Domains and policies in third generation mobile network management systems

The efficiency and manageability of network management architectures, are based largely upon structuring principles, which make intensive use of concepts such as management domains and management policies. The paper discusses architectural aspects of management for the universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), and suggests a model for the structuring of the managed system into management domains, and the subsequent control of it through policies. Explicit statements are made concerning the representation of the policy structure. Furthermore, the assistance that standardized support managed objects can provide in policy implementation is examined. Finally, a schema for capturing the interrelations between policy objects is provided, assisting in this way the effective management of the policy structure