the Chair, M. Zonoun, Nortel. TR-41.10/97-11-043©, is ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6WG6, WD 11579-3, Private Integrated Services Network (PISN) Part 3 Reference Configuration for Private Integrated Services Network Exchanges (PINX). The following documents discuss recent developments on the National Integrated Services Digital Network (N-ISDN): • TR-41.10/97-11-045, ISO DIS 11571, PISN Addressing • TR-41.10/97-11-046, ISO DIS 11574, PISN Basic Call • TR-41.10/97-11-048, ISO Liaison to ITU-T on VPN The first batch of the ISO standards for Basic Call (BC), Generic Function (GF) and Services (about dozen) have been completed. There are additional enhancements (addenda) to BC and GF for additional functionality, including the support of mobility services. The mobility services currently being defined in ISO at the Committee Draft (CD) level are: call handling (ECMA: incoming/outgoing), registration, authentication (for both service description and protocol) and service aspects. FCD is a new ISO procedure which shortens the process for a CD. The documents provided were: • TR-41.10/97-11-37©, ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6WG6 FCD 15433 PISN Inter-Exchange Signaling Protocol - Wireless Terminal Authentication supplementary services. • TR-41.10/97-11-38©, ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6WG6, FCD 15429 PISN Inter-Exchange Signaling Protocol - Wireless Terminal Location Register supplementary services. • TR-41.10/97-11-39©, ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6WG6 WTAU-SD PISN - Specification, functional model and information flows - Wireless Terminal Authentication supplementary services (WTAU). These services are Authentication of a Wireless Terminal Mobility user and Authentication of a PISN. • TR-41.10/97-11-40©, ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6WG6 WTLR-SD PISN - Specification, functional model and information flows - Wireless Terminal Location Registration (WTLR) supplementary service and Wireless Terminal Information Exchange additional network feature. • TR-41.10/97-11-41© ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6WG6 FCD 15430 PISN - Specification, functional model and information flows - Wireless terminal call handling additional network features. • TR-41.10/97-11-42 © is ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6WG6 FCD 15431 PISN Inter-Exchange Signaling Protocol - Wireless terminal call handling additional network features. These contributions will be reviewed jointly with TR-41.6 for comments for the next ISO meeting. TR-41.10/97-11-45, ISO DIS 11571, PISN Addressing, and TR-41.10/97-11-44, ISO DIS 15899, B-PISN broadband connection oriented bearer services, containing fast track ISO documents on Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) Addressing and Connection Oriented Bearer service, were presented. Since the due date for the latter was prior to the next TR-41.10 meeting, an interim date was set to receive comments by mid December 1997. A teleconference will be set by mid January 1997 to resolve any comments received. (Editor’s note: As of January 7, 1998, no comments have been received.)

TR-41.10 requested that the TR-41 plenary establish a process for making TR-41 adopted ISO standards available to the public for order. There are over 20 such standards which are currently ready for publication. B-ISDN The first batch of Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) documents including B-QSIG Basic Call, Generic Function and Signaling ATM adaptation layer (SAAL) have been balloted by ISO and have reached DIS level. The ATM Forum is working to enhance their Private Network to Network Interface (PNNI) 1.0 (Node-node interface) for additional functionality including the support of voice services. The ATM Forum’s new document, PNNI 2.0, will contain ISO B-QSIG Generic Function as an annex for the support of NISDN supplementary services. Mo Zonoun, Nortel

TR-41 PARTIAL MEETING ROSTER, NOVEMBER 17 – 21, SAN ANTONIO, TX Chuck Berestecky, Lucent Chair, TR-41 John Schick, Nortel Chair, TR-41.1 Pierre Adornato, Nortel Chair, TR-41.2 Dennis Rittenhouse, Spectrum Sciences Inst. Chair, TR-41.3 Jim Romlein, MIS Labs Chair, TR-41.5 Peter Murray, Ericsson Chair, TR-41.6 Leroy Baker, RELTEC Chair, TR-41.7 Paul Kish, Nordx/CDT Chair, TR-41.8 Anh Wride, CCL Chair, TR-41.9 Mo Zonoun, Nortel Chair, TR-41.10 AT&T Emanuel Boyer MIS Labs Jim Romelin Bell Atlantic Trone Bishop Mitel Robert Hamilton Bellcore John Balinski Mitel John Needham Bellcore Jim Brunssen Mobile Engineering John Bipes Bellcore Charlie Sacco NEC Paul Weismantel Bellcore R. Cook Nortel Pierre Adornato Bellcore B. Lerich Nortel Roger Britt Bellcore Steve Ungar Nortel Katherine Cheung Bob Young & Associates Bob Young Nortel Ed Eckert CCL Anh Wride Nortel J. Freestone CLI David Dulmage Nortel Sev Godo Comdial John Green Nortel S. Graham CommHome Avi Fogel Nortel Erik Hansson CommHome Bob Olsen Nortel Dermot Kavanaugh Compaq Jim Cottrell Nortel John Schick Consultant J. Bareham Nortel Chris Taylor Cortelco Peter Melton Nortel Bao Tran CSA Ajmer Bal Nortel Mo Zonoun CSI/Suttle Apparatus Don Ward Paradyne, Inc. P. Walsh. Ericsson Tony Wong Philips Broadband Tom Russell Excel Switching Corp. Erica Pinto Philips Consumer Steve Whitesell GTE Richard Cochran RELTEC LeRoy Baker GTE Rich Panko Res. Mgt Consultant Herbet Mendelsohn GTE Percy Pool Rockwell R. Rahamin GTE J. Smith Siemens BCS Dick Frank GTE Harry Van Zandt Siemens BCS Ron Magnussen Hewlett-Packard Scott Roleson Siemens BCS Jim Seippel IBM Tom Toher Siemens BCS Tailey Tung Industry Canada Robert Corey Spectrum Sci. Inst. Dennis Rittenhouse Industry Canada Henry Mar Sprint Don Cowick Intecom Dan Adams Sprint Local Tel. Div. Cliff Chamney ITS Erick Wright Steelcase George Weller Iwatsu Bob Chrostowski Stentor Resource Ctre Efrain Guevara Kruger Associates Inc. F. Kruger Teccor Electronics Kurt Wattelet Lucent Technologies Tony Caggiano TelCon Associates Dorothy Lockard Lucent Technologies Steven Crosby Telident Martin Moody Lucent Technologies J. Gurnavage Thomas Consumer Elec. Clint Pinkham Lucent Technologies G. Hess Underwriters Labs David Haataja Lucent Technologies Richard Janow Underwriters Labs Randy Ivans Lucent Technologies Hernan Noguchi Underwriters Labs A. Nguyen Lucent Technologies Chuck Tenorio Wyle Laboratories Larry Bell

26 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 January-February 1998 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT OF ETSI COMMITTEE TM6 TRANSMISSION AND MULTIPLEXING, NOVEMBER 17 – 21, 1997, VERONA, ITALY TD 0 (A. Carrick, ETSI TM6 Secretary) provides a list and abstract of TDs for the Verona meting. TD 1 contains the approved meeting agenda. TD 2 provides a list of Work Items assigned to ETSI as extracted from ETSI Data Base just prior to the opening of the meeting. WD 11 (ETSI TM6 Chair) contains the draft ETSI TM6 report of this meeting. Once approved, the contribution will be placed on the ETSI Server. GENERAL TM6 ISSUES ETSI TM6 Chair H. Frizlen (Ericsson) is retiring from Ericsson and is working out a contract with ETSI to continue his Chairmanship of TM6 into 1998 and probably into 1999. The ETSI TM6 Chair reiterated that only ETSI members and ETSI associate members are allowed to participate in TM6 meetings. US colleagues are asked to clearly identify their ETSI-member European counterpart so they can continue to participate. The ETSI TM6 Chair asked for candidates to serve as new liaison officers to T1E1. Candidates should attend both TM6 meetings and T1E1 meetings. The ETSI TM6 Chair asked for confirmation of the present rapporteurs and that present rapporteurs reaffirm their commitments. K. Foster (BT) announced that after the completion of the Madrid meeting (Jan 26 - 30), his company would not allow him to continue as rapporteur. INCOMING LIAISONS K. Foster (British Telecom) gave some indications on the work progress of Q4/15, although no formal liaison was received from ITU SG 15. He indicated that G.High-rate Digital Subscriber Loop (G.HDSL) and G.Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop (G.ADSL) have some Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) related issues and that ITU-T cannot just put a cover sheet on ETSI documents. The Terms of Reference (ToRs) of Q4/15 will be reviewed at the forthcoming SG 15 meeting in Geneva. G.test, G.hs (hand shaking), G.oam (operation, administration and maintenance) are progressing; discussion on G.lite should take place within ETSI TM6 and a common position documented at the Verona meeting. TD 21 (L. Magnone, CSELT, et. al.) contains the liaison from Full Service Access Network (FSAN), introduced by K. Foster (British Telecom). The contribution provides the consolidated simulation results and noise profiles, for noise levels encountered on future Very high speed ADSL (VDSL) systems, including both Far End Cross Talk (FEXT) and Near End Cross Talk (NEXT), for a representative set of operators in Europe and Canada. No liaison was received from T1E1. ISDN-BA (ISDN B ASIC RATE ACCESS) TD 10 (J. Boström, Ericsson) proposes to modify the high frequency Integrated Services Digital Network Basic Access (ISDN BA) signal spectra template of ETR 080 and to include values above the present 1.0 MHz in order to prepare for the introduction of VDSL. Several templates were discussed; manufacturers of ISDN semiconductors for the U interface were asked to comment, and an ad hoc group was created to come up with a consolidated proposal, taking into account the FSAN Working Group results contained in TD 21 (L. Magnone, CSELT, et. al.). The results of that ad hoc group, WD 02 (H. Zoetman, Lucent), provides a PSD (Power Spectral Density) mask up to 300 kHz based on the existing limit in ETR 080. Above 300 kHz, the limit is extended according to the results in TD-21. This was agreed by the TM6 plenary. TD 22 (B. Heise, Siemens) discusses micro-interruptions at ISDN Basic Rate Systems (4B3T). A micro- interruption is a temporary line interruption due to external mechanical action on the copper wires at, as example, a cable splice. Hand made cable splices during cable-life exhibit oxidation and mechanical vibrations can cause micro interruptions. A micro-interruption near the Line Termination (LT) equipment cannot be distinguished from a no signal state. TD 22 provides wording allowing for micro-interruptions up to 10 ms without deactivation; it was agreed upon and is now included in the living list for ETR 80 TM6 permanent document 04. Living List Items that need resolution prior to a revision of ETR 80, possibly started at the Madrid meeting, are the following: • PSD mask • New test loop

• Micro-interruptions Due to lack of contributions, regenerator issues are provisionally dropped from the living list. ADSL TD 7 (R. Kirkby, BT) discusses a noise model designed to stress the upstream receiver. The contribution introduces the need to consider the exchange side of the line where the noise environment is quite different from the LT subscriber side. ETSI TM6 agreed to add the following new study item to the ADSL Living List: “Appropriate exchange end noise model to be injected during modem tests, at the same time as the existing noise model is injected at the customer end.” TD 8 (R. Kirkby, BT) discusses the estimating capacity of an ADSL system assuming Noise Model A. The increase in working rates of ADSL which started at 2.048 Mbps has led to a possible overestimation of the length of line that can be reached by ADSL. In particular, the assumption that reduction of line length improves noise figures can be proven to be wrong. Noise Model A is dominated by secondary NEXT which increases with decreasing line length. ETSI TM6 agreed to add a study point on the insertion of a note in the Draft TR advising correct use of the Noise Models for estimating capacity versus line reach. TD 14 (W. Henkel, Deutsche Telekom) discusses the impact of self-NEXT on echo-canceled ADSL over ISDN, including comparison of the performances of upstream and downstream channels. Preliminary simulations have demonstrated a better bit error rate for the upstream channel than for the downstream channel. The downstream channel determines the overall performance of an ADSL system. ETSI TM6 asked for more simulation results, in particular using the standard cables set used for ADSL study so as to compare results on the same assumptions. A new study item was added to the ADSL living list. Coexistence with ISDN The coexistence of ADSL over ISDN seems to be an item of much more interest in Europe than in the US: T1.413 edition 2 is up for ballot, and ITU-T is asking ETSI to produce the ADSL over ISDN Recommendation. TD 19 (J. Aslanis, Amati Communications) proposes specific text changes to the T1.413 document that permit the simultaneous transport of ADSL over 2B1Q or 4B3T ISDN. Those changes could also apply to the draft of the ETSI document ADSL over ISDN. The primary changes include: • Modifications to the downstream and upstream PSD masks • Increase the upstream IDFT (Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform) to 64 carriers (input compatible with 32 carrier mirror technique) • Change the downstream pilot to tone 80 • Eliminate the upstream pilot • Add the mirrored tones (138 to 276 kHz) for ADSL Transceiver Unit - Remote Terminal End (ATUR) transmitter training • Move ADSL Transceiver Unit - Central Office End (ATUC) training tones to frequencies above 276 kHz Several comments were made to the proposal, which requires further study. The question of interoperability, in particular ADSL over Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) is raised. ETSI TM6 agreed that a new study point should be raised on the position of the pilot tone position for the downstream. ETSI TM6 also agreed that a clear statement is needed of the compatibility requirement between ADSL over POTS and over ISDN. In the future, several operators may share the same local loop, one providing ISDN, the other providing ADSL. TD 11 (J. Bingham, Amati Communications, G.dmt editor, presented by J. Aslanis, Amati Communications) discusses ADSL over ISDN, including coordination with ITU-T. G.dmt is being developed by ITU-T Q4/15; it will include the new T1.413 document (issue 2) once approved by T1. G.dmt should include the provision of ADSL over POTS and over ISDN for Europe. TD 11 also provides an amended Table of Contents of G.dmt as it will be presented to the forthcoming February 1998 meeting of ITU-T SG 15. The ETSI TM6 Chair stated that work between TM6 and T1 must continue, that T1 should first conclude its T1.413 issue 2 ballot, and that TM6 should inform T1 of its work on ADSL over ISDN. TD 12 (J. Bingham, Amati Communications, presented by J. Aslanis, Amati Communications), provides Amati Communications Corporation’s views on “a Discrete Multi-tone Carrier (DMT) family of modems.” These views were not necessarily shared by ETSI TM6. TD 12 states that all the needs for ADSL Services that have been identified can be met by a family of DMT modems without any extra cost or complexity incurred at the Central Exchange. It asks ETSI TM6 for advice on needs for separate Recommendations for those different services. Delegates of ETSI TM6 strongly stated that G.lite may not work on some European networks, that G.lite should not be simply a subset of T1.413 to make ADSL equipment cheaper, and that terms of references of G.lite should be

28 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 January-February 1998 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS revisited at the forthcoming ITU-T SG 15 meeting. Network operators are asked to contribute their views to that meeting. WD 05 (K. Foster, BT) discusses splitterless ADSL and concludes that there are many circumstances where the QoS of an ADSL system and POTS cannot be guaranteed with splitterless ADSL. The contribution will serve as the basis of the liaison from ETSI TM6 to T1E1.4 indicating that splitterless solutions for ADSL are not presently acceptable in the European environment due to specific situations such as metering signals, third wire, or number of ringers. The ETSI TM6 position is not yet final on the issue and further study is needed. HDSL

Review of Draft Technical Specification 152 ETS 152 is the existing ETSI specification: Transmission and Multiplexing (TM); High bit rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) transmission system on metallic local lines; HDSL core specification and applications for 2 048 kbit/s based access digital sections. DTS 152 is an update of this work. TD 24 (A. Kliger, Metalink) opposes changing Annex B of DTS 152 from informative to normative. The contribution received the support of ECI Telecom, Or- ckit and Level One. Annex B contains the Carrier-less Amplitude Modulation Phase Modulation (CAP) based High- rate Digital Subscriber Loop (HDSL) solution, while the main body of the document contains the 2B1Q solution. There is a chance that ITU-T will pick up most of the 2B1Q solution to create the so called G.HDSL, hence the renewed heated discussions around the topic. While the document on the ETSI server lists Annex B as informative, the contribution distributed to the meeting indicates that the Annex is normative. TD 23 (M. Humphrey, Paradyne) states that Annex B should be normative as agreed at the Lannion meeting. Some operators are already using both implementations; there seems to be interoperability problems between 2B1Q systems themselves. CAP Annex has been stable and used for more than three years; had problems with use of CAP developed, ETSI would have been informed. Several editorial changes to DTS 152 were also accepted by ETSI TM6. The ETSI TM6 plenary vote on RTS/TM-06008 took place according to the voting draft form contained in WD 07 (ETSI TM6 Chair). The result was that DTS 152 will remain a Technical Specification (and not be downgraded to a TR Technical Report), and that Annex B of TS 152 (dealing with CAP line code) becomes normative. The wording makes clear that CAP and 2B1Q line codes are alternatives, there is no requirement that equipment support both line codes. WD 06 (ETSI TM6 Chair), changes to section 9, was prepared to align TS 152 with the Low Voltage Directive and the Equipment Manufacturer’s Code (EMC) Directive. Annex C of TS 152, which deals with T1 US documents, was deleted with the approval of the T1 Liaison Officer. ISDN Transport There were discrepancies between what is needed for Primary Rate Access for ISDN (PRA), and what is needed for digital leased lines. The ETSI TM6 Chairman asked for contributions that could be included in TS 152 edition 4 possibly prior to the next meeting of ETSI TM6 in Madrid (Jan. 26 - 30). SDSL (Single-line Digital Subscriber Line) No contributions on this item were received despite a proposal to start work on this. ETSI TM6 will take a position when Committee T1E1.4 produces develops a position on this technology. VDSL The purpose of the Very high speed ADSL (VDSL) meeting was to progress and hopefully approve Part 1 of the DTS. Under the guidance of VDSL Rapporteur K. Foster (BT), ETSI TM6 agreed on the work plan for the VDSL meeting as given in WD 01 (ETSI TM6 Chair). K. Foster gave notice that he will step down as Rapporteur after the Madrid meeting (January 1998); a replacement Rapporteur is being sought. WD 03 (K. Foster, BT) provides a list of the main issues from delegates on the latest DTS. There were several debates on start up process, micro- interrupts, and most importantly, Power Spectrum Density (PSD), the noise model and the maximum transmit power. The rapporteur indicated that contributions will be incorporated into the DTS if agreed; if not agreed, they will be added to the VDSL Living List, as appropriate. The following contributions were presented: Noise Model TD 20 (R. van den Brink, KPN Netherlands) proposes a functional noise model which allows NEXT and FEXT and other noise sources to be treated independently, separating length dependency from frequency dependency. The model enables one fixed definition for NEXT and FEXT that remains unchanged for all loop configurations and all loop

length. The contribution also proposes a restructuring of the DTS to define those noise inputs. The delegates proposed to add two blocks showing the noise dependency of NEXT and FEXT on the VDSL generator. It was also agreed to introduce a variable gain to indicate that the noise level may vary according to the transmit level. The approved compromise is given in WD 10 (R. van den Brink, KPN Research). TD 21 (L. Magnone, CSELT Italy, et. al.) results from the work of the Full Service Access Networks (FSAN) group. The contribution establishes a worst case noise spectrum taking into account different operator service mixes and the resulting disturbances due to ISDN PRA, ADSL and others. Some ETSI TM6 members would like to get access to the detailed assumptions made by each network operator. Network operators who were not present at the FSAN Paris meeting would also like to check whether the model is applicable to their own network. The correlation between the FSAN noise model results and the model proposed in TD 20 (R. van den Brink, KPN Netherlands) remains to be established. L. Magnone (CSELT) agreed to provide the information for Italy. As a separate issue, the question of how many VDSL systems will co-exist in a cable was determined to be 10 to 15. It is possible to download the cable reference models from the ETSI Server for simulating metallic access networks. It was noted that some operators need to complete the information they already provided. TD 15 (W. Henkel, Deutsche Telekom) provides the power spectrum density of ISDN PRA on the German network. On one hand, the situation in Germany is favorable due to the sine wave shaping of the HDB3 (line coding) transceiver used in the German network; on the other hand, the situation is unfavorable due to the large numbers of PRA installed. Other operators use square shape pulses for HDB3 (line coding) transceiver but have fewer PRA lines. Some operators indicate that they may have to remove those PRA lines from coexistence with VDSL in case of problems. TD 17 (R. van dan Brink, KPN Research) discusses modified insertion loss specifications for the VDSL test loops, including the consequences of the increased bit rates (decided at the Lannion meeting) carried by VDSL, on the insertion loss of test loops. The contribution proposes to modify specifications for the test loop and to have one test loop specification per bit rate combination (upstream and downstream). It was agreed to add the contribution to the DTS with a modified value concerning the phase distortion. As a side comment, loop simulator equipment may now exist which are valid for those ranges of frequencies. Power Spectrum Density (PSD) and Maximum Transmit Power TD 18 (B. Waring, Lucent Technologies UK) proposes text covering downstream power boost. ETSI TM6 agreed to incorporate text into the DTS with a PSD upper limit of -60 dBm/Hz up to 30 MHz and a maximum transmit power of +11.5 dBm. TD 04 (A. Ehre, TZD Germany) proposes to limit the lower frequency of the PSD to 600 kHz instead of 300 kHz to minimize disturbance to and from ISDN BA, ADSL and other signals such as Maritime Distress Signal (500 kHz). Some ETSI TM6 members suggested that in order to protect ADSL, one should not go below 1104 kHz; others expressed that the transceiver should be tunable to 300, 600 and 1104 kHz. ETSI TM6 agreed to leave it at 300 kHz for the time being. TD 05 (K. Jacobsen, Amati Communication Corporation, USA) discusses spectral compatibility of ADSL and VDSL, including the impact of VDSL on ADSL performances and vice versa. In particular, the contribution discusses whether it is feasible to use the lower band below 1104 MHz for VDSL. Its conclusions are as follows: • Use of a VDSL power boost in the band below 1.104 MHz is not feasible • The VDSL PSD in the frequency band below 1104 should be less than -90 dBm/Hz in the upstream direction • The VDSL PSD in the frequency band below 1104 should be less than -76 dBm/Hz in the downstream direction • The impact of time division duplexed (TDD) and frequency division duplexed (FDD) are essentially equivalent in the network configuration considered TD 06 (K. Jacobsen, Amati Communication Corporation, USA) considers various arguments for and against PSD boosting and, based on the available information, proposes two VDSL PSD masks. One mask is ADSL-compatible and ensures that ADSL performance is not degraded by VDSL; the other mask is “General” for the use in installation not requiring compatibility with ADSL. A maximum transmission power of +11.5 dBm is also suggested. Some ETSI TM6 members felt that the situation described in TD 05 (K. Jacobsen, Amati Communication Corporation, USA) is overly pessimistic, especially in Europe, where VDSL may be used with lower bit rates. The value of +11.5 dBm for maximum transmit power was agreed to go into the DTS. An item was added to the DTS living list concerning the lower end corner frequency of the VDSL PSD.

Splitter Requirements for VDSL TD 13 (W. Henkel, Deutsche Telekom) provides detailed requirements for a combined POTS/ISDN-VDSL Splitter, including some results on POTS impulse noise, and disturbance of ISDN caused by VDSL and two exemplary low- pass component filters. The splitter filter parameters are then detailed in terms of attenuation parameters, return loss of the ISDN/POTS filters, and definition of the cutoff frequencies. Questions arose regarding the ring trip disturbances, and whether it is realistic to have a single POTS/ISDN design. The contribution needs refinement, especially in view of the lower edge cut off frequency open issue. TD 03 (A. Ehre, Deutsche Telekom) proposes splitter requirements for VDSL, including details on the VDSL splitter filter requirements and the German network reference impedance. With a change to one item, telephone line DC resistance from 25 Ohms to 40 Ohms, it was agreed that the contribution should go into the DTS on VDSL. Activation/Deactivation The question of how to bring up a VDSL link and how to bring down the same link in order not to disturb the nearby lines in the same cable (ISDN, ADSL, VDSL and others) was the subject of an ad-hoc group meeting lead by P. Reusens (Alcatel). TD 09r1 (P. Reusens, Alcatel) resulted from the initial contribution from Alcatel and the discussion during the ad-hoc group. It proposes four activation procedures: cold-start, warm-start, resume-on-error, and warm-resume; and two deactivation procedures: power-down and deactivation. It was accepted by the plenary to go into the DTS. Micro-Interruption WD 08 (Gindle, PTT Austria) is the result of a small group contribution on micro-interruptions and an appropriate equipment test. The test proposed is to create micro-interruptions of at least 10 ms with a periodicity of 5 s. It was agreed to include this proposal in the DTS. Approval of DTS/TM-06003-1 (VDSL-Part 1: Functional Requirements) Due to the numerous contributions to the draft Technical Specification VDSL Part 1, ETSI TM6 agreed to postpone the approval; an updated version will be placed on the TM6/ETSI Server for approval by the delegates at the latest by the Madrid meeting in January 1998. The ETSI TM6 Chairman regretted the delay and raised the issue of the credibility of TM6 schedules, as this contribution, now suffering a new delay, has been worked on for more than two years in ETSI TM6. APPROVAL OF NEW WORK ITEM WI DES/TM06010 The proposal was made to create a new work item (WI) for ADSL Issue 2 as described in TD 16 (G. Zedler, Deutsche Telekom). However, most ETSI TM6 members felt that in order to avoid duplication of work, ETSI TM6 should wait to open that new WI until T1E1.4 has successfully completed its ballot on issue 2 of the ADSL document. OUTGOING LIAISONS WD 09 (A. Preuss, ECI Telecom) will serve as the basis of the liaison from ETSI TM6 to ETSI TM3, which will hold a joint meeting with TM6. The impact of the physical layer on the ATM-TC (Asynchronous Transfer Mode - Transmission Convergence) should be considered generally similar to what has been done for ADSL revision 2 of T1.413. WD 04 (M. Morgenstern and A. Preuss, ECI Telecom) lists the open issues (all OAM related) with respect to ATM-TC for VDSL and ADSL. Jacques Besseyre, Telecom Consultant

ETSI TM6 MEETING ROSTER, NOVEMBER 17 – 21, 1997, V ERONA, ITALY Hans-Jörg Frizlen, Ericsson, Sweden ETSI TM6 Chair Austria Telecom Italia SPA Rosaria Persico Post und Telekom Austria Manfred Gindel Telecom Italia SPA Lamberto Petrini FEEI-Fachverband.Technik Franz Haberl Norway Belgium Norwegian Telecom. Auth. Rasmus Trevland Alcatel Telecom Peter Reusens Spain Finland Telefonica de España Carmen Pellicer Lostao FINNET GROUP Pasi Poikolainen Sweden Nokia Telecomm. Jari Lindholm Ericsson Telecom AB Hans-Jörg Frizlen Tellabs Oy Matti Reini Ericsson Telecom AB Jan Boström France Telia AB Daniel Bengtssen France Telecom Belgacem Djebari Telia AB Tomas Stefansson France Telecom Marc Vautier Switzerland Level One Com. Europe Terry Throop Ascom AG Angus Carrick Paradyne Corp. Jacques Besseyre Pro Telecom Christof Heidelberger Paradyne Corp. Massimo Sorbara Pro Telecom Heinz Wiher Texas Instruments Neil Quarmby The Netherlands Germany Lucent Tech. EMEA Brian Waring Bosch Robers GmbH Werner Stenzel Lucent Tech. EMEA Herman Zoetman Deutsche Telekom AG Andreas Ehre KPN Research Rob van den Brink Deutsche Telekom AG Werner Henkel UK KE Komm. Elektronik Jens Benndorf Brooktree Limited George Eisler Quante AG Ulrich Kütter BT plc Kevin Foster Siemens AG Bernd Heise BT plc Rob Kirkby Siemens AG Franz Fimpel Consultronics Europe Neil Knudsen Siemens AG Reiner Kolsch Digi-media Vision (DMV) Peter Close Vacuumschmeize Dirk Heumann GPT Ltd. Graham Phillpott Wandel & Goltermann Karl Benzel Harris Comm. GB Carla Carson Israel Harris Comm. GB Thomas Haycock IAEI Amit Preuss Harris Comm. GB Richard D. Roberts IAEI Avi Kliger Motorola Ltd. Bernard Dugerdil IAEI Daniel Manor NEC Technologies (UK) Carmelo Bonaccorso IAEI Oz Micka NORTEL Limited Les Humphrey Savan Comm. Ltd. Boaz Porat Westell Europe Mike Bryant Italy US Marconi SPA Paolo Monti Amati Comm. James Aslanis Minister delle Com ISCTI Massimo Proietti Amati Comm. Krista Jacobsen Telecom Italia SPA Lorenzo Magnone

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32 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 January-February 1998 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT OF TR-30, DATA TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT DECEMBER 1 – 2, 1997, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL TR-30.1, MODEMS Given the importance of completing as much work as possible in the PCM modem meeting, the TR-30.1 meeting was abbreviated. TR-30.1/97-12-081 (L. Brown, TR-30.1 Chair) is a liaison to T1E1.4 which had been approved at last meeting, but had not been reviewed by TR-30.1. The chair noted that he would present this liaison at the T1E1 meeting December 8-12, 1997. TR-30.1/97-12-083© (F. Lucas, Chair TR-30.2) is a liaison from TR-30.2 to solicit comments on the start of work on defining V.25ter commands for modem diagnostics. It includes a Microsoft Draft Reference Specification. Rockwell expressed a strong concern about proceeding with this work. As it was presented “for information only,” no action was taken. TR-30.1/97-12-085 (B. O’Mahony, Intel) is a copy of a proposed Annex to H.324. It addresses additions to H.245, V.8bis and H.Dispatch to support multilink operation. It was presented “for information only.” TR-30.1/97-12-084 (B. O’Mahony, Intel) is a proposal to add codepoints to V.8bis to support V.pcm operation. Dick Brandt, dB Consulting

TR-30.2, DATA TRANSMISSION

TAG FOR ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6/WG3 F. Lucas, TR-30.2 Chair, reported that he had been in contact with EIA regarding the TR-30.2 agreement to become the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for US work relating to modems in ISO/IEC JTC1 SC6/WG3 (SC6 - Telecommunications and Information exchange between systems; WG3 - physical layer). No new information was available at this time; however, the Chair indicated that he would keep TR-30.2 informed on any issues relating to this work. ITU-T S TUDY GROUP 16 The TR-30.2 Chair took to opportunity to remind the attendees that three draft recommendations of interest to TR- 30.2 are being presented to the ITU-T Study Group 16 meeting in January 1998 for Decision: • V.43 (previously V.fc), Data Flow Control • V.252 (previously draft Annex B to V.25ter), Procedure for control of V.70 and H.324 Terminals by a Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) • V.253 (previously V.voice), Control of voice-related functions in a DCE by an asynchronous DTE NEW PROJECTS As a result of discussions which took place at the October TR-30.2 meeting, a number of new projects have been opened. • PN-4147, Withdrawal of ANSI/EIA-363, Standard for Specifying Signal Quality for Transmitting and Receiving Data Processing Terminal Equipments Using Serial Data Transmission at the Interface with Non-synchronous Data Communications Equipment. TR-30.2/97-12-046 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains the ANSI PINS form. TR-30.2/97-12-047 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains the TIA Project Request form. • PN-4148, Withdrawal of ANSI/EIA-410, Standard for the Electrical Characteristics of Class A Closure Interchange Circuits. TR-30.2/97-12-044 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains the ANSI Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) form. TR-30.2/97-12-045 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains the TIA Project Request form. • TR-30.2/97-12-048 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains the TIA Project Request form for PN-4149, Study of DTE/DCE Interfaces for xDSL modems. TR-30.2/97-12-049 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains the ANSI PINS Form to discontinue PN-3762, Telephone Line Interface for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) Modems. There had not been sufficient interest in this work as most PCMCIA cards use the patented (MegaHertz, now 3Com) X-Jack phone line interface.

PN-3615, TSB-89, A PPLICATION GUIDELINES FOR TIA/EIA-485-A TR-30.2/97-12-052 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains the Application Guidelines for TIA/EIA-485-A (Balanced Multipoint Interface, equivalent to ISO/IEC 8482), to become TSB-89, completed by TR-30.2.1 ad hoc group on electrical characteristics immediately prior to the TR-30.2 meeting (final copies were not available). This is a detailed 24 page document providing considerable technical usage information. TR-30.2 agreed to use electronic means to review the draft, for a two week period, after which time it will go to TIA for a Committee Letter Ballot. It is expected that TSB-89 will be completed at the March 1998 meeting of TR-30.2 and become available for purchase in the spring of 1998. PN-3760, TSB-54, DTE/DCE I NTERFACE SELECTION GUIDE TR-30.2/97-08-018R1 (F. Lucas, General DataComm) contains the latest revision of TSB-54. This draft was reviewed and a number of minor changes incorporated. TR-30.2 agreed to hold TSB-54A until the March 1998 meeting to allow the newer referenced standards to be published. The draft of TSB-54A will be sent out for Committee ballot from the March 1998 meeting. It should be published in early summer. PN-4149, STUDY OF DTE/DCE INTERFACES FOR XDSL MODEMS This new work item was first discussed at the October 1997 TR-30.2 meeting. During discussions at this meeting it was agreed that the scope of the work would encompass mechanical, electrical, functional and functional protocols (including DTE/DCE protocols) to support the DTE/DCE interfaces for xDSL modems. TR-30.2/97-12-051 (B. O’Mahony, Intel) proposes the initiation of the functional protocol work. This contribution includes a paper describing the use of such a protocol on a variety of interfaces envisioned for xDSL modems, such as Ethernet, USB (Universal Serial Bus) and IEEE 1394. This paper notes the problems with the current proposed interfaces (IP and L2TP) supporting dynamic access and offers a solution. TR-30.2 has agreed to consider the overall subject and to formulate a work plan at the March 1998 meeting. TR-30.2/97-12-054 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains a liaison sent to T1E1.4 which is doing the xDSL modem line-code work in the United States, noting the start of this project. TR-30.2/97-12-053 (TR-30.2 Chair) contains a proposed United States contribution to ITU-T Study Groups 15 and 16 informing them of the work started in TIA TR-30.2 on this interface. This contribution also recommends that the ITU-T begin work on similar interfaces. PN-3131, CONTROL OF VOICE FUNCTIONS At SG 16 in March, 1997, draft Voice Control for Asynchronous DCE (V.voice, TD-70 PLEN) was Determined. It is now identified as draft Recommendation V.253. TR-30.2/97-12-050R1a and TR-30.2/97-12-050R1b (both from C. Sneed, Rockwell and J. Decuir, Microsoft) contain drafts - the first without and the second with change marks - of a proposed United States contribution to ITU-T Study Group 16 recommending the support of duplex voice via the addition of the +VTR command. The Determined draft covers record (+VRX) and playback (+VTX), but not both at the same time. The +VTR command is essentially a simultaneous “+VRX” and “+VTX” Command. The contribution was reviewed by TR-30.2 and a number of changes to the introduction were incorporated. These changes are reflected in TR-30.2/97-12-050R2 (C. Sneed, Rockwell and J. Decuir, Microsoft). It was pointed out that the ITU-T TSB had made some editorial modifications to the draft V.253 Recommendation in the form of Table numbering. The final draft of the proposed US paper will have to reflect those changes. This contribution will be proposed to the Study Group D meeting being held at the US Department of State in January, as a US contribution. As was reported from the October TR-30.2 meeting, this contribution is a result of a request from the ITU-T Study Group 16, Question 7 Rapporteurs group for a US contribution proposing this addition. Fred Lucas, General DataComm

TR-30.3, DATA COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT EVALUATION AND NETWORK INTERFACES J. Douglass (Oak Technology, Chair TR-30.3) asked whether there was knowledge of patents, the use of which may be essential to the standards being considered. There were no responses. Technical editor’s note: TI indicated during the TR-30.1 meeting that they may have IPR in this area. The TR-30 electronic documentation policy was discussed. If possible contributions should be posted on the FTP site before the meeting. If documents are not placed on the FTP site before the meeting an electronic copy must be

34 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 January-February 1998 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS brought to the meeting. Hard copies must also be brought to the meeting. Documents that are not posted on the FTP site before the meeting must be posted after the meeting. LIAISON REPORTS TR-30.3/97-12-76A, -B, -C, BillBoards for September, October and November, were distributed for information. B. von Alven (FCC), who writes and distributes the BillBoards, is planning to retire in early 1998. TR-30.3/97-12-78, Telephone Line Impairment Standard Update (S. Roleson, HP) is a Liaison request from TR- 30.3 for assistance from TR-41.9 to ascertain the compatibility of TIA/EIA-496A, Interface between Data Circuit- Terminating Equipment (DCE) and the PSTN, with the new harmonized Part 68 rules. TR-30.3/97-12-82 (A. Wride, Communications Certification Laboratory, TR-41.9 chair) is the return liaison, indicating that TR-41.9 will review the material at their February 1998 meeting. PN-3459, REVISING TSB-37A (T ELEPHONE NETWORK TRANSMISSION MODEL FOR EVALUATING MODEM PERFORMANCE) TR-30.3/97-10-69 (S. Satchell, Motorola) describes the considerable differences between Draft 4 (March Ballot) and Draft 9 (October) of PN-3459, Telephone Network Transmission Model for Evaluating Modem Performance. J. Douglass (Oak Technology) has been unable to contact S. Satchell (Motorola) about PN-3459. S. Satchell is out of the country and has been assigned to other projects. B. Anders (3Com) and W. Park (3Com) volunteered to be editors for PN-3459. They will obtain the marked up document from S. Satchell and complete the editing by mid- January. The edited draft of PN-3459 will be posted for a two weeks comment period. The final draft will be submitted to TIA by mid-February. TR-30.3/97-12-79 (R. Brandt, on behalf of Motorola, TR-30 Chair) is a proposed notice to be sent out by Global Engineering Documents to users of TSB-37A regarding the differences between TSB-37A and TSB-37B. After discussing TR-30.3/97-12-79, D. Brandt (Motorola) submitted TR-30.3/97-12-79R1, Revised Proposed Notice to be sent out by Global Engineering. This states the changes to TSB-37A and notes the problem in TSB-37A with trans-hybrid loss, corrected in TSB-37B, which results in significantly understated listener echo, an important parameter for testing non-PCM modems. PN-3509, REVISION OF TSB-38 (TEST PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION OF 2-WIRE 4-KHZ VOICEBAND DUPLEX MODEMS) An editor is needed for PN-3509, since S. Satchell (Motorola) is not able to work on it. A new draft needs to be created that takes into account the changes made in PN-3459 (the network model). PN-3251/PN-3507, C ELLULAR MODEM TESTING G. Smith (BellSouth Cellular) will complete the final drafts of both PN-3251, Cellular Network Transmission Model for Evaluating Modem Performance, and PN-3509, Test Procedure for Evaluation of 2 Wire 4 kHz Voiceband Duplex Modems, by January 1, 1998 and post them on the committee web site for a two week comment period. If there are no unresolved comments, it will be submitted for ballot by mid-February. PN-3856, TEST PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATING PCM-MODEM PERFORMANCE W. Henderson (Henderson Communications Laboratories) will be editor for PN-3856 and plans to submit the first draft at the next meeting. PN-3857, TELEPHONE NETWORK TRANSMISSION MODEL FOR EVALUATING PCM MODEMS PERFORMANCE TR-30.3/97-10-73AH© is Draft 2 of PN-3857, Telephone Network Transmission Model for Evaluating PCM Modems, October 14, 1997. It was reviewed in detail. TR-30.3/97-10-71AH (S. Satchell, Motorola and D. Moore, Diamond) is the draft Scope for PN-3857. J-P. Houdard (TI) and G. Hillman (Motorola) agreed to be the editors for PN-3857. TR-30.3/97-10-70AH (J-P. Houdard, TI) provides a detailed rationale for the Network Model Impairments (easy conditions) and detailed rationale for the Probability of Occurrence of Impairment Combinations. TR-30.3/97-10-72AH (H. Hagen, Lucent) provides figures for the range of Echo Return Loss for Digital Switches and Analog Switches (8 to 22 dB). The average is 13 dB and the standard deviation is 3.4 dB.

TR-30.3/97-12-77 (R. Perez, Bellcore) proposes a Test Loop Distribution for PCM Network Model. TI had proposed a provisional network model coverage in TR-30.3/97-10-61; this paper revisits the Bellcore 1984 Loop Survey and proposes a new probability of occurrence (scores) for the seven TIA test loops. TR-30.3/97-12-80 (J-P. Houdard, TI) is an update of US telephone network transmission model for evaluating PCM modems in both PCM mode and fall-back mode (V.34). At the October meeting, it had been decided to divide the model into two groups. The first group, which excludes NIDLCs (Non-Integrated Digital Loop Carrier, which require three codecs), contains network model impairment combinations for evaluating modem performance in PCM mode. The second group, with NIDLCs only, contains network model impairment combinations for evaluating modem performances in fall-back mode (V.34). TR-30.3/97-12-85, PCM Modem Proposed provisional Network Model Coverage (J-P. Houdard, TI), divides up the 26 TIA impairment combinations into two groups of test channels, as described in TR-30.3/97-12-80. TR-30.3/97-12-86, International Telephone Network Transmission Model for Evaluating PCM Modems (J-P. Houdard, TI (J-P. Houdard, TI), defines 18 impairment combinations for known non-US countries network topology in order to evaluate PCM modems. The same two groups of tests channels are considered. TR-30.3/97-12-81, Final Draft Revision of ANSI T1.508-1992 (Loss Plan for Evolving Digital Network) prepared by Committee T1A1 (B. Lerich, Bellcore), was submitted for reference. R. Perez (Bellcore) and H. Hagen (Lucent) will review this document for factors that need to be considered in PN-3857. TR-30.3/97-12-83, Email from L. Gutro, Analog Devices, contains several questions comparing FL-02 (January 1997, Intel’s provisional network model for evaluating PCM modems) and PN-3857. TR-30.3/97-12-84 (R. Perez, Bellcore) presents new LOO (Likelihood of Occurrence) tables using Test Loop Scores from TR-30.3/97-12-77. C. Scull (Motorola) agreed to modify the Probability of Occurrence tables for PN-3857. TR-30.3/97-12-87 (L. Chenier, Consultronics) provides some performance testing results using the proposed network model from Texas Instruments in TR-30.3/97-10-60. It was noted in the meeting that the test results presented in TR-30.3/97-12-87 are different from actual results and different from test results on other telephone line simulators. C. Scull (Motorola) will submit values for the digital PAD translation tables. R. Perez (Bellcore) will prepare an annex on Robbed Bit Signaling. Draft 3 of PN-3857 and the international version prepared by J-P. Houdard (TI) will be submitted to SG16 Questions 10 (Modem Testing) and 23 (PCM Modem) for their information and review. PN-3857 AD HOC MEETING TR-30.3/97-12-88AH is email from J. Moran (Motorola) which reviews the changes proposed in TR- 30.3/97-12-077, the revised Bellcore Loop Survey and discusses the reasons why the previous information was inaccurate. He notes that the 1984 loop survey did not have a significant percentage of digital loop carrier systems installed and that he and L. Smith (AT&T) were forced to extrapolate from the Bellcore 1984 Business Loop Population Survey Data. TR-30.3/97-12-89AH, Test Loop Distribution for PCM Network Model using only the 1984 Bellcore Business Loops and Residential Loops, was submitted by R. Perez, Bellcore. TR-30.3/97-12-90AH (R. Perez, Bellcore) includes figures for business loops for 0 ft to 50k ft from 1984 Loop Survey (Histogram) estimate. TR-30.3/97-12-91AH (L. Chenier, Consultronics) provides diagrams for PCM Test Equipment Configuration. TR-30.3/97-12-92AH (H. Hagen, Lucent) is a proposed introduction to PN-3857. TR-30.3/97-12-94AH, digital switch and analog switch ERL (Echo Return Loss) was submitted by H. Hagen (Lucent). The following documents were released as the output of the Ad Hoc meeting to TR-30.1 and SG16: • TR-30.1/97-170, PN-3857 Draft 3 North American Telephone Network Transmission Model for Evaluating PCM Modems • TR-30.1/97-171, International Telephone Network Model for Evaluation PCM Modems (J-P. Houdard, TI) Jack Douglass, Oak Technology

TR-30 MEETING ROSTER, DECEMBER 1 – 2, 1997, ORLANDO, FL Dick Brandt, dB Consulting Chair, TR-30 Les Brown, Motorola ISG Chair, TR-30.1 Fred Lucas, General Datacomm Chair, TR-30.2 Jack Douglass, Oak Technology Chair, TR-30.3 3Com Bryan Anders Lucent John Magill 3Com Dale Walsh Microsoft Joe Decuir 3Com Dick Stuart Motorola Les Brown 3Com Richard Williams Motorola Christopher Scull 3Com Wayne Park Motorola Dick Brandt (dB Consulting) Ariel Corp Henrik Sorenson Motorola Garth Hillman Bellcore Ricardo Perez Motorola Vedat Eyuboglu BellSouth Cellular Gary Smith Multitech Sam Gopalan Cirrus Logic Vedavalli Krishnan National Semiconductor John Goldie Cisco Systems Kevin Riley Oak Technologies Jack Douglass Cisco Systems Tom Martin PCTel Han Yeh Compaq Computers Alan Becklein Red Wing Alton Keel Compaq Computers Edward Newman Rockwell Burk Beadle Consultronics Louis Chenier Rockwell Craig Mellon Devicom Yaopei Chang Rockwell Glen Griffith Diamond Multimedia Daniel Moore Rockwell Mike Gauer Digicom Systems G. Dong Rockwell Sverrir Olafsson Digicom Systems Prem Ramaswamy Samsung John Stockman ESS Technologies Ping Dong Sharp Digital Info. James Will GAO ResearchAlan Marion Siemens Neal King GDC Fred Lucas System Soft Mike Winseck GDC Yuri Goldstein TAS Charles Simmons Hayes Bruce Adams Texas Instruments Jose Soltero Henderson Testing Labs Warren Henderson Texas Instruments Kevin Gingerich IBM Mohammed Ali Texas Instruments Ali Murtaza Intel Barry OMahony Texas Instruments Jean-Pierre Houdard Lake Datacomms Michael Mc Laughlin Texas Instruments Jim Carlo Lucent Bahman Barazesh VoCal Technolgies Victor Demjanenko Lucent Horace Hagen Zyxel Communications Chi-Ching Hsieh

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January-February 1998 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 37 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT OF Q11/16 CIRCUIT-SWITCHED NETWORK (CSN) MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS AND TERMINALS, DECEMBER 2 – 5, 1997, EIBSEE, GERMANY Note: The Q11/16 documents in this report can be found at ftp://standard.pictel.com/lbc-site/, in the eibsee.dec97 directory. The goals of this meeting were to complete the mobile work in H.324 Annex C and H.223 Annexes A, B & C with the addition of an Adaption Layer 4 (AL4) as discussed at the September 1997 Working Party 2/16 meeting. Other work items included the work on H.Multi-link and continuation of the work on the text telephony facilities in H.324. Joint sessions were held with Q15/16 (Advanced Video Coding) to further the work on definition of H.263++ and H.263L. Q11-B-61-e (Q11/16 Rapporteur) contains the approved meeting report from the September Q11/16 meeting. SYSTEMS T. Geary (Rockwell, US) is the acting chair of the Systems group. H.324 Q11-C-08 (T. Geary, Q11/16 Rapporteur) contains text with change marks against the approved H.324 for the proposed revision of H.324. Note that the body of H.324 was Determined by SG16 in March 1997; the new Annex C (Multimedia Telephone Terminals Over Error Prone Channels), Annex D (Operation on ISDN Circuits, H.324/I) and Annex E (Timer T401 Initialization for Operation over Geostationary Satellite Channels) were Determined by WP 2/16 in September 1997. No comments or corrections were noted by Q11/16. ANNEX D, H.324/I Q11-C-21 (C. Quist, KPN) proposes that Supplementary Services of Call Hold and Call Transfer be added to the Determined H.324 Annex D. For Call Hold, a point was raised that the terminal placed on hold (that might receive music, etc.) would not know how to decode the incoming information. It was agreed to add to Annex D, section 7, “G.725 procedures shall be used to determine the proper G.711 law”. Q11/16 agreed to add the codepoint “terminalOnHold” in the isdnOptions section of the EndSessionCommand message. In Call Retrieval after Call Hold, it was agreed to add section D.4.7 to Annex D/H.324 as follows: “D.4.7 terminalOnHold The terminal shall revert to voice telephony mode when it receives a H.245 EndSessionCommand message which signals terminalOnHold in isdnOptions. G.711 speech coding shall be used. G.725 shall be used to determine the proper G.711 law. The terminal shall periodically send a H.Dispatch signature.” Q11-C-32 (I. Yoshida, NEC) contains a Response to SG11 regarding their response to the Q11/16 liaison for a code point in Q.931 for H.324 Annex D (H.324/I). The original request was to allow faster connections in situations which do not need and will bypass H.247 (H.dispatch). It was noted that existing H.320 terminals will reject this new code point and reject the call. Q11/16 agreed to reword section D.4.6 of H.324 Annex D to support the new codepoint as follows: “D.4.6 H.DISPATCH support H.324/I terminals shall support H.DISPATCH. Upon initial connection of each digital channel (on the lowest numbered time-slot of a multi-channel connection such as a H0 channel) H.324/I terminals shall use the procedures of H.DISPATCH to determine network end-to- end connectivity and to automatically negotiate a selected mode for the call among the H.324/I, H.320, H.324, and voice telephone modes (or any other modes which the terminal supports). In this case the H.324/I terminal should signal the “Recommendations H.221 and H.242” BC (Bearer Channel) and Logical Link Control (LLC) information elements as described in Rec. Q.931, and shall not signal the “Recommendations H.223 and H.245” BC and LLC information elements. D.4.6.1 Exceptional bypass of H.DISPATCH The H.DISPATCH procedures may be bypassed for a particular connection when all of the following conditions apply:

1. It is known from ISDN D-channel signaling that the far-end terminal is capable of supporting H.324/I, and, 2. It is known that all channels of both terminals are connected to 64 kbit/s octet-aligned network interfaces, and, 3. It is known (perhaps from analysis of the national telephone number of the far-end terminal) that the interconnecting network transfers all bits end-to-end between the two terminals, without possibility of bit misalignment or loss. In this case the H.324/I terminal shall signal the “Recommendations H.223 and H.245” BC and LLC information elements in Recommendation Q.931. If Phase D of the H.324 call setup procedure is not complete within 5 seconds of the establishment of the digital channel, the H.324/I terminal shall automatically disconnect the digital channel and automatically re-establish it using the normal H.DISPATCH procedures. This H.DISPATCH bypass procedure can be used only for single-channel H.324/I calls, because the multilink procedures of Annex F/H.324 require the use of H.DISPATCH with H.324/I.” Q11-C-25 (S. Rengasami, Bellcore) contains an incoming liaison from Q11/11 concerning a new codepoint for Recommendation H.325 Annex D in Recommendation Q.931. Q11-C-49 (T. Geary, Q11/16 Rapporteur) was prepared in reply, which answers questions and reiterates Q11/16’s request for a H.223/H.245 code point in Q.931. H.MULTI-LINK Q11-C-13 (J. Bernstein, PictureTel) contains the proposed draft H.Multi-link. The concerns of Q7/16 and the Intel comments to the September 1997 Q11/16 meeting at Sunriver, OR meeting are addressed in this version, in addition to the following comments: • The question of why Channel Tag was not mandatory. The answer is that applications may not always require it. • The description in Section 5.2.3 of how the sequence number size is determined to assure no wrap. • Concern over all of the channels not being started at the same time to assure that buffers are not forced to be too large. • The Maximum transmit skew was changed to 50 msec. • Concern over synchronous channel under-run due to Central Processing Unit (CPU) overload. It was agreed to add a note to the document explaining this. Q11-C-44 (J. Bernstein, PictureTel) proposes that H.Multi-link support be added as Annex F to H.324, and proposes changes to V.8bis, H.245 and H.247. It was agreed to add a note regarding use of H.247 (H.Dispatch) when digital channels are used. Q11/16 agreed to submit the revised edition of the proposed draft Recommendation, Q11-C-58 (J. Bernstein, PictureTel), to the January 1998 SG16 meeting for Determination. H.247 (H.DISPATCH) Q11-C-12© (S. Bhagat, PictureTel) contains the H.Dispatch proposal. Issues raised include: • The proposal could result in problems of synchronization with H.320 terminals because they cannot guarantee knowledge of which bit is being deleted. • No signals other than modem or speech should be sent. (European standards require decoding G711 [µLaw or aLaw]) • There is the possibility that terminals will not know they are the “calling” terminal and therefore the terminal will not know it should be the initiator. The draft Recommendation addresses this in phase 3. This problem will occur especially when transitioning from Call Hold to a Conference situation. • It was agreed that an appendix for a mode table could be added if members felt strongly about it. A contribution was solicited. • It was agreed that “each” should be changed to “the” in section 8.2.1, third sub-paragraph, second sentence. • It was agreed to add the following sentence to the Note following sub-paragraph four of sections 8.2.1: “However, the provision of a CPF (Compatible Protocol Field) in both sub-channels 7 and 8 does not imply that H.221 FAS (Frame Alignment Signal) and BAS (Bit rate Allocation Signal) or some other compatible protocol should be sent in both sub-channels simultaneously. The CPF merely provides a reserved portion of the Phase 1 signal for the use of other protocols. Use of CPF by a compatible protocol should comply with the Recommendation for that protocol. Any portion of any CPF which is not used to transmit a compatible protocol should carry all binary ONEs.” All of the above changes are noted in Q11-C-55 (D. Lindbergh, PictureTel).

H.263+ SUPPORT IN H.320 Q11-C-42 (S. Gupta, VTEL US) proposes inclusion of H.263+ video in H.320 Terminals. Q11/16 agreed tentatively to recommend to SG16 management that this become a formal work item in H.320 sustaining work, with the Terms of Reference (TORs) to generate Annexes to H.320, and appropriate relative Recommendations to incorporate the enhancements noted. Q11/16 agreed to make S. Gupta (VTEL, US) editor for this work. The rapporteur may present TD documents outlining and detailing this work for consideration at the SG16 meeting in January 1998. This was supported at the joint Q11/Q15 meeting. Q11-C-43 (G. Sullivan) discusses use of the H.263 CPM mode (Annex C) for carrying Multiple Video Streams in H.320. H.245 COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL T. Geary (Rockwell, US) is the acting chair of the H.245 Communication and Control group. Q11-C-44 (J. Bernstein, PictureTel) presents the changes necessary to H.245 to support H.Multi-link. Details of changes to H.Multi-link were reviewed and it was agreed that a TD reflecting these changes would be sent by the Rapporteur to SG16 for Determination at the January-February 1998 meeting. Q11-C-58 (J. Bernstein, PictureTel) reflects the agreed edition of H.Multi-link for Determination. The changes noted in Q11-C-44 (J. Bernstein, PictureTel) in support of H.Multi-link in H.245v4 were agreed. Q11-C-56r1-e (C. Quist, KPN) presents the changes necessary to H.245v3 to support Supplementary Services in H.324 Annex D (H.324/I). Q11/16 agreed to forward these changes to the Associate Q11/16 and Senior H.245 editors for their review and inclusion as changes to H.245v3. Q11-C-60 (T. Kawahara, NTT DoCoMo) presents the changes necessary to H.245v3 to support the changes in H.324 Annex C and H.223 Annexes A, B, and C. Q11/16 also agreed to forward these changes to the Associate Q11/16 and Senior H.245 editors for their review and inclusion as changes to H.245v3. MOBILE H.324 ANNEX C B. Wimmer (Siemens, Germany) is the chair of the Mobile group. After the September 1997 Q11/16 meeting in Sunriver OR, several companies tested the emulation probability of the emulation flags and the system’s multiplex or adaptation header with the header fields and/or the encoded video and audio data. It was shown that the implementation recommendation of the annexes shows no significant emulation probability in H.263 or G.723.1 streams. The mobile group is currently working on the H.324 mobile extensions. During the past year, a 4-layer scheme was developed which allows one to scale the error robustness versus the complexity. Q11/16 evaluated three annexes to the multiplexing Recommendation H.223 and one Annex to H.324. These draft annexes were Determined by SG16 during the September 1997 Q11/16 meeting in Sunriver, OR. Q11/16 detected a defect in the description of the H.223 annexes during the Sunriver, OR meeting; two solutions were proposed and defined during the Eibsee meeting. The first describes the AL4 layer, which defines a windowed protocol with segmentation and retransmission capabilities. The second proposes the use of the common protocols (LAP/M or V.42) by adding an additional layer between these protocols and the H.245 layer. This extra layer also defines a simple segmentation strategy. If it can be proved that AL4 works error-free, the mobile group prefers the first solution, otherwise the second. RESULTANT DRAFT TEMPORARY DOCUMENTS The mobile group prepared four TDs which represent changes necessary to the White Documents. The changes are an appended AL4 layer as was noted in Sunriver. All other changes are editorial and/or correction of errors or omissions and clarifications. However, Q11/16 is aware that these changes might be rejected by the members of ITU, if the changes are considered to be too extensive. The future work of the mobile group will include new options for the mobile extensions and new working items, e.g., error robust video coding proposals.

ADAPTATION LAYER AL4 The principles of AL4 are described in Q11-C-50-e (T. Geary, Q11/16 Rapporteur). The AL4 consists of a 16-bit header, including a 6-bit sequence number, an 8-bit segmentation number and a 2-bit control field. The header field is followed by a payload field, for supervisory messages or information messages depending on the state of the payload type bit. Both header and payload fields are protected by a 16-bit Cyclic Redundancy Code (CRC) field that is located at the end of the Adaption Layer - Protocol Data Unit (AL-PDU) frame. The sequence numbers have to be in a predefined window, which only allows N numbers to be valid. The segmentation field splits the Adaption Layer - Service Data Unit (AL-SDU) into several small AL-SDU’s, which are transmitted separately. This segmentation guarantees that long AL-SDU packets, which are transmitted in small segmented packets, can be sent over error- prone channels. For example, if the AL-SDU contains 1024 bytes, each small packet may send 1024/256 = 4 bytes payload within each AL-PDU frame. It is much more likely that all these 256 packets can be transmitted error-free than one large packet. SEGMENTATION LAYER BETWEEN H.245 AND LAP/M OR V.42 As noted above, two methods were defined to address the shortcoming noted at the September 1997 Q11/16 Sunriver, OR, meeting regarding the need to segment the long initial capabilities exchange message into smaller segments to allow successful transmission of this very critical PDU. There will be some simulations done on the proposed AL4 method as is depicted in the change TDs against the White documents. The output of this SAR (segmentation and re-assembly) will be transmitted via the Server Requester Protocol (SRP) or V.42 as defined in the H.324 Recom- mendation. As an alternative approach, Q11/16 defined the use of existing Link Access Protocol-M (LAP-M) or V.42 as the SAR for this application, which will be transmitted via SRP or V.42 as defined in the H.324 Recom- mendation. The final decision on which will be included in the Decided Recommendation will be made at the January-February 1998 Q11/16/WP2 meetings. PROPOSALS FOR FURTHER WORKING IIEMS Several proposals had to be delayed for the next ITU-meeting in April 1998, including the following: • Q11-C-28 (T. Kawahara, NTT DoCoMo) recommends a liaison to SG 11/Q8 and Q23 working on IMT 2000 signaling protocols. • Q11-C-29-e (Japan) discusses a new concept for H.223 Mobile extensions utilizing efficient error protection according to the bit sensitivity of the payload. • Q11-C-31-e (Japan) contains a proposal for Optional Functionality of H.223 Annex C. It describes an optional Reed-Solomon code to allow the selection of various different error protection schemes. • Q11-C-39 (Siemens) contains a proposal and simulation results supporting the use of multiplex interleaving to address error bursts and deep fading conditions. • Q11-C-47 (S. Brunt and T. Kadir, Motorola) contains simulation results for convolutional multiplex interleaving. The mobile group intends to focus its future activities on both extensions to existing H.223 mobile annexes and to error robust coding techniques for, as example, video coding. TEXT TELEPHONY G. Hellström (Swedish National Post and Telecom Agency, Sweden) and T. Geary (Rockwell, US) are co-chairs of the Text Telephony group. Q11-C-18 (G. Hellström, Swedish National Post and Telecom Agency) proposes to change to UTF-8 (coding defined in ISO10646, UNICODE) in T.140 in place of the UCS-2 (coding defined in ISO10646, UNICODE) which requires 2 bytes for all characters and is not self-synchronizing. There was objection to this proposed change in the Systems group because it forces variable length coding and requires equipment to include transcoding for what was felt to be very minor (and probably unnoticeable) increase in bandwidth utilization. It was agreed that UTF-8 does provide the facility for quick re-synchronization. This item will be discussed at the January-February 1998 Q3/16/WP2 meetings. NON-CONVERSATIONAL SERVICES (NCS) There were no contributions received at this meeting for Non-conversational services. Q11-C-57 (C. Quist, KPN) discusses status of Non-Conversation Services. This contribution was approved. The contribution was considered the final NCS report for this meeting.

CLOSING

REVIEW OF OUTGOING DOCUMENTS Documents indicating the changes against the White documents for H.324v2 Annex C, Annex D, and H.223 Annex A, B and C were reviewed (Table 1). It was agreed that these will be sent as TDs for change to the relevant White documents. ftp://standard.pictel.com/all-site/mobile/ contains the latest versions H.223 Annex A to C and H.324 Annex C. The following versions are available: H.223 Annex A h223a_7.zip H.223 Annex B h223b_10.zip H.223 Annex C h223c_12.zip H.324 Annex C h324c_10.zip The above are change documents relative to the COM16-nn documents and will be the basis for the change TDs for the January/February 1998 SG16 meeting in Geneva. AD HOC COMMITTEES The group plans to continue the following ad hocs: Ad Hoc Committee Name Chairperson System/H.324 M. Nasiri, Ericsson Sweden Communication/Control/H.245 C. Hansen, Intel; USA Mobile B. Wimmer, Siemens, Germany Non-Conversational Services C. Quist, KPN, Netherlands Adoption of H.263+ in H.320 S. Gupta, VTEL, USA T. Geary, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems

Description Experts Group Document Proposed ITU-T Number Recommendation H.324 Annex C overview of the four level scheme, Q11-C-53-e (T. Geary, H.324 Annex C Definition of initialization of multiplex level at the start of a Q11/16 Rapporteur) session, Definition of changing the level during session (dynamic change). Definition of initial startup parameter of control channel Definition of changed and additional H.223 procedures H.324/I Q11-C-56r1-e (C. Quist, H.324 Annex D KPN) H.223 Annex A (Level 1) Q11-C-50-e (T. Geary, H.223 Annex A Q11/16 Rapporteur) H.223 Annex B (Level 2) Q11-C-51-e (T. Geary, H.223 Annex B Q11/16 Rapporteur) H.223 Annex C (Level 3) Q11-C-52-e (T. Geary, H.223 Annex C Q11/16 Rapporteur) H.Dispatch Q11-C-55 (D. Lindbergh, H.247 (??) PictureTel) H.245 changes for H.324/I & Mobile Q11-C-56r1-e (C. Quist, H.245v3 KPN) & Q11-C-60 (T. Kawahara, NTT) Table 1. Summary of Proposed TDs for the SG16 Meeting, January-February 1998.

42 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 January-February 1998 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT OF Q15/16 VIDEO CODING EXPERTS GROUP DECEMBER 2 – 5, 1997, EIBSEE, BAVARIA, GERMANY Notes: Q15/16 documents can be found at: ftp://standard.pictel.com/video. The Q15/16 e-mail reflector is managed by M. Zeug (Iterated Systems). To subscribe submit requests to: [email protected] The Q15/16 e-mail reflector address is: [email protected] The opening plenary session and two additional working sessions were held jointly with Q11/16 in order to allow all attendees to get an overview of the meeting activities of both Questions, and to consider the video coding needs of circuit-switched network terminals and systems. The specific topics addressed in the joint sessions were: • H.320 adoption of H.263+ • H.320 adoption of multiple video streams • Video error resilience • Long-term planning of standardization projects • Need for work on non-conversational services Only the Q15/16 content of that joint plenary session is reported here. (See the Q11/16 report in this issue of CSR- T for the Q11 content.) Table 2 reflects the documents approved at Sunriver, OR (Sept. 1997) and this meeting for Decision at the January- February 1998 SG16 meeting. Q15c02 (Q15/16 Chair) contains the approved Q15/16 report from the September 8-11, 1997 meeting in Sunriver, OR. Q15c00 (Q15/16 Chair) contains the updated and approved list of meeting contributions. Q15cTD-1 (Q15/16 Chair) contains the updated and approved meeting plan. Q15c48 (Q15/16 Chair) contains the report of this meeting. Q15c25 (Q15/16 Chair) contains the meeting attendee list; Q15c03 (Q15/16 Chair) contains the experts list. No liaisons statements or collaborative letters were received for consideration at this meeting. Reports were presented for the six Ad Hoc Committees which were appointed at the previous meeting (Table 3). DEPLOYMENT AND SUPPORT OF H.120, H.262, H.263, H.263+ Q15c10© (ITU) contains the white document draft of the H.263+ enhanced version of H.263.

Document Title Action Recommended COM 16-26 Recommendation H.263 Decision Q15b73 (Q15c10) Revision for Addition of “H.263+” Enhancements COM 16-30 Recommendation H.262|IS13818-2 (MPEG-2 Video), Amendments 3 Decision Q15b19 and 4 (ITU extension data and multi-view profile) Table 2. Summary of Action Requested of SG16.

Ad Hoc Committee Chairperson Report H.263+ Bitstream Verification T. Gardos (Intel) Q15c04 H.263+ Bitstream Packetization T. Gardos (Intel) Q15c05 Test Model Enhancement and Software Development K. Hibi (Sharp) Q15c06 H.263++ Development G. Sullivan (PictureTel) Q15c07 H.26L Development K. Hibi (Sharp) Q15c08 Video Coding for Sign Language and Lip Reading G. Hellström (Omnitor) Q15c17 (video sequences) Table 3. Ad Hoc Committee Report from Sunriver, OR, Sep. 1997.

H.323 / IETF RTP PAYLOAD PACKETIZATION ADOPTION Q15c05 (T. Gardos, Intel) contains an ad hoc committee report indicating that a good design is well under way in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) toward a Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) payload packetization specification for the new version of Recommendation H.263 (known as “H.263+”). Q15c14 (T. Gardos, Intel, et al) provides the current drafted specification. Q15/16 was pleased with the reported progress on this topic, noting that the drafted content, was stable and that the draft appears to be reaching a state suitable for rapid adoption into the H.323 suite (in the view of the Q15/16 experts). Q15c39 (G. Sullivan, PictureTel) supports the progress of the work on the RTP payload packetization for H.263+ and suggests minor changes to the draft. A comment was made at the meeting that this specification provides an inadequate number of bits to specify the length of some picture headers in its PLEN field. Some thought was given toward adding support for video back-channel messages (using H.263+ Annex N in a separate logical channel operation). The packetization draft should be reviewed to see if it is sufficiently mature for Determination at the January/February 1998 SG16 meeting as an Annex to H.225.0. The video group’s impression is that this level of stability will be reached prior to the SG16 meeting, although further review is required to resolve some relatively minor concerns. The packetization document will be also be reviewed at the IETF meeting December 10-11, 1997. H.320 ADOPTION OF MULTIPLE VIDEO BITSTREAMS Q15c28 (T. Johansen, Tandberg Telecom) proposes the adoption of support for multiple video bitstreams within H.320 using the video multiplex method described in Annex C of Rec. H.263. Q15c29 (G. Sullivan, PictureTel) supports this basic method and calls for additional work on the topic. In a joint Q11/16 and Q15/16 session, some Q11/16 experts expressed concerns with the future impact of adopting this feature into H.320, since it will also be supported (but in a somewhat different way) for ISDN operation of H.324 terminals. The proponents of this feature agreed to withdraw their proposal from immediate consideration pending further exploration of the open issues and expressed concerns. The issues that the joint group felt needed further consideration include: • Interoperability of multiple video bitstream enhanced H.324/ISDN terminals with enhanced H.320 terminals • Interoperability of multiple video bitstream enhanced H.323 terminals with enhanced H.320 terminals • Need for well designed capability exchange mechanism • Labeling of the purpose of the various bitstreams (e.g., presenter, presentation material, audience) • Multipoint scenarios • Need for encouragement of H.324/ISDN terminal transition from H.320 • Confusion of message of upgrading a phasing-out standard (H.320) MPEG-4 ADOPTION OF H.263 (V1) COMPATIBILITY Q15c13 (G. Sullivan, PictureTel) encourages work toward the adoption of H.263 (version 1) compatibility into the future Motion Picture Experts Group-4 (MPEG-4) standard currently being drafted by ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11. Q15/16 agreed that encouraging such compatibility was a worthy goal. Q15/16 thought that either of the following appear to be adequate solutions: • The addition to MPEG-4 video of a required normative reference to Rec. H.263 along with a description of the differences between the two codecs. • The inclusion of H.263 syntax into MPEG-4 video without such a normative reference. Q15/16 thought it might also be useful to adopt an informative appendix to H.263 once MPEG-4 becomes final, to provide guidance on H.263 interoperability with MPEG-4. VIDEO REDUNDANCY CODING USAGE SCENARIO ADOPTION Q15c30 (S. Wenger, TU Berlin) describes a technique known as Video Redundancy Coding using the Reference Picture Selection mode of the drafted new version of Rec. H.263. It also describes how Reference Picture Selection can be used to create a form of low-delay temporal scalability (temporal scalability without the backward prediction used in B pictures).

BITSTREAM EXCHANGE VERIFICATION ACTIVITY Q15c04 (T. Gardos, Intel) reports on bitstream exchange verification activity to test implementations of the drafted new version of Rec. H.263. Further work was called for to provide cross-validated bitstreams which conform to the latest draft of that new revised Recommendation. Q15/16 strongly supported this request for further work on this topic. Q15/16 is pleased that software is now also available in two publicly available implementations which should be capable of generating valid and current bitstreams. TEST MODEL (TMN8R1) ENHANCEMENT AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT Q15c06 (K. Hibi, Sharp) is a report on the test model and software development activity. This work has continued to make progress with enhancements to the test model and updated versions of publicly-available software implementations of the test model. Proposed New Test Model TMN9 Q15c15 (T. Gardos, Intel) describes the video codec test model encoder design version 9 (TMN9). Q15/16 was pleased to see that several aspects of the draft had been updated. Q15/16 generally agreed that it was worthwhile to focus work on the optimization and enhancement of the test model document. The test model forms a very useful reference and should serve as an example of good use of the H.263+ standard’s syntax. It was suggested that Q15/16 should adopt a significant goal for near-term test-model enhancement, such as at least a 1 dB performance improvement using optimization techniques such as rate-distortion optimization of mode decisions and 4MV motion vector search improvement, perhaps as described in Q15c11 (T. Wiegand, X. Zhang and B. Girod, University Erlangen-Nuremberg) - which is primarily on another topic - but in which a test model enhancement of approximately 0.6 dB is also described. Simplified Lagrange multiplier ideas such as min{D+L*R} with L = 2*QP*(SAD) or L=(2Q)2 * SSE) may help. It was also noted that increased speed in the operation of the test model could be achieved by using the triangle inequality (perhaps coupled with use of an SSE [Sum of Squared Error] rather than SAD [Sum of Absolute Differences] criterion), (Jan ’95 IEEE Trans. Image Proc, Lee and Zulari) . One attendee commented that using half the sustainable Quant value every second gives 1 dB on Container ship, 0.6 dB on Akiyo (but did not work on News). Another test model idea mentioned was to compute RD = C * BitMB + sum( (k-k’)^2 - k^2 ), and if (vector = (0,0) && RD > 0) then don’t code the MB. This is included in G. Bjontegaard’s (Telenor Satellite Services) software and is reported to yield 0.2 to 0.3 dB improvement. Q15/16 expressed regret that the specification of quantization method for Advanced INTRA Coding did not appear to reflect the conclusions reached via email discussion of this topic and expressed its desire to see further updates before approving the test model document (as perhaps TMN9r1). The introduction section does not appear to be up to date regarding the modes supported in the test model document – for example in regard to Annexes J, Q, and perhaps T. In section 2.1.2 regarding integer pixel fast search, it is not indicated that the search is started at the predicted motion vector, nor whether the (0,0) vector is also checked. Also it seems to claim that up to four untested motion vectors may be tested in each search iteration when it appears that the correct number is three. It is also not specified what is done if the motion vector moves beyond the (typically 16x16) representable range of motion vector values. Rate Control Q15c19 (J. Ribas-Corbera and S. Lei, Sharp USA) specifies a rate control method which allocates an optimized (and lower) number of bits to B pictures, rather than a number of bits for the B picture which is equal to that of sur- rounding P pictures. The authors had considered also including a feature for optimized allocation of bits between base and spatial/Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) enhancement layers, but decided that the bit rate for each layer is typically fixed which renders such analysis irrelevant. It was verbally suggested that a suitable SAD criterion might be used in rate control rather than variance, which would reduce rate control complexity (especially if SAD is found as the result of the motion search and mode decision). Software Availability Q15c24 (M. Gallant, G. Cote, B. Erol, and F. Kossentini, University of British Columbia) describes updates to their publicly-available test model software.

Q15c31 (S. Wenger, TU Berlin) describes the incorporation of the H.263v2 codec with Video Redundancy Coding and Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) packet transport into the “vic” internet software tool. The new capability provided by H.263+ in this environment should help gain widespread appreciation of the new enhanced standard. There were some comments on the possibility of creating a library of software as an official archive for Q15/16 use. However this topic was not fully explored, and those providing software at this time appear satisfied with their own ftp distribution and unofficial status. New Video Sequences for Use Q15c17 (G. Hellström, Swedish National Post and Telecom) shows two video sequences of rapid sign-language use. Q15/16 agreed that these appear very useful for future work, provided they can be distributed in the usual Exabyte digital tar format containing “raw” Y, CR, CB (4:2:0) Common Intermediate Format (CIF) and Quarter CIF (QCIF) data. Q15c33 (S. Nakagawa, Fujitsu) offers two additional video sequences for use, showing American and Swedish sign language use with rapid signing. They are relative short (10 sec.) sequences, but they display highly varying levels of activity. These appeared useful to the experts, and it was agreed that the provided Exabyte format copies would be used to facilitate distribution. H.223 Effect on Video Simulation Q15c38 (M. Luttrel and J. Villasenor, UCLA and H. Shin, Samsung) announces the availability of software for H.223 Levels 1 and 2 mux protocol simulation. This software appears to be very useful in observing the effects of error-prone channels on video data. NON-CONVERSATIONAL SERVICES In a joint session between Q11/16 and Q15/16, Q15c44 (C. Quist, KPN Research) addressed the topic of non- conversational services. All agreed that it was highly desirable to develop a good file format for storage and playback of H.324 content (including coordinated playback of audio and video). Although the experts agree that this topic is important, little has been accomplished due to a lack of contributions. It was proposed that collaboration with ISO/IEC SC29/WG11 (MPEG) might help lead to the development of a good file format. VIDEO CODING FOR SIGN LANGUAGE AND LIP READING USE Q15/16 discussed the progress of work on video coding for sign language and lip reading use. Q15/16 members expressed concern that an appendix to H.263 describing the needs of this application might be able to say little more than that this application requires high resolution, high picture rates, and low delay – all of which are goals so fundamental that they need not be reiterated as something particular to that application. Q15/16 decided that it might be more appropriate to form a document to be maintained by Q15/16 describing the needs of such users (termed an “application profile”) to capture the information learned, rather than to adopt an appendix to the standard on this topic. The creation of additional descriptions of other sample applications was also encouraged. WORKPLAN FOR H.263++ Q15c07 (G. Sullivan, PictureTel) provides the workplan for H.263++. The current workplan (changed only in terms of SG16 meeting dates) is shown in Table 4 below. It assumes two Q15/16 experts group meetings between each pair of SG16 meetings. WORKPLAN FOR H.26L The major objective of the H.26L activity in this meeting was to finalize the H.26L requirements document. H.26L discussion also addressed the definition of the delay evaluation model. Technical proposals for H.26L contents were presented and discussed jointly with the H.263++ activity. It was agreed that the name of “H.263L” should be changed to “H.26L” to clearly indicate that H.26L is the new video coding algorithm necessarily defined in a new Recommendation. Q15c08 (K. Hibi, Sharp) discusses the workplan for H.26L agreed upon at the Sunriver meeting (Q15b24). It has proven difficult to estimate the schedule for H.26L, as Q15/16 is uncertain of the state of the technology that might be proposed for it, uncertain of what may arrive in the H.263++ project, and has yet to receive sufficient feedback on the degree of success of the H.263+ project which they have just submitted to SG16 for approval.

However, the collective judgment of Q15/16 was that insufficient time seemed to be provided in the prior schedule for proposal evaluations, test model generation, and draft text refinement. A longer schedule was thus adopted which maintains the date of the first call for proposals and the initial proposal evaluations while providing additional time for work after the initial proposal evaluations. It was agreed that the workplan may be revised again in the future according to the progress of work and the evaluation result of the proposed algorithms. The new adopted workplan is shown in Table 4. The schedule has been adjusted for SG16 meeting dates, and assumes two Q15/16 Experts group meetings between each pair of SG16 meetings. The evaluation method (e.g., subjective test?) of H.26L proposals needs further discussion and should be defined based on the H.26L requirements document at an early stage. Q15c46 (K. Hibi, Sharp) contains the initial draft call for the H.26L video coding algorithm. The call for proposals will be further refined after this meeting through e-mail reflector discussions and will be issued at the next SG16 meeting in January/February 1998. H.26L REQUIREMENTS The latest draft of H.26L requirements is Q15b70, from the Sunriver meeting. Q15c20 (M. Jandel, Ericsson) proposes a modification to the requirements for H.26L for future mobile terminals and for video communication over internet transport protocols. It was noted that the proposal in Q15c20 was much more specific and strict than those described in Q15b70. It was also mentioned that some features proposed in Q15c20, for example packet mode transport and connectivity over heterogeneous networks, are not addressed only in video coding but also need system-level considerations. Q15/16 decided to make changes reflecting the proposal, but some items are defined as goals which are targets of the performance improvement in the H.26L standard development process, while all the requirements should be met by the final standard. Q15c41 (R. Fryer, University of Strathclyde) provides another proposal on H.26L requirements. This contribution identifies sign-language and lip-reading applications as a good key application for H.26L, because low constant delay, high frame rate, and high resolution should be realized simultaneously. Although the concept proposed in Q15c41 was Mtg Approx Type H.263++ Milestone H.26L Milestone Date a 24 Jun ‘97 Experts b 8 Sep ‘97 Experts Adoption of Workplan c 2 Dec ‘97 Experts Start of Significant Effort Modified Workplan Adopted d 26 Jan ‘98 SG16 Issue Call for Proposals e 21 Apr ‘98 Experts First Formal Draft Adoptions f Jul ‘98 Experts g 14 Sep ‘98 SG16 h Nov ‘98 Experts Last Formal Draft Adoptions 1st Formal Evaluations i Jan ‘99 Experts First Draft Text and Test Model j Mar ‘99 SG16 k Jul ‘99 Experts l Nov ‘99 Experts Final Draft for Determination Final Major Feature Adoptions m Feb ‘00 SG16 Determination n Apr ‘00 Experts Bug-checking o Jul ‘00 Experts Final Draft for Decision p Nov ‘00 SG16 Decision q Apr ‘01 Experts r Jul ‘01 Experts s Aug ‘01 SG16 Determination t Oct ‘01 Experts Bug-Checking u Jan ‘02 Experts White Document Generation v May ‘02 SG16 Decision Table 4. H.263++ and H.26L Workplans

agreed upon, the proposal did not include specific values/numbers which can be incorporated into the H.26L requirements document. It was decided to reflect the proposal in Q15c41 in the H.26L requirements document in some form during the editing process. The new version of the H.26L requirements document were generated as Q15c45 (K. Hibi, Sharp). A refined version of this contribution is expected to be attached to the call for proposals for H.26L the video coding algorithms issued at the next SG16 meeting. DELAY MODEL Q15c32 (R. Fryer and R. Lambert, University of Strathclyde) presents a revised delay model containing refinements to the model in response to various comments that had arisen in recent review by the experts. The proposal is that proponents of an H.26L video codec shall use this delay model for providing the information of the delay evaluation of the proposed algorithm. A concern was expressed that the proposed delay model may be too complex for H.26L proponents to fully understand how to use the model and the meaning of the parameters in the model. It was also pointed out that the Video Buffer Verification (VBV) specification in H.262 ISO/IEC 13818-2 (MPEG-2 Video) is much simpler and the relation with the proposed delay model should be clarified. However, recognizing the importance of delay evaluation of the H.26L proposals to achieve the target low delay feature, Q15/16 agreed to include the delay evaluation model (with a possible improvement through email discussion) in the call for proposals for H.26L algorithms and to encourage proponents to provide the results of delay evaluations based on the model. A small side discussion was suggested for evaluation of the new model and its use. Four members, after an ad hoc meeting, concluded: A means of generating a “delay figure of merit” for preliminary ranking of proposals is both possible and desirable. This will include terms representative of encoder, channel and decoder delays including the effect of buffer control / activity. It was recommended that there be further work via email to finalize such a definition. Such a figure of merit would be useful only for ranking codecs when they are in use in a “low delay mode” of operation. In practice this means a constant frame-rate mode. It was recommended that for proposals for low delay application, the computation and presentation of the figure of merit, as defined, should be mandatory. It was recommended that for all “delay critical” proposals, proposers are strongly encouraged to make use of the full delay model; the output of that model forms the basis of graphical illustrations of delay properties and is to be reflected in the inter-frame timing of displayed sequences: • To expedite the use of the full model in this way, a document should be prepared to state in a simple and unambiguous form how the data should be generated. It was recommended that there be work on the Q15/16 email reflector to prepare this document. • In computing delay, the first frame of an encoded sequence is discounted. • For the preparation of demonstration sequences and the accompanying data, e.g., Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) or delay, the size of the initial frame should be limited to no more than the channel bit rate integrated for one second. The bits allocated to the first frame should be subtracted from the total bit allocation for the sequence, and the nominal channel bit rate for the channel should be adjusted accordingly. COMMON TEST CONDITIONS FOR H.26L PROPOSALS The new video sequences for sign-language and lip-reading application proposed in Q15c17 (G. Hellström, Swedish National Post and Telecom) appeared to be good material to be added to the set of test sequences for H.26L development. The applicability of the H.26L video coding algorithm to sign-language and lip-reading application will be tested using this video sequence. It was pointed out that the evaluation method of the acceptability of the picture quality for sign-language and lip-reading application needs further considerations, e.g., evaluation method of readability of the sign-language. Q15c33 (A. Nakagawa, Fujitsu) also proposes new video sequences for H.263++ and H.26L development, which include both low active motion periods and highly active motion periods, and which are suitable for real-time low la- tency video coding study. Q15/16 also agreed that the proposed video sequences be added to the set of test sequences. Any impact on the H.26L common test condition needs further study.

TECHNICAL CONTENT PROPOSALS AND DEMOS FOR H.263++ AND H.26L Technical content proposals for both H.263++ and H.26L were reviewed together in a single session. The technical content of such proposals may be used by either group in its future work, as appropriate. LONG-TERM MEMORY MOTION COMPENSATION Q15c11 (T. Wiegand, X. Zhang and B. Girod, University Erlangen-Nuremberg) proposes using a multi-picture memory containing a large number of previously decoded pictures for purposes of prediction. Very significant gains in quality (e.g., 1.5 dB) are described when using large (e.g., 50) numbers of stored pictures. The technique as proposed is somewhat similar to Reference Picture Selection except that it switches between prediction pictures using a Variable Length Codeword (VLC) on a macroblock (or block) level rather than on a slice level. Q15/16 expressed a high degree of interest in this proposal. Some concerns were expressed regarding encoder search computation and decoder memory usage. This feature appears to fit within either the H.263++ or H.26L area of work. 4X4 BLOCK VIDEO CODING Q15c23 (G. Bjontegaard, Telenor Satellite Services) uses a choice of motion block size between 4x4 and 16x16 (rather than the more typical 8x8 and 16x16), half-pel-only motion compensation, and then after motion prediction, a 4x4 reduced-complexity transform rather than the typical 8x8 Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). The transform could be specified with precision to prevent all round-off error drift between encoders and decoders. This transform appeared to produce sizable performance gains, and further investigation was urged by Q15/16. This feature may fit within the H.263++ area of work, but this is not certain. It may also be a candidate for H.26L work. DATA PARTITIONING FOR ERROR RESILIENCE Q15c36 (J. Wen and J. Villasenor, UCLA, and H. Shin, Samsung) proposes a scheme called data partitioning with RVLCs for error resilience operation. This feature is found in MPEG-4 video, and a somewhat improved syntax was proposed here. Q15/16 was interested in this feature and had a general impression that it would provide a significant benefit, but actual data on its effectiveness was lacking. This feature appears to fit within either the H.263++ or H.26L area of work. SINGLE-THREAD MOTION VECTOR PREDICTION When using data partitioning for error resilience, a certain simplified motion vector prediction model is needed for reversible decoding, as described in Q15c35 (J. Wen and J. Villasenor, UCLA, and H. Shin, Samsung). A motion vector predictor was proposed with improved reverse-decoding capability. Q15/16 seemed to agree that the proposed motion vector predictor appeared to be a good idea, but noted that this method requires use of data partitioning. A comment was made that this simplified motion vector predictor would likely have somewhat lower coding efficiency due to the lack of the use of the median prediction method. This feature appears to fit within either the H.263++ or H.26L area of work. BACKGROUND MEMORY USE Q15c26 (K. Zhang on behalf of SCALAR Consortium) proposes using an additional picture store and an update rule for purposes of background estimation and fast recovery in uncovered background areas. Q15/16 noted that the performance results for the use of this method did not show much performance improvement. Although Q15/16 was interested in the general concept, sufficient evidence was lacking for a sizable benefit from the technique. The subject matter appears to have some relation to that in the long-term memory proposal described above. Such subject matter could fit either within the H.263++ or H.26L area of work. DYNAMICALLY RECONFIGURABLE CODEC Q15c27 (K. Zhang on behalf of SCALAR Consortium) proposes a concept called a “dynamically reconfigurable codec”. Such a design would allow changes to the codec syntax to be signaled in the bitstream so that many different selectable syntax elements and relationships would be possible. The proponent was asked the difference between this type of codec and one which simply had many “modes”. He explained that this design would allow the adoption of many “tool” elements for similar basic purposes (e.g., transforms, entropy codes, quantization methods, etc.), allowing the encoder to choose the coding method with more freedom. There were some misgivings about the desirability of this type of system; Q15/16 did not appear to have much interest in such a concept, in the absence of more justification. This feature appears to fit only within H.26L.

ADAPTIVE QUANTIZATION Q15c34 (A. Bist, Rockwell Semiconductor) describes in detail the decoding process for the “adaptive quantization” technique which was proposed and described at two prior meetings. This decoder description would seem to be a good starting point for the drafting of text for a standard using this technique, which appears to primarily be a H.263++ category proposal. The D-1 demonstration shown in Sunriver was repeated to show the efficacy of the method. Q15/16 agreed that a very significant benefit (e.g., 30%) appeared to be shown relative to the anchor sequences. There was keen interest expressed in the technique, but also a general agreement that cross-validation of results and testing on more sequences and conditions were needed. The presenter indicated that further work efforts would include operation evaluation with Annex I (advanced INTRA coding) and Annex T (modified quantization), and incorporation into the current test model. There was an assertion that the encoder complexity could be reduced by approximately 70% using special techniques, thus reducing the complexity burden that may have been assumed necessary for this mode. Q15/16 remains interested in this proposal and wishes to further investigate. Cross validation is requested. This feature appears to fit either within the H.263++ or H.26L area of work. Some comments were made concerning the quality of the encoding anchor reference sequence. A suggestion was made for Q15/16 to have another look at testing conditions for various types of features to be tested: sequences, bit rates, frames, number of bits for first frame. Q15/16 decided to create an ad hoc activity on H.263++ testing conditions to see how assessment methods could be improved. MOTION-DEPENDENT COD SYNTAX Q15c37 (G. Kamosa, J. Wen, J. Villasenor, UCLA, and H. Shin, Samsung) presents a short way to signal motion without DCT coefficients. Results were obtained from a modified UBC (University of British Columbia) test model coder. Approximately a 0.5% bit rate benefit was shown for the technique at constant quantization step size. The greatest benefit was shown to be on scenes with “global” motion. The benefit is highly dependent on sequence. Q15/16 was not very enthusiastic about the amount of benefit this seemed to provide, but agreed that it could be kept in mind during the design for H.26L. The overall enthusiasm of Q15/16 regarding this technique is low due to the limited amount of benefit that it seemed to be able to provide. MPEG-4 ERROR RESILIENCE TOOLS Q15c40 (J. Brailean, Motorola), was presented in a joint session with Q11/16 and describes work ongoing within MPEG-4 on the topic of error resilient video use. It presents concepts of partitioning motion and texture data which allows Forward Error Control (FEC) on motion data and not on texture data and allows the use of RVLCs to reconstruct the texture data. Also described was the on-going work on resynchronization and error concealment. Q15/16 felt that nearly all of the syntactical features of the drafted MPEG-4 scheme were already supported in H.263+ (with the exception of data partitioning with reversible VLCs). However, the video group felt that more investigation and demonstration of the capabilities of these methods would be very worthwhile, as most of its recent activities have focused only on the syntactical description required for standardization – rather than work toward finding the best way to use the syntax once written. The video group indicated that it would be very useful to conduct further work on exploring the use of coded video in error prone environments, with collaboration with the Mobile experts within Q11/16 and with those working on this topic in MPEG-4. The following is a summary overview of video coding error resilience features: • Slices/Packet Resync Markers (in H.263+ and MPEG-4) • Independent Segment Decoding (in H.263+) • Reference Picture Selection (in H.263+, under consideration for MPEG-4 version 2) • Data Partitioning with Reversible Variable Length Codewords (VLCs) (in MPEG-4, under consideration for H.263++) • Scalability bitstreams (in H.263+ and MPEG-4) • Error Concealment Processing (generally not subject to normative standardization, but investigated in simulation test model activities of Q15/16 and MPEG-4)

STATUS OF WORK IN OTHER ORGANIZATIONS Q15c18 (G. Hellström, Omnitor) and Q15c42 (G. Sullivan, PictureTel) describe work on video quality assessment using both “objective” and “subjective” methods. Q15/16 members were encouraged to learn more about this work and to see what can be learned from it in the conduct of future activities. Subjective test method specifications include three recommendations: P.910, one way video test method; P.920, conversation quality assessment; P.930, video impairment reference system (available from CSELT, BT, KPN, Bellcore); also audiovisual coupled quality assessment work in progress should be considered as well as ITU-R BT.500, another subjective test procedure description. CLOSING PLENARY

SUGGESTED TEST AND SIMULATION CONDITIONS Some members of the video group generated a description of suggested methods for the presentation of simulation results for technical contributions that would encourage good comparison of work, while trying to minimize the burden of presentation requirements as described in Q15c47 (T. Wiegand, University Erlangen-Nuremberg). Q15/16 approved the proposal as the preferred guidelines for simulation presentations for the next two meetings (Jan. 1998 and April 1998). Further review of the suggested test conditions was encouraged; ad hoc activity could facilitate the best possible methods for evaluating the technical merit of demonstrations in the future. Strong concern was expressed regarding the lack of high frame rate, and high resolution video in the suggested test conditions (such as video of a quality adequate for good sign-language communication). Q15/16 noted that the conditions described were typical of past work, that there needed to be a limited number of test conditions expected, and that precise bit rates sufficient for comparisons of higher-quality video coding were not known precisely and would need further study and discussion. It was decided that the guidelines provided were sufficient for the immediate future, but that there was a need to change the past focus so that higher quality video is given a greater degree of attention in the future. FUTURE WORK The following Ad Hoc Committees (AHCs) were formed (Table 5). These AHCs will conduct their work primarily by email using the Q15/16 advanced video email reflector. Ad Hoc Committee Chairperson H.263+ Bitstream Verification T. Gardos H.263+ Packetization T. Gardos Video Coding for Sign Language and Lip-Reading Use G. Hellström Test Model Enhancement and Software Development K. Hibi H.263++ Development G. Sullivan H.26L Development K. Hibi Adoption of H.263+ into H.320 S. Gupta Consideration of Simulation Conditions and Evaluations G. Bjontegaard Achieving Compatibility between MPEG-4 and H.263 G. Sullivan Table 5. Ad Hoc Committees Formed in Eibsee LIAISON DESIGNATIONS After joint discussions between Q11/16 and Q15/16, C. Quist (KPN Research) was appointed as liaison to ISO/IEC SC29/WG11 (MPEG) to encourage work toward the definition of file formats for non-conversational services use of H.324 information. Gary Sullivan, PictureTel Corporation

Q15/16 MEETING ROSTER, DECEMBER 2 – 5, EIBSEE , GERMANY Gary Sullivan, PictureTel, USA Q15/16 Rapporteur Canada Swedish Nat’l Post & Telecom Gunnar Hellström U. of British Columbia Guy Coté Telia Research AB Ms. Marie Dahlqvist U. of British Columbia Michael Gallant Taiwan Finland CCL/ITRI Tzu-Hsin Wang Nokia Research Center Bogdan Paul Dobrin CCL/ITRI Li-Feng Lai Nokia Research Center Petri Haavisto United Kingdom Nokia Research Center Matti Harmovaara BT Labs Michael Whybray Nokia Research Center Dr. Marta Karczewicz ImageCom Ltd. Dr. John Mason Nokia Research Center Marko Luomi U. of Strathclyde Dr. Richard Fryer MIT / VTT Info. Tech. Christer Englund U. of Surrey Kui Zhang France USA France Telecom/CNET Patrick Boissonade 8x8, Inc Dr. Barry Andrews France Telecom/CNET Bruno Loret 8x8, Inc. Chet Graham Lab. d’Electronique Philips Jacques Paulin Acer Advanced Labs Reuven Ackner Germany AT&T Laboratories Baldine Paul Thomson Multi Media Michel Kerdranvat Bellsouth Cellular Corp. Saurel Quettan Deutsche Telekom Berkom Dr. Peter List COMSAT Simao F. Campos Neto U. of Erlangen-Nuremberg Thomas Wiegand Delta Info. Systems Richard Schaphorst Robert Bosch GmbH Peter Vogel Digital Equip’t Corp. Dr. Gang Liang Siemens AG Bernhard G. Wimmer ESS Technologies Yuhai Mao Siemens AG Dr. Andre Kaup ESS Technologies Chi-Shin Wang Siemens AG Andreas Rulfs Hitachi America, Ltd. Naiqian Lu Siemens AG Dr. Istvan Sebestyen Intel Corporation Karl Lillevold TELES AG / TU Berlin Dr. Stephan Wenger Intel Corporation Tom Gardos TU München / Siemens Thomas Stockhammer Intel Corporation Jay Gilbert Ireland Intel Corporation Fernando Martins Teltec Ireland John Matthews Iterated Systems John Muller Italy Iterated Systems Michael Zeug Aethra Telecom. Roberto Flaiani LG Electronics Sheng Lin Japan Microsoft Wei-ge Chen Fujitsu Laboratories Akira Nakagawa Motorola James Brailean Hitachi Ltd. Yuichiro Nakaya Motorola Rickard Brant KDD higeyuki Sakazawa Motorola Kevin O’Connell Matsushita Yutaka Machida Nokia Mobile Phones Frank Fu NTT Yasuhiro Tomita PictureTel Matthew Bace NTT DoCoMo Toshiro Kawahara PictureTel David Lindbergh OKI Electric Toshihisa Nakai PictureTel John Sievers Sharp Corp. / CIAJ Keiichi Hibi PictureTel Dr. Gary Sullivan Toshiba Corporation Hirokazu Tanaka Progressive Networks Ken Cooke Korea Progressive Networks Dr. Gary S. Greenbaum Samsung Electronics Sang-Ug Kang Progressive Networks Dr. Alan Lippman Samsung Electronics Jeong-Hoon Park Rockwell International Anurag Bist Samsung Electronics Dong-Seek Park Rockwell International Tom Geary Samsung Electronics Hyundoo Shin Rockwell International Albert Hsueh Netherlands Sharp Digital Info. Kai Sun KPN Research Cor Quist Sharp Laboratories Jordi Ribas-Corbera Norway Sharp Laboratories Shawmin Lei Tandberg Telecom AS Tom-Ivar Johansen Sharp Laboratories Kristine Matthews Telenor Satellite Services Gisle Bjontegaard Smith Micro Software Paul Long Telenor R&D Ms. Gunn Kristin Klungsøyr Smith Micro Software Robert McKenzie Telefonica I&D Pedro Crespo Sorenson Vision, Inc Chien-Min Huang Sweden UCLA Maximilian Luttrell Ericsson Radio Sys. Göran Bang UCLA Dr. John Villasenor Ericsson Telecom AB Dr. Torbjörn Einarsson UCLA Jiangtao Wen Ericsson Telecom AB Magnus Jändel Voice of TTY Andrea Saks Ericsson Telecom AB David Nister VTEL Dr. Smita Gupta Ericsson Telecom AB Göran Roth Vxtreme, Inc. Yiu Fai Wong Ericsson Telecom AB Rickard Sjöberg Xirlink, Inc. Valdimire Alekseyev Linköping University Haibo Li Xirlink, Inc. Chi-Chin Chou

52 Vol. 9.1 Copyright © CSR 1998 January-February 1998 COMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS REVIEW – TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORT OF Q23/16 RAPPORTEUR MEETING, PCM MODEMS DECEMBER 3 – 5, 1997, ORLANDO, FL The primary goal of the meeting was to progress the work on V.pcm - Issue 1 in order to be able to Determine the Recommendation at the SG 16 meeting, February 1998. PCM97-132R1, (L. Brown, Q23/16 Rapporteur) contains the approved report of the September 1997 Q23/16 Rapporteur meeting in Sunriver, OR. PCM97-145 (L. Brown, Q23/16 Rapporteur) is a liaison to SG 15 concerning transport of voice-band data over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks. It notes Q23/16’s concern regarding the effect of the build-out buffer, which introduces a fixed or adaptive delay, on end-to-end delay. The contribution was not available for review by the Rapporteur group in Sunriver, and was distributed for information. PCM97-151 (L. Brown, Q23/16 Rapporteur) contains reports of the October 1997 meetings of TIA TR-30.1 and its Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) modem ad hoc group. INCOMING LIAISON REPORTS PCM97-123, the liaison statement from SG 15 in reply to the Q23/16 liaison on Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) transmission characteristics affecting PCM modem operation, was not considered at this meeting, or the previous meeting, due to lack of time. It will be considered at the SG 16 meeting, February 1998. It describes the operation of network echo cancelers, noting that they may not be transparent when disabled; it also describes the possible effects of DCME and PCME. LIST OF AGREEMENTS AND BASELINE TEXT PCM97-148 (L. Brown, Q23/16 Rapporteur) contains the updated list of agreements for the V.pcm Recommendations from the TR-30.1 meeting in Galveston, Texas, October 14-16, 1997. It was approved with the following correction: • agreed to include a half duplex fast retrain mechanism to allow echo canceller fine tuning in half duplex. PCM97-163 (R. Williams, V.pcm editor, 3Com) contains the latest revision of the baseline text for V.pcm - Issue 1. The contribution was approved by Q23/16. DOWNSTREAM DATA MODE G. Dong (Digicom Systems) presented PCM97-161 (P. Ramaswamy, Digicom Systems), which proposes a modification to Convolutional Spectral Shaping. Specifically, it proposes that the sign change rules should not be confined to just four but should allow all possible combinations that permit unique decodability. PCM97-169 (B. Barazesh, Lucent) proposes that the maximum number of lookahead frames for spectral shaping be limited to 3, and proposes that only 0 and 1 lookahead frames be mandatory in the digital modem. PCM97-173 (V. Eyuboglu, Motorola) compares the performance of Convolutional Spectral Shaping and Maximum Symbol Inversion in the case of bandpass spectral shaping. PCM97-158 (S. Ólafsson, Rockwell) compares attainable minimum distances for Shell Mapping and Modulus Conversion, and proposes that shell mapping be used for V.pcm. PCM97-172 (B. O’Mahony, Intel), a contribution sourced by 20 companies, proposes a compromise for the two outstanding data mode issues. Specifically, it proposes that V.pcm specify Modulus conversion (as defined in PCM97-46, USR, recently updated in PCM97-150, 3Com) as the downstream mapping scheme, and Convolutional Spectral Shaping (as defined in PCM97-135R1, Motorola) as the downstream spectral shaping scheme. STARTUP PROCEDURES PCM97-152 (K. Krechmer, representing VocalTec Communications) proposes an optional user data phase in parallel with modem startup in order to reduce Internet Access Time (IAT). PCM97-157 (R. Williams, 3Com) and PCM97-164 (B. Barazesh, Lucent) both propose bit definitions for the INFO0 and INFO1 sequences. PCM97-166 (B. Barazesh, Lucent) proposes an upstream symbol rate selection procedure.

PCM97-159 (S. Ólafsson, Rockwell) proposes Phase 3 and 4 startup procedure. The contribution discusses the structure of the startup as well as bit definitions for MP (Modulation parameter for upstream transmission, similar to V.34), CP (Modulation parameter for downstream transmission), and CPt (signal containing spectral shaping parameters and DPCM-tx phase 4 constellation) sequences. PCM97-167 (B. Barazesh, Lucent) discusses various aspects of Phase 3 & 4 startup, including structure, TRN2d constellation (scrambled 1’s using constellation and spectral shaping as specified in CPt), and bit definitions for MP, CP and CPt. PCM97-154 (V. Parizhsky, 3Com) proposes the use of multipoint training during Phase 4, with the constellation being determined by the analog modem based on analysis of the digital impairment learning sequence, and conveyed to the digital modem in CPt. PCM97-155 (V. Parizhsky, 3Com) proposes bit definitions for the MP sequence; PCM97-156 (V. Parizhsky, 3Com) proposes bit definitions for the CP sequence. An ad hoc group was formed to work off-line on bit definitions for the information exchanges used during modem startup. PCM97-175 (R. Williams, 3Com) discusses the outcome of this group’s work. The contribution contains bit definitions for INFO0d, INFO0a, INFO1d, INFO1a, Jd, Jd’., and MP. PCM97-160 (S. Ólafsson, Rockwell) and PCM97-165 (B. Barazesh, Lucent) propose different multi-tone R/Rbar synchronization sequences. PCM97-177 (K. Zhao, Equator Technologies) proposes that a single R/Rbar sequence be used in Phase 3, Phase 4 and rate renegotiation. RETRAIN/RATE RENEGOTIATION PROCEDURES PCM97-153 (R. Williams, 3Com) proposes draft text for retrain and rate renegotiation procedures. PCM97-168 (B. Barazesh, Lucent) discusses issues related to adaptive echo cancellation for Analog PCM (APCM) modems. The contribution proposes that the rate renegotiation procedure should only be used for rate renegotiation, and not for half duplex echo canceller training. It further proposes that a fast retrain procedure for retraining the complete receiver be considered. PCM97-176 (B. Barazesh, Lucent) proposes a mechanism to initiate such a fast retrain procedure from either the analog or digital modem. NETWORK CHARACTERIZATION PCM97-171 (J. Douglass, Oak Technology) discusses the International version of the telephone network transmission model for evaluating PCM modem performance, being developed in TR-30.3. J. Houdard (Texas Instruments) presented PCM97-171 in more detail, as well as PCM97-170 (J. Douglass, Oak Technology), which presents the North American model for evaluating PCM modem performance. OTHER PCM97-174 (J. Renkel, 3Com) proposes a startup sequence for the all-digital mode. IINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DOCUMENTS B. Townshend (TCT) introduced PCM97-162 (L. Brown, Motorola ISG) and its attachment, statements regarding patents relating to an ITU-T Recommendation for V.pcm. In this document he agreed to abide by the ITU terms to license on reasonable and non-discriminatory grounds and strongly noted that the IPR he holds does not relate to the mapping or spectral shaping issues. L. Brown, the Q23/16 Rapporteur, reviewed the list of companies that have expressed an Intellectual Property interest in this work. To date, 14 companies and one individual have indicated that they hold Intellectual Property pertaining to this work: 3Com (US Robotics), Data Race, ESS Technology, Floreat, General Datacomm, IBM, Lake Datacomms, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Paradyne, PC-Tel, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, RSA (Cirrus Logic), VoCAL Technologies, and B. Townshend (TCT). The Q23/16 Rapporteur asked whether anyone else was aware of Intellectual Property pertaining to the proposed techniques being considered for inclusion in V.pcm. Although no further holders of Intellectual Property directly pertaining to V.pcm were identified, Texas Instruments indicated that they may have Intellectual Property pertaining to the work on a telephone network transmission model for evaluating PCM modem performance (see PCM97- 170 and PCM97-171, J. Douglass, Oak Technology). The Q23/16 Rapporteur then urged participants who have not already done so to submit their patent statements to the ITU-T, and referred Q23/16 to PCM97-22 (Q23/16 Rapporteur) for information on the subject.

AGREEMENTS During the meeting, a major breakthrough was achieved. After two informal blind polls, consensus was reached on two key data mode issues. It was agreed to specify Modulus Conversion as defined in PCM97-150 (3Com) for the mapping scheme and Convolutional Spectral Shaping (CSS) as defined in PCM97-135R1 (Motorola) for the spectral shaping scheme in V.pcm - Issue 1. Once this agreement was reached, Q23/16 concentrated on completing the work on the startup, retrain, and rate renegotiation procedures. Q23/16 reached agreement on most of the open issues concerning the structure, signals, and information exchanges associated with startup, retrain and rate renegotiation, and provisionally agreed to the durations of the various signals and timeouts. The complete list of agreements reached at the meeting, along with a list of open issues, will be contained in the updated agreements list, PCM98-04. These agreements will be reflected in the next draft of the baseline text from the editor, PCM97-178. With these agreements and draft text, modem vendors should be able to begin interworking testing. A list of possible interworking testing participants was generated. FUTURE MEETINGS The next meeting on the subject of PCM modems will be the SG16 meeting in Geneva, January 26 to February 6, 1998. Give the agreements reached at this meeting, it is likely that V.pcm will be Determined at the SG 16 meeting. At that time, a request will be made to hold further Rapporteur meetings to progress the work on issues such as the all-digital mode and V.pcm - Issue 2. Les Brown, Motorola ISG

The next issue of Communications Standards Review – Telecommunications (Vol. 9 #2) is scheduled for March 1998.

Q23/16 RAPPORTEUR MEETING ROSTER, DECEMBER 3 – 5, 1997, ORLANDO, FL Les Brown, Motorola ISG Q23/16 Rapporteur 3Com Vladimir Parizhsky 3Com Jim Renkel 3Com Dick Stuart 3Com Dale Walsh 3Com Richard Williams ACTION Consulting Ken Krechmer Ascend Comm. Sandeep Agarwal Ascend Comm. Ken Jones Bay Networks Slobodan Jovanovic Cirrus Logic Vedavalli Krishnan Cirrus Logic Karl Nordling Compaq Alan C. Becklein Compaq Edward Newman Davicom Yaopei Chang Diamond Multimedia Dan Moore Digicom Systems Guijie Dong Equator Technologies Jian Zhang Equator Technologies Karl Zhao ESS Technology Ping Dong Gao Research Alan Marion General DataComm Yuri Goldstein General DataComm Fred Lucas Harris Corp. Mike Horton Hayes Bruce Adams IBM Mohamad Ali IBM Ali Sadri Intel Barry O’Mahony Intel Holland Wood LAKE Datacomms Michael McLaughlin Lucent Technologies Bahman Barazesh Lucent Technologies Perry Ho Lucent Technologies UK John Magill Motorola Vedat Eyuboglu Motorola Garth Hillman Motorola Chris Scull Motorola James Zhou MultiTech Systems Sam Gopalan Oak Technology Jack Douglass Paradyne R.K. Smith PCTel Gary Anwyl PCTel Steve Manuel PCTel Han Yeh Philips Antoine Chouly Racal Research Eric Holmes Rockwell Burk Beadle Rockwell Yuanjie Chen Rockwell Keith Chu Rockwell Glen Griffith Rockwell Sverrir Ólafsson Samsung John Stockman Sharp Digital Info James Wu Siemens Wolfram Kiesecker Sony Kong Wang System Soft Mike Winsack TCT Brent Townhend Texas Instruments Murtaza Ali Texas Instruments Jean-Perre Houdard ZyXEL Chi-Ching Hsieh

ACRONYM DEFINITIONS

ACIL Association of Independent Scientific, Engineering and Testing Firms ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Loop (Line) APEC Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum BNWG Bi-National Working Group BRI Basic Rate Interface CAB Conformity Assessment Body CAP Carrier-less Amplitude Modulation Phase Modulation CPM Continuous Presence Multipoint CSA Canadian Standards Association DCE Data Circuit Terminating Equipment DCME Digital Circuit Multiplication Equipment DCT Discrete Cosine Transform DIS Draft International Standard DMT Discrete Multi-tone Carrier DS1 1.544 Mbit/s T1 Interface DTE Data Terminal Equipment DTS Definitive Telefax Standard EFT Electrical Fast Transient ETR ETSI Technical Reports ETS European Telecommunications Standard (ETSI) ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute EU European Union EU MRA European Union Mutual Recognition Agreements EUT Equipment Under Test FCC Federal Communications Commission (U.S.) FDD Frequency Division Duplexing FOCIS Fiber Optic Connector Intermateability Standard HDSL High-rate Digital Subscriber Loop IEC International Electrotechnical Committee IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IETF Internet Engineering Task Force IMT International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT-2000, formerly FPLMTS) IP Internet Protocol IPR Intellectual Property Rights ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network ITU-T ITU Telecommunications Sector ITU-TSB ITU Telecommunications Standardization Board LAN Local Area Network LAPM Link Access Protocol Modem (V.42) LT Line Termination MAC Media Access Control MLTS Multi-Line Telecommunications Systems MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group MRA Mutual Recognition Agreements MT Type of commercial fiber optic connector NEXT Near End Cross Talk NISDN National ISDN NPRM Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FCC) PBX Private Branch Exchange PCM Pulse Code Modulation PCME Packet Circuit Multiplication Equipment

PCS Personal Communication Services PISN Private Integrated Services Network POTS Plain Old Telephone Service PRA Primary Rate Access PSD Power Spectral Density PWT-E Personal Wireless Telecommunications - Enhanced Interoperability Standard QoS Quality of Service RADSL Rate-Adapting ADSL RBOC Regional Bell Operating Company RF Radio Frequency RG Residential Gateway RTP Real Time Transport Protocol SAD Sum of Absolute Differences SLR Send Loudness Rating SS7 Signaling System 7 SSE Sum of Squared Error STMR Sidetone Masking Rating TAPAC Terminal Attachment Program Advisory Committee TDD Time Division Duplexing TDMA Time Division Multiple Access TM Transmission and Multiplexing (ETSI Committee) TMN Telecommunications Management Network TR Technical Report TS Technical Specification TSB ITU Telecommunications Standardization Board TSB TIA Telecommunications Systems Bulletin UTP Unshielded Twisted Pair VDSL Very high speed ADSL VESA Video Electronic Standard Association VLC Variable Length Codeword VPN Virtual Private Network

1998 STANDARDS COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULES AS OF JANUARY 12, 1998 Subject to Change without Notice

Committee Date(s) Location Committee Date(s) Location T1E1.4 Interim Jan 13 - 15 Rohnert Park, CA TR-41 May 11 - 15 Washington DC TR-41.8.1 UTP Jan 22 - 23 Orlando, FL SG 8 Jun 9 - 18 Geneva, Switzerland Interim ETSI TIPHON Jun 15 - 19 Oslo ETSI TM6 Jan 26 - 30 Madrid, Spain TR-30 Jun 15 - 19 Raleigh, NC SG 16 Jan 26 - Feb 6 Geneva, Switzerland ETSI ATA Jun 22 - 26 Sophia Antipolis, ETSI STQ Jan 28 - 30 Sophia Antipolis, France France ETSI TM6 Jun 22 - 26 Luleâ, Sweden ETSI TIPHON Feb 16 - 20 San Jose, CA ETSI MTA Jun 29 - Jul 3 Munich, Germany TR-29 Feb 9 - 12 Palo Alto, CA TR-30 Aug 10 - 14 Quebec City, Que SG 15 Feb 9 - 20 Geneva, Switzerland TR-41 Aug 17 - 21 Calgary, Alberta TR-41 Feb 23 - 27 Albuquerque ETSI TIPHON Sep Portland, OR ETSI MTA Mar 2 - 6 Berlin or Sophia SG 16 Sep 14 - 25 Geneva, Switzerland Antipolis TR-30 Mar 9 - 12 Dallas, TX ETSI TM6 Sep 21 - 25 Vienna, Austria ETSI TM6 Apr 20 - 24 Antwerp, Belgium SG 15 Oct 12 - 23 Geneva, Switzerland ETSI TIPHON Apr 27 - 30 Munich, Germany TR-30 Nov 9 - 13 San Antonio, TX ETSI DTA Apr 7 - 8 Sophia Antipolis, TR-41 Nov 16 - 20 Palm Springs, CA France TR-30 Apr 27 - May 1 New Jersey TR-29 May 4 - 7 Atlanta, GA

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Communications Standards Review –Telecommunications (ISSN 1081-4655) is published 8 - 9 times per year, within days after the latest, related standards meetings. Editor: Elaine J. Baskin, Ph.D. Technical Editor: Ken Krechmer. Copyright © 1998, Communications Standards Review. All rights reserved. Copying of individual articles for distribution within a subscriber organization is permitted. Subscriptions: $695.00 per year worldwide, $795.00 in electronic format. Corporate Intranet subscriptions (site license for multiple copies) are available. Submit articles for consideration to: Communications Standards Review, 757 Greer Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303-3024 U.S.A. Tel: +1-650-856-9018. Fax: +1-650-856-6591. e-mail: [email protected]. WWW: http://www.csrstds.com. 19901