CORDIS Archive

	List of participants Contact	List of Domains and Chains Services and Security Domain Network Interworking Chains Service Integration Chains

Service Machine Development for an Open Long-term Mobile and Fixed Network Environment

Main Objective
The aim of the Project is to develop, validate and promote a Service Architecture (called Open Service Architecture for an integrated fixed and Mobile environment - OSAM) that meets open provision requirements for communication services over both fixed and mobile heterogeneous and multi-provider telecommunications networks.

Technical Approach
The DOLMEN approach subscribes to the TINA-C vision of telecommunications, beyond that currently offered by B-ISDN, IN and TMN. The telecommunications service infrastructure is seen as a large scale, distributed processing environment.
The Project is committed to enrich and refine the TINA architecture with respect to personal and terminal mobility support. Accordingly, DOLMEN is a TINA-C Auxiliary Project. The envisaged extensions to TINA architecture we call OSAM. Major legacy material comes from RACE Projects MONET (functionality of future mobile systems) and Cassiopeia (OSA service design and deployment framework).The DOLMEN vision is given in fig.1.

Figure 1 - Long term vision of telecommunications system and services

Summary of Trial
DOLMEN is demonstrating and assessing the architecture usability and exploitability by way of a technology trial. Specifically, DOLMEN is:

• developing and prototyping architecture-compliant components for mobile and fixed telecommunication services;
• enhancing a distributed processing platform in support of component control, management and interaction;
• developing components to interface and adapt network resources made available by two National Hosts.

Later on, it will:

• deploy a multimedia user application (hypermedia information browsing) making full use of the communications facilities provided by the Service Machine;
• validate the architecture against the requirements of its partner users by means of incremental demonstration of technology throughout the project duration.

The reference configuration for the Trials is shown in fig.2, where multiple instances of Application Clients and Servers are to be understood.

Figure 2 - Reference configuration for the trial

Key Issues

• integration of control of mobile and fixed network and service functions
• engineering of a kernel transport network
• distributed processing platforms for use in telecommunications
• object-oriented design and component models
• definition of standard components for UPT and UMTS systems
• encapsulation and adaptation of network infrastructure resources
• mapping of service architecture onto network architectures
• mapping of information browsing architectures onto TINA

Expected users of results
The results are being promoted among intended users of the architecture. These users are represented within the project and include:

• Telco Operators, of both fixed and mobile networks
• Manufacturers of telecommunications and information technology equipment
• Software Houses and providers of multimedia applications.
• Consultancy and Enabling Technology Providers.

DOLMEN plans to organise demonstration sessions at various stages of the project for the benefit of the above users.

Achievements
Representation of mobility functions in the architecture. The first release of OSAM shows that mobility has impact on all parts of the architecture: application level (session control and connection control), DPE level and kernel transport network level. Furthermore, wireless access is also handled at the DPE level using a specific CORBA technique called bridging. Ancillary to this work is the identification of enhancements to available commercial distributed processing platform, in accordance to DOLMEN requirements.
Service design framework. Around the core mission of the Project, the following achievements can be reported: (a) establishment of an appropriate service design and development environment; (b) guidelines for the IDL definition of the Service Machine components and the SDL specification of behaviours; (c) transformation relations between the OSAM component model and state-orientated behavioural languages.
Population of OSAM with actual components (specification of interfaces and behaviours) is in advanced status, with particular emphasis on: (a) components responding to mobility and application requirements; (b) resource adaptation components, interfacing the Service Machine with the available network elements and with the browsing application. A set of specifications - harmonised with TINA object definitions - is now available for later use in the Project Trials and also for export to the Concertation Mechanism.
DOLMEN First Trial was successfully carried out. Its results confirm that current mobile communication technology puts serious limitations on hypermedia information browsing. Further improvements for efficiency require enhancements not only in the WWW architecture and protocols, but also an underlying, general-purpose TINA-compliant telecom service environment.

Expected Achievements

• set of TINA-compliant components for personal communications
• contribution to the definition of a Common Service Architecture for ACTS projects
• TINA-compliant service creation methods, languages and tools.
• elements of convergence between TINA and Internet architectures
• leading-edge support of nomadic computing and information browsing

Expected Impact
Contribution to the general objectives of the Programme is made by participating to the Concertation Domain 5 (Service Engineering, Security, and Communications Management) and to the Chains NIF (Fixed and Mobile Networks Interworking), SIA (Service Architecture) and SII (Interactive Multimedia Services). DOLMEN is leading the production of a Guideline in the NIF Chain. Links with projects ReTINA and VITAL aim to complement and harmonise contributions to TINA-C. Contributions are also foreseen to the following bodies: ITU-T, ETSI, W3 Consortium, and OMG.

Contact:

Dr Sebastiano Trigila
Telecommunications Network Department
Fondazione Ugo Bordoni
via B. Castiglione, 59
00142 Roma
Italy

Tel:    +39 06 5480 3340
Fax:    +39 06 5480 4404

E-mail: trigila@fub.it

List of Domains and Chains
Services and Security Domain
Network Interworking Chains
Service Integration Chains

List of participants

I

Fondazione Ugo Bordoni

GR

Intracom S.A

NL

Lucent Technologies

GR

NTUA

UK

Orange

UK

PEP

NL

KPN Research

SF

Telecom Finland

F

Telis

I

University of Catania

SF

University of Helsinki

SF

VTT Information Technology