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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. A method for re-engineering telecommunications network, comprising:
selecting a first communication channel between a first network element and
a first telecommunications operational support system for managing said
telecommunications network, the first communication channel using a
predetermined first protocol for communicating first network information
between the first network element and the first operational support
system, wherein communication of said first network information affects a
predetermined condition of said telecommunications network;
determining a different second protocol for communicating between a data
model of the telecommunications network and at least one of: the first
network element and the first operational support system;
providing a second communication channel between the first network element
and the first operational support system, said second communication
channel having a data connection to said data model;
transferring second network information between the first network element
and the first operational support system using said at least said second
communication channel, said second network information being at least a
portion of said first network information, wherein at least one of the
first network element and the first operational support system receives
said second network information on said second communication channel in
said first protocol, and wherein said transferring said second network
information affects said predetermined condition substantially identically
to said at least a portion of said first network information;
translating said second network information from said first protocol to
said second protocol when using said second communication channel for
transferring said second network information; and
supplying said second network information to said data model using said
data connection wherein said second network information has been
translated into said second protocol.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first network element is one
of a service transfer point, an intelligent service control point, a
service control point, a service switching point and a circuit switch and
a transport network element.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first operational support
system performs one of the following:
monitors traffic on said telecommunications network element, manages
traffic on said telecommunications network, surveils said first network
element for analomous conditions and acquires data from said
telecommunications network for generating reports and bills.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of selecting includes
determining as said first communication channel, a channel wherein said
first protocol is ineffective as a protocol between a second network
element and a second operational component wherein said second network
element performs functionally substantially identically within said
telecommunications network as said first network element and said second
operational component performs functionally substantially identically
within said telecommunications network as said first operational
component.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data model includes a
standardized telecommunications network model.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data model includes at
least one of a standardized telecommunications billing management
information base, a standardized switch network traffic and usage
management information base, a standardized switch provisioning management
information base, a standardized switch alarm and surveillance management
information base, a standardized switch control management information
base, an SS7 management information base and a standardized transport
management information base.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data model uses objects
defined by an object oriented class hierarchy for modeling said
telecommunications network.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second protocol transfers
object messages related to a predetermined object oriented class
hierarchy.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said predetermined condition
includes one of rerouting communication service and restricting service in
said telecommunications network.
10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second network information
includes information related to one or more of a start communication
request, a data request, an execute command request, a supplying of data,
a message acknowledgement and a terminate communication request.
11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of selecting includes
determining as said first communication channel a channel wherein said
first network information includes third network information from the
first network element, said third network information having a
representation specific to the first network element.
12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said third network information
is different for different network elements.
13. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of transferring
includes both the first network element and the first operational support
system receiving said second network information in said first protocol.
14. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of transferring
includes both the first network element and the first operational support
system sending said second network information in said first protocol.
15. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of providing includes
incorporating a translator into said second communication channel for
translating between said first protocol and said second protocol.
16. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of transferring
includes transferring substantially all of said first network information
as said second network information.
17. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including a step of
deactivating said first communication channel.
18. A method as claimed in claim 1 further including a step of providing a
different operational support system, said different operational support
system communicating with the first network element through said data
model.
19. A method as claimed in claim 18, wherein said different operational
support system communicates standardized fourth network information with
said data model.
20. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein said fourth network
information is object oriented.
21. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein said fourth network
information is incorporated into said data model instead of said second
network information from said first operational support system.
22. A method as claimed in claim 1 further including a step of repeating
said steps of selecting, determining, transferring, translating and
supplying, wherein each performance of said step of selecting selects a
different communication channel as an instance of said first communication
channel and wherein said data model receives further network information
with each repetition of said step of supplying.
23. A method as claimed in claim 22, wherein said step of repeating
includes deactivating each instance of said first communication channel
after a corresponding second communication channel is provided.
24. A method as claimed in claim 23, wherein each instance of said first
communication channel selected connects to said same first operational
support system until substantially every telecommunications network
channel connected to said first operational support system provides
network information to said data model.
25. A method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said first operational support
system is deactivated when substantially every telecommunications network
channel connected to said first operational support system provides
network information to said data model.
26. A method as claimed in claim 22 further including a step iterating said
step of repeating wherein each performance of said step of repeating
selects instances of said first communication channel connected to a same
said first operational support system and wherein different performances
of said step of repeating selects instances of said first communication
channel connected to a different operational support system as said first
operational support system.
27. A method for bypassing a telecommunications operational component of a
telecommunications network, comprising:
selecting a first communication channel between a first telecommunications
operational component and a second telecommunications operational
component, the first communication channel using a predetermined first
telecommunications protocol for communicating first network management
information between said first and said second telecommunications
operational component;
providing a second communication channel between the said first and said
second telecommunications operational components, said second
communication channel having a data connection to one or more third
telecommunications operational components;
transferring second network management information using said at least said
second communication channel, wherein at least one of said first
telecommunications operational component and said second
telecommunications operational component receives said second network
management information in said first telecommunications protocol, said
second network management information including at least a portion of said
first network management information;
translating said second network management information from said first
telecommunications protocol to a different second telecommunications
protocol when using said second communication channel for transferring
said second network management information between said first and said
second telecommunications operational components;
supplying said second network management information to said one or more
third telecommunications operational components using said data connection
wherein said second network management information has been translated
into said second telecommunications protocol; and
outputting from said one or more third telecommunications operational
components third network management information to an additional
telecommunications operational component having received fourth network
management information from said second telecommunications operational
component, wherein said additional telecommunications operational
component is different from said first, said second and said third
telecommunications operational components and wherein said third network
management information being effective for replacing said fourth network
management information received from said second telecommunications
operational component.
28. A method as claimed in claim 27, wherein said data connection includes
a network information manager for controlling communication between
telecommunications operational components.
29. A method as claimed in claim 28, wherein said step of supplying
includes providing said second network management information to said
network manager, said network manager providing said second network
management information to said one or more third telecommunications
operational components upon request for said second network management
information by said one or more third telecommunications operational
components.
30. A method as claimed in claim 27, wherein said first and second
telecommunications protocols are each a function of one of a timing for
obtaining data to be communicated and a timing for communicating data.
31. A method as claimed in claim 27 further including a step of repeating
said steps of selecting, providing, transferring, translating, supplying
and outputting, wherein each performance of said step of selecting selects
a different communication channel for said first communication channel
between an instance of said first telecommunications operational component
and said same second telecommunications operational component.
32. A method as claimed in claim 27, wherein said first and second
operational components are each one of: a network element, an operational
support system and a data base management system. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to incrementally restructuring the
architecture of a communications network and, in particular, standardizing
network management data processing in a telecommunications network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Communication networks typically include a plurality of distinct network
communication providing components, and network management components. The
network communication providing components, commonly called network
elements, provide information transmission services for network users,
whereas the network management components manage the traffic flow,
resources and accounting relating to use of the network and in particular
the network elements. Examples of such networks include: LANS, WANS, and
telephony networks. In many communication networks there are network
management components known as operational support systems (OSSs), wherein
each such OSS may be a relatively complex hardware/software configuration
for performing one or more network management functions such as: network
monitoring, correcting network performance problems, allocating network
resources and billing for network services. At least in telephony
networks, many such operational support systems were developed (a) prior
to (and therefore without the assistance of) recent network engineering
techniques, architectures and standards, and (b) incrementally adapted in
substantially a piecemeal fashion with few design considerations related
to the automation and management of the network as a wholes In fact, OSSs
satisfying (a) and (b) are so numerous and their maintenance difficulties
are so well known that the common term of art, "legacy systems," has been
coined to denote them. In particular, the legacy systems have been an
impediment to the introduction of network elements and/or operational
supports systems having hardware/software architectures that could provide
more robust and cost effective network operation. For instance, since the
legacy systems have few common architectural features, the utilization of
advances in: network management systems, network system engineering, and
enhanced network element features progressively becomes a more complex and
difficult task, particularly, as these advances provide new capabilities
utilized most effectively with architectures increasingly at odds with the
legacy systems. Further, since the legacy systems communicate with network
elements using a plurality of nonstandard and/or licensed communication
protocols, the combination of stopgap maintenance adaptations together
with these nonstandard communication protocols have resulted in a complex
web of communication channels between operational support systems, and
between network elements and operational support systems. In particular,
many-to-many relationships exist wherein many network elements and/or OSSs
directly supply information to a plurality of other OSSs and, conversely,
many network elements and OSSs directly receive information from a
plurality of network elements and/or OSSS. Accordingly, this complexity in
the network management information flow tends to make the network
management ill-conditioned; that is, seemingly small changes to network
operational components may have substantial unintended consequences.
Moreover, this complexity also reduces the effectiveness of the network in
being able to adapt to new market pressures, new technologies and changing
management directives.
Note that the above drawbacks of the legacy systems have become
progressively worse with the new network architectures and standards which
have been developed since 1985. In particular, the following network
standardization and architectural specifications provide a direction for
future communication networks in which the legacy systems and their
associated network elements cannot easily partake:
(1.1) International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication (ITU-T)
Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) Recommendation M.3000 Series;
(1.2) International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication (ITU-T)
Recommendation X.700 Series;
(1.3) OMNIPoint 1 and 2 specifications from the Network Management Forum
August 1992;
(1.4) International Standardization Profiles (ISPs) from the International
Standards Organization (ISO) from the following: Series and Specifications
ISO9595-X, ISO9596-X, ISO10165-X, ISO10733 and ISO10164-X; and
(1.5) International Electro Technical Commission specifications (IEC)
(i.e., ISO standard, ISO/IEC7498, also known as Recommendation X.200) from
ISO/IEC Copyright Office, Case Postale 56, SH-1211, Geneve, Switzerland.
As an aside, note that the above publications and all ISO standards and
ISO/IEC Joint Standards (including those published also as ITU-T
Recommendations are available from the American National Standards
Institute, 11 West 42nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10036.
Additionally, and in conjunction with the above-mentioned publications,
there are software architectures that have been recently developed which
are also problematic for the legacy systems. In particular, the following
software architectures are problematic for the legacy systems:
(2.1) distributed object oriented software architectures;
(2.2) manager-agent architectures;
(2.3) client-server architectures; and
(2.4) distributed computing environments.
Moreover, heretofore there has been no known method for cost effectively
implementing such new technologies in a uniform and consistent manner
wherein there is a gradual migration to these new technologies within the
framework of a master architectural plan for an entire network. Thus, in
particular, since vendors supplying network elements have adopted many of
these new standards and architectures, network providers have been left
with essentially three options regarding advanced network elements:
(3.1) do not use the technological enhancements of the newer network
elements and instead provide and/or maintain communication channels with
the legacy systems through the current entanglement of such channels;
(3.2) develop new operational support systems for the newer network
elements and use both the new operational support systems and the legacy
systems independently and concurrently until all old network elements can
be cost effectively retired; or
(3.3) provide a new network management architecture for certain network
elements and/or operational support systems independent of the legacy
systems and "flash cut" (i.e., abruptly replace) a substantial portion of
the legacy system with the new network architecture.
Since none of the above options has proven to be viable for large network
service providers, it would be advantageous for network providers to have
a straightforward method and/or system for migrating to new network
technologies cost effectively. In particular, it would be advantageous to
systematically transform a telephony or telecommunications network having
legacy systems as described above into the more automated, efficient and
standardized networks specified in the above-mentioned specifications
(1.1)-(1.5) without prematurely and wholesalely retiring substantial
portions of the network.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method for incrementally and systematically
re-engineering a communications network wherein the present invention is
intended to maintain network functionality throughout the re-engineering
effort. In particular, the present invention may be used for replacing
certain network management communication channels and management
operational support systems in, for example, a telecommunications or
telephony network. Thus, the present invention provides for the systematic
and incremental introduction of newer network management systems and
network technologies without: (a) prematurely retiring current network
elements, and/or (b) abruptly replacing a substantial portion of the
present network management as in flash cutting.
That is, by defining the term "operational component" as a network
information processing unit having a functionality provided by a network
element or an operational support system (OSS) within the network, the
present invention provides a straightforward method for isolating and
replacing a network operational component by repeatedly and systematically
bypassing, deactivating and/or disconnecting communication channels
connected to the operational component wherein each such communication
channel or, equivalently, "data channel" is used for transferring data
and/or network management commands. In particular, each communication
channel utilizing a protocol that is, for example, nonstandard and
specific to a particular (type of) operational component is a primary
target for the introduction of an alternative bypass channel that
provides: (a) substantially the same communications between the
operational components as the target channel, and (b) translates the
communications into a standardized communications protocol so that these
communications can also be supplied to a network information manager.
Thus, since an important aspect of the present invention is the
translating between protocols, it is important to clarify the meaning of
protocol. The term "protocol" is herein defined to mean:
(4.1) the control signals used for initializing, maintaining and
terminating a communication;
(4.2) the form and timing of the control signals for the communication;
(4.3) the representation (e.g., data structures) of the information
communicated;
(4.4) the form and timing of the information communicated (e.g., the size
of information packets, the timing of such packets and the frequency of
communication);
(4.5) in some cases, the timing for obtaining (sampling) data to be
communicated; and
(4.6) a set of rules and formats (semantic and syntactic) that determine
the communication behavior of the components communicating using the
protocol.
Further, the term "function oriented protocol" will herein be used to
denote the protocols that are nonstandard and specific to the
functionality of a particular OSS or a particular vendor network element.
That is, for a function oriented protocol, its characteristics according
to (4.1) through (4.5) are a combination that can not be cost effectively
utilized with different operational components that perform substantially
the same functions in the network.
Thus, for a each target or selected data channel to be deactivated between
a first operational component (e.g., network element) and a second
operational component (e.g., an operational support system) to be
isolated, the present invention includes the following steps:
(5.1) providing a bypass data path as an alternate channel wherein:
(5.1.1) the first and second operational components may transfer data on
the bypass data path substantially identically to how data is transferred
on the target data channel; in particular, the same protocol may be used
by the first and second operational components for transferring data on
the bypass data path as is used on the target data channel such that it is
substantially transparent to both operational components that the bypass
data path is being used instead of the target data channel;
(5.1.2) data on the bypass data path is used by (at least one of) the first
and second operational components instead of data on the target data
channel;
(5.1.3) the bypass data path provides data communicated on it to a network
data model for storing and use in modeling the network;
(5.2) deactivating the target data channel and using the bypass data path
exclusively;
(5.3) repeating the steps (5.1) and (5.2) with each data channel connected
to the second operational component that is not a bypass data path;
(5.4) supplying one or more third network operational components that
originally received data from the second operational component with data
from the data model derived from data on the bypass data path(s) so that
the third operational components are able to continue to perform any
desirable network services;
(5.5) providing a fourth (more advanced) OSS to take over any desirable
network management services still provided by the second operational
component, wherein the fourth OSS communicates with other operational
components via the network data model; and
(5.6) deactivating the second operational component.
Thus, the (any) required data previously transferred from the second
operational component to one of the instances of the first operational
component is now supplied to the first operational component by the data
model or, more precisely, a data model manager. Conversely, any data
previously received by the second operational component on a target or
selected data channel for network functionality that must be retained is
now received by the fourth operational component(s) via the network data
model manager.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to incrementally change the
architecture of a network management system such that the architecture is
substantially consistent with a client-server paradigm wherein this
paradigm requires data output by an operational component (e.g., a network
element or an OSS) to be supplied to a data manager (i.e., the "server")
for capturing (e.g., persistently storing) and for controlling access to
the data. Thus, any operational component desiring this data must request
the data from the data manager in order to receive the data. More
precisely, the paradigm provides that such a data manager may coalesce,
filter and/or reformulate data supplied to it as when gathering data for a
client. Thus, the previous "direct" receivers of data from a supplying
operational component now become clients for the data from the data
manager. Therefore, in particular, in steps (5.1) above it is preferred
that the bypass data path also transmit data to such a server data (model)
manager prior to the data being supplied to the one or more third network
operational components (i.e., clients) described in step (5.4) above.
It is important to note that such a server data manager may provide
significant advantages over the direct operational component to
operational component communication paradigm of many present network
management systems. The client-server architecture provides the
capabilities to present a single uniform view of data to clients that is
not easily enforced in the operational component to operational component
paradigm. For example, if two different data pathways supply similar data
having essentially the same semantics but differing values, then the
server may manipulate the data from one or both of the pathways so that a
consistent single view of the data may be provided to each client. Thus,
for example, on those occasions where network processing must be
investigated as it relates to processing in two distinct operational
components that are provided with exactly the same data (as in the
client-server paradigm), the investigation is substantially simplified. In
particular, this uniformity of data expedites locating and analyzing
certain network malfunctions or faults.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide a method for
incrementally changing the structure and understandability of network
management communications by changing these communications so that they
conform to standardized, well known protocols and data structures. Said
another way, an "open systems" methodology is incrementally incorporated
into the network management architecture by the present invention whereby
operational components not supporting open systems communications
protocols may also be systematically integrated into an open systems
architecture. Thus, as a corollary to this aspect of the invention, the
present invention provides a method for using both the enhanced
capabilities of the newer more technically advanced operational components
(in particular, network elements) having open systems interfaces and also
using older network elements having nonstandard interfaces.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to incrementally change a
network management system into an object oriented system. In particular, a
network management system is incrementally transformed by the present
invention from a system of data channels transferring data in formats that
are both substantially specific to each data channel and that are not
standardized, into a system having data channels that transfer data as
objects and object messages derived from a standardized object class
hierarchy developed for the network as a whole.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to incrementally change the
network management system into a system that is substantially insulated
from vendor specific communication interfaces and functionality. In
particular, the present invention provides translators for restricting the
infiltration of vendor specific communication interfaces and data
protocols beyond the vendor supplied operational components. The
translators therefore, translate between: (a) the vendor specific or
nonstandard communication protocols and command sets, and (b) the
standardized protocols and data architectures used by the remainder of the
network management system.
It is also within the scope of the present invention to be utilized in
other contexts than with operational components as defined above. In
particular, the present invention is applicable if the term "operational
component" were generalized to include substantially any network
communication suppliers and receivers, such as for example network data
bases, as one skilled in the art will recognize.
Other features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent
from the detailed description contained hereinafter and from the
accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a high level diagram of a representative sample of a telephony
network architecture presently used;
FIG. 2 is a high level diagram of a desired telephony network architecture;
FIG. 3A through 3E are high level diagrams illustrating various network
configurations obtained in transforming a network as in FIG. 1 to a
network as in FIG. 2 according to the present invention;
FIGS. 4A and 4B provide the high level flowchart of the steps of the
present invention; and
FIGS. 5A and 5B provide a more detailed flowchart presenting the steps for
providing bypass data paths for nonstandard, function oriented data
channels to be deactivated.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 provides a simplified illustration of some of the typical current
telephony network elements together with some of the operational support
systems (OSS) currently used in managing a telephony network. Such a
network typically includes at least three network management areas 30, 34
and 38. Further, each area includes certain network elements which are in
direct communication with specific OSSs via data channels 48 (a, b or c),
each data channel being represented by the single and double headed arrows
with each arrow head indicating a direction of data and/or command flow
through the data channel represented by the arrow's shaft.
The network management area 30 manages processes and operations related to
the completing and terminating of network customer calls. In particular,
the network management area 30 includes the circuit switches 44a and other
associated network elements (not shown) for routing and re-routing
customer calls, plus, the operational support systems which communicate
with the circuit switches 44a via the plurality of data channels 48a.
The circuit switches 44a shown in network management area 30 (i.e., "5ESS"
and "1AESS" produced by "AT&T", "DMS10" and "DMS100" produced by Northern
Telecom, and "AXE10" produced by Ericsson) are representative of the
circuit switches which communicate with OSSs using protocols that are both
nonstandard (e.g., specific to a particular vendor), and in addition,
function oriented (e.g., the protocols transfer data and/or commands using
data structures and data transfer timing that are substantially unique to
the functionality of the data supplier and receiver). Thus, there may be a
distinct protocol for substantially every data channel 48a, wherein for
example, such data channels may communicate a different data type or data
at a different sampling rate. Thus, even for two data channels supplying
the "same data", if the timing of the samplings for the data and/or the
timing of the data communication is different, then it may be very
difficult to correlate the data from the two data channels as may be
desirable when diagnosing network malfunctions.
The OSSs of network management area 30 will now briefly be discussed. The
loop side provisioning OSS 52 monitors and (re)allocates local loop
circuit switch 44a resources. The trunk side provisioning OSS 56 monitors
and (re)allocates trunk side circuit switch resources. The network traffic
and usage data acquisition OSS 60 collects circuit switch traffic and
usage load data and provides commands to the circuit switches 44a for
reconfiguring the circuit switches in order to, for example, balance the
network traffic loads between various circuit switches. In accomplishing
these functions, OSS 60 serves as a data filter and communication conduit
for the "downstream" network traffic management OSS 64 via data channel
66, this latter OSS being the source of the circuit switch reconfigure
commands supplied to the circuit switches 44a. Thus, for example, the OSS
64 may modify network conditions by sending commands to the network
elements 44a to reroute certain user communication requests (e.g.,
telephone calls) through alternate switches due to capacity limitations
(known in the art as "expansive control"), or commands may be sent to a
network element 44a restricting the number of user communication requests
that are allowed to access a particular network service (known in the art
as "restrictive control").
Additionally, both the OSS 60 and the OSS 64 supply report data to a
plurality of downstream special purpose report generating OSSs 68 via a
plurality of data channels 70 and a plurality of data channels 72,
respectively. The OSSs 68 generate reports which are, for example,
supplied to various state and federal governmental agencies. Circuit
switches 44a also communicate with an alarms and surveillance OSS 74 for
determining network malfunctions and misuse (e.g., fraud). Further, each
of the circuit switches 44a provide customer usage information to a
billing OSS 76 so that customer usage bills may be determined.
The network management area 34 manages the processes and operations
relating to the transport network elements 80. Such transport network
elements include trunks and lines having various transmission bandwidth
characteristics. As examples of such transport network elements, three of
the more common "digital service" transport network element types are
shown; i.e., DS0, DS1 and DS3.
The transport network elements 80a provide data via data channels 48b to a
plurality of OSSS, many of which are analogous to the OSSs of the network
management area 30. Representative of the OSSs for the network management
area 34 is an alarms and surveillance OSS 88 that performs substantially
the same functions for the transport network elements 80a as OSS 74 does
for the circuit switches 44a. However, in addition, the OSS 88 also is the
data filter and data conduit, via data channel 92, for supplying transport
network related data to a plurality of special purpose report generating
OSSs 96 which are similar in purpose to the OSSs 68.
The network management area 38 manages processes and operations related to
the SS7 network which, as one skilled in the art will recognize, is a
telephony network for communicating internal network control signals for
requesting and coordinating the allocation and (de)activation of network
resources for network user services. For example, the SS7 network is used
to configure circuit switches between a caller and a callee, and properly
allocate transport network elements 80 between the circuit switches so
that a complete end-to-end electronic connection is provided between the
caller and the callee.
The SS7 network includes network elements 100a of a number of different
types. Examples of such network elements are: signal transfer points
(STP), intelligent service control points (ISCP), service control points
(SCP) and service switching points (SSP). Communicating, via the data
channels 48c,with the network elements 100a directly are OSSs which are
substantially analogous to the OSSs of the network management area 30. In
particular, OSS 104 is analogous to OSS 60, OSS 116 is analogous to OSS
74. Further, the OSS 108 is analogous to OSS 64 and OSSs 112 are analogous
to OSSs 68. Also, the network provisioning OSS 120 is analogous to the
combination of OSSs 52 and 56. Thus, for example, OSS 108 provides
commands to the SS7 network elements 100a, via OSS 104, for reconfiguring
these network elements according to network traffic.
FIG. 2 shows a high level block diagram of a network management
architecture, into which it is desired to convert the network of FIG. 1.
The network architecture of FIG. 2 differs from FIG. 1 in the following
ways.
(6.1) The network architecture of FIG. 2 is based on a client-server
paradigm, wherein instead of data channels communicating directly between
operational components, the architecture of FIG. 2 requires all data
communicated between operational components to be routed through a
"server" which may store the data in a persistent data repository but, in
any event, distributes the data to "clients", i.e., operational components
requesting the data. In the present figure the server includes: (a) the
object translator/manager 200, and (b) the object oriented network
management information base 204, hereinafter also denoted MIB 204, which
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