Jean, here's a White Paper Submittal for NGI Workshop, May13-14, 1997. Regards, Jim Carlo Standards and the Next Generation Internet By Dr. James T. Carlo Chair, IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee Chair, NCITS/OMC Ad Hoc for ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6 Director, Networking Standards at Texas Instruments Texas Instruments 9208 Heatherdale Drive Dallas, Texas 75243 EMAIL: jcarlo@ti.com PHONE: +1 972-480-2524 FAX: +1 972-480-2611 Standards for enabling multi-vendor compatibility and end user value will be key in fostering the development of the Next Generation Internet. Today's information infrastructure is based upon standards that have originated by several processes. Four separate processes are in use for standardization, the accredited process (such as IEEE 802), the working code process (such as IETF), the forum process (such as ATM Forum) and the de-facto process (such as Windows95(TM)). Each of these processes have formed the basis for successful standards in the Information Highway Internet and Infranet and it is important to consider what works and what doesn't work in each of these cases. The respective roles of industry, government and universities in the standards process and how these processes may coalesce and improve will affect the development of the Next Generation Internet. Finally, the establishment of standards that have World Wide Impact and Significance must be addressed. The accredited process, such as IEEE 802 is based on a structured consensus process that is accredited by ANSI to develop US National Standards. In IEEE 802, before beginning a project with the goal to develop a standard, a Project Authorization Request (PAR) is produced that demonstrates that there is a strong, multi-vendor and user support for the effort. After the PAR is approved, a Working Group is formed that meets about six times a year to develop a draft standard. The draft aims to insure interoperability between multiple implementations by including critical interface specifications, but allowing enough implementation flexibility to enable multiple vendors to produce products that have differentiating, yet interoperable, features. After the draft is approved by the Working Group ballot, the IEEE Standards Office conducts another ballot to ensure a wide awareness of the standards activity between users and vendors. Finally, after consensus is reached, the draft is officially approved and published as a "standard". Other accredited processes in ANSI use similar mechanisms, which can be generalized into project approval, work effort, balloting, review, final approval and publication. The working code process, such as the IETF, has the goal to produce Internet Standards that are stable, well understood and proven by multiple interoperable implementations. The need for a specification is generally initiated at a Birds of a Feather (BOF) wherein sufficient interest is shown to begin a standards effort. Several authors develop a Proposed Standard which is posted on the Internet. After at least two independent and interoperable different code bases have been developed, the Proposed Standard becomes a Draft Standard. Finally, the document, if significant widespread use and interoperability is achieved, becomes an Internet Standard. The forum process, such as the ATM forum, consists of a consortium whose membership is by company and with a specific yearly fee, with the goal to produce standards specifications in a specific industry or using a specific technology. In the ATM forum, the effort is divided into different working groups which meet to develop a specification. After the working group approves the specification by informal ballot, the entire ATM Forum membership votes on accepting the standards. Liaisons with accredited standards organizations are used to promulgate the documents into standards at an international level. The de-facto process, such as the standardized interfaces in Windows95, are produced by a single corporation or multiple corporations that gain wide industry acceptance based on a vendor specification. The success of this process depends to a large extent on industry use and acceptance and the possible need to standardize de-facto specification to further broaden its usability in the industry. In some cases, the usage is standardized by default and no formal standard is developed. The processes described above have resulted in both good and bad standards as viewed from the standpoint of resulting market. In the first three cases, usually strong acceptance is obtained world-wide by the participation of multiple individuals from multiple countries in the standards development process. Also, International Organizations, such as the ITU or ISO/IEC JTC1 provide forums to modify and internationalize the standards efforts, if appropriate. These international organizations, also provide the means for adopting geographic specific standards (such as produced by ETSI and ECMA) in the international arena and subsequently by the US through ANSI. Also important, a relatively new US organization, the IISP, has been developing "needs requirements" to identify needed standards development areas. An important question for development of the Next Generation Internet is which combinations of the above processes will optimize success. Minimization of the cost to produce standards, the speed of standardization, and the world wide acceptance of these standards may induce major changes in the standards processes. The Forum development, seems to start the fastest, but progress reaches a plateau after the initial Forum grows to greater than 100 members. The IETF success, is going to be challenged by the current attendance of 2000 people at the last few meetings and subsequent organizational issues this large an attendance creates. The IEEE 802 process, seems to be too slow for many developers. The combination of Forums, small groups to ensure the work proceeds rapidly and multiple implementations are tested, and the stability of an accredited consensus process may all be required. Problematic geographic standardization with lack of compatibility between different countries must be avoided through strong contact during the development process in the International Standards area. Attachment converted: HardDrive:WINMAIL.DAT (????/----) (000135DA)