Understanding IEEE 

The Standards Process and Documents

The IEEE organization has created thousands of standards, but they are most famous for their Ethernet standards.

The IEEE-SA (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association) is the portion of IEEE responsible for standards.  Unfortunately, they have overcomplicated the already overcomplicated !!!  Instead of just creating a series of documents, and naming them in a sensible manner - such as Ethernet1-CSMA/CD, Ethernet2-Cabling, etc.  -  they have drafts, RFC's, documents, clauses, sub-clauses, Annexes, etc.  So it helps to know a bit about this structure.  For details, see http://standards.ieee.org/guides/style/  and in particular http://standards.ieee.org/guides/style/section4.html (document structure) and the IEEE Standards Companion.

The Standards Process

IEEE is composed of a number of Working Groups, Advisory Committees, Balloting Groups and Sponsors that specialize in different areas.  The advisory com

Many are surprised to find out that these are not free !!  The IEEE is paid for their work, and since the process is intensive, it is also costly and requires a sponsor.  The process of creating a standard is as follows (PAR is Project Authorization Request):

Standards Documents

Any standards document is composed of a number of "clauses", "sub-clauses", and "annexes".  The clauses and sub-clauses are the main sections, and the annexes are technical appendices (tables, calculations, statistics, etc).

In addition, the standards document will have Overview, Scope, and Purpose sections at the beginning - and Definitions, Acronyms & Abbreviations, References, Bibliographies, Copyright, Patent, Trademark, and Index sections at the end.

Overview

The overview shall be a succinct description of the scope of the standard and may include, if necessary, the purpose, applications, and other areas that the working group considers relevant. These optional topics may be presented as separate subclauses of the overview. If these separate subclauses are presented, a minimum of two subclauses are required.

This clause shall be entitled Overview unless it contains only a scope; in this case, the clause shall be entitled Scope without any further subdivision. Detailed discussions of the general technical content should not be part of the overview. If the standard contains annexes, these should be described in the overview.

Scope

The scope of the standard shall explain what is covered in the standard and, if necessary, what is not covered in the standard. In other words, the technical boundaries of the document shall be discussed. The scope shall be the same in context as the scope set forth in the current PAR for the standards project. Please note the distinction from the purpose of the standard discussed in 10.2.2.

Purpose

A paragraph describing the purpose is not mandatory. However, if included, the purpose of the standard and its intended application shall be included in a separate subclause. The purpose shall explain why the standards project is needed.

Clauses

The main body of the document !!  The first 3 clauses are defined for you.  Clause 1 should be your overview and contain your scope and purpose, clause 2 should contain your references, and clause 3 should be your definitions.

Annexes

Annexes appear after the body of the standard. They are labeled by letter and each has its own numbering scheme.  There are two types of Annexes - Informative and Normative. 

• Normative annexes are mandatory and are considered to be a part of the standard, just like any other text in the body of the standard. The key thing is that they are not considered to be part of the official standard. They are there as a service, for information only, but they don't carry any mandate for the user of that standard.
• Informative Annexes are part of the official standard - the balloted document. Therefore, all of the rules about making changes during or after the ballot apply to informative annexes just as they do to the rest of the standard.

References and Bibliography

References are those consensus standards documents that a user absolutely needs to have in order to be able to implement the standard--there are charts or equations or methods in that referenced standard that the user must employ.  The difference between a reference and a bibliographical entry is that the references require the user to have the document available. Bibliographies contain those documents the working group used in researching the standard and contain useful background information or additional material related to the subject.

Copyright, Patent, and Trademarks

These 3 sections are at the end of the document, and give credit to any existing agreements used to forge this standard.

Balloting Groups

These groups vote on the standard and this decides whether it is sent to the IEEE standards board with a request for approval, or goes back to the drawing board, or as in the case of 802.8 - is disbanded altogether.  What a balloting group is trying to achieve is the imperative principle of consensus. Consensus means agreement among the majority. It does not mean unanimity. A balloting group does not need to achieve 100% approval, or even 95% or 90%. According to the IEEE rules, consensus is defined as a minimum 75% return of ballots from the balloting group, and a 75% approval rate from that 75% return group. If this is reached, then consensus has been achieved according to the IEEE definition.

Approval

Approval of an IEEE standard is achieved by submitting the document and supporting materialto RevCom, which issues a recommendation that is ratified or denied by the IEEE-SA Standards Board. Crucial things to remember at this stage are to supply all the necessary documentation, such as rebuttals to unresolved negative ballots. You should also examine your PAR to ensure that the final document you have produced is still within the scope defined by the PAR. You should check that the PAR title and final title match. RevCom will check over all the documentation and make sure that you have followed the procedures. RevCom will not determine anything concerning the technical nature of your document. That is the role of the balloting group.

RevCom examines whether or not you have followed the principles of consensus, due process, openness, and balance throughout your project development. RevCom will carefully examine your resolution of negative votes to ensure that this has been done.

All packages submitted to RevCom must be received by a certain deadline, which is set for each meeting. However, RevCom does offer an early consideration cycle for submissions that arrive early and that appear to be complete submissions. Therefore, making sure your materials are carefully and clearly organized so there is no confusion at RevCom could allow you to benefit from the early consideration program.

Finally, keep in mind that RevCom and NesCom merely make recommendations to the IEEE-SA Standards Board for approval or disapproval of a project via a consent agenda. Projects can, and often have been, pulled off this consent agenda for further discussion or a recommended change of action. Final approval of all documents and PARs ultimately rests with the IEEE-SA Standards Board. And remember, all IEEE-SA Standards Board and committee meetings are open for you to attend