New IEEE WirelessHUMAN™ Project Developing Standards
for Fixed Wireless Access in License-Exempt Bands
Contact:
Roger Marks, NIST, +1 303 497 3037 Voice, marks@nist.gov
Durga P. Satapathy, +1 913 534 6338 Voice, durga.satapathy@mail.sprint.com
Dean Chang, +1 408 719 9977 Voice, dchang@apertonet.com
Karen McCabe, Standards Mktg. Mgr., +1 732 562 3824 Voice, k.mccabe@ieee.org
For Release: Immediate
(PISCATAWAY, NJ, 16 Jan. 2001) The Standards Board of the Institute
of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) Standards Association
has approved the WirelessHUMAN™ (Wireless High-Speed Unlicensed Metropolitan
Area Networks) project, a new initiative within the IEEE 802.16 Working
Group on Broadband Wireless Access. IEEE 802.16 created its Task Group
4 to draft the air interface standard, which will address the explosive
growth market of providing data services in license-exempt spectrum. The
primary focus is on 5-6 GHz.
"Unlicensed spectrum is a huge worldwide market opportunity for fixed
broadband wireless access because it may be deployed by any operator without
the delay and cost of acquiring a license," said 802.16 Chair Roger Marks.
"Standardization is key to making this technology readily available to
the public as an alternative Internet connection. Because of the special
considerations of unlicensed spectrum, we needed to establish a project
separate from our existing work on metropolitan area network standards
in the licensed bands. Our previous success will provide an excellent
baseline. We welcome new participants to our open process."
To facilitate early standardization of the license-exempt MAN industry,
the WirelessHUMAN standard will be based on modifications of the IEEE
802.16 medium access control layer, while the physical layer will be based
on the OFDM mechanism of IEEE 802.11a and similar standards. "The WirelessHUMAN
standard represents a significant opportunity for the unlicensed metropolitan
area network industry. Timely availability of this standard will considerably
improve the benefits of standardization for the unlicensed industry, especially
for the nascent but rapidly growing 5-6 GHz industry segment," said Dr.
Durga Satapathy of Sprint, Chair of the WirelessHUMAN Task Group and of
the predecessor study group that developed the project plan. Acting quickly,
the Task Group has already issued a public Call for Contributions.
About IEEE 802.16
The IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access is creating
the IEEE 802.16 family of WirelessMAN™ Standards for Wireless Metropolitan
Area Networks. With 134 members and over 40 official observers, IEEE 802.16
operates in an open process to develop accredited air interface standards
and recommended practices for global use. Meeting bimonthly, 802.16 has
a record of rapidly reaching technical consensus. IEEE 802.16's standards
set the stage for a revolution in reliable, high-speed network access
in the first mile by homes and enterprises. For details, see http://WirelessMAN.org/.
About the IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA)
is an international membership organization serving today's industries
with a complete portfolio of standards programs. The IEEE-SA is a major
contributor to the IEEE, which is the world's largest technical professional
society. IEEE-SA membership, through its IEEE association, promotes the
engineering process by creating, developing, integrating, sharing and
applying knowledge about electro- and information technologies and sciences
for the benefit of humanity and the profession. More information is found
at http://standards.ieee.org/sa-mem/index.html.
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