This Recommendation provides a generic network information model. It identifies TMN object classes that are common to managed telecommunication networks, or are of a generic type that can be used to manage a network at a technology-independent level, or are super-classes of technology-specific managed objects in a telecommunication network, or management support objects that are required for the management of the telecommunication network. These objects are relevant to information exchanged across standardized interfaces defined in the [b-ITU-T M.3010] TMN architecture.

This Recommendation addresses generically the abstractions of those aspects of telecommunication resources (e.g., equipments, telecommunication services) required to manage the network. It also includes the abstractions related to the management services. [b-ITU-T G.805], on the generic functional architecture of the connection-oriented transport network, and [b-ITU-T G.809], on the functional architecture of connectionless layer networks, are used as the basis in developing the transport aspects of this model.

The generic information model provided in this Recommendation follows the [ITU-T M.3020] interface methodology on the analysis phase, and they are developed in a protocol-neutral manner, which can be mapped to multiple protocol-specific information models.

This Recommendation does not address abstractions relevant to technology-specific areas or implementation-specific details.

Purpose

Interoperability

There will be a variety of TMN conformant management systems and managed systems concerning many technology-specific areas, such as switching and transmission. One purpose of this Recommendation is to provide a vehicle for management interoperability between such systems.

Technology-independent management

By introducing the concept of technology-independent management, it is possible to perform management of diverse equipment using common communication interfaces. In this manner, an "abstract" view over a set of network-elements can be achieved.

Facilitating information model development

This Recommendation also provides a framework from which technology-specific information models may be developed.

Field of application

This Recommendation captures the generally applicable requirements of the technology-independent and technology-specific information models, as well as information relating to TMN management services.

Through specialization, this Recommendation is applicable to technology-specific TMN information models. The mechanism for specialization is inheritance.

Even though technology-specific models may be derived from this Recommendation, some of the generic managed object classes in this Recommendation are instantiable in order to provide interoperability between equipment supporting information models derived from this Recommendation and equipment that only supports the information model in this Recommendation.