[comp.dcom.lans] Who issues Ethernet numbers now?

jmg@cernvax.UUCP (jmg) (12/09/86)

The title says it all: who now issues Ethernet 48-bit unique-on-earth
numbers? We originally got a set from Xerox, but I believe it is no
longer them.

dw@rocksanne.UUCP (12/11/86)

In article <402@cernvax.UUCP>, jmg@cernvax.UUCP (jmg) writes:
> ...who now issues Ethernet 48-bit unique-on-earth
> numbers? We originally got a set from Xerox, but I believe it is no
> longer them.

There have been several queries about this lately, so I "asked around" and
learned the following.

[Please note that I am not associated with the group within Xerox that
handles these matters (they're 3000 miles west of here). Please address
further questions to the sources listed in the message]

Hope someone finds this helpful,

/Don

----------------------------------
From: Thompson

Don-

With the adoption of IEEE 802.3 10BASE5 as the successor standard to the
Ethernet standard the address assignment responsibilities were transferred
to IEEE.  IEEE 802.3 10BASE5 is in the final process of adoption by ISO as
international standard ISO IS 8802/3. Responsibility for address
assignment would normally pass from IEEE to ISO at the time that that
happens.  It is my understanding that while "responsibility" will pass,
administration will not expected to.  That is, IEEE will most likely act
as the contracting agency for ISO for passing out address numbers.  There
has been a resolution in ISO to this effect which is headed for ballot and
expected to pass.

It should be noted that the scope of addresses has gotten considerably
wider.  All 802 LAN standards now have 48 bit addresses drawn from a
single pool.

Xerox still does type field assignments since the type field did not make
it into the IEEE standard.

The address for IEEE is:

	Secretary, IEEE Standards Board
	345 East 47th Street
	New York, NY  10017
	
	
The address for type number assignments from Xerox is:

	Ms. Pam Cance
	Xerox Corporation M/S SVHQ506
	475 Oakmead Parkway
	Sunnyvale, CA 94086
	
Pam should be reachable over the Arpanet at: Cance.osbunorth@Xerox.com.

For anybody who has mail gateway access to Xerox her address would be:

	Cance:OSBU North:Xerox
	
Hope this helps.

	Geoff

-- 
"I smell catastrophe upon the wind..."
"That's just my breath."		--Bloom County
						
Don Wegeng	Wegeng.Henr@Xerox.COM	seismo!rochester!rocksanne!dw

dougm@violet.isc.com (Doug McCallum) (12/15/86)

In article <224@rocksanne.UUCP> dw@rocksanne.UUCP (Don Wegeng) writes:
>
...
>With the adoption of IEEE 802.3 10BASE5 as the successor standard to the
>Ethernet standard the address assignment responsibilities were transferred
>to IEEE.  IEEE 802.3 10BASE5 is in the final process of adoption by ISO as
>international standard ISO IS 8802/3. Responsibility for address
...

For those interested, ISO TC 97 voted at the October meeting to
progress the 8802/3 DIS (Draft International Standard) to IS
(International Standard) and forwarded it to the Secretariat for
publication.  ISO 8802/4 and 8802/5 also moved to IS level.

Doug McCallum		Interactive Systems Corp.
dougm@ico.isc.com	{cbosgd, hao, nbires}!ico!dougm
Doug McCallum		Interactive Systems Corp.
dougm@ico.isc.com	{cbosgd, hao, nbires}!ico!dougm

sjl@amdahl.UUCP (Steve Langdon) (12/19/86)

In article <188@ico.UUCP> dougm@violet.ISC.COM (Doug McCallum) writes:

> ...
> For those interested, ISO TC 97 voted at the October meeting to
> progress the 8802/3 DIS (Draft International Standard) to IS
> (International Standard) and forwarded it to the Secretariat for
> publication.  ISO 8802/4 and 8802/5 also moved to IS level.

Doug has the right idea, but some of the details are wrong.  The meeting he
mentions was actually ISO TC97/SC6 and its working groups.
	WG1	Data Link Layer (including HDLC, the 8802 series, etc.)
	WG2	Network Layer (including 8473 [ISO IP], 8208 [ISO X.25], etc.)
	WG3	Physical Layer (including connectors, etc.)
	WG4	Transport Layer (including 8073 [of which TP4 is part], etc.)
The next actual TC97 meeting is in January.  As I was busy in WG2 (and eating
raw fish since we were in Tokyo) I would have to check my copy of the final
resolutions for the details of which pieces of 8802 were forwarded to the
Central Secretariat for processing as an IS.  I am fairly sure 8802/3 was,
8802/4 and 8802/5 may be, 8802/2 was not (a second DIS ballot was needed).

The broader issue of registration authorities for many OSI related items is
still the subject of much discussion.  The number of things to keep track of
is large, the number of volunteers few.  It is possible that The Corporation
for Open Systems (COS) may offer to act as registration authority for some
of the open areas, but more discussion is needed.  A special meeting of an
ISO TC97/SC21 group concerned with this issue is scheduled for January 1987.
-- 
Steve Langdon  ...!{decwrl,sun,hplabs,ihnp4,cbosgd}!amdahl!sjl  +1 408 746 6970

[I speak for myself not others.]