IEEE P1901 Draft Standard
for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control
and Physical Layer Specifications
Report on the
meetng held in Boston, MA, USA, 7-11 June 2010
In April, the initial 30-day sponsor ballot on Draft 3.0
yielded 98% returned ballots of the 56 voting entities and
81% affirmative votes. 857 comments were received.
During the meeting in Boston, the P1901 working group completed
resolution of the sponsor ballot comments received on Draft
3.0, and Draft 4.0 was generated. With 93% affirmative votes,
the WG voted to move Draft 4.0 to recirculation Sponsor
Ballot. The recirculation Sponsor Ballot will be conducted
during the coming weeks.
P1901 has led the technical development and promotion of
coexistence since 2005. Draft 4.0 includes the final specification
of the ISP mechanism that provides coexistence between IEEE
1901 systems, ITU-T G.hn systems that implement the G.cx
specification and low-rate wide band services (LRWBS) systems.
Coexistence with LRWBS systems is a unique feature provided
by the P1901 ISP specification. ISP is a mandatory element
of the P1901 systems.
The P1901 Draft is available for sale through the IEEE
store..
Approval of P1901 as an IEEE standard is targeted for September
2010.
*****
The next P1901 WG meeting is scheduled for 2-6 August 2010
(see next meetings).
June 2005 - PAR approved
November 2005 - Adoption of the general
work flow - Formation of a sub-group to develop unified
requirements
January 2006 - Approval of the use cases - Decision to split
the requirements into three clusters: In-Home, Access and
Coexistence/Interoperability
March 2006 - Approval of the down
selection process to achieve the baseline of the standard
- Approval of the description of topologies.
September 2006 - Approval of the channel and noise models.
February 2007 - Approval of 400 requirements split into
three clusters: access, in-home and coexistence - Calls
for technical proposals
June 2007 - 12 proposals received; 4 proposals per cluster
of requirements
July 2007 - 11 proposals passed the low hurdle vote; 4 in-home
proposals, 4 access proposals and 3 coexistence proposals
September 2007 - Only two proposals per cluster remain for
consideration after voluntary mergers.
October 2007 - One in-home proposal and one access proposal
remain as candidates for confirmation after the first round
of elimination voting.
March 2008 - A single coexistence proposal remains as candidate
for confirmation after the last round of elimination voting.
July 2008 - The first round of confirmation voting for the
in-home, access, and coexistence proposals is held. All
three votes fail.
September 2008 - The second round of confirmation voting
for the in-home, access, and coexistence proposals is held.
The votes on the in-home and access proposals fail. The
vote on the coexistence proposal is ruled invalid because
the number of abstain votes exceeds the established percentage.
A reset vote is held for in-home and access yielding a single
proposal for confirmation in the in-home cluster, and two
proposals for the access cluster. A voluntary merger in
the access cluster is announced at the end of the meeting,
bringing the total for access to a single proposal.
November 2008 - The first round of confirmation voting for
the in-home and access proposals is held. Both votes fail.
December 2008 - The second round of confirmation voting
for the in-home, access, and coexistence clusters is held.
All three proposals are confirmed.
February 2009 - A tentative table of contents of the Draft
Standard is adopted and four Technical Subgroups are formed
to merge the confirmed proposals and develop a unified document.
July 2009 - The first Draft Standard is created. The Draft
is sent for comment and vote on whether it is ready to go
to Sponsor Ballot.
October 2009 - Development of the ITU-T G.hn Compatible
PHY/MAC Draft option is stopped. Related chapters and annexes
are removed from the Draft.
December 2009: Comment resolution on Draft 1.0 completed.
January 2010: Draft 2.0 is circulated for comment and vote
on whether it is ready to go to Sponsor Ballot.
February 2010: Draft 2.0 receives 100% approval from the
WG, affirming that it is mature enough to go to Sponsor
Ballot. The comments received on Draft 2.0 are addressed,
and Draft 3.0 is generated. The WG decides to move Draft
3.0 to Sponsor Ballot.
April 2010: Initial 30-day sponsor ballot on Draft 3.0 receives
81% affirmative votes.
June 2010: Draft 3.0 comment resolution is completed. Draft
4.0 is generated. The WG decides to move Draft 4.0 to recirculation
Sponsor Ballot.
About IEEE P1901
The working group, formed in June 2005, has grown from
20 to more than 50 members. Members are corporations, government
agencies, trade associations, universities, and standards
developing organizations. Each entity has one vote.
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