On Reducing the Complexity of Management and Control of Future Broadband Networks

In order to reduce the architectural complexity of broadband networks, the sharing of information among network management and control mechanisms is investigated. We introduce a concept for sharing dynamic information in real-time that identifies the current changes in the network state as a global pool of network events called the event base. Network mechanisms share events by asynchronously interacting with the event base. They filter the continuous stream of data produced by the event base and, thereby, monitor the network state according to their needs. The approach enables the integration of management and control tasks by allowing network mechanisms to share updates to their views of the network. The scheme is efficient in the sense that, first, only changes of the network state are distributed, and, second, this data can be shared (in principle) by any number of mechanisms. This is illustrated by an example of virtual path and virtual circuit connection management and control. The event base is embedded into an architectural framework, the Integrated Reference Model, that incorporates the subsystems of a broadband network, i.e., information transport, real-time control, and network management. Authors’ Addresses: Aurel A. Lazar, Center for Telecommunications Research, 801, Schapiro Research Building, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-6699, Tel: 212-854-1747, Fax: 212-316-9068, E-Mail: [email protected]. Rolf Stadler, Center for Telecommunications Research, 801, Schapiro Research Building, Columbia University, New York, NY 100276699, Tel: 212-854-2481, Fax: 212-316-9068, E-Mail: [email protected].