TMN-based broadband ATM network management

ATM has rapidly transitioned from a standards and prototyping concept to become the next-generation switching technology used in products available on the market. With the rapid introduction of ATM switches into networks, there is an urgent need to manage them. The article discusses the telecommunication management network (TMN) interfaces being defined for management systems to communicate with ATM network elements (NEs) and other management systems. ATM management systems will have to communicate with ATM NEs in their jurisdiction using TMN interfaces. Networks will usually contain equipment from different suppliers. Thus, it is vital that there be standard management interfaces so that these different NEs can be managed. Some standard interfaces for ATM networks are defined, while others are being defined. The status of these interfaces is reviewed in the article. Communication between different networks is also needed, both between public networks and between public and private networks. Management personnel of one network need to exchange information with other networks for certain functions (e.g., initial service provisioning), and so management systems of different networks will exchange information through a combination of mechanized and manual interfaces. The status of these interfaces is also reviewed in the article     

Access network management modeling

The effective management of access networks presents challenges which are not found in other sectors of the telecommunications network. The approaches being developed for the management modeling of access networks allow systems with different technologies and from different vendors to be managed in a uniform way. The functional architecture used for SDH can be generalized so that it is applicable to access networks, and this forms the basis of the modeling of their logical functionality. Technology-specific models of the various elements can be integrated into a technology-independent network model, and the physical resources and logical structure can be modeled to simplify repairs and improve inventory management. The development of standards for the management of the access network is an evolutionary process, but sufficient standards are now in place in order to achieve a useful level of functionality over a Q3 interface. Developing solutions that take advantage of the initial telecommunications management network (TMN) standards allows experiences to be fed back into the standards bodies to generate a more complete set of standard specifications, leading to the goal of access network management as part of a totally integrated TMN     

Evolving public safety communication systems by integrating WLAN and TETRA networks

This article contributes to the evolution of public safety communication systems by specifying a novel solution for integrating WLAN and Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) networks. The specified solution allows TETRA terminals to interface to the TETRA Switching and Management Infrastructure (SwMI) over a broadband WLAN radio access network, instead of the conventional narrowband TETRA radio network. These terminals are fully interoperable with conventional TETRA terminals and can employ all TETRA services, including group calls, short data messaging, packet data, and so forth. In addition, however, such terminals can support a range of brand new capabilities enabled by the WLAN, such as broadband data services, true concurrent voice and data services, simultaneous reception of many group calls, reduced call setup and voice transmission delays, improved voice quality, and so forth. The specified solution is solely based on IP multicast and Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technologies and thus fits ideally to the all-IP architecture being introduced by the MESA project for the next generation of public safety and disaster relief communication systems.     

The TINA network resource model

TINA, the Telecommunications Information Networking Architecture, is a software architecture for services provided on public and private networks. TINA NRIM adds on the existing concepts and supports a host of new multimedia services that can not be supported by the existing information models. It is expected that network information models will be aligned with those defined by ATM Forum and ITU-T SG15. The authors show a generic information model of network resources, which can be applied to different network technologies. The model contains a number of abstraction levels of network resources. The highest level of abstraction, which is offered at the interface between the network resources and services levels, is defined in terms of a connection graph. The connection graph is an abstract representation of resources describing the connectivity between stream interfaces (media flows). This graph can be used to specify end-to-end connectivity that spans through several layer networks. Thus, a line in the connection graph can be supported by a sequence of trails. The trail, in its turn, consists of subnetwork connections and/or tandem connections. The generic information model with appertained abstraction levels is very well suited to the TINA connection management architecture     

Fieldbus-internet connectivity: the SNMP approach

Important reasons for connecting fieldbus systems to IP-based networks are the provision of remote access for monitoring and maintenance purposes, but also the inclusion of automation systems into an enterprise-wide management scope. Existing solutions are chiefly based on Web technology or require specialized, fieldbus-dependent tools. In this paper, the authors propose a different strategy using the standardized and widely used Simple Network Management Protocol. This approach is largely fieldbus-independent and, at the same time, interoperable with existing LAN technology. They discuss the architecture of a protocol conversion gateway and present a modular approach to cope with the variety of available fieldbus protocols. They further propose a structure for a management information base suitable to represent the fieldbus data objects. By means of prototype implementations for different fieldbus systems (Profibus, P-NET, and EIB), they study the influence of the underlying fieldbus communication principles on the gateway implementation and operation     

Using distributed object technologies in telecommunications networkmanagement

The Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) has been developed as the framework to support administrations in managing telecommunications networks. It suggests the use of OSI Systems Management (OSI-SM) as the technology for management information exchanges. Distributed object technologies, such as the Common Object Request Broker architecture (CORBA), address the use of software application program interfaces (APIs) in addition to interoperable protocols. Their use in TMN has been the subject of intensive research in previous years, with most approaches focusing on interoperability aspects with OSI-SM. We examine the issues behind using distributed object technologies in TMN via a native fashion, with network elements supporting distributed objects directly, e.g., a “CORBA to the switch” approach. The proposed solution tries to maintain the full OSI-SM expressive power in a way that other solutions have not attempted before. Performance and scalability issues are considered, while the approach has been validated through implementation     

Management and control of CCSDS cross-support services

A candidate architecture for management and control of Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) services is presented. An operations concept is presented. Candidate management procedures and a management information base for the resources to be managed are suggested. This architecture is based on concepts of network management of computer and telecommunication networks which are under study by other international standards bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative Committee (CCITT)     

Multimedia Stream Binding for a Pan-European Services Platform

The ability to carry stream information over a range of network types in a managed way will become an essential requirement for telecommunications network operators as future services evolve to include the transmission of audio/video and bulk data streams. This paper details the architecture of a working pan-European demonstrator offering multimedia services through the integration of stream control, as specified in the Object Management Group's (OMG's) control and management of audio/video streams, with a TINA-compliant service management environment. This CORBA-based demonstrator, known as the EURESCOM services platform (ESP), has been developed by six European telecommunications companies within EURESCOM project P715. Various modelling concepts, as defined by TINA, ODP and OMG, have been used and verified in a first prototype implementation, with connectivity provided by commercially available multimedia technology such as H.320/323 products. This EURESCOM services platform prototype is one of the first demonstrators world-wide to implement OMG's control and management of audio/video streams specification.     

面向异构网管理的多级中间件体系

为了减少异构网网络管理方面所付出的代价，继续利用各专业子网已有的网络基础设施并对其进行跨域管理，提出了一种多级网络管理体系。该体系模型以面向对象、中问件技术为核心．利用CORBA的IDL接口封装网元层元素，将本地各专业子网抽象为分布式对象，使用CORBA平台完成对象问的互连。中问层使用CORBA/Web Services复合代理，上层则由Web Services直接联入Intemet。授权用户可在Intemet任意一点应用GUI终端（浏览器）访问网络系统，对异构网下层网元元素进行网络管理。     

The OSI network management model

Management systems are responsible for monitoring, interpreting, and controlling network operations. Management platform workstations query device data, or obtain event modifications through management protocols. The management platform supports tools to display the data graphically, interpret it, and control operations. It is argued that the main challenge of management standardization is to develop conventions to support integrated management of heterogeneous networks. Platform-centered management requires a few standards. First, access by platforms to multivendor devices must be unified through a standard management protocol. Second, the structure of the agent's management databases, manipulated by the protocol, must be standardized. Together, these standards permit a platform to access and manipulate managed information at multivendor device agents. The OSI and Internet management models developed to standardize both areas are discussed     

电信管理网

阐述了TMN的概念、管理功能和管理业务其及体系结构,并介绍了以我国TMN技术和标准为基础的综合电信管理网的建设情况。认为传统的电信管理网络已不适应现代电信网的管理要求,而由国际电信联盟——电信部(ITU-T)提出的,具有标准协议、接口和结构的电信管理网(TMN)将成为未来电信网管理的基础。     

Development and testing of an SNMP‐based integrated management system for heterogeneous power line communication networks

Power line communication (PLC) is an evolving technology which uses existing power lines for data transmission. Like any other communication network, PLC networks need to be managed to ensure efficient use of resources and secure operations. Currently, major PLC chip vendors are trying to provide network management solutions based on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) by developing their own management systems, but they cannot manage heterogeneous PLC networks comprised of PLC devices from various PLC chip vendors. In this paper, we provide our experience of developing and testing an integrated management system for a heterogeneous PLC network based on SNMP. We present our approach for integrated management by defining the common PLC management information base (MIB) and an integrated PLC proxy agent for providing interoperability to legacy PLC devices which do not support the common PLC MIB. We also present the development of an integrated PLC network management system and its test in heterogeneous PLC networks deployed in South Korea. The contribution of our work is to provide a guideline for developing and testing integrated NMSs for any heterogeneous networks including PLC networks. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Manageability of Java-based digital TV receivers

The hardest problems of network management are frequently not modeling, abstracting, filtering, or propagation of management information; they are the extraction of management information from the resources being managed. This process is commonly referred to as the management instrumentation of resources. Although a variety of new systems are being designed and deployed on a continuous basis, it is still a rare occasion that these systems are designed and instrumented to be managed. We show how management instrumentation can be simply and powerfully accomplished if management provisions are made in the design of the managed resource. We look at digital television receivers and their Java applications as standardized by the Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC). We model the applications lifecycle of these applications using the ITU-T X.731 State Management function, and outline the corresponding applications and management Java APIs     

ATM performance evaluation under transparencies of a distributedsystem environment (DSE)

Management architectures as well as protocols for accessing managed entities and exchanging management information are well developed in standards. On the other hand developments in open distributed processing (ODP) are of recognized importance for network and service management. Their generic features fit well into the geographically extended, multiple vendor and heterogeneous environment of communication networks. As a third ongoing development asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) broadband integrated services digital networks (B-ISDN) offer challenging problems for resource allocation, network performance and quality of service (QoS) evaluation in real time. The paper shows how performance monitoring and evaluation for ATM networks can greatly profit from the features of a distributed system environment (DSE). The extreme flexibility offered by the ATM principle requires a rich and reusable set of servers accomplishing coordinated performance evaluation tests. DSE transparencies are an excellent match to corresponding management applications (MA) requirements, so that tests can be performed in a distributed, flexible and adaptable way under a conceptually simple architecture. The paper draws extensively from a non-distributed counterpart, i.e. an existing sophisticated ATM test and analysis tool developed under the “Research for Advanced Communications in Europe” (RACE) program, R1083 PARASOL project     

Enabling autonomicity in wireless mesh networks with the ETSI AFI GANA reference model

The distributed nature of wireless mesh networks (WMNs) allows them to benefit from multiple autonomic functionalities. However, the existing landscape of self‐x solutions (eg, self‐configuration) is fragmented and the lack of a standardized framework through which interoperable autonomics can be developed has been hampering adoption and deployment of autonomics in real‐world service networks. There is a need for a standardized architectural framework that enables to comprehensively support and integrate interoperable components for autonomicity in WMNs. Such an architecture (autonomicity‐enabled wireless mesh architecture) is currently being standardized by the working group called Evolution of Management towards Autonomic Future Internet (AFI) in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute within the Network Technologies Technical Committee. The proposed autonomic wireless mesh architecture is an instantiation of the AFI GANA (Generic Autonomic Network Architecture) reference model, a standards‐based approach to autonomics. This paper complements and extends the early version of the architecture by further detailing the architectural principles and providing experimental and validation results. First, we provide a brief overview of the AFI GANA reference model and then show how each of its building blocks can be instantiated for WMNs. We evaluate the proposed architecture by implementing and testing the 4 basic self‐x functionalities defined by the GANA model. The provided guidelines can now help researchers and engineers build autonomicity‐enabled WMNs using a standardized framework that enables adoption and deployment of autonomics by industry, thereby enabling researchers and engineers to contribute to the further evolution of the standard in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.     

无连接传送网的管理信息模型

介绍了面向连接和无连接传送技术特性的异同,概括了无连接传送网在功能抽象方面的特性;比较了无连接与面向连接传送网的功能体系结构;介绍了流的概念和特性;并在此基础上采用UML与文本描述结合的方式,从管理对象的行为、属性、操作、通知、以及管理对象的关系等方面定义了一个与协议无关的通用的无连接传送网的管理信息模型。     

Resource management in an integrated optical network

We propose a novel integrated optical network switching architecture. The proposal offers an approach to signaling for the purpose of transport on an all-optical network of optical and nonoptical legacy network traffic. In order to provide effective end-to-end control and efficient transport services, new signaling and control techniques are required. Standard organizations such as Optical Interworking Forum (OIF) and Internet Engineering Task Force have developed interface methods between client and transport networks, as well as signaling processes for resource allocation. We propose a network controller, which implements interfaces for such integration in the intermediate future, as well as provides a feasible path for the long-term objective of all optical networking. Performance and capacity issues for these systems introduce new dimensions to the existing set of networking problems, since optical paths can now be set up in real-time. There are two main contributions in this paper: (1) functional composition of a network controller, which translates legacy signaling to optical connection signaling and path establishment and (2) determining when to issue an optical connection request based on the current network conditions such as link utilization, so that the integrated optical network can operate efficiently. Analytical approximations, as well as simulation results for call blocking performance are also presented.