2001-06-19 IEEE 802.16c-01/10 Project IEEE 802.16 Broadband Wireless Access Working Group <http://ieee802.org/16> Title Article: Standards from IEEE 802 Unleash the Wireless Internet Date Submitted 2001-06-19 Source(s) Roger Marks Voice: +1-303-497-3037 NIST Fax: +1-303-497-3037 325 Broadway mailto:[email protected] Boulder, CO 80305 Re: Abstract Within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), the IEEE 802 LAN MAN Standards Committee is developing air interface standards for wireless local area network (LAN), wireless metropolitan area network (MAN), and wireless personal area network (PAN) technology. These standards are enabling the development of an infrastructure for the Wireless Internet. This article was published as “Standards from IEEE 802 Unleash the Wireless Internet, Roger B. Marks, Ian C. Gifford, and Bob O’Hara, IEEE Microwave Magazine 2, pp. 46-56, June 2001.” <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6668/20011/00924918.pdf> Purpose This document may improve the effectiveness of standards developers by aiding their understanding of the wireless projects in the IEEE 802 LAN MAN Standards Committee. Notice This document has been prepared to assist IEEE 802.16. It is offered as a basis for discussion and is not binding on the contributing individual(s) or organization(s). The material in this document is subject to change in form and content after further study. The contributor(s) reserve(s) the right to add, amend or withdraw material contained herein. Copyright Copyright ©2001 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Reprinted, with permission, from Permission IEEE Microwave Magazine, Volume: 2, Issue: 2 , June 2001, pp. 46-56. This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/ republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE (contact [email protected]). By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it. 1999 John Foxx Images 46 ISSN 1527-3342/01/$10.00©2001 IEEE June 2001 ithin the Institute of Electrical and In a contrast of broad proportions, IEEE 802 is devel- Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), oping an alternative series of wireless Internet stan- the IEEE 802 LAN MAN Stan- dards. IEEE’s global standardization effort involves no dards Committee is developing national bodies and therefore no national politics; the air interface standards for wire- work proceeds on a technical and business basis. To a Wless local area network (LAN), wireless metropolitan large degree, the intent is to bring to market low-cost area network (MAN), and wireless personal area net- products that serve customer needs. Much of the work work (PAN) technology. These standards are enabling involves license-exempt spectrum. This removes the the development of an infrastructure for the wireless spectrum acquisition costs from the economic picture. Internet. Furthermore, it weakens the concept of a monolithic “operator” with strong control over the provided ser- Standards for the Convergence of Internet vices. Instead, it opens up the market to enterprise and and Wireless Communications Technologies innovation. IEEE 802 wireless Internet technologies offer The Internet and wireless communications networks data rates much higher than those provided by even the revolutionized communications in the 1990s. The con- fixed user case in IMT-2000; for example, the currently vergence of these two technologies leads naturally to the wireless Internet. Just as standards determined the If IEEE 802 maintains its record of development of the Internet and of wireless cellular te- success in ushering technology into lephony, so will standards influence the evolution of the wireless Internet as a social phenomenon. Both the the economy and into society, then cellular telephony industry and the Internet communi- IEEE 802.16 will be the tool to make cations industry bring their own models for standard- fixed broadband wireless access ization, and the two offer contrasting visions. For low-level network issues, the Internet-based standard- a mainstream application ization model is currently centered in the IEEE and its IEEE 802 LAN MAN Standards Committee, the world popular IEEE 802.11b standard supports 11 Mb/s. The leader in LAN and MAN standards. IEEE 802 is cur- IEEE standards do not offer the mobility of IMT-2000 in rently developing and enhancing standards for wire- the sense of providing services to moving vehicles, and less LANs, PANs, and MANs. they are not aimed at providing blanket coverage to us- The wireless Internet model based on cellular tele- ers at arbitrary locations within a city. Instead: phony is embodied in the International Mobile Tele- G IEEE 802.16 wireless MAN standards will support communications 2000 (IMT-2000) family of standards high-rate broadband-wireless-access services to for third-generation wireless communications, pub- buildings, mostly through rooftop antennas, from lished by the International Telecommunication Union central basestations. Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). This set of stan- G IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN standards support us- dards foresees an evolution from circuit-switched mo- ers roaming within homes, office buildings, cam- bile voice services to packet-switched mobile voice and puses, hotels, airports, restaurants, cafes, etc. data. The infrastructure is to be based on cellular G IEEE 802.15 wireless PAN standards will support basestations serving highly mobile users (at automo- short-range links among computers, mobile tele- tive speeds) at 144 kb/s, with the capability to also phones, peripherals, and other consumer elec- serve fixed users at rates up to 2 Mb/s. The standards tronics devices that are worn or carried. were developed at a technical level by national or re- gional standards bodies so that, when world-wide Standardization in IEEE 802 standards were forged by the ITU-R, the voting mem- IEEE Standards Association bers (national governments) were centrally involved in The IEEE is a nonprofit transnational technical profes- the negotiations. As a result, the standards debates sional organization with over 350,000 members. IEEE became highly politicized events often publicized as supports many technical activities, including confer- “wars.” The world now eagerly anticipates the eco- ences, publications, and local activities. In addition, nomic success of this technology. For example, license IEEE carries out an active program in standardization auctions in Europe have garnered thousands of euros through the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA). per resident. By the time these costly systems are engi- While many IEEE-SA activities are global in scope, its neered, constructed, and marketed, investors will have efforts are accredited by the American National Stan- paid dearly and will be expecting a heavy return. dards Institute (ANSI). ANSI oversight ensures that its guiding principles of consensus, due process, and R.B. Marks is with the National Institute of Standards and Technol- ogy (NIST), Boulder, Colorado, USA. I.C. Gifford is with openness are followed. M/A-COM, Inc., Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. B. O’Hara is with IEEE-SA standards are openly developed with con- 1999 John Foxx Images Informed Technology, Inc., Santa Clara, California, USA. sensus in mind. Participation in their development, June 2001 47 and use is entirely voluntary. However, history has overseen by 802’s SEC and defined by a set of rules and shown that standards developed in an open forum can procedures [2]. In brief: produce high-quality, broadly accepted results that can G A study group is chartered to study the prospects focus companies and forge industries. for a standard in a field and potentially to develop The IEEE-SA oversees the standardization process a project authorization request (PAR) requesting through the IEEE-SA Standards Board. Project develop- IEEE-SA approval of a new project. The SEC also ment is delegated to individual standard sponsors that requires that each PAR be accompanied by a state- are generally units of the IEEE’s technical societies. One ment addressing 802’s “Five Criteria for Stan- of the most important of the IEEE-SA sponsor groups is dards Development,” demonstrating that the the IEEE 802 LAN MAN Standards Committee. intended standard has broad market potential, compatibility with other 802 standards, distinct IEEE 802 LAN MAN Standards Committee identity within 802, technical feasibility, and eco- The IEEE 802 LAN MAN Standards Committee is nomic feasibility. sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society. It first met in G The SEC assigns each approved project to an ex- 1980 to develop a LAN standard that evolved into sepa- isting or new working group. Technical decisions rate technologies. It develops and maintains standards are made by the working group by vote of at least at the physical layer (PHY) and medium access control 75% of its members. Working group membership sublayer (MAC), each of which fits under a common belongs to individuals, not to companies or other logical link control sublayer (LLC) [1]. Together, these entities, and is awarded on the basis of participa- make up the two lowest layers of the Open Systems In- tion at meetings. Nonmembers participate ac- terconnection (OSI) seven-layer model for data net- tively as well. works. The seven-layer model is a standard of the G The initial draft development method varies International Standards Organization (ISO). among groups, but the typical process is to dele- IEEE 802 holds week-long plenary meetings three gate the problem to a subordinate task group and times a year under the leadership of a Sponsor Execu- issue a public call for contributions for docu- tive Committee (SEC), chaired since 1996 by Jim Carlo. mented input. Eventually a baseline draft is se- In between these plenaries, most of its active Working lected and then developed.