DSL Advances

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) sponsors many standards committees . The most relevant to DSLs is IEEE Committee 802, founded in 1980 by the IEEE Computer Society. IEEE Committee 802 addresses ISO layer 1 and 2 aspects of local area network (LANs) and metropolitan area networks (MANs), and works closely with IEC/ISO JTC 1 SC6. In 1997, IEEE Committee 802 consisted of the following active working groups:

• P802.1 : Overview, architecture, bridging, management

• P802.2 : Logical link control

• P802.3 : CSMA/CD (Ethernet)

• P802.4 : Token bus

• P802.5 : Token ring

• P802.6 : DQDB (dual queue dual bus)

• P802.8 : Broadband and fiber optics

• P802.9 : Integrated services

• P802.10 : Security

• P802.11 : Wireless

• P802.12 : Demand priority

• P802.14 : Cable TV

IEEE P743 has developed techniques for measuring the analog characteristics of DSL signals.

The IEEE may be reached at 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855, phone: 908-562-3820, http://www.ieee.org.