Title of Invention

"METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING IN A MANAGMENT NETWORK FOR INFORMATION ON CHANGES IN ATTRIBUTES"

Abstract

The inventive method for communicating in the management network of a communications network consists in establishing a communication between a (NMC) manager and a (OMC1, OMC2) agent with the aid of object models modelling the network resources of the telecommunications network in the form of object classes. According to the object model, the object classes are definable by determined operations, attributes or sendable messages. At least one subject class is used with an attribute describing several quantities. The (OMC1, OMC2) agent sends an information on message on the modification of at least one quantity to the (NMC) manager. Said message contains information on the quantity or quantities affected by modification and on the modified value or values of the quantity or quantities affected by the modification. The manager and agent for carrying out said method are also disclosed.

Full Text

The invention relates to a method for communication in a management network of a telecommunications network, in which a manager and an agent communicate with one another using an object model which models network resources of the telecommunications network as object classes. The invention further relates to a manager and an agent for carrying out said method. The principles of a management network, also known as TMN principles (TMN: Telecommunications Management Network), define a plurality of management layers for the management of a communications system, e.g. a mobile communications system, wherein each layer apart from the highest and lowest possesses a dual function, namely a manager and an agent function. In the managing system, each level apart from the lowest has a manager function for the level below. In the managed system, each level apart from the highest has an agent function for the next higher layer. For network monitoring and control purposes, managers initiate operations by sending so-called "requests" which are executed by the agents, and receive corresponding "responses" from the agents. Equipment or elements of the telecommunications network, also known as telecommunications network resources, which act as agents in a TMN hierarchy, detect relevant "events", such as alarms, generate corresponding "notifications", and transmit them to managers in the form of so-called "event reports" in order to provide efficient network management. management can include fault management and/or configuration management and/or security management and/or accounting management and/or performance management. Network management is designed to provide suitable mechanisms for information distribution and management, so that a complete picture of the state of the network is available when required and the individual resources of the telecommunications can be monitored and configured efficiently. Managers and agents communicate via so-called management interfaces or manager-agent interfaces which, in an object-oriented environment, are characterized by a communications protocol such as CHIP (Common Management Information Protocol) per ITU-T X.711 or CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture), and by an object model. Object models, also known as information models, are used for modeling resources of the telecommunications network, these resources being subdivided into object classes during modeling. Object classes are defined among other things by particular operations, attributes, transmittable messages and the object-class-specific behavior which describes, for example, which state an object shall assume in particular situations and for what purpose particular attributes are to be used. Such interfaces exist, for example, between the network element management level on the one hand and the network element level on the other. An example of network elements of this manager-agent interface are the Operation and Maintenance Centers (OMC) on the network element management level side and, on the network element level side, elements such as base stations of the Base Station System (BSS) of a GSM mobile network, or base stations of other communications networks such as NodeBs of a UMTS mobile communications network (UMTS: Universal Mobile telecommunication System), or radio access points of a WLAN system (WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network) e.g. as defined in one of the IEEE 802.11 standards. Management interfaces or manager-agent interfaces also exist between the network management level on the one hand and the network element management level on the other. An example of network elements at this manager-agent interface are the Network Management Centers (NMC) on the network management level side and the Operation and Maintenance Centers (OMC) on the network element management level side, e.g. in the abovementioned GSM or other mobile communications or telecommunications network. The object of the invention is to demonstrate an efficient method for operating a management network of the type mentioned in the introduction. In addition, a suitable manager and agent for carrying out the method shall be presented. This object is achieved by a method having the features set forth in claim 1, and by a manager and an agent having features of subordinate claims. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the subject matter of sub-claims. With the method according to the invention, communication between a manager and an agent takes place using an object model which models network resources of the telecommunications network as object classes. According to the object model, the object classes are defined - at least among other things - by particular operations, attributes and transmittable messages. At least one object class having an attribute describing a plurality of variables is used. The agent sends the manager a message providing information about a change in the value of at one of the variables. This message includes information as to which variable or variables are affected by the change, and the changed value or values of the variable or variables affected by the change. An object model is used for communication between a manager and an agent, an object model being characterized by the object classes which it uses and by the relations of the object classes to one another, such as so-called "containment" relations and the interaction of different object classes. The object model used according to the invention is designed such that at least one object class has an attribute describing a plurality of variables. This means that the attribute contains a plurality of values in relation to a concrete network resource, corresponding to the number of variables. In particular, the plurality of variables can be manufacturer-specific variables which can differ from agent to agent with which the manager communicates. The at least one object class can have one or more such attributes describing a plurality of variables. It is additionally possible for one, a plurality of, or all the object classes of an object model to have such attributes describing a plurality of variables. If the value of at least one of the variables described by the attribute changes, the agent sends a message to the manager informing it about the change. The agent may have been informed about the change e.g. by a lower-order agent. The message sent to the manager indicates which variable or variables are affected by the change. This can be achieved e.g. by placing information identifying the variable or variables affected by the change at a particular position or in a particular context in the message. method according to the invention can be applied to communication between a manager and a plurality of agents, between an agent and a plurality of managers, and also between a plurality of managers and agents. In further development of the invention, the message includes information enabling the manager to interpret the at least one changed variable. The information therefore constitutes metadata which is used to describe the representation of the described variables. This information can be e.g. a pointer to information required for interpretation by the manager, such as a pointer to a book or Internet page. This information can be variables described by one or more attributes of the at least one object class. The information can be e.g. a language used for the at least one changed variable and/or the structure of the at least one changed variable, such as an XML schema. In one embodiment of the invention, the message includes the value or values of the unchanged variable of variables. In this case, the message contains the current values for all the variables described by the attribute. It is additionally or alternatively possible for the message to include the old value or values of the at least one changed variable, i.e. the values of these variables prior to the change. The manager according to the invention has means of communicating with an agent using an object model which models network resources of the telecommunications network as object classes, the object classes being defined according to the object model by particular operations, attributes and transmittable messages and at least one object class having an attribute describing a plurality of variables. It additionally has means of receiving and processing a message from the agent information concerning a change in a value of at least one variable, said message comprising: information as to which variable or variables are affected by the change, and the changed value or values of the variable or variables affected by the change. The agent according to the invention for a management network of a telecommunications network has means of communicating with a manager using an object model which models network resources of the telecommunications network as object classes, the object classes being defined according to the object model by particular operations, attributes and transmittable messages and at least one object class having an attribute describing a plurality of variables. It additionally has means of creating and transmitting a message to the manager giving information concerning a change in a value of at least one variable, said message comprising: information as to which variable or variables are affected by the change, and the changed value or values of the variable or variables affected by change. Both the agent according to the invention and the manager according to the invention are particularly suitable for carrying out the method according to the invention, this also applying to the embodiments and further developments, for which purpose they can comprise further suitable means. The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment in which; Figure 1: shows a section of a management network of a mobile communications system. management network of a mobile communications system shown in Figure 1 consists of the three levels NM-LEVEL (NM: Network Manager), NEM-LEVEL (NEM: Network Element Manager) and NE-LEVEL (NE: Network Element). A component of the highest level NM-LEVEL is the Network Management Center NMC which is connected to the Operation and Maintenance Centers OMC1 and OMC2 of the middle level NEM-LEVEL. The two Operation and Maintenance Centers OMC1 and OMC2 act as agents for the Network Management Center NMC. The Operation and Management Center OMC1 is connected to the three network elements NEll, NE12 and NE13 of the lowest level NE-LEVEL, whereas the Operation and Maintenance Center OMC2 is connected to the two network elements NE21 and NE22. The network elements NEll, NE12, NE13, NE21 and NE22 can be e.g. base stations or elements for monitoring base stations. The invention will now be described with reference to communication between the Network Management Center NMC and the Operation and Maintenance Centers OMC1 and OMC2. The network resources of the mobile communications system, such as the network elements NEll, NE12, NE13, NE21 and NE22, are subdivided into object classes for network management purposes. For communication via the interface between the Network Management Center NMC and the Operation and Maintenance Centers OMC1 and OMC2 an object model has been defined by 3GPP which comprises e.g. the object class ManagedElement and ManagedFunction which are basic object classes with general attributes. Further object classes are e.g. gsmCell, utranCell, btsSiteManager, bssFunction, mscServerFunction, rncFunction, hlrFunction, vlrFunction, sgsnFunction and ggsnFunction. Each object class is defined by particular operations, i.e. via commands which can be sent to network resources of this object iass by a manager, and via particular attributes, i.e. characteristics, which can be interrogated by a manager and possibly processed, by particular messages which can be transmitted by network resources of the relevant object class as part network management, and via the description of the meaning and behavior of the object class and its components. The object model used or the object classes defined are usually generic so that they can be used by Operation and Maintenance Centers of different manufacturers. The reason for this is that some of the manager tasks which the Operation and Maintenance Centers perform in respect of the lower-order network elements, such as configuration management, are dependent on the specific hardware and software design of the network elements and are therefore proprietary. As a Network Management Center is often connected to a plurality of Operation and Maintenance Centers of different manufacturers, messages of the hardware-related object model of the OMC-NE interface are converted into messages of the generic object model of the OMC-NMC interface in the Operation and Maintenance Centers. However, an overly generic object model for the NMC-OMC interface is in many cases inadequate for efficient network management. It is therefore possible to agree a new or extended object model between the Network Management Center NMC and an Operation and Maintenance Center OMC1 or OMC2. This can be achieved by adding new attributes for operator-specific variables to object classes defined in the standard. Whereas the standardized, non-manufacturer-specific attributes generally describe one variable, an added attribute can have a plurality of described variables. Another possibility for expanding the object model is the use of so-called VsDataContainers (vs: vendor specific), as ^**%iescribed by 3GPP in the TS 32.622 specification. This is an object class which is used for manufacturer-specific information. The object class VsDataContainer has a first attribute VsData describing one or more manufacturer-specific variables; a second attribute VsDataType for specifying the structure of the variable(s) described by the attribute VsData; a third attribute VsDataFormatVersion for specifying the language used for the described variable(s) of the attribute VsData. The attributes VsDataFormatVersion and VsDataType therefore contain metadata describing the representation of the data of the attribute VsData, or enabling the Network Management Center NMC to interpret the variables described by the attribute VsData. If the value of an attribute changes, an Operation and Maintenance Center OMC1 or OMC2 can send a notification concerning the change to the Network Management Center NMC. Such a notification generally contains information identifying the changed attribute, the new value of the changed attribute and possibly also the old value of the changed attribute. A notification of this kind is termed "attributeValue Change notification" in document ITU-T X.721. If an attribute contains a plurality of described variables, such as in the above-described cases of an extended object model, the message can contain the current values for all the described variables, i.e. for both the changed and the unchanged variables. The Network Management Center NMC must then, on receiving such a notification, compare the received current values for all the variables described by the attribute with all the old values in order to ascertain in respect of which of the described variables a change has occurred. "~-i)i»ccording to the invention, the change notification contains information enabling the Network Management Center NMC to directly identify which variables are affected by the change, without comparing all the new with all the old values. This can be achieved, for example, by including the name or another unique identifier of the described variable in combination with the changed value and optionally with the old value; or also the name or another unique identifier of the described variable in combination with the current values for all the variables described by the attribute and optionally the old values for all the variables described by the attribute. It is also advantageous if the notification additionally contains the metadata at least in respect of the changed variable or variables. If this information is not sent to the Network Management Center NMC with the change notification, the Network Management Center NMC must search for metadata previously transmitted to it in order to be able to interpret the changed values. As a concrete example, a case will now be considered in which an attribute, called Data, of an object class contains the manufacturer-specific variables timerl, timer2, timerS, functionStatus, and maxNumberOfUsers as described variables. The variables timerl, timer2 and timerS are times, the variable functionStatus specifies whether the relevant network resource is operating properly, and the variable maxNumberOfUsers is a count. A second attribute, called DataType, of the same object class describes the structure of the described variables of the attribute Data. A third attribute, called DataFormatVersion, of the same object class describes the language used for the described variables of the attribute Data. three attributes can have e.g. the following values in relation to a particular network resource: • DataType = "SEQUENCE (timerl INTEGER (1-60), timer2 INTEGER (1...24), timer3 INTEGER (1-31), functionStatus ENUMERATED (okay 0, malfunction 1, Iocked2) , maxNumberOfUsers INTEGER (100-1000) )" This means that the described variable timerl of the attribute Data is an integer with a value range of 1 to 60, the described variable timer2 of the attribute Data is an integer with a value range of 1 to 24, the described variable timer3 of the attribute Data is an integer with a value range of 1 to 31, the described variable functionStatus of the attribute Data is the data type Enumerated, the value 0 being set for correct operation (okay) , the value 1 for a malfunction and the value 2 for disabled or locked, and the described variable maxNumberOfUsers of the attribute Data is an integer with a value range of 100 to 1000. • DataFormatVersion = "ASN.l version 1997" This means that ASN.l version 1997 is used as the language for representing the described variables of the attribute Data, this merely being an example of the language used. In particular it is also advantageous to use XML as the language . • Data = "00000060 00000024 00000031 0000 00000100" For easier comprehensibility, the value of the attribute Data is not reproduced in ASN.l language; for this purpose the numerical sequence is converted into a bit string according to ASN.l rules. The first 8 digits correspond to the value of the variable timerl, the second 8-digit block corresponds to that of the variable timer2, the third 8-digit block to that of the variable timerS, the following 4-digit block to that of the variable functionStatus, and the last 8-digit block to that of the variable maxNumberOf Users . For better legibility the blocks of numbers are separated by a space in each case. The variable timerl therefore currently has the value 60, the variable timer2 the value 24, the variable timer3 the value 31, the variable functionStatus the value 0, i.e. correct operation, and the variable maxNumberOfUsers the value 100. The functionality of the network resource considered now changes from "okay" to "malfunction". The Operation and Maintenance Center OMC1 or OMC2 receives a corresponding fault report from the network resource in question, so that the value of the functionStatus variable must be changed from 0 to 1. A notification of the change in the value of the attribute Data is sent to the Network Management Center NMC. The notification contains the following components which will be explained below: Header, PartOf DataType, PartOf DataFormatVersion, PartOfDataNewValue, PartOf DataOldValue, DataType, DataFormatVersion, DataNew, DataOld: • A header containing information such as "managedObjectClass", i.e. the object class whose attribute is affected by the change, "managedObj ectlnstance", i.e. information identifying the network resource affected, "eventTime", i.e. the time of the attribute change. • The specification of the metadata for the variable which is affected by the change, i.e. the values of the abovementioned values of the attributes DataType and DataFormatVersion in relation to the changed variable: PartOfDataType = "functionStatus ENUMERATED (okay 0, malfunction 1, locked 2)" PartOfDataFormatVersion = "ASN.l version 1997". • The new value of the variable affected by the change: PartOfDataNewValue = "0001". • Optionally the old value of the variable affected by the change: PartOfDataOldValue = "0000". • Optional the current value of the changed attribute Data, i.e. the current values for all the described variables DataNew = "00000060 00000024 00000031 0001 00000100". • Optional the old value of the changed attribute Data, i.e. the values for all the described variables prior to the change: DataOld = "00000060 00000024 00000031 0000 00000100". • Optionally the value of the attribute DataType: DataType = "SEQUENCE (timerl INTEGER (1...60), timer2 INTEGER (2...24), timer3 INTEGER (1...31), functionStatus ENUMERATED (okay 0, malfunction 1, Iocked2), maxNumberOfUsers INTEGER (100-1000))". • Optionally the value of the attribute DataFormatVersion: DataFormatVersion = "ASN.l version 1997". If the variable functionStatus subsequently changes to locked and the variable timer3 simultaneously changes to the value 15, the notification to the Network Management Center NMC contains the following components: • Header, • PartOfDataType = "SEQUENCE (timerS INTEGER (1...31), functionStatus ENUMERATED (okay 0, malfunction 1, locked 2))", • PartofDataFormatVersion = "ASN.l version 1997", • partOfDataNewValue = "00000015 0002", • optionally PartOfDataOldValue = "00000031 0001", • optionally DataType = "SEQUENCE (timerl INTEGER (1...60), timer2 INTEGER (2...24), timer3 INTEGER (1...31), functionStatus ENUMERATED (okay 0, malfunction 1, Iocked2), maxNumberOfUsers INTEGER (100-1000))", • optionally DataFormatVersion = "ASN.l version 1997", • optionally DataNew = "00000060 00000024 00000015 0002 000000100", • optionally DataOld = "00000060 00000024 00000031 0001 000000100". The position or sequence assumed by the individual components of the notification, and the nomenclature and grouping of the individual components can be implemented in various ways. An example of an alternative structure of the components PartOfDataType, PartOfDataFormatVersion, PartofDataNewValue, PartOfDataOldValue in relation to the two last-described changes is: PartOfData = "SET (SEQUENCE (timerS INTEGER (1...31), [type] "ASN.l version 1997", [version] "00000015", [new value] "00000031", [old value, optional]) (SEQUENCE (functionStatus ENUMERATED (okay 0, malfunction 1, locked 2) "ASN.l version 1997", "0002" "0001") The attributes Data, DataFormatVersion and DataType can be e.g. attributes of the object class VsDataContainer, it being merely noted that the attribute VsDataType standardized by 3GPP does not contain metadata per se, but a pointer to said metadata. We claim: 1. A method for communication in a management network of a telecommunications network, wherein communication takes place between a manager (Network Management Center (NMC)) and an agent (Operation and Management Center1 (OMC1), Operation and Management Center2 (OMC2)) using an object model which models network resources of the telecommunications network as object classes, the object classes being defined according to the object model by particular operations, attributes and transmittable messages, at least one object class being used which has an attribute describing a plurality of variables, the agent (OMC1, OMC2) sending a message containing information about a change in a value of at least one of the variables to the manager (NMC), said message comprising: • information as to which variable or variables are affected by the change, and • the changed value or values of the variable or variables affected by the change. 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the message includes information enabling the manager (NMC) to interpret the at least one changed variable. 3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the information enabling the manager (NMC) to interpret the at least one changed variable is a language used for the at least one changed variable and/or the structure of the at least one changed variable. 4. The method as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the message includes the value or values of the unchanged variable or variables. 5. The method as claimed in one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the message includes the value or values prior to the change of the at least one changed variable. 6. The method as claimed in one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the manager (NMC) is a Network Management Center and the agent (OMC1, OMC2) is an operation and maintenance element of a cellular mobile communications system. 7. A manager (NMC) for a management network of a telecommunications network, having means of communicating with an agent (OMC1, OMC2) using an object model which models network resources of the telecommunications network as object classes, the object classes being defined according to the object model by particular operations, attributes and transmittable messages, and at least one object class having an attribute describing a plurality of variables, means of receiving and processing a message from the agent (OMC1, OMC2) containing information about a change in a value of at least one of the variables, said message comprising: • information as to which variable or variables are affected by the change, and • the changed value or values of the variable or variables affected by the change. 8. An agent (OMC1, OMC2) for a management network of a telecommunications network, having means of communicating with a manager (NMC) using an object model which models network resources of the telecommunications network as object classes, the object classes being defined according to the object model by particular operations, attributes and transmittable messages, and at least one object class having an attribute describing a plurality of variables, means of creating and transmitting a message to the manager (NMC) containing information about a change in a value of at least one of the variables, said message comprising: • information as to which variable or variables are affected by the change, and • the changed value or values of the variable or variables affected by the change.

Documents:

700-delnp-2007-abstract.pdf

700-DELNP-2007-Claims-(11-07-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-claims.pdf

700-DELNP-2007-Correspondence Others-(11-07-2012)..pdf

700-delnp-2007-Correspondence Others-(11-07-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-Correspondence Others-(20-07-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-Correspondence Others-(24-12-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-correspondence-others-1.pdf

700-delnp-2007-correspondence-others.pdf

700-delnp-2007-description (complete).pdf

700-DELNP-2007-Drawings-(11-07-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-drawings.pdf

700-delnp-2007-Form-1-(20-07-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-form-1.pdf

700-delnp-2007-form-18.pdf

700-delnp-2007-form-2.pdf

700-delnp-2007-Form-3-(11-07-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-form-3.pdf

700-delnp-2007-form-5.pdf

700-delnp-2007-pct-210.pdf

700-delnp-2007-pct-237.pdf

700-delnp-2007-pct-304.pdf

700-delnp-2007-Petition-137-(11-07-2012).pdf

700-delnp-2007-Petition-137-(20-07-2012).pdf