IEEE 802.15 January 2025 Session Recap

The IEEE 802.15 Work Group (WG) on Wireless Specialty Networks (WSN) kicked off the New Year at the IEEE 802 Wireless Interim Session, held in Kobe, Japan, January 12-17. In addition to having its regular full volume of sessions during the week, several WG15 Officers participated in the Kobe Outreach Workshop on 802 held on Saturday, January 11. The workshop allowed local industry personnel to gain exposure to the activities in IEEE 802, including an overview of the IEEE 802.15 WG and its current activities.

In addition to this, the IEEE 802.15 WG hosted a Wireless Next Generation (WNG) Technology Focus on Terahertz (THz) and Wi-SUN (Wireless-Smart Utility Network) Technologies, which utilize IEEE 802.15.3 and IEEE 802.15.4 standards, respectively. The WNG Technology Focus included presentations on THz and Wi-SUN Technologies and several live demonstrations on THz Technology. The evening before the WNG Technology Focus, NICT hosted a THz Social, welcoming the presenters, demo assistants, and many of the 802 Wireless Interim Session attendees.

The Jan. IEEE 802 Wireless Interim Session was again a productive week for the IEEE 802.15 WG. Below are the highlights of the 802.15 WG activities.

- TG4ab, drafting an amendment to 802.15.4 on Next Generation UWB, is still deep in the throes of comment resolution (of the 1470 comments received on the initial letter ballot), and closed another 130 technical comments, with 190 more to go and requested 802.15 WG approval for the reformation of its CRG (Comment Resolution Group) so that it may continue resolving comments and once completed initiate a letter ballot recirculation.

- TG4ac, drafting an amendment to 802.15.4 on Privacy, reviewed the pre-ballot draft, processed all comments received, and requested 802.15 WG approval to start the initial letter ballot on the draft.

- TG4ad, drafting an amendment to 802.15.4 on Next Gen. SUN (Smart Utility Network) PHYs, in response to its call for proposals, heard six presentations on proposals, with an additional one scheduled for presentation during its next call.

- TG4ae, drafting an amendment to 802.15.4 on ASCON cryptographic algorithms, created its initial draft.

- TG6ma, drafting a revision to 802.15.6 (Standard on Body Area Networks) on the combination of BAN/VAN (Vehicle Area Networks), continued resolving comments received on its initial Letter Ballot and requested 802.15 WG approval for the reformation of its CRG (Comment Resolution Group) so that it may continue resolving comments and once completed initiate a letter ballot recirculation.

- TG7a, drafting an amendment to 802.15.7 on OCC (Optical Camera Communication), requested 802.15 WG approval for the reformation of its CRG (Comment Resolution Group) so that it may address any issues that arise during the IEEE publication preparation phase.

- TG9a, drafting an amendment to 802.15.9 on EDHOC (Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman Over Concise Binary Object Representation Object Signing and Encryption Key Management Protocol), created its initial draft.

- TG16t, drafting an amendment to 802.16 defining use in a Licensed Narrow Band, requested 802.15 WG approval for the reformation of its CRG (Comment Resolution Group) so that it may continue resolving comments and once completed, initiate an SA ballot recirculation.

- The Standing Committee on Maintenance and Rules (MAINT) prepared a response to a question from JTC1 on one of the IEEE 802.15.3 submissions. It worked on the Corrigendum PAR for 802.15.4 to address several items found during the publication of IEEE Std. 802.15.4-2024.

- The Standing Committee on Terahertz Communications (THz) heard eight presentations on THz topics and prepared a response to the liaison from ITU-R WP5C and requested the 802.15 WG approve this as well as the liaison from ITU-R WP5A and WP5C.

At its closing, the 802.15 WG approved submitting IEEE Std 802.15.4?-2024 to ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6 for information and adoption.

During the week, a final round of edits was completed on the paper about 802.15.4 UWB technology in preparation for submission to the IEEE Journal on Vehicular Technology in response to an invitation by the publications Editor-in-Chief. With all of the reviewers’ comments, the updated draft is now ready to resubmit for publication consideration.

The next session of the IEEE 802.15 WG on WSNs will occur at the IEEE 802 Plenary, March 9-14, in Atlanta, GA.

For more information on the IEEE 802.15 Work Group on Wireless Specialty Networks, including its standardization efforts in THz technologies, please visit: https://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/15/index.html

For more information on all of the standardization efforts actively occurring within the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee, please visit: https://ieee802.org/