What do you mean by telecommunication network? Give its architecture.

A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Each terminal in the network have a unique address so messages or connections can be routed to the correct recipients. The collection of addresses in the network is called the address space. The links connect the nodes together and are themselves built upon an underlying transmission network which physically pushes the message across the link, using circuit switched, message switched or packet switched routing. Components of telecommunication network: All telecommunication networks are made up of five basic components that are present in each network environment regardless of type or use. These basic components include terminals, telecommunications processors, telecommunications channels, computers, and telecommunications control software. Terminals are the starting and stopping points in any telecommunication network environment. Any input or output device that is used to transmit or receive data can be classified as a terminal component. Telecommunications processors support data transmission and reception between terminals and computers by providing a variety of control and support functions. (i.e. convert data from digital to analog and back) Telecommunications channels are the way by which data is transmitted and received. Telecommunication channels are created through a variety of media of which the most popular include copper wires and coaxial cables (structured cabling). Fiber-optic cables are increasingly used to bring faster and more robust connections to businesses and homes. In a telecommunication environment computers are connected through media to perform their communication assignments. Telecommunications control software is present on all networked computers and is responsible for controlling network activities and functionality. Early networks were built without computers, but late in the 20th century their switching centers were computerized or the networks replaced with computer networks. In general, every telecommunications network conceptually consists of three parts, or planes: The control plane carries control information (also known as signaling). The data plane or user plane or bearer plane carries the network's users traffic. The management plane carries the operations and administration traffic required for network management.

Network tree diagram Traditionally, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) has been the dominant type of public telecommunication network worldwide, and consists of telephone lines, fibre optic cables, microwave transmission links, communication satellites and undersea telephone cables. The advent of cellular technologies led to the interconnection of the mobile phone (cellular) networks with PSTN. The PSTN was based on circuit-switched technology, which had been primarily developed for voice traffic. Technologies developed for data transmission like PSDN, ISDN, Dial-up, DSL and others also leverage the existing PSTN infrastructure. Due to the growing demand for data and video services and the limitations of the circuitswitched technology, telecom operators find it economically prohibitive to expand their circuitswitched networks tomeet demand. This has led to a gradual move towards the adoption of packet-based switching technology. Newer 2G and 3G mobile phone systems like GPRS, EDGE and HSPA that are designed for data transmissions are also based on packet-based switching technology. The term, Next Generation Network (NGN), is generally used to refer to these packet-based networks that transport all information and services data, voice and media like videos. NGNs are most commonly based on the Internet Protocol (IP). NGN is expected to reshape the current structure of the telecommunication system and access to the Internet

Todays telecom networks are a combination of several technologies PSTN, 2G, 3G that have evolved over a period of time. Generally speaking, the current telecom network comprises the following parts: Access Network This is the part of the network that connects the telecommunication equipment fixed or mobile to the core network for provision of services. This includes the local loop (telephone cables/fibre optic) of the fixed networks and the radio links in a mobile network, the radio towers, base stations and controllers. Core Network This consists of the network elements responsible for service delivery and setting up of the end-to-end connection and handovers, and may be classified into circuitswitched and packet-switched domains. The core network includes components such as switches, the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC), the Host Location Register (HLR), the Visitor Location Register, and the Authentication Centre. Application and Management Network This consists of end-user application servers, and systems and services that support the operation, administration and maintenance functions of the network. Internal Network This is the telecom operators internal network. This includes systems used by the operators employees. External Network This is the externally visible network, typically deployed in the DeMilitarized Zone (DMZ). This includes the Web servers, application servers and mail servers that are hosted by the telecom operator.

Telecommunication network architecture

Structure of Management Information Model

Managed objects are abstractions of data processing and data communication resources for the purpose of management... The design of systems management requires that an approach be adopted that will allow the specifications to be standardized in a modular fashion and provide the extensibility of the protocol and procedures. The information model makes use of object-oriented design principles because they provide the above capabilities and provide for reuse of pieces of specification. Managed objects are defined for the purpose of managing systems. Each managed system may contain a Management Information Base (MIB). In the MIB, managed objects are used to represent the resources that may be managed within the system. A MIB is the conceptual repository of the management information within an open system. It represents the resources in a managed system that has been externalized for communication with a managing system. They are externalized in the sense that a managing system has knowledge of the MIB, not of the actual data structures of the managed system's internal database; and the two may be vastly different. Resources that are not managed do not need managed object representations. By managing this MIB, a managing system can control the managed system's actual resources. This control includes the ability to retrieve information about the resources and to provision, reconfigure, or inhibit the capabilities of the resources within managed system. A managed object is an abstraction of a physical or logical entity for the purpose of management. It contains the specific information associated with the management of that physical or logical entity. A managed object class defines the characteristics of a type of physical or logical resource. Instances of a managed object class exist to represent specific instances of a resource. Therefore, a managed object is an instance of a managed object class.

Management Information System of an Organization

Management Information Model

Structure of TMN Information Model

The term TMN is introduced by the ITU-T (the former CCITT) as an abbreviation for Telecommunications Management Network. The concept of a TMN is defined by Recommendation M.3010. TMN has a strong relationship with OSI management, and defines a number of concepts that have relevance for Internet Management. According to M.3010, a TMN is conceptually a separate network that interfaces a telecommunications network at several different points. The relationship between a TMN and the telecommunication network that is managed, is shown in Figure 1. According to this figure, the interface points between the TMN and the telecommunication network are formed by Exchanges and Transmission systems. For the purpose of management, these Exchanges and Transmission systems are connected via a Data Communication Network to one or more Operations Systems. The Operations Systems perform most of the management functions; these functions may be carried out by human operators but also automatically. It is possible that a single management function will be performed by multiple Operations Systems. In this case, the Data Communication Network is used to exchange management information between the Operation Systems. The Data Communication Network is also used to connect Work Stations, which allow operators to interpret management information. Work Stations have manmachine interfaces, the definition of such interfaces fall outside the scope of TMN (Work Stations are therefore drawn at the border of the TMN).

Recommendation M.3010 defines the general TMN management concepts and introduces several management architectures at different levels of abstraction: A functional architecture, which describes a number of management functions. A physical architecture, which defines how these management functions may be implemented into physical equipment. An information architecture, which describes concepts that have been adopted from OSI management. A logical layered architecture (LLA), which includes one of the best ideas of TMN: a model that shows how management can be structured according to different responsibilities. Functional Architecture Five different types of function blocks are defined by TMNs functional architecture. It is not necessary that all of these types are present in each possible TMN configuration. On the other hand, most TMN configurations will support multiple function blocks of the same type.

Physical Architecture Next to a functional architecture, TMN also defines a physical architecture. The latter architecture shows how TMNs functions, which were defined by the functional architecture, can be implemented into physical equipment. TMNs physical architecture is thus defined at a lower abstraction level than TMNs functional architecture. The physical architecture shows how function blocks should be mapped upon building blocks (physical equipment) and reference points upon interfaces. In fact, the physical architecture defines how function blocks and reference points can be implemented.

Functional Vs Physical Architecture

Logical Layered Architecture TMN recognizes that, corresponding to human society, a hierarchy of management responsibilities exist. Such hierarchies can be described in terms of management layers; the architecture that describes this layering is called the Logical Layered Architecture. To deal with the complexity of management, the management functionality with its associated information can be decomposed into a number of logical layers. A usual decomposition of management functionality leads to the following layers of abstraction:

 Element management layer. Network management layer. Service management layer. Business management layer.

TMN Management Layers

A usual decomposition of management functionality leads to the following layers of abstraction: Element management layer. Network management layer. Service management layer. Business management layer. Element management layer The functions of individual Network Elements are managed by Operations Systems Functions (OSF) in the Element Management layer. This layer deals with vendor specific management functions and hides these functions from the layer above, the Network Management layer. Examples of functions performed at the Element Management layer are: Detection of equipment errors, Measuring power consumption, Measuring the temperature of equipment, Measuring the resources that are being used, like CPU-time, buffer space, queue length etc., Logging of statistical data, Updating firmware Network Management layer Whereas the responsibility of the Element Management layer is to manage NEFs implemented within single pieces of equipment, the responsibility of the Network Management layer is to manage the functions related to the interaction between multiple pieces of equipment. At network management level the internal structure of the network elements is not visible; this implies that buffer space within routers, the temperature of switches etc. can not be directly managed at this level. Examples of functions performed at this layer are: creation of the complete network view, creation of dedicated paths through the network to support the QoS demands of end users, modification of routing tables, monitoring of link utilization, optimizing network performance, and detection of faults. The OSFs at the Network Management layer use the vendor independent management information that is provided by the OSFs in the Element Management layer. In this interaction the OSFs at the Network Management layer act in a manager role and the OSFs in the Element Management layer in an agent role. Service Management layer The Service Management layer is concerned with management of those aspects that may directly be observed by the users of the telecommunication network. These users may be end users (customers) but also other service providers (administrations). Service Management builds upon the management information that is provided by the Network Management layer, but does not

see the internal structure of the network. Routers, switches, links etc. can therefore not directly be managed at Service Management level. Examples of functions performed at the Service Management layer are: Quality of Service management (delay, loss, etc.) Accounting Addition and removal of users Address assignment Maintenance of group addresses. The notion of Service Management can be regarded as the most valuable contribution of TMN and other management frameworks, most notably the Internet management framework, may take advantage of this idea and extend their management frameworks with this notion. Business Management layer The Business Management layer is responsible for the management of the whole enterprise. This layer has a broad scope; communications management is just a part of it. Business management can be seen as goal setting, rather than goal achieving. For this reason business Management can better be related to strategical and tactical management, instead of operational management, like the other management layers of TMN.

Functional hierarchy

Management servicing
The four basic management functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Planning: Definition: The function of management of systematically making decisions about the goals to be achieved and activities or actions needed to achieve those goals that an individual, a group, a work unit, or the overall organization will pursue in the future. Plans are developed for the entire organizational unit and individuals for certain period of time. Its activities include: Analyzing current situations. Anticipating the future. Determining the organizational objectives. Deciding the activities to be involved. Choosing strategies. Determining resources to achieve organizational goals. Organizing: Definition: The management function of assembling and coordinating human, financial, physical, information and other resources needed to achieve organizational goals. Its activities include: Specifying job responsibilities. Grouping jobs into work units. Resource allocation. Leading: Definition: The management function that involves the manager's efforts to stimulate high performance by employees and includes directing, motivating and communicating with employees, individually and in groups. Its activities include: Directing the workforce. Motivating your subordinates. Communicating with employees. Controlling: Definition: The function of management of monitoring progress and making needed changes to make sure that the organizational goals are achieved. Its activities include: Setting performance standards that indicate progress toward long-term goals. Monitoring staff performance through performance data evaluation. Identifying performance problems by comparing performance data against standards and take corrective actions.

TMN MANAGEMENT FUNCTION

The TMN management function is associated with management functionality in a managed system. It may be triggered by internal events of the managed system (for example, report alarm) or invoke by the managing system. They are usually grouped into five functional areas: 1. Performance management 2. Fault (Maintenance) management 3. Configuration management 4. Accounting management 5. Security management Performance management includes all activities necessary to maintain the short term customer view of quality of service. It gathers statistical data for monitoring and controlling the effectiveness and behaviours of the network, NE or equipment. 1. Performance monitoring (PM) PM involves the collection of data relating the performance of the NE. It is designed to measure the overall quality using monitored parameters and also to detect characteristic pattern before the quality of signal drops below an acceptable level. 1. The Common function NE sends current PM data to TMN on its request. It may be generated periodically by the NE and sent to TMN whenever it demands or by parameter threshold triggering. TMN directs the NE to start/stop the collection and to reset storage registers for PM data. 2. Performance controlling (PC) 1. The Common function TMN makes NE to set up a schedule for reporting of PM data, to send the PM data report schedule and to assign designated values to PM attributes. NE sends current PM attributes to TMN on its request. In addition, TMN directs NE to change or to set the PM parameter threshold, also to set up a schedule for the execution of QoS test calls and sends the current QoS call schedule to TMN. NE reports the result of QoS test calls to TMN whenever it demands or on a schedule basis. Beside that, TMN asks NE to change or to set the attributes of QoS test calls, to start/stop sending test calls and sends the current QoS test call attributes. Fault (Maintenance) Management includes all procedure necessary to handle system alarm, correct and test falling equipment, and respond intelligently to customers complaints. 1. Alarm TMN is able to monitor NE failures in near real time. Indication is made by the NE when a failure occurs. TMN determines the nature and severity of the fault basing on the indication. It may determine the effect of the fault on the services supported by the fault equipment in two ways. The first one is that a data base within a TMN may interpret

binary alarm indication from the NE, which requires little of the NE beyond selfmonitoring capability. The second is that it may transmit self- explanatory messages to a TMN if the NE has sufficient intelligence, but requires additional support of message syntax for the description of fault condition from both NE and TMN. 2. Correction Automatic restoration report from NE to TMN indicates a specific line, service, equipment or system that has been switched as part of NE's protection procedures. TMN requests NE to start/stop hot-standby procedures for system or service so as to let a redundant unit to take over with minimum disruption to traffic. Reload procedure involves a request from TMN to NE for reconstruction of a service or a system from a particular dump record. A reload report is the reporting of a reloaded service or system from a dump, from NE to TMN. 3. Testing It can be done in two ways. The first way is that a TMN orders a NE to carry out analysis of circuit or equipment characteristics, which is done entirely within the NE. Results are reported to the TMN automatically and immediately or on a delayed basis. Another way is that the analysis is done within the TMN. It asks the NE to provide access to the circuit or equipment concerned and no more messages are exchanged with the NE. Configuration Management covers activities such as installing equipment,provisioning equipment, behaviours of network and modifying parameter. It provides functions for control over, identify, collect data from and provide data to NEs. 1. Provisioning It consists of procedures need to bring an equipment into service, excluding installation. When the unit is in service, supporting programs will be initialised with the TMN. Status of the unit, for example, whether in service or not, may be controlled by provisioning functions. Use of provisioning functions differs in different NEs. Frequent use of these functions is required in digital switching and cross-connect equipment as circuits are put up and dropped. While only one usage is usually required in small transmission elements. 2. Status and control of NE TMN provides monitoring and controlling over the NE on request. A status check is usually provided in conjunction with each control function so as to check that the resulting action has taken place. These functions are corrective when dealing with faulty conditions. Status and control functions form part of routine maintenance which is done on a periodic or automatic basis. TMN will stop the operation of a faulty equipment and may rearrange equipment or re-route traffic. It can also enable entering of proposed configuration to analyse the feasibility of the design before its implementation.

Accounting Management includes the measurement and control of costs and customers billing. It provides a function set which enable the use of the network service to be measured and determine the cost of it. It also collects the accounting record and 1. Billing Some NEs is used to determine charges to customer accounts and it will send to the OS within TMN if it requires these data. To enable the maintaining of the record of billing, this type of function needs highly efficient and redundant data transport. Processing must be carried out in near real time for large number of customers. Security Management is responsible for controlling access to customers, network data and resources. It is concerned not with the provision and use of encryption or authentication techniques themselves but rather with their management, including reports concerning attempts to breach system security. There are two important function, first one is managing the security and maintaining security audits. The other one is performing the network management task in a secure way. COMMON MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS The common management functions are called system management functions. The following system management functions are still in the standardizing process or have been completed: Accounting meter management Alarm report Event report Logging Measurement summarization Object management Objects and attributes for access control Relationships management Security alarm reporting Security audit trail State management Test management Workload monitoring