Abstract

Standards provide the foundation for developing innovative technologies and enabling them to be widely adopted in market. Several major international standard bodies are developing next-generation wireless standards, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The standardization activities of IEEE 802 committee mainly focus on physical (PHY) and media access control (MAC) layers, that is, layers 1 and 2 of the network protocol stack, including WLAN, WMAN, and WPAN network interfaces. IETF standards deal with layer 3 and above, in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite, including mobile IP and mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) related protocols. ITU-R is one of the three sectors of the ITU and is responsible for radio communications. It plays a vital role in the global management of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, and developing standards for radio communications systems to assure the necessary performance and quality and the effective use of the spectrum. ETSI is a European standards organization for producing globally applicable standards for information and communications technologies (ICT), including fixed, mobile, broadcast, and Internet technologies. ETSI inspired the creation of, and is a partner of, 3GPP – a collaboration project between groups of telecommunications associations worldwide.