58 IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine October 2010 John Schmalzel Technical Standards Activities: First and Second Quarter, 2010 tc news The Mission Technical Standards & Activities is the component of the IMS that is concerned with technical standards and other activities that range from workshop planning to technical paper preparation and reviews. Technical Committees (TCs) are formed around themes. A proposal is submitted to the AdCom for review and approval. Organizationally, a TC consists of a chair, one or more co-chairs, and members. A TC may also create subcommittees (SCs) to refect subdivisions of interest within the TC. A list of the Society’s 35 TCs along with their missions and chairs is maintained on the IMS website www.ieee-ims.org, “Tech Committees”, and a list of TCs and the chairs appears in this magazine. Once formed, a TC is reviewed biennially to determine vitality and relevance; dormant TCs are removed. TC Opportunities Browse the list of Technical Committees and their related Subcommittees to fnd one that best matches your interests. Contact the TC/SC Chair and ask how you can participate. If you are interested in immediate leadership opportunities, note the following open Chair positions: ◗ TC-1, Measurement Precision, Sensitivity & Noise ◗ TC-3, Frequency & Time ◗ TC-35, Netcentric Operations Interoperability A brief summary of highlights for a number of TCs that have reported on their progress and plans to date are presented here. The next update will cover third and fourth Quarter activities. TC-4, High Frequency Measurements and Connectors Chair: Yeon-Song (Brian) Lee ◗ Held a preliminary IEEE 287 working group (WG) meeting at Broomfeld, Colorado in Dec. 2009. ◗ Participated in the P1785 standard review. ◗ Andy Brush (TEGAM) agreed to chair a WG to create a new standard for microwave & RF power sensors. The previous one, IEEE 470, is obsolete. Plans: ◗ Initiate a project authorization request (PAR) for the power sensor standard. ◗ Coordinate with other professional societies in the high frequency measurement area. ◗ Host WG P378 and 287 meetings in conjunction with the MTT conference in June. TC-9, Sensor Technology Chair: Kang Lee ◗ The WG on NCAP Information Model began work on P1451.1 standard revision. ◗ The Transducer to Microprocessor Communication WG met biweekly to revise the 1451.2-2007 standard; separate meetings were held to discuss reference implementation. ◗ The Mixed-Mode Communication WG submitted a PAR to revise 1451.4; approved in March. ◗ The Sensor and RFID Integration WG obtained approval for IEEE 1451.7 as a full-use standard in March. ◗ The Precise Networked Clock Synchronization WG Interpretation Subcommittee met to address the issues brought to its attention on the interpretation of IEEE 1588. ◗ ISO/IEC JTC1 SC31 has fast-tracked the IEEE 1451.7 specifcation; the update is designated as ISO 21451-7, which is available for IEEE members for review and comment. ◗ Kang Lee contributed as IEEE 1451 sensor standards expert to ISO TC104 WG2 meeting to develop standards specifcation for shipping container tags.