1. November 18
July 2008
Project: IEEE P Working Group for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs)
Submission Title: Task Group 4e definitions
Date Submitted: July 2008
Source: Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC
Contact: Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC
Voice: ,
Re:
Abstract: Definition of terms used by TG4e
Purpose: Amendments to IEEE MAC
Notice: This document has been prepared to assist the IEEE P 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.
Release: The contributor acknowledges and accepts that this contribution becomes the property of IEEE and may be made publicly available by P
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC

2. Definitions GTS Enhancements Channel Hopping Mesh TDMA QoS Reliability
July 2008
Definitions
The following definitions are intended for use in the development of the e draft standard and solely apply to e. These definitions are not intended to replace definitions used by IEEE and/or IEEE but instead are meant to be more focused towards the needs of TG4e.
GTS Enhancements
Channel Hopping
Mesh
TDMA  
QoS
Reliability
Phy Support
Management
Backward/Forward Compatibility
Coexistence
Interoperability
Modeling 
Simulation
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC

3. Definitions GTS Enhancements:
July 2008
Definitions
GTS Enhancements:
Effort to extend the existing guaranteed time slot (GTS) mechanism in and enhance GTS management and maintenance. 
Purpose: To address the need for greater control (bounding) of latency, reduce latency, improve delivery reliability for reduced jitter, enable more efficient use of the channel (better payload bits/raw bit rate ratio); 
Application Need:
Support for latency sensitive content as required in interactive applications;
Ability to improve payload/overhead ratio for time critical content;
Reduce packet loss as seen by the next higher layer; 
Scope:  Modify existing MAC with additions and enhancements while preserving interoperability with legacy devices (MAC to MAC) and compatibility with the legacy next-higher-layer(s). 
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC

4. Definitions Channel Hopping:
July 2008
Definitions
Channel Hopping:
Channel Hopping is a coordinated multiple-channel usage scheme. Channel hopping devices in the wireless sensor network are synchronized and select a channel in each synchronized interval (e.g. timeslot) using specified channel hopping sequence.
Note: Channel hopping provides channel diversity and helps maintain robust and reliable communication links.
Mesh:
Wireless mesh topology is a multiple path peer-to-peer wireless networking topology that includes multi-hop paths.
Note: Wireless mesh topology extends coverage with multi-hop capability and facilitates reliability by utilizing redundant paths between devices.
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC

5. Definitions Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA):
July 2008
Definitions
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA):
TDMA is a mechanism for dividing up time and allocating it for use by a connection between two or more nodes .
Note: Unlike guaranteed time slots (GTS) which does this on a fairly coarse scale, TDMA allocations can be defined to be multiples of a much smaller unit of time.
Quality of Service (QoS):
QoS is a metric of the network’s capability of providing an intended communication service
Note 1: The metric may include such parameters as latency, throughput, and reliability of communication service.
Note 2: Some methods, such as prioritizing and queuing frames, service classification, resource scheduling and data rate control, can be used to effect the metric.
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC

6. Definitions Reliability:
July 2008
Definitions
Reliability:
Metric of successful communications in a network
Note: mechanisms to affect the metric include fault detection and fault recovery
PHY support:
improving the PHY functionality by enhanced control of PHY related parameters using control from the MAC
Note: For example by existing PIBs or additional (new) PIBs when needed. 
Note: As an example the added support may include provision for Antenna Diversity, CCA, CSMA, Channel Hopping / AFA (Adaptive Frequency Agility).
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC

7. Definitions Management:
July 2008
Definitions
Management:
Additions to the MAC to better support network formation, configuration, maintenance, and status.
Compatibility:
Backward compatibility: TG4e devices must be able to interoperate/participate with legacy device networks need to maintain SAP for upper layers
Forward compatibility: ability of a legacy device (pre 4e) to interoperate with TG4e networks.
Note: Background
In [section 5.1] “backward-compatible” is defined as: “in other words, devices conforming to this standard are capable of joining and functioning in a PAN composed of devices conforming to IEEE Std ”. This implies the capability to interoperate, in some mode of operation. It does not mandate networks using new and optional behaviors to allow older devices or those without the optional behavior to join.
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC

8. July 2008
Definitions
Coexistence: the ability of one system to perform a task in a given environment where there are other systems that may or may not be using a similar set of rules
Interoperability:
The ability of two systems to perform a given task using a common set of rules,
The ability of two or more systems or elements to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged (ATLAS/C/PA/SCC20)
Modeling:
creation of a tool that yields an approximation of real life parameter
Simulation:
The ability of a computer program to accurately predict the behavior of protocols, etc
Pat Kinney, Kinney Consulting LLC