Hi all. I finally got back on my feet and got my new 'puter working
that arrived while I'd been away.
Here is the summary of meetings I attended in Eindhoven or had with
members of PWG-C.
Please let me know if you have questions or if this disagrees with
your understanding of the issues.
Thanks,
Greg LeClair
EPSON
1394 PWG Chair
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Following is a summary of meetings that took place in Eindhoven at the
1394 TA meeting.
Monday 4/14 A.M.
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As Chair of 1394 PWG I had scheduled time with Peter Johansson of
the 1394 Architecture WG to make a status report of our activities.
I will post a copy of the presentation to the PWG web site shortly.
I made the presentation on Monday meeting of the WG.
This presentation seemed to be well received, although a concern was
voiced that many companies outside of the TA may not 'understand'
1394. A question was raised as to whether a decision had been made
regarding SBP-2 as the transport protocol. I explained that the
protocol issue was being addressed.
People seemed pleased that there was an effort being made to create
a workable solution for computer and non-computer applications.
Monday 4/14 P.M.
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1394 TA Steering Committee meeting was held. Members of PWG-C and 1394
PWG were asked to attend to explain the reason for the request of a
Printer Working Group within the TA that was made by Sony and Canon.
I explained that 1394 PWG was not asking to be chartered by TA since
we had discussed TA policy after the January TA meeting and decided to
simply have a liasion to the TA. This seemed to be acceptable to
everyone based on our discussions with the members of PWG-C who
attended the last PWG meeting in Austin. I further explained the
history of what had happened since the January TA meeting and the
recent discussions we'd had with the PWG-C.
After some confusion, we adjourned to a smaller meeting room to
discuss the issues. What was discussed can be summarized very simply:
- Some members of PWG-C feel the TA is a better place to establish
1394 specifications.
- Some members think the PWG needs stated operating rules.
- I explained what the 1394 PWG was doing and understood the concerns
voiced by members of the PWG-C who were not in Austin.
- I explained that neither myself or 1394 PWG was preventing the TA
SC from voting on the request made by Sony and Canon. My impression
is that the TA SC did not want to create a group that was doing the
same work as the 1394 PWG.
- 1394 PWG should plan to hold meetings at the 1394 TA as well as our
current schedule. This will enable members of TA to contribute to
our efforts.
- The idea was floated that perhaps PWG-C members would change the
scope of the proposed WG to deal with their highest priority.
We adjourned this meeting with the action item being left to the PWG-C
to decide how it wanted to approach the TA. The TA SC would meet again
in early May and could vote on an new proposal for a working group.
Tuesday 4/15 P.M.
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Shinoda-san of Canon arrived to discuss WG issues. We met privately on
Tuesday afternoon and I explained the events of the prior days
meeting. Because the PWG-C members want to move certain areas forward,
we discussed how to address this concern.
We kept coming back to the issue that 1394 PWG effort will only
address computer to printer type of application. I stated that I did
not feel this to be accurate and that it was only one of the models
under discussion.
Because of this, we discussed the idea that members of the PWG-C may
feel more comfortable meeting within the TA and that a TA WG could
also work with 1394 PWG.
FYI - A number of companies made presentations regarding their
commitment to 1394. (Where possible, I'll post the PDF of those that
are available to the web site.)
After I left Eindhoven, members of PWG-C met and Shinoda-san alerted
me to the fact that they would pursue the idea of a Still Image
Working Group within the TA.
Last but not least, I discussed having the 1394 PWG web site linked
off of the TA web site with Toni Tappan. I just have to send her the
info and it should happen.