SG11: Signalling requirements, protocols, test specifications and combating counterfeit products

​​​Executive summary of the SG11 meeting (Geneva, 6-15 March 2019)

ITU-T Study Group 11 meeting was held in Geneva, from 6-15 March 2019 and it was attended by 69 delegates from 21 countries. Along with face-to-face meetings, most sessions from various Questions or joint Questions meetings were supported by remote participation capabilities.
Parallel events:

• ITU-T SG13, 4-14 March 2019 (held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe);
  
• Joint meeting with ETSI TC INT and Qs 9/11 and Q11/11, 12 March 2019;
• ETSI TC INT meeting, Geneva, 12-14 March 2019 (see ETSI website);
  
• ITU-T Conformity Assessment Steering Committee (webpage) meeting, 8 March 2019;
  
• ITU Workshop on Benchmarking of emerging technologies and applications. Internet related performance measurements, Geneva, 11 March 2019;
  

1     Approved Recommendations (TAP, Resolution 1 of WTSA-16)
ITU-T Study Group 11 decided to approve during its plenary session, held on 15 March 2019, the following ITU-T Recommendation:

2     Consented Recommendations (ITU-T A.8)
The following table shows the 'Consented' draft Recommendations.

3     Supplements, Handbooks, Technical Papers, Guidelines and Corrigenda
3.1  Supplements
No Supplements were approved at this meeting.
3.2  Guidelines
No Guidelines were approved at this meeting.
3.3  Handbooks
No Handbooks were approved at this meeting.
3.4  Technical Papers
No Technical Papers were approved at this meeting.
3.5  Corrigenda
No Technical Papers were approved at this meeting.

4     SG11 Structure and Management
There were no changes to the structure of SG11.

5     Questions
There were no changes to the Questions texts at this meeting. ​

6    Liaison officers and Rapporteurs
It was decided that, due to other commitments, the Rapporteur of Q12/11 Mr Steve Liang (University of Calgary, Canada) would step down. Mr Liang was thanked for his work with ITU-T SG11. He will be replaced by the Associate Rapporteur Mr Ruslan Kirichek (Russia, SPbSUT).
At the opening plenary, 2 Acting Rapporteurs were nominated for the duration of the meeting, Mrs Xiaojie ZHU (China Telecom) for Q1/11 and Mr Xiaowu HE (China Telecom) for Q14/11.
The final list of Rapporteurs, Associate Rapporteurs and Acting Rapporteurs can be found in SG11-TD657-R2/GEN.
Mr Khoa NGUYEN VAN was appointed as Mentor of ITU-T CASC The final list of Liaison Officers and representatives can be found in SG11-TD656-R1/GEN.

7     Action plan of ITU-T SG11 for the current Study Period (2017-2020)
During the first meeting of ITU-T SG11 (February 2017) in the current study period, the SG11 Chairman presented the SG11 Action plan (SG11-TD173/GEN) which summarizes the strategy of the WPs for the current Study Period, according to the presentations given by the WPs Chairmen.
There were no changes in the action plan at this SG11 meeting (6-15 March 2019), the SG11 Chairman encouraged the WPs Chairmen to provide updates to the action plan at the next SG11 meeting (October 2019), if any.

8     Conformity Assessment Steering Committee
The seventh meeting of the ITU-T Conformity Assessment Steering Committee (CASC) took place during ITU-T SG11 meeting on 8 March 2019.
IECEE TF finalized the Operational Document (OD) “ICT Laboratory Recognition Service on ITU-T Recommendations" and presented it at the ITU-T CASC meeting (8 March 2019). The service is based on IECEE peer assessment processes by using ITU-T Recommendations. This service would be organized and arranged from IECEE side based on IECEE peer assessment program, which would use and facilitate ITU-T technical experts nominated by ITU-T CASC.
The OD should be approved by IECEE CMC in June 2019 and following that the ITU/IECEE TL recognition procedure will be put in place.
Following the approval of OD by IECEE, any Testing Laboratory (TL) (including non-ITU members) may apply for such recognition. The TL should follow the instructions given in IECEE OD. This document will be made available after IECEE CMC approval.
Currently, ITU-T CASC is developing the third Guideline “ITU-T CASC collaboration procedure with IECEE for TL recognition service on ITU-T Recommendations". This document should be finalized and proposed for ITU-T SG11 agreement in October 2019.
In addition, ITU-T CASC received two applications from candidates requesting appointments as ITU-T technical experts, with competence in relevant ITU-T SG2 and ITU-T SG5 Recommendations. In line with the approved guidelines for the appointment of ITU-T CASC Technical Expert, the ITU-T CASC constituted appointment teams to review the applications and provide recommendations to ITU-T CASC.
ITU-T CASC requested all ITU-T SGs to provide focal points to ITU-T CASC. This list of experts will be used by ITU-T CASC as the reference list of experts on particular areas of study of relevant SGs, who could be included in the appointment team (depending on the scope of applications received).
Finally, ITU-T CASC, in collaboration with IECEE will develop a joint ITU/IEC certification scheme and ITU-T CASC requested all ITU-T SGs to provide their proposal regarding potential ITU-T Recommendations (SG11-TD764/GEN), which may become subject for a future ITU/IEC joint certification scheme, taking into consideration market needs.
More details are available in the ITU-T CASC report, in SG11-TD797-R1/GEN.
The next CASC physical meeting will take place in Geneva on 18 October 2019. The ITU-T CASC interim meetings will be announced by the CASC Chairman, if needed.

9     SDN and 5G/IMT-2020 related issues
ITU-T SG11 consented new Recommendation ITU-T Q.5020 “Protocol requirements and procedures for network slice lifecycle management" and started a new work item Q.IEC-PRO “Protocols for microservices based intelligent edge computing".
ITU-T SG11 is going to develop ICN related protocols. As far as ITU-T SG13 is developing Recommendations and Supplements on use cases, requirements, frameworks, and architectures for ICN, ITU-T SG11 invited ITU-T SG13 experts to join such discussions in future ITU-T SG11 meetings.
Finally, ITU-T SG11 progressed the following ongoing work items: