• 802.11-2007 Edition of the standard incorporating 802.11a, b, c, d, e, g, h, i and j was published in June of 2007. The following 9 amendments to this edition are now in progress: 802.11k, n, p, r, s, u, v, w and y.

• 802.11k – Radio Resource Measurement – has been forwarded to sponsor ballot; final approval expected December 2007

• 802.11n – High Throughput – 3076 comments received on draft 2 with 1594 technical comments; 1200 technical comments remain to be resolved; expect draft 3.0 to be approved in the September 2007 interim meeting; final approval expected at the end of 2008

• 802.11p – Wireless Access Vehicular Environment (WAVE) – entered 2nd WG (working group) letter ballot with Draft 3.0; final approval expected in March 2009

• 802.11r – Fast Roaming – forwarded Draft 7 to sponsor ballot after a record of 5 recirculation ballots at the WG level; final approval expected March 2008

• 802.11s – ESS Mesh Networking – resolving comments from 1st WG letter ballot; final approval expected May 2009

• 802.11.2(T) – 802.11 Test – resolving comments from 1st WG letter ballot; final approval expected June 2009

• 802.11u – Interworking with External Networks – planning an ad hoc meeting jointly with 3GPP SA2 in Helsinki, Finland in August 2007; final approval expected September 2009

• 802.11v – Wireless Network Management – released to 1st WG letter ballot with draft 1.0; final approval expected October 09

• TGw – Protected Management Frames – finished resolving comments; coexistence assurance letter written to 802.19 TAG (technical advisory group) detailing how orderly coexistence with other wireless networks will be accomplished

• 802.11y – 3650-3700 MHz Operation – resolved comments and going to Sponsor Ballot; coexistence assurance letter written to 802.19 TAG detailing how orderly coexistence with other wireless networks will be accomplished; final release expected March 2008

• IMT AHC – IMT Advanced Ad Hoc – 802.18 is the interface to IMT.TECH; 802.11 and 802.16 are both actively working with ITU to incorporate their standards into the IMT Advanced framework: 802.16 for mobile interface and 802.11 for nomadic 1 Mbps low mobility interface; spectrum requirements and FCC allocation to be discussed

• VHT SG – 1 Gbps Very High-Throughput Study Group – related to the IMT Advanced effort; working on requirements and PAR (project authorization request); PAR expected in November 2007; sent a liaison letter to the Wi-Fi Alliance requesting input on use cases for VHT

• QSE SG – QoS Extensions Study Group – a study group to incorporate WMM into 802.11; still working on PAR, which is expected in November 2007

• DLS SG – Direct Link Setup Study Group – worked on PAR to enable direct station to station communications without repeating all the traffic through an AP; new chair elected (Menzo Wentink). DLS protocol currently exists in the 802.11e amendment, but it does not work with existing APs, which has been a barrier to deployment.

• 802.16j – relay – goal is to extend the distance between CPE and base station; sponsor ballot expected March 2008; approval in July 2008

• 802.16m – IMT Advanced mobile interface – working on requirements document and evaluation methodology; SDD (system description document) and system requirements document (SRD) are the key documents under development

• 802.18 TAG – Radio Regulatory TAG – managing IMT Advanced effort for 802.11 and 802.16; looking at Japan MIC (ministry internal affairs) proposal for radio utilization fee applied to all wireless devices including WiFi

• 802.19 TAG – License exempt spectrum operation – discussing coexistence between 802.11y and 802.16h in the 3650 MHz band; working on 802.11y and 802.16h clear channel assessment energy detection (CCA-ED) methodology

• 802.21 – Media Independent Handover (MIH) – comment resolution; as of today no disapprove votes; ready for sponsor ballot; draft 0.6 turning into draft 1 for sponsor ballot

• Wi-Fi Alliance – Liaison report – certification of draft 802.11n 2.0 including mandatory WPA, WPA2, WMM and power save; 14 vendors certified in less than a month; goal is to work more effectively with 802.11; WFA (Wi-Fi Alliance) to provide validation of features; IEEE to use the WFA to provide input; VHT SG will ask WFA to provide user scenarios for VHT

• IETF – Liaison report – EAP Method Update (EMU) www.ietf.org/html.charters/emu-charter.html; IETF ECRIT summary of liaison of 802.11 to IETF emergency Services Liaison; CAPWAP WG – documents revised

• ISO/IEC JTC 1SC6 – Liaison report – last meeting in April 2007 in China; next meeting in Geneva 2008; ballot on collaborative agreement between IEEE 802 and JTC 1SC6 will close in December; JTC 1SC6 plans to participate in sponsor ballot for 802.11y and contribute comments

• TIA – Liaison report – seeking comments on 802.11u; TR-41.4 VoIP Systems – IP Telephony Infrastructure and Endpoints currently in ballot resolution; requirements for a Wireless LAN based IP telephony

Fanny Mlinarsky is President of octoScope, a Boston area consulting firm. She can be reached at fm@octoscope.com, +1 (978) 376-5841.

Tags: 802.11n, WiFi,

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