3 Definitions and abbreviations

28.6223GPPGeneric Network Resource Model (NRM) Integration Reference Point (IRP)Information Service (IS)Release 18Telecommunication managementTS

3.1 Definitions

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply. For terms and definitions not found here, please refer to 3GPP TS 32.101 [1], 3GPP TS 32.102 [2], 3GPP TS 32.150 [4] and 3GPP TS 32.600 [14].

Association: In general, it is used to model relationships between Managed Objects. Associations can be implemented in several ways, such as:

1) name bindings,

2) reference attributes, and

3) association objects.

This IRP stipulates that name containment associations shall be expressed through name bindings, but it does not stipulate the implementation for other types of associations as a general rule. These are specified as separate entities in the object models (UML diagrams). Currently however, all (non-containment) associations are modelled by means of reference attributes of the participating MOs.

Information Object Class (IOC): An IOC represents the management aspect of a network resource. It describes the information that can be passed/used in management interfaces. Their representations are technology agnostic software objects. IOC has attributes that represents the various properties of the class of objects. See the term "attribute" defined in [10]. Furthermore, IOC can support operations providing network management services invocable on demand for that class of objects. An IOC may support notifications that report event occurrences relevant for that class of objects. It is modelled using the stereotype "Class" in the UML meta-model. See TS 32.156 [10] for additional information on IOC.

Managed Object (MO): A MO is an instance of a Managed Object Class (MOC) representing the management aspects of a network resource. Its representation is a technology specific software object. It is sometimes called MO instance (MOI). The MOC is a class of such technology specific software objects. An MOC is the same as an IOC except that the former is defined in technology specific terms and the latter is defined in technology agnostic terms. MOCs are used/defined in SS level specifications. IOCs are used/defined in IS level specifications.

Management Information Base (MIB): A MIB is an instance of an NRM and has some values on the defined attributes and associations specific for that instance. In the context of the present document, an MIB consists of:

1) a Name space (describing the MO containment hierarchy in the MIB through Distinguished Names),

2) a number of Managed Objects with their attributes and

3) a number of Associations between these MOs. Also note that TMN (ITU-T Recommendation X.710 [7]) defines a concept of a Management Information Tree (also known as a Naming Tree) that corresponds to the name space (containment hierarchy) portion of this MIB definition. Figure 3.1 depicts the relationships between a Name space and a number of participating MOs (the shown association is of a non-containment type)

Figure 3.1: Relationships between a Name space and a number of participating MOs

Name space: A name space is a collection of names. The IRP name convention (see 3GPP TS 32.300 [13]) restricts the name space to a hierarchical containment structure, including its simplest form – the one-level, flat name space.
All Managed Objects in a MIB are included in the corresponding name space and the MIB/name space shall only support a strict hierarchical containment structure (with one root object). A Managed Object that contains another is said to be the superior (parent); the contained Managed Object is referred to as the subordinate (child). The parent of all MOs in a single name space is called a Local Root. The ultimate parent of all MOs of all managed systems is called the Global Root.

Network resource:  discrete entity represented by an Information Object Class (IOC) for the purpose of network and service management.

NOTE: A network resource may represent intelligence, information, hardware and software of a telecommunication network.

Network Resource Model (NRM): A collection of IOCs, inclusive of their associations, attributes and operations, representing a set of network resources under management.

3.2 Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in 3GPP TR 21.905 [26] and the following apply. An abbreviation defined in the present document takes precedence over the definition of the same abbreviation, if any, in 3GPP TR 21.905 [26].

DN Distinguished Name (see 3GPP TS 32.300 [13])

IOC Information Object Class

MO Managed Object

MOC Managed Object Class

MOI Managed Object Instance

NFVI Network Functions Virtualisation Infrastructure (NFVI): Defined in ETSI GS NFV 003 [15].

RDN Relative Distinguished Name (see 3GPP TS 32.300 [13])

SS Solution Set

VNF Virtualised Network Function