Standards in Telecommunications n Origin of standards – Standard setting bodies – Governments n...

Standards in Telecommunications Origin of standards

– Standard setting bodies– Governments

Rationale– Market-driven and voluntary– Government-regulated and mandatory

Advantages

Assures a large market, encourages mass production, lowers costs

Encourages vendors to enter market because investment is protected

Allows products from multiple vendors to communicate, providing consumers with wider selection

Disadvantages

Standards process can freeze technology too early, due to the length of the standards-setting process and the speed with which technology changes

Current process allows for multiple standards for the same thing

Standards Organizations

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Industry Associations Int’l Telecommunications Union (ITU) ISO (International Standards Organization) Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RFCInternet Standard

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

the largest professional society in the world develops standards in the area of electrical

engineering and computing publishes scores of journals and runs

numerous conferences each year e.g. IEEE 802.x network standards

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

non-gov’t and nonprofit organization members are U.S. manufacturers and other interest

groups sets a variety of a standards, not just computer-

related ANSI proposals are usually approved by ISO as

international standards e.g. 802.x, created by IEEE, approved by ANSI,

passed on and approved by ISO

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

formerly known as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)

an agency of the U.S. Dept.. of Commerce issues standards that are mandatory for

purchases made by the U.S. Government except the Department of Defense

Industry Associations

Electronic Industries Association (EIA) Telecommunication Industry Association

(TIA) e.g. EIA-232 (formerly RS-232-C)

Industry Associations

Electronic Industries Association (EIA) Telecommunication Industry Association

(TIA) e.g. EIA-232 (formerly RS-232-C)

ISO (International Standards Organization) a member of ITU-T founded in 1946 issues standards on a vast number of

subjects, ranging from nuts and bolts to telephone pole coatings

has almost 200 Technical Committees

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Part of the Internet Architecture Board

(IAB) IETF proposes and published Internet RFCs IAB determines which RFCs become

standards, based on IETF recommendations

RFCInternet Standard

Stable and well-understood Technically competent Numerous independent and interoperable

implementations in operation Significant public support Recognizably useful Differs from other standards processes because of

the emphasis on operational experience