WO2002093406A2

WO2002093406A2 - System and method for managing the administration of telecommunications infrastructures

Info

Publication number: WO2002093406A2
Application number: PCT/EP2001/011003
Authority: WO
Inventors: Volker Paul Bauer; Bartel Madeleine Rene De Lathouwer; Ronald Orlemans; Rogier Dijk
Original assignee: Koninklijke Kpn N.V.
Priority date: 2001-05-15
Filing date: 2001-09-21
Publication date: 2002-11-21
Also published as: AU2002224769A1; WO2002093406A3; AU2002319175A1

Abstract

A method and system is disclosed for realising an administration of an infrastructure. The method and system relative to identifying relevant aspects for the infrastructure and identifying objects of the infrastructure for at least one identified aspect. The infrastructure objects constitute one or more networks for the at least one identified aspect, which can be described in terms of vertics and edges. The method allows dealing with complex infrastructures.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING THE ADMINISTRATION OF INFRASTRUCTURES

Field of the invention The present invention is related to a system and method for managing the administration of infrastructures. In particular, it is related to a future proof managing method and system of a telecommunications infrastructure.

Background Nowadays people are able to build very complex and ever growing infrastructures, like for instance traffic infrastructures, processor infrastructures and telecommunication infrastructures. Therefore it becomes increasingly important to develop methods in order to administrate these complex infrastructures.

A decade ago the technical infrastructure of telecom operators was largely dominated by PSTN, which was characterized by a unique relationship of a telephone number, a telephone connection and a wire pair. The rise of techniques such as ISDN and ADSL has changed this situation dramatically. It is now e.g. possible to offer different services using the same wire pair with different telephone numbers. Conventional administration systems of infrastructures are currently not suited to deal with these kind of complications.

Fixed copper networks presently carry a large variety of signals, e.g. signals using the PSTN spectrum and signals using the ADSL-spectrum. In the near future it is to be expected that different signal spectra will be exploited by different operators. Moreover the liberalization of the telecommunication market requires the former monopolists to offer access to their infrastructure to competitors resulting in the necessity to distinguish between property and exploitation of the infrastructure. Conventional infrastructure administration systems are not suited to deal with this situation.

The present telecommunications infrastructure is sometimes referred to as "the worlds biggest machine". This infrastructure involves a lot of different networks like fixed copper or fibre networks, wireless networks (GSM, GPRS, UMTS, fourth generation networks) and satellite networks. The complexity of contemporary infrastructures is dealt with by structuring the infrastructure in detail.

Problem definition and aims of the invention

Complex infrastructures are difficult to manage. A problem associated with these complex infrastructures is that they are subject to technical changes almost continuously. Therefore it is very difficult to obtain and maintain an accurate detailed overview of the infrastructure at a particular moment in time, since there usually is a significant delay before changes are implemented.

Another problem with contemporary infrastructures is that they are subject to changes in the laws governing the particular infrastructure. In order to comply with the latest changes in law it is necessary to be able to adapt the administration of the infrastructure within a prescribed period of time.

Yet another problem is that due to intervention of competition authorities or mutual agreements between parties an infrastructure might be shared between the different parties or operators. The administration of the infrastructure has to be flexible enough to enable this situation.

Still another problem is that an infrastructure has to cope with yet an unknown future. New technological improvements as well as new services may have to be implemented. The administration of the infrastructure therefore has to be flexible enough to be easily adapted to new developments.

Still another problem of existing administration systems for infrastructures is that the management of such a system is very time consuming and therefore expensive.

It is another problem that existing administration systems are not able to calculate the cost-impact if certain changes are introduced in the infrastructure. The present invention aims to provide a novel method and system to administrate all possible changes occurring in an infrastructure accurately and fastly, while being capable of coping with future developments.

Summary In an aspect of the present invention a method and system is disclosed for the administration of an infrastructure applying graph theory.

It is an object of the invention to increase the flexibility of the administration of an infrastructure in order to cope with continuously changing circumstances. It is another object of the invention to significantly decrease the time-to- implement to effectuate changes due to technological or other developments such as changes in the law governing the particular infrastructure. The administration method will no longer constitute the bottleneck for introducing new products or services or the adoption of new technologies.

It is another object of the invention to decrease the costs of administrating the changes occurring in the infrastructure.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an analysis tool to predict the impact of the introduction of certain changes within the network. An infrastructure is defined as a coherent physical entity of means that offers lasting services, e.g. telecommunication services, to parties, e.g. consumers. The infrastructure consists of infrastructure objects.

An infrastructure object (ISO) is defined as an object (or hardware) creating networks in one or multiple aspects. Examples of ISO's are ducts, cables, cable jackets, fibres, dividers, antennas, filters, multiplexers, modems etc. ISO's can be coupled to each other by different aspects.

An aspect is defined as a specific function the infrastructure accomplishes from a particular point of view. The relevant aspects of an ISO cable can e.g. be identified as a surroundings aspect (location, property of the ground, condition of the ground), a protection aspect (measures taken against mechanical violence, measures taken against humidity), an arrangement aspect (star groups, layers, colours) and a material aspect (individual fibres of the cable). Whether the consideration of a particular aspect is significant depends on the services that will be offered to customers. These services might change with time, so the aspects are subject to change as well. One of the elements of the present invention therefore is the implementation of an aspect generator in order to obtain a future proof system. The aspects constitute networks, the configuration of which networks depends on the aspect that is considered. Networks are coupled by different aspects of an ISO.

As an alternative, aspects may be identified which each view a single function of the infrastructure, and which also provide an exploitable network. In this case the aspects are connection, signal, conduction and space.

The aspect space views distances and dimensions of the infrastructure. This relates to ISO's which give space or provide room for other ISO's, such as trenches, sewer channels, MOKAP's, street cabinets, etc. The unit of request for or offering of space is expressed as a one, two or three dimensional measure. Some ISO's may require space, but may also provide space. ISO's requiring space, but unable to provide space (such as cable pieces) are the highest level clients, which can not be server within this aspect.

The aspect conduction is aimed at the (physical) system in which signals are 'trapped'. The system provides the possibility to address signals, but also determines the quality of the signal communication. In this aspect, the measure is expressed in dB, and the ISO's usable in conduction networks are wires, bonds, pins, pairs, quads, fibres, etc. Most of these ISO's also require space, and play an important role in the client/server relations between the aspects space and conduction.

The aspect signal views networks which in any form transport electrical, RF or optical signals. Carrier waves are signals at the lowest level, most basic server level. The highest client level within this aspect comprises signal streams compiled according to one of the present transport protocols (IP, ATM, STM1, etc.). ISO's playing a role within this aspect are numerous equipment and equipment gates.

The aspect connection describes the highest level of telecommunications service, i.e. the possibilities for customers (at end nodes) to exchange messages with other clients. Connection comprises all possible forms of connection, i.e. fixed/dial, analog/digital, voice/data/fax, point-to-point/multi-point/pint-to-multipoint, etc. ISO's in this aspect can be found in peripheral equipment (usually at the customer's premises) Within this framework networks are defined as non-physical entities, constituted by aspects. A network can be represented as a graph comprising nodes and edges. This is shown in figure 1. The infrastructure constitutes the substrate that carries the various networks.

A network service can be defined as a path through a particular network that serves as an ISO for a higher aspect.

A path is defined as the route through a network. Such a path runs through the network from an end node to an end node, and crosses each edge or node only once. Therefore a path can be said to be established by the vertices (nodes) and edges. A path comprises both capacity and routing, capacity indicating whether the path is part of a supply, and routing indicating whether actual routing via the path exists. For users of the present method, the edges and vertices are never visible, only the ends of a path in terms of ISO's.

In a further embodiment, characteristics associated with the at least one infrastructure object are stored using client/server relations by means of a path. E.g. the infrastructure object PE tube forms a path. This path carries a conductor tube, which in its turn forms a path which allows to carry a wire, etc. For a path, attributes may be identification, name, path meant for capacity/routing, first edge (A-side). last edge (B- side), intermediate edges, and path lock (exclusively for defined edges). For an edge, attributes may be identification, infrastructure object, A-side/B-side, server path, and edge lock (exclusively for use by constructed path). Node attributes may be identification, ISO.

Short description of the drawings

Fig.l shows a graph representation of a network. Fig.2 shows a model that is used to represent the telecommunication infrastructure.

Fig.3 is a schematic representation of the relevant aspects of different infrastructure objects (ISO's).

Fig.4A shows the infrastructure of a building in a hypothetical district A. Fig.4B shows the detailed connection configuration within a house.

Figs.5A-H show the networks for the different aspects as can be identified for the situation as shown in figures 4a and 4b.

Fig.6 shows a representation of the systems' architecture.

Fig.7 shows an alternative representation of the systems architecture. Figs.8A-E shows an example of the invention.

Figs. 9A-B show a further example of the invention.

Fig.10 shows a further example of the invention.

Figs.l 1A-B shows a further example of the invention.

Description

For the purpose of teaching the invention, preferred embodiments of the method and devices of the invention are described in the sequel. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that other alternative and equivalent embodiments of the invention can be conceived and reduced to practice without departing from the true spirit of the invention, the scope of the invention being only limited by the claims as finally granted.

Infrastructures of any kind exhibit a lot of different aspects, depending on the way the infrastructure is studied. The telecommunication infrastructure can for instance be chosen to exhibit eight aspects 11...18 as shown in figure 2. The eight different aspects within this model are surroundings 11, protection 12, arrangement 13, material 14, circuit 15, signal 16, service-carrier 17 and service 18. Every aspect 11...18 constitutes its own network 21...28 that is build of nodes (or vertices) A...H and edges 1...9 as shown in figure 1. The networks 21...28 effectively come into existence as a derivative of placing and coupling of the ISO's 20 that constitute the infrastructure. Networks therefore can be said to be created indirectly. The placing and coupling of ISO's 20 can create networks 21...28 within different aspects 11...18 simultaneously. Manipulating specific ISO's 20 often will influence different networks 21...28. Not every ISO 20 is relevant for each and every aspect as is shown in figure 3. In this model, e.g. the ISO cable 31 is only relevant for the surroundings 11, protection 12, arrangement 13 and material aspect 14, whereas for the ISO modem 32 the circuit 15, signal 16 and service- carrier aspect 17 are considered. In Fig. 3, also the relevant aspects 11...18 are shown for ISO cable distributor 33, ISO cross wire 34 and ISO distribution block 35.

This method of describing the infrastructure is repeated for each identified aspect 11...18 and therefore provides an excellent foundation of building a structured, accurate and future proof administration system for a particular infrastructure. Although this example focusses on a telecommunication infrastructure, the method according to the invention can be applied to other types of infrastructures as well.

A good understanding of the method can be acquired by considering a practical situation within a hypothetical district Orledonck. Fig. 4A shows a building 40 the inhabitants of which possess a PSTN connection 41 for fax purposes and a combined connection 42 for telephone and ADSL purposes. The connection configuration within the house 40 is shown in fig. 4B in more detail. From the PSTN connection 41, a direct connection can be made with a fax machine 43. From the combined connection 42, first the signal is split in two parts by power splitter 44. One part (0..4kHz) is directly fed to the telephone 45, and the other part (60-1104 kHz) is connected to multimedia equipment 47 through an adsl-modem 46.

Fig.5 A is the representation of the network when considering the surroundings aspect 11. This aspect deals with trenches 48 and their geographical location. The surroundings aspect 11 reveals 2 networks comprising 6 vertices A-F and 4 edges A-B, B-C, B-D and E-F the latter representing the trenches (indicated by reference numeral 48 in Fig. 4A).

Fig.5B is the representation of the network when considering the protection aspect 12. This aspect deals with the measures taken to avoid mechanical, electrical or chemical damage or affection of the infrastructure. The protection aspect 11 reveals 1 network comprising 7 vertices and 7 edges. The edge A-B represents a GPLK 50x4 cable jacket 49 between the central station 50 and the cable distribution cabinet 51, the edges B-C, B-G, C-D, D-E and D-F represent HDPE tubes 52, 53, 54, 55 and 56, respectively that e.g. protect against mechanical impact and the edge B-E represents a PE jacket (not shown in Fig. 4A) for humidity protection purposes.

Fig.5C is the representation of the network when considering the arrangement aspect 13. This aspect deals with the systematic construction (colours, layers, star groups) of the infrastructure in order to obtain fast and selective access to the material aspect 14, to be discussed in the next paragraph. The arrangement aspect 13 reveals 4 networks, comprising 9 vertices A-G and 5 edges A-C, B-C, C-D, F-H and G-I the latter representing the arrangement of fibres within the cables.

Fig.5D is the representation of the network when considering the material aspect

14. This aspect deals with the means applied to transmit and/or manipulate the signals e.g. the individual fibres, pins, contact etc. The material aspect 14 reveals 398 networks comprising 614 vertices and 510 edges. The edges represent the terminals, joints and pins of the individual fibres. It should be clear that while cutting a fibre results in a duplication of the number of vertices and edges concerned, joining of the fibres again does not reduce the number of vertices and edges since joints are considered as individual ISO's in the material aspect 14. Fig.5E is the representation of the network when considering the circuit aspect

15. This aspect deals with the systems of interconnected means carrying the signals. The circuit aspect reveals 2(+ n) networks comprising 4(+ o) vertices A-D and 2 (+ p) edges A-D and B-C. The vertices A, B, C, D represent the start and end terminals of the circuits, the amount of vertices depending on the number of circuits into service. In fig 5E only a conventional double-wired circuit is shown. However, techniques using single wired glass fibres or threefold or multiple wired circuits can be represented within the circuit aspect. In the figure the two existing networks are shown by the edges A-D and B-C; other potential networks, indicated by the dashed lines, can be created as well by making the connections in the cable distribution cabinet.

Fig.5F is the representation of the network when considering the signal aspect 16. This aspect deals with the complex of electrical and optical signals with their respective characteristics. Bandwidth, analog and digital signals, timeslots, frequency spectra etc. are considered as separate phenomena in this aspect. The signal aspect reveals 2 networks comprising 8 vertices A-G and 5 edges. Edge B-E represents the bidirectional voice channel between the fax and the LIC of the central station 50; edge C- G the frequency spectrum 0-1104 kHz (PSTN 0-3,4 kHz, ADSL 20-1104 kHz); edges FG and AC PSTN exclusively and edges G-H and C-D ADSL exclusively. The aspects considered thus far have focussed on the part of the infrastructure which is located outside of the building. The application of modern techniques as ISDN and ADSL however requires the registration of the in-house infrastructure as well. Fig.5G shows the in-house networks with regard to the material, circuit and signal aspect 14, 15, 16. The solid lines indicate the relevant connections for the administration of the provided services.

Fig.5H is the representation of the network when considering the service-carrier aspect 17. This aspect deals with the management of telecommunication services, i.e. only service ISO's 20 such as end terminals and switches/routers are visible. The service carrier aspect 17 reveals 3 networks comprising 6 vertices A-F and 3 edges. The edges A-F and B-E represent the bi-directional 0-3,4 kHz voice channels (in the case of ISDN 2 64kb/s channels and 1 16kb/s channel would have been shown) and the edge C-D represents the bandwidth transporting 768 kb/s upstream and 8,192 Mb/s downstream (ADSL).

Implementation

The aspects 11...18 as identified above are only examples of aspects that can be considered for a telecommunications infrastructure. A further aspect that can be identified is e.g. the housing that considers the connectivity in relation to tube spaces. If e.g. sewer tubes are used as prefab channels, this aspect becomes relevant. Various methods can be used to identify the relevant aspects possessing the desired connectivity.

The identified networks comprise a number of vertices and edges. Paths may be identified as a route through the network, crossing a vertex or edge only once. The path may be stored by storing the vertices at the end points and intermediate edges. Paths are associated with e.g. capacity and routing. Capacity indicates that a path is part of a stock, and routing indicates whether routing via the path is present. For the user of the present system, only the end points of a path in terms of ISO's 20 are communicated and not the vertices and edges.

When the relevant aspects 11...18 of the infrastructure have been identified an ISO-classification can be made. ISO's might be of restricted use. These restrictions are recorded in the ISO characteristics and in the business rules establishing the use of the ISO for each application. E.g., for a Y-connector the angle made can be recorded and the business rule can state that the angle should be larger than 90 degrees for using a guide tube. This may also be implemented for equipment functions, in which an equipment ISO is characterised by e.g. elementary functions (such as modem, adsl filter, multiplexer, switch, cross connect,...).

The ISO's 20 are characterised by a number of attributes, such as identification, material, cost, location, etc. The geographical location of an ISO 20 is always a point location and is determined by means of addressing. A single location can be addressed in several ways, i.e. a location might have several addresses. The size of a location can be expressed by the accuracy of the address. Formal and informal addresses can be distinguished, the former being discrete, systematic and zoomable (co-ordinates, global positioning system (GPS) etc.), the latter being non-zoomable (Postal Code, relative addressing).

For certain types of ISO's, it may be required that a norm location is stored, e.g. using co-ordinates. Also, for each ISO and user a preferred addressing type may be defined. By using formulas for formal addresses and translation tables for informal addresses, the different types of addressing may be interlinked and exchanged. For the relative address types, no translation table is required as these are linked to an ISO having a formal address. Formal addresses are discrete, systematic and zoomable, and formulas may be used to convert one type of formal addressing to another type. Examples of formal addressing methods are WGS 84, which is used in e.g. the Global Positioning System GPS, and Rijkscoordinates, which are used in The Netherlands, but require accurate maps and measuring instruments to use.

Informal addresses are usually not zoomable. Examples of informal addresses are Postal Codes, relative addressing (referring to another object or ISO having a formal address), or free textual addressing. Translation tables may be used to convert an informal type address to a formal type of address. Relative addressing may use naders to further detail the address of an ISO. A nader may comprise three parts: a textual indication ('three steps to the left'), a formal indication of the type of relation ('next to', 'in'), or a formal reference to another information source (e.g. a hyperlink or a binary large object).

As an example, a building has a formal address in Rijkscoordinates. In the building, a switchboard is located (relative address). The switchboard has connectors, which may be addressed as connector a in switchboard. In this manner, one can zoom to details in an increased manner.

The present invention is preferably implemented using Object Oriented technology. Object serialisation allows the state of an object to be recorded, thus allowing administration of an installed base (infrastructure) and also planning of future infrastructures. The toolbox of the implementation is also able to keep versions of the infrastructure which may be merged into the installed base.

Specialisation techniques are used to extend a generic core into an infrastructure administration, resulting in inheritance. First, logically related functionality and data are combined within one class in a process called abstraction. Using inheritance, specialised subclasses can be created, which can use its parent's functionality and data, and which can be used instead of any of its ancestors. Thus a subclass can take any 'shape' of its ancestors, also indicated by polymorphism. Object-oriented technology also allows encapsulation, i.e. the implementation of an object is hidden behind a well- defined interface, to make a clear distinction between the specification and implementation of an operation. This way, the implementation of an object can be changed without changing the parts that use the interface. Architecture

Because the infrastructure administration has to be future proof, the method and system have to be able to administer any kind of infrastructure. To achieve this the system is based on a very generic core or kernel 61 (indicated by the acronym DARK (Delden ARchitecture Kernel)) that is able to administer any kind of network modelled using graph theory. On top of the core or kernel 61 there is a layer of generic infrastructure objects (GISO) 62 that constitute the infrastructure. In order to build a real world administration, these generic ISO's 62 have to be specialized into concrete business domain ISO's 63 like cable-sections, cross wires etc. The layered architecture, as shown in fig. 6, from generic to specialised, separates the layers that will hardly ever change from the layers that will change almost continuously due to the dynamics of modern day infrastrucures. Another advantage of such an architecture is that it hides the lower layers behind the top-most layer. The components in the top-most layers are preferred to be the only components that are visible to client systems (as indicated by the User Interface UI 64).

Next to the ISO functionality, the architecture comprises support for Spatial data 65 (or geographic data) and Versioning 66 (support for different versions which may arise when planning new parts of the infrastructure).

The proposed system is a distributed client/server-based system. The purpose of interface distribution is to allow client systems to talk to a remote system as if it were local. Other systems might use the proposed system to administer their infrastructure. Future GIS systems can use the proposed system as the source of their GIS data. The interface of the proposed system (the interface of ISO's, tracing, versioning and spatial functionality) is preferably distributed to the client systems using messaging middleware 67 (e.g. GALA, TIBCO, Tuxedo). Distributed computing standards like EJB, CORBA, RMI or DCOM let the client systems talk to proxies and can be used as well. An advantage of this option is that these standards hide the necessary messages to distribute the request. For performance improvement the toolbox might be able to do distributed cache management (i.e. for GIS applications), indicated by the cache 68 in the middleware layer 67.

The proposed system consists of the following components:

• The Architectural Kernel (DARK) 61

• GISO 62 • ISO (available to client systems) 63

• Tracing (available to client systems) 69

• Spatial (available to client systems) 65

• Versioning (available to client systems) 66 • Storage

The architectural kernel (DARK) 61 is responsible for adding or removing vertices and edges and consistency. The edges and vertices refer to ISO's 63. The Generic ISO manager 62 builds on the functionality exposed by the architectural kernel and adds the generic functionality used by all specific ISO's 63. Fig. 7 shows a different representation of the basic system architecture. Networks comprising vertices and edges have been identified as a repetitive phenomenon for each and every aspect 11...18 of an infrastructure. Therefore the method and system are based on the network functionality 71 performing operations as Creating, Reading, Updating and Deleting (CRUD) the vertices and edges and tracing paths through networks.

The functionality of every ISO 20 can be divided into a generic and a specific part. The generic part 72 can be identical for all ISO's 20 and comprises e.g. the CRUD ISO. Besides this generic ISO-functionality the generic part supports spatial data (i.e. geographic data) and versioning (i.e. support of different versions that arise due to planning of new parts of an infrastructure).

The user of the present method may select a specific view by selecting an aspect. Then, infrastructure objects may be selected. For each infrastructure object, a number of operations may be executed, such as create the default aspects of a specific ISO, load and save. The default aspects may be given a value and other attributes may be added. The system provides a basic tracing functionality to trace through the network in a systematic fashion. Network tracing is used to find a path in a network. The trace package preferably does not make any assumptions about needing to cache the entire network in proprietary data structures (either in memory or on disk) before a trace can be carried out. The trace package can be able to discover connections as it traverses the network. This discovery preferably uses the same database handle as the core code to ensure that transactional integrity is maintained. The supply of "elements connected to the current element" could be either via direct database access, or via the object access routines within the system itself. The tracing functionality can be used e.g. to compute the lowest cost route through the network, irrespective of the way the costs are measured. In the example of the system architecture in figs. 6 and 7 the trace functionality is packaged as a service within the core of the system object model. Integration of the trace functionality within the core of the system will most easily be achieved via a trace toolkit or library that can be called from the core.

The functionality to administer geographical data is provided by the toolbox, so that the system can be used as GIS server for future GIS applications. Current GIS applications include their own infrastructure model, which is very focussed on the physical representation of the infrastructure. This results in redundant data storage and mixed definitions causing inconsistencies and fouled data. To realise the administration of a certain domain the individual specific ISO's 20 such as cables, tubes etc. have to be described in terms of ISO's, aspects etc. E.g. different types of objects in the domain have to be described, the objects need to be classified etc.

The specific functionality may be implemented by using plug-ins as shown in the figure (blocks 73, 74). Additional functionality 75 as e.g. reporting functionality or additional tracing functionality can be obtained using the plug-in mechanism as well, even as a later addition to the system. Together with the core functionality the plug-ins provide a complete working system for administering infrastructures, which may e.g. provide answers to questions and execute actions. In order to provide a generic core or kernel and specialised ISO's the system may be designed and built using object oriented technologies.

In an embodiment, the system can be built using object-oriented techniques known to the person skilled in the art to obtain the flexibility needed to implement new technologies without needing to alter the data model. To store objects, the system can use some form of database. Although the majority of applications are built with relational databases, the proposed system preferably considers object databases as they provide the most natural environment for storing objects. However relational databases might be used as well. An important reason to use object oriented databases is that they offer complex object support, rich many-to-many data element relationships, inheritance of characteristics and similar requirements not well met by conventional table-oriented designs. The database system can be equipped with concurrency control, recovery and backup facilities, distributed database capabilities, performance monitoring and/or security provisioning means. There are various ways to handle the spatial storage of the files. A key determinant of the architecture of spatial storage relates to how the data are spatially indexed and spatially filtered on retrieval. The system is able to support long transactions that may span multiple update sessions of the database, i.e. versioning. Versioning e.g. allows multiple "what if analysis to be run against the same set of data or allows updates to be hidden from other users, whilst still being stored in the main database. Using long transactions does not mean that normal or short transactions are not used. Versioning can be implemented as part of the database core as well as an overlay on top of the database. Graphic caching can be provided to speed up the performance of the system.

Processes such as Stock-building, Delivery, Maintenance and Service (SDMS) can use the system as described (see Fig. 7). The Stock-building processes 76 particularly drive the plug-ins with the CRUD ISO functionality. The Delivery processes 77 particularly drive the plug-ins that trace paths through a network.

Examples of using the system

The first example considers a Stock-building request as shown in the figs. 8A-E. A mechanic is assigned to connect two already existing tubes. After the assignment has been fulfilled, the infrastructure has changed and the administration of the infrastructure needs to be updated. This is done by using the Stock-building application. The Stock-building platform sends a request to the plug-in via the specific ISO-interface as shown in fig. 8C. This request comprises the instruction "CONNECT TUBE" and parameters "TUBE ID: 20, TUBE ID 40, TUBECONNECTION S2". Examples of other instructions are PLACE CABLE, CONNECT CABLE, INSTALL DIVIDER etc. These are specific instructions for the individual ISO's. The plug-in translates the specific instructions to generic instructions, such as "REMOVE" and "LOAD". Within the kernel the definitions of the ISO's are stored, in this case of the ISO's tube and the welding part. Considering the protection aspect in the original situation (fig. 8D) 2 networks, constituted by the ISO's tube 20 and tube 40, can be identified. The ISO-definition of the tubes state that these ISO are edge-like and can be connected to other tubes (connectivity). After the update of the administration 1 network in the protection aspect can be identified. Tube 20 and tube 40 have been connected by means of the welding part S2. The completion of the process is reported to the operator of the system.

A further example of administering infrastructure is shown with reference to Figs. 9 A-B. As a starting point, a first ISO, being a first PE tube 90 is defined by two new nodes 100 and 101 and a first edge 111. A second ISO, being a second PE tube 91 is added, connected to the first PE tube 90 by means of a third ISO, being a Plesson coupling 93. A further node 101 is defined, and a further edge 112, connecting node 101 with 102. The further edge 112 is associated with the second ISO, the second PE tube 91. In the now existing tube assembly, two conductor tubes 94, 95 may be inserted. A path a is defined, associated with the edges and nodes of first and second PE tube 90, 91 and Plesson coupling 93. Thus, the ISO's 90, 91 and 93, or better edges 111 and 112, construct path a. The path a may now give room for the two conductor tubes 94, 95. This is effected by defining four new nodes 103, 104, 105, and 106. A new edge 113 is defined between nodes 105 and 106, and is associated with the ISO first conductor tube 94. Also, a further new edge 114 is defined between nodes 103 and 104 and is associated with the ISO second conductor tube 95. The path a thus provides space for the edges 113 and 114.

In Fig. 10, an example is shown how a circuit (service) is administered. Two parallel wires 120, 121, each consisting of two segments, are administered in the present method by representing the wire ISO's 120, 121 as a combination of nodes and edges. The first wire 120 is represented by node 131, edge 124, node 133, edge 125 and node 135. The second wire 121 is represented by node 132, edge 123, node 134, edge 126 and node 136. The pair of wires 120, 121 constructs a circuit 122, which is represented by the path a, which is created by assigning the wires 121 , 122 for a predetermined signal 129. The path 122 at its turn may be associated with the ISO signal 129, represented by edge 130 between nodes 137 and 138.

The flexibility of the present method and system is shown with reference to Figs. 11 A-B. In this figure, an infractructure owned by a first party comprises a first tube 142, second tube 144, third tube 146 and connecting Plesson couplings 143 and 145. The set of tubes and couplings are provided with modular connection points 140 and 141. For the first party, the infrastructure is administered using edges and nodes 150...156 for every ISO 142...146. Then a path 157 may be assigned between the outermost nodes of the infrastructure. However, the path 157 may be used by a second party (e.g. for putting cable wires in the infrastructure), which administers the path 157 as two end-nodes 158 and 159 with an interconnecting edge 160.

Claims

1. Method for realising an administration of an infrastructure comprising at least one infrastructure object comprising the steps of: identifying at least one relevant aspect of the infrastructure, said at least one aspect representing a specific function of the infrastructure; identifying relevant infrastructure objects belonging to substantially each identified aspect; the identified relevant infrastructure objects constituting at least one network for substantially each identified relevant aspect, said at least one network being represented by at least one graph comprising one or more vertices and at least one edge, the vertices and the at least one edge corresponding to the identified relevant infrastructure objects of each identified relevant aspect, in which the union of the at least one graph associated with the at least one identified aspects being a multi-aspect representation of the infrastructure.

2. Method according to claim 1, in which the infrastructure is a telecommunications infrastructure, an access telecommunications infrastructure, or a traffic infrastructure.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, in which the infrastructure is a telecommunications infrastructure and the at least one aspect comprises one or more of the group of surroundings, protection, housing, arrangement, material, circuit, signal, service carrier and service.

4. Method according to claim 1 or 2, in which the infrastructure is a telecommunications infrastructure and the at least one aspect comprises one or more of the group of connection, signal, conduction, and space.

5. Method according to one of the claims 1 through 4, in which characteristics associated with the at least one infrastructure object are stored using client/server relations by means of a path.

6. Method according to claim 5, in which the characteristics comprise identification, location, cost and/or business rules for use of the infrastructure object.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, in which graph theory is applied on the at least one network representing the at least one aspect of the infrastructure.

8. Method according to claim 7, in which the graph theory is used to determine a path through the at least one network, the path connecting two end points.

9. Method according to claim 7, in which the graph theory is applied to determine a least cost routing path through the at least one network, the path connecting two end points.

10. Software program for administering an infrastructure comprising at least one infrastructure object, the software program comprising computer executable instructions, which when loaded on a computer allow the steps of one of the claims 1 through 9 to be executed.

11. Software program according to claim 10, in which the software program is layered and comprises a kernel for storing infrastructure objects and associated characteristics, creating, reading, updating and deleting edges/vertices representing an infrastructure object to form at least one graph and checking the consistency of the at least one graph; a generic infrastructure object layer for creating, reading, updating and deleting infrastructure objects, for support of spatial data functions and for support of versioning functions, the generic infrastructure object layer using functions of the kernel; a specific infrastructure object layer comprising plug-ins for interfacing with a user interface by using functions of the generic infrastructure object layer.

12. Software program according to claim 10 or 11, in which the software program is implemented using object oriented techniques.

13. Software program according to claim 11 or 12, in which the plug-ins are used to identify for an infrastructure object characteristics, the characteristics comprising type of object, attributes, aspect identification, edge/vertex modelling for specific aspect, business rules for use of infrastructure object, connectivity between infrastructure objects.

14. Software program according to claim 11, 12 or 13, in which a plug-in is provided for performing a trace functionality.

15. Software program according to one of the claims 10 through 14, in which the software program is implemented as a client/ server system, the client implementing user interface functions.

16. Software program according to one of the claims 11 through 15, in which the user interface comprises functions for build-up of stock and/or functions for supply and/or routing.

17. Software program product comprising a software program according to one of the claims 10 through 16.