Information models for TMN management application functions

In a multivendor environment, it is necessary to describe both functionality and interfaces of an Operations System (OS) in order to assure interoperability with other systems of a Telecommunications Management Network (TMN). The purpose of this work is to provide a concise way to describe the functionality of OSs, as well as provide guidance to the specification of their interfaces. This paper discusses a methodology by which generic TMN information models may be associated with generic TMN Management Application Functions (MAFs), thereby linking the TMN functional architecture and the TMN information architecture. By “generic information models” we mean object classes that are useful in at least two of the Telecommunications Managed Areas of ITU-T Recommendation M.3100. Once this has been done, the functionality of an OS may be described by listing the generic MAFs it supports, along with the technologies and services it supports. The object classes appropriate to the specific technologies and services supported can be easily found by selecting those that inherit from the generic object classes associated with the supported MAFs. An example applies the method to a set of MAFs concerned with Alarm Surveillance. As a result, the functionality of Alarm Surveillance is precisely defined, in preparation for the design of Operations Systems. The information developed in the figures is captured in a concise table, which identifies the specific generic object classes that are the subject of interactions between specified pairs of MAFs