4.4 Defining the IRPs

32.1503GPPIntegration Reference Point (IRP) Concept and definitionsRelease 17Telecommunication managementTS

It is important to accommodate more than one specific technology, as the technologies will change over time. Applications need to be future-proof. One fundamental principle for achieving this is to clearly separate the semantics of information definition from the protocols definitions (accessing the information) for the external interfaces.

The framework being used to define IRPs allows the implementation of user requirements for each management capability (e.g. configuration management), by modelling the information related to the resources to be managed and the way that the information may be accessed and manipulated. Such modelling is done in a way that is independent of the technology and distribution used in the implementation of a management system.

The IRP methodology uses the following steps:

a) Capture the management requirements.

b) Specify the semantics of the information to describe the system. Trace back to item (a).

c) Specify the semantics of the interactions between the management system and its clients. Trace back to item (a).

d) Specify the syntaxes of the information and interactions identified in (b) and (c). The specification is technology dependent. Trace back to items (b) and (c).

Figure 4.4 shows an example of how an IRP can be structured (the Alarm IRP).

Figure 4.4: Example of an IRP (Alarm IRP)