An alternative approach in TMN interface modeling

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) architecture promotes techniques that reduce the interdependencies among components of a distributed cooperative system. This architecture requires restructuring of the traditional machine-to-machine interfaces to communicate effective information instead of transferring bulks of unstructured data. While this architecture increases the flexibility of the network and reduces the overhead associated with its evolution, it requires up-front work in designing the individual system interfaces. That is, an extensive plan and design for a system interface model are required to ensure the acceptance, evolution, and stability of interfaces and to allow the possibility of their graceful evolution. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion over levels of abstraction in Object Oriented Representation (OOR). It provides examples on the impact of modeling approaches on systems evolution. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the TMN interface can be made more efficient if modeling is done at a higher level of abstraction.