Provisioning services on digital switching systems

The overall service provisioning process is functionally decomposed into three phases. The first is service negotiation, in which the customer's request is translated into machine-readable form (as a service order). The service order is the input to the second phase, assignment. If network resources are needed to satisfy the service request, the assignment process selects then from its inventory. The third phase is service activation. Attention is focused on the assignment phase, but emerging relationships among the three phases are also covered. The discussion begins with progress to date. Capabilities that have recently become available in Bellcore's operations systems using the flexible entity approach, are described. Issues and problems that arise as the switched network evolves to a greater degree of intelligence are considered, covering provisioning for ISDN, load balancing, service negotiation and assignment, customers doing their own provisioning, and physical and logical provisioning     

Intelligent network/2: The architecture-The technicalchallenges-The opportunities

The Intelligent Network/2 (IN/2) architecture concept diverges from the traditional new service introduction approach by distributing call-processing capabilities across multiple network modules, by constructing network services with service-independent capabilities, and by using standard signaling protocols among the network elements. The IN/2 approach provides opportunities to implement new services while reducing the service introduction interval. The IN/1 architecture provides new-service introduction from a centralized point, allowing users throughout a wide geographic area to have access to the service simultaneously. The IN/2 concept extends the IN/1 approach and sharply reduces the new-service introduction interval. IN/2 applies the premise that multiple network services or service features can be constructed from a set of reusable network capabilities, which apply to many services and are therefore independent of a particular service application. An overview of the IN/2 architecture is presented, highlighting the key technical issues     

Managing Layer 1 VPN services

Control Plane architectures enhance transport networks with distributed signaling and routing mechanisms which allow dynamic connection control. As a result, layer 1 switching networks enabled with a distributed control plane can support the provisioning of advanced connectivity services like Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Such Layer 1 VPN (L1VPN) service allows multiple customer networks to share a single transport network in a cost-effective way. However, L1VPN deployment still faces many challenges.In this work, we are concerned on configuration management and interdomain provisioning of L1VPN services. We propose an L1VPN management architecture based on the Policy-Based Management (PBM) approach. First, we describe the architecture and how it allows a single service provider to support multiple L1VPNs while providing customers with some level of control over their respective service. Then we explain how the architecture was extended to support interdomain L1VPNs by using the Virtual Topology approach. We also discuss the prototype implementation and evaluation of the proposed architecture. Moreover, this work is a tentative note before raising a more deep discussion related to interdomain provisioning of L1VPN services and implications of a policy-based approach for L1VPN configuration management.     

Practical and analytical approaches for designing scalable on‐demand policy‐based resource allocation in stateless IP networks

Today the policy‐based management (PBM) approach is recognized as an efficient solution to simplify the complex task of managing and controlling networks. To this end, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has introduced a reference framework to build PBM systems. However, this framework only addresses the provisioning of relatively long validity period services based on predefined service‐level agreements. Furthermore, very little work addresses the scalability properties of the instantiation of this framework in a real network. This work aims to extend the IETF PBM framework in order to support dynamic provisioning of short‐term services (end‐system signalling) as well as an instantiation scheme that is scalable (distributed provisioning of edge routers). This instantiation scheme is based on the distribution of the provisioning process while keeping centralized only the parts that involve critical resources, namely bandwidth brokerage. The performance properties of the proposed scheme are then demonstrated throughout both extensive experimentation and an analytical study. The extension of this performance analysis to the case where multiple bandwidth brokers are used is also discussed. The results of this work are intended to be used as a guideline to help network operators to design a scalable PBM system in order to offer to their customers services with quality of service assurance on an on‐demand basis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resource Management for Virtual Private Networks

Virtual private networks (VPNs) have rapidly emerged as a leading solution for multi-site enterprise communication needs. Provider-managed solutions modeled on RFC 2547 serve as a popular choice for layer 3 VPNs, and the hose model has emerged as a common and simple service specification. It offers a hose of a certain contracted bandwidth to customers. With the growth in size and number of VPNs and the uncertainties in the traffic patterns of customers, providers are faced with new challenges in efficient provisioning and capacity planning for these networks and satisfying customer service level agreements (SLA). We suggest that a set of techniques can be used to help the provider build an adaptively provisioned network. These techniques involve continually processing measurement information, building inferences regarding VPN characteristics, and leveraging them for adaptive resource provisioning. We developed scalable techniques to infer VPN characteristics that are important for provisioning tasks. We demonstrated the feasibility of such provisioning techniques with existing measurement obtained using SNMP infrastructure from a large IP/VPN service provider. Our examination of measurement data yielded interesting new insights into VPN structure and properties. Building on our experience with analyzing VPN characteristics, we articulate an adaptive provisioning architecture that enables providers to effectively deal with the dynamic nature of customer traffic     

Designing scalable on-demand policy-based resource allocation in IP networks

Today, the policy-based management approach is recognized as an efficient solution to simplify the complex task of managing and controlling networks. To this end, the IETF has introduced a reference framework to build PBM systems. However, this framework only addresses the provisioning of relatively long validity period services based on pre-defined service level agreements. Furthermore, very little work addresses the scalability properties of the instantiation of this framework in a real network. This work aims to extend the IETF PBM framework in order to support dynamic provisioning of short term services (end system signaling) as well as an instantiation scheme that is scalable (distributed provisioning of edge routers). This instantiation scheme is based on the distribution of the provisioning process while keeping centralized only the parts that involve critical resources, that is, the bandwidth brokerage. The performance properties of the proposed scheme are then demonstrated throughout both extensive experimentation and a short analytical study. The results of this work are intended to be used as a guideline to help network operators to design scalable PBM system in order to offer to their customers services with QoS assurance in an on-demand basis.     

Automated provisioning of BGP customers

Manual configuration of IP routers is an expensive, time-consuming, and error-prone process. For large Internet service providers, establishing service for new customers is a major part of the financial cost of running the network. Increasingly, these customers want to exchange routing information with their provider(s) using the border gateway protocol (BGP), a complex and highly programmable interdomain routing protocol. This article describes how a provider can configure its connections to BGP-speaking customers, from the technical questions asked of new customers to the individual configuration commands applied to the production routers. We present a case study of a technical questionnaire and describe how the provider assigns unique identifiers such as IP address blocks, interface names, and access control list numbers on behalf of the customer. Next, we describe an example set of provisioning rules that use the customer-specific information to generate a sequence of configuration commands - a "configlet" - for adding the new connection to the network; our configuration rules are expressed using Cisco Internet Operating System (IOS) commands as an example. Then we describe a database schema for storing and accessing the customer-specific data, and discuss how to use a virtual view on this database to populate a template that captures the syntax of the router commands. Our provisioning system provides an inexpensive, efficient, and accurate way for a provider to configure connections to new BGP-speaking customers.     

Service overlay networks: SLAs, QoS, and bandwidth provisioning

We advocate the notion of service overlay network (SON) as an effective means to address some of the issues, in particular, end-to-end quality of service (QoS), plaguing the current Internet, and to facilitate the creation and deployment of value-added Internet services such as VoIP, Video-on-Demand, and other emerging QoS-sensitive services. The SON purchases bandwidth with certain QoS guarantees from the individual network domains via bilateral service level agreement (SLA) to build a logical end-to-end service delivery infrastructure on top of the existing data transport networks. Via a service contract, users directly pay the SON for using the value-added services provided by the SON. In this paper, we study the bandwidth provisioning problem for a SON which buys bandwidth from the underlying network domains to provide end-to-end value-added QoS sensitive services such as VoIP and Video-on-Demand. A key problem in the SON deployment is the problem of bandwidth provisioning, which is critical to cost recovery in deploying and operating the value-added services over the SON. The paper is devoted to the study of this problem. We formulate the bandwidth provisioning problem mathematically, taking various factors such as SLA, service QoS, traffic demand distributions, and bandwidth costs. Analytical models and approximate solutions are developed for both static and dynamic bandwidth provisioning. Numerical studies are also performed to illustrate the properties of the proposed solutions and demonstrate the effect of traffic demand distributions and bandwidth costs on SON bandwidth provisioning.     

Scalable Quasi‐Dynamic‐Provisioning‐Based Admission Control Mechanism in Differentiated Service Networks

The architecture in a differentiated services (DiffServ) network is based on a simple model that applies a per‐class service in the core node of the network. However, because the network behavior is simple, the network structure and provisioning is complicated. If a service provider wants dynamic provisioning or a better bandwidth guarantee, the differentiated services network must use a signaling protocol with QoS parameters or an admission control method. Unfortunately, these methods increase the complexity. To overcome the problems with complexity, we investigated scalable dynamic provisioning for admission control in DiffServ networks. We propose a new scalable qDPM² mechanism based on a centralized bandwidth broker and distributed measurement‐based admission control and movable boundary bandwidth management to support heterogeneous QoS requirements in DiffServ networks.     

移动智能网中SCP的设计研究

给出了GSM（全球移动通信系统）和智能网结合的总体结构，指出了移动智能网中SCP（业务控制点）设计要解决的问题：（1）怎样与HLR（归属位置寄存器）进行通信以得到移动网中与移动有关的数据，（2）怎样解决智能业务与移动网中已有业务的交互．本文对这两个问题给出了解决办法．最后，为了让业务提供者设计与移动有关的业务，定义了三个与移动有关的新SIB（业务无关构件）     

International standards for intelligent networks

An overview of the current state of intelligent network (IN) standards as described on CCITT's capability set 1 (CS1) is presented. The key to the success of CS1 lies in it being simple enough to be realizable with limited impact on existing software technology and network signaling, rich enough to provide a nontrivial, commercially deployable, initial set of services, and open-ended for growth, both in terms of service richness and penetration, and new capabilities enabled by new technologies. The objectives of IN and CS1, the main characteristics of CS1, and the framework and directions for IN evolution are discussed     

Provision of unified IN functionality in the context of IMS

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) represents an attempt for networks convergence, allowing users of rich-content applications to communicate through any access network type. In the near future, IMS is expected to give operators and content providers the flexibility to exploit a multitude of new communication applications in a harmonized communication environment of heterogeneous IP networks. However, despite its merits, the standardization process of IMS networks is lagging behind, leaving harmonization issues of services provisioning, open. In this effort, main hindering factor is the existence of similar implementations customized per network technology. Particularly in what concerns the Intelligent Network (IN) services, these are provided in mobile networks by CAMEL (Customised Applications for Mobile networks Enhanced Logic) and in fixed networks by INAP (IN Application Part). With regard to this problem, the present work introduces a method for integrating into the context of IMS communications all types of IN logic that nowadays are available only in legacy networks. The key element of this method is a service interrogation logic, called IN-OAG (IN-Open Architecture Gateway), which can be integrated on the P-CSCF (Proxy-Call Service Control Function) component of IMS, as an enhancement for supporting IN interoperability. IN-OAG is dedicated to implementing interoperability between the core IMS and mobile, wireless or fixed networks. The functionality of the proposed architecture is shown through several example scenarios.     

QoS-aware TDMA for end-to-end traffic scheduling in ad hoc networks

The proliferation of low-cost broadband air interfaces has paved the way to the introduction of high-definition multimedia services in mobile and wireless networks. The cost for network resources utilization, when provisioning such services, will play a prominent role in their commercial success, since the more spare resources that can be used, the more cheaply the services can be delivered to the end users. In the context of promoting the role of ad hoc networks as service platforms for high quality multimedia applications, this article first discusses and classifies a set of issues involved in quality of service (QoS) provisioning in ad hoc networks and then presents a congestion-free TDMA algorithm for end-to-end network resources assignment via an optimized mechanism that relies on capacity requests and grants. The article also illustrates a method for invoking this algorithm to achieve efficient end-to-end QoS provisioning and concludes by showing the superiority of the proposed algorithm, as compared to other recently proposed TDMA scheduling algorithms     

Fixed-mobile convergence strategy: technologies and marketopportunities

Competition in the telecommunications market is growing rapidly. Therefore, network operators and service providers have to reform their marketing and service delivery strategies in order to be competitive in the broadband service market. A convergence strategy for fixed and mobile services via a standards-based IN platform may provide a step in the right direction. This article deals with evolutionary steps for convergence services and their benefits to network operators and customers. It presents possible migration paths from the existing GSM to UMTS. The article also provides a comparative analysis of the wireless technologies involved in this evolution     

宽带接入网建设必须关注的几个问题

本文主要阐述宽带接入网建设中,必须考虑投资成本与收益回报的协调、服务对象与建设标准的确定、宽带网业务与互联网业务的区别等问题,并且要合理利用现有网络的基础设施,使宽带接入网平滑演进,既能满足现阶段服务对象的需求,又具备升级发展的潜力。     

Intelligent network requirements for personal communicationsservices

It is shown that a moderate set of capabilities within the service switching point (SSP), service control point (SCP), and intelligent peripheral (IP), which are the intelligent network (IN) components directly responsible for the real-time execution and control of end-user services, can engender a wide range of end-user personal communication service (PCS) features. These capabilities could be used as the starting point for an economic analysis of IN implementation costs versus service worth. From a very large target set of call model trigger check points (TCPs), the dozen or so identified in the CCITT Capability Set 1 are shown to be sufficient. The SCP and IP functional entity actions identified are also sufficient to support PCS core network functions     

The role of satellite communication in the ISDN era

Satellite communications can play an important role in provisioning the next-generation telecommunications services and networks, provided that the protocols specifying these services and networks are satellite-compatible. After a brief discussion of narrowband circuit and packet mode integrated service digital network (ISDN) services, the paper focuses on emerging standards in frame relay, broadband ISDN (BISDN) and universal personal telecommunications (UPT). The specific parameters and procedures of frame relay and BISDN protocols which are affected by a satellite delay are identified, and congestion and resource management functions for frame relay and BISDN are discussed in detail. Specific ground functions and possible on-board functions are identified as potential candidates for implementation via neural network technology. Finally, the implication of UPT standards on satellite networks is discussed.     

A new service provisioning method in the multimedia/B-ISDN era

In the coming multimedia/B-ISDN era, customers must be able to design, define, and manage communication services based on their own concepts and knowledge of communications. This article proposes a new concept, intelligent dynamic service provisioning (IDSP), offering customers this capability. Service views of customers and carriers for multimedia services are presented. Based on these views, we propose an architecture for the IDSP system. Finally, the basic mechanism of the IDSP system and the technical issues related to this system are examined     

SDN智能管控编排系统技术方案研究

随着用户对网络提出更为苛刻的服务质量要求,运营商着力进行各专业网络的智能化改造建设。首先,简单介绍了产业界各专业网络软件定义网络（software defined network,SDN）改造建设现状,并对改造过程中存在的问题进行了分析;然后,提出了SDN智能管控编排系统方案,以满足用户对跨专业业务端到端自动开通的需求,并在网络层面实现资源数据的智能分析,提升运维效率;最后,介绍了在提出架构下的专线业务开通流程和实时告警流程与实践。     

Mobile agents - enabling technology for active intelligent networkimplementation

The emerging notion of active networks describes the general vision of communication network evolution, where the network nodes become active because they take part in the computation of applications and provision of customized services. In this context mobile agent technology and programmable switches are considered as enabling technologies. This article looks at the impact of mobile agent technology on telecommunication service environments, influenced by the intelligent network (IN) architecture. The authors illustrate how the integration of mobile agent platforms into IN elements, notably into the IN switches, will realize an active IN environment. This enables telecom services implemented through mobile service agents on a per user basis to be instantly deployed at programmable switching nodes, which results in better performance and fault tolerance compared to traditional IN service implementations