6.3.1 General

An early task when elaborating a Work Item is to identify the tasks related to the WI and to allocate them to the TSGs and TSG Sub-Groups.

In most cases the tasks from a WI can be split immediately into the following areas:

• Service requirements
• System/Architectural requirements and implications
• Protocol specifications

Service requirements:

The responsibility of the service requirements can usually be allocated immediately at the creation/adoption of the WI. Occasionally another Group may be given responsibility for the service requirements. In any case, however, it should be a single group and one that reports directly to the TSG.

System/Architectural requirements and implications:

In addition, the responsibility for system/architectural requirements should be allocated immediately, even though the implications and requirements normally will be seen only after the study on service/system requirements have been initiated. The responsibility for the system/architectural requirements shall be given to a single body to guarantee the consistency of the adopted solution.

The choice of group should not pre-determine the technical choices and in many cases, the responsibility for system and architectural requirement study needs a widening of the competency and a readiness to look at a variety of technical aspects. This can be obtained either by drawing the attraction of the suitable experts (e.g., by setting special meetings or clear meeting dates) or by the organization of joint meetings.

TSG SA shall maintain the overall consistency of the system architecture despite the numerous modifications due to various Work Items. TSG SA, shall ensure the co-ordination of the development of general architecture concepts and their applications to individual Work Items, and should thus also draw attention and expertise from other Groups.

Protocol specifications:

The responsibility for the elaboration of the protocol specifications cannot, in most cases, be allocated at the early stages since it depends on the technical implementation choices and hence on the results of the study of the service/system requirements as well as on the architectural conclusions.

The identification of new protocols to be specified and/or existing protocols to be enhanced shall be derived from the system/architectural requirements. In general, modifications of existing protocols shall be done by the TSG WG in charge of the protocol in question, whilst the responsibility for development of new protocols shall be allocated by the TSG based on proposals from the TSG WG on system/architecture. Then, whether the actual work is done in the TSG WG itself or in an ad hoc subgroup thereof is at the discretion of that TSG WG.