1. Discussion on timeline for 802.11ax
June 2013
doc.: IEEE /xxxxr0
May 2014
Discussion on timeline for ax
Authors:
Date:
Laurent Cariou (Orange)

2. May 2014
Outline
In this presentation, we discuss the risk of a long timeline for ax, especially with regards to the early needs of densification
We discuss some ways to speed up the improvement of user experience in dense environments, through the adjustment of ax timeline.
Laurent Cariou (Orange)

3. Risk of a too long timeline for 802.11ax
May 2014
Risk of a too long timeline for ax
If we take the example of ac to plan the timeline for ax
first products will reach market in 2018 and certified ones in 2019
there will probably be two waves of certifications as for ac
This time-to-market is not so long for the long-term needs
building the Wi-Fi generation for the incoming 10 years.
But we believe that 11ax brings improvements to Wi-Fi user experience that will be needed earlier than
Looking at operators needs for carrier grade Wi-Fi
Looking at the growing densification and demand in public places which impacts WiFi user experience
Considering also alternative technologies on unlicensed bands
this is even more risky if we experience timeline drift as ah
 This time-to-market is too long for these early needs
Laurent Cariou (Orange)

4. 802.11ax should have multiple waves of certification
May 2014
802.11ax should have multiple waves of certification
works with generations every 4-5 years
this model of generation has a very strong marketing value
it however creates long time between generations
802.11ac evolved on this point by creating different waves of certifications (releases) in WFA
We believe it is important for ax to have also multiple waves of certifications in WFA (mix of generations and releases)
with all features defined in ax that end-up in these certification programs: feature selection directly at level
But we need to see how to speed up the pace and reduce the time for the first wave of certification
we would like to see propositions on this
Laurent Cariou (Orange)

5. May 2014
Speed up the improvement of user experience in dense environments (1/2)
Speed up the first wave of certification of ax
WFA created 2 waves of certifications for ac, with 2 different timelines, but worked on a single spec with a single timeline
We consider that there will be multiple waves of certification for ax also
with every wave having a set of PHY&MAC features taken from ax specification
Why not taking this model to the next step by applying it, not only to WFA, but to IEEE work as well
Laurent Cariou (Orange)

6. June 2013
doc.: IEEE /xxxxr0
May 2014
Speed up the improvement of user experience in dense environments (2/2)
Speed up the first wave of certification of ax
Once the overall set of features has been agreed for ax,
the TG could decide at some point to split these features in 2 waves
and to validate the part of ax specification related to the features of wave 1 before the one related to wave 2.
development towards draft 1.0 should focus on providing a mature spec for the features targeted at 11ax wave 1
This could reduce the time-to-market for the first wave of ax
some features don’t need a very long time to be standardized
Laurent Cariou (Orange)
Osama Aboul-Magd (Huawei Technologies)

7. Illustration of potential timelines for 802.11ax
May 2013
Illustration of potential timelines for ax
IEEE802.11
WFA
11ax
11ax/HEW Wave 1
2014
11ax/HEW Wave 2
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
IEEE802.11
WFA
11ax
11ax/HEW Wave 1
2014
long track
fast track
11ax/HEW Wave 2
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Laurent Cariou (Orange)

8. May 2013
Conclusion
802.11ax has to set an ambitious timeline that it will respect
strict selection of the features that will reach market (as for 11ac)
We also believe that 11ax brings improvements to Wi-Fi experience that will be needed earlier than
we propose an approach to speed up that process
some thinking is needed to see how to make it possible
and hope to see some discussion/propositions towards this goal
Laurent Cariou (Orange)

9. May 2013
Strawpoll
Would you like to see investigations on the way to create 2 waves for the specification of ax?
Y 39
N 18
A 62
Laurent Cariou (Orange)