Beyond Naming & Addressing
Identifying
&
Reaching
Keith G Knightson
Nortel Networks
ITU-T SG2 Workshop, January 25-27, 2000
1
Telecommunications Architecture for an Evolving Environment
Q29/13 -TAEE:
Specification of an “Information Communication Architecture” based
on the concept of intelligent user agents for the provision of advanced
and future services.
User Agent Services should be designed to:
•
•
•
•
•
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Provide user-driven services for establishing communication
Distinguish between person, device, service
Accommodate various degrees of mobility
Deal with various types of network (new and legacy)
Deal with combinations of various network types
Apply intelligence to the process of communication* establishment
for information transfer
*
Modes include Connection-oriented, connectionless, 1:1, 1:N, N:1, etc
2
Challenges
•
•
•
•
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Users may have multiple “identifiers/addresses”
Users have access to multiple terminals
Terminals need addresses/identifiers
Terminals have different capabilities
Mobility of users and terminals
• What identifier/address/quantity should be used to contact
a given entity at a given time time?
• What identifier/address/quantity represents a terminal that
has the right capabilities for desired service?
• What other identification and nature information is
necessary?
3
Separation of Concerns
Advanced services need to distinguish between:
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The means of identifying of entities (in general)
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Different identification schema
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The actual identity of originating/receiving entities
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Different types of entities
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The real physical locations at which entities could be
present
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The actual position of an entity
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Different kinds of “locator” used for reaching entities
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The “locator” to be used to reach a given entity
Initial Focus: Semantics NOT Syntax
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Example of Roles
Identification Schema can serve several purposes/roles:
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Name of a Service
e.g. 1 800 ACME INC
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Global Locator
e.g. Global Mobile Number for UPT
•
Address
e.g. the E.164 number given to the fax machine in
Room101, Building 3, 16 Bean St, Toytown
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Approach to Service Development
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Consider what types of entities need to be accommodated
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Consider how such entities should be identified
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Consider the mechanisms required to locate and
communicate with such entities
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Consider the roles and needs for N & A schemes
6
Accumulated History
• Technical legacy includes:
– Network-dependent schemes
E.g. E.164, X.121, F69, IP (IPv4, URL), etc.
– Network-centric deployment
(Reflecting network topology, network technology,
service-provider preferences, etc.)
• Other legacy problems include:
– Political issues
– Organizational/Jurisdictional issues
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Proposed Methodology
• Work Methodology should:
– Avoid entanglement in above legacy issues and
processes
– Work on specifying solutions which transcend but
encompass co-existence and transition amongst the
legacy issues and processes
8
Beyond N&A - Identification & Reaching - Operations and Rules
Desired Target Y:
What (person, device, service.etc)
Where (office, home, car, etc)
Originator X:
What (person, device, service.etc)
Where (office, home, car, etc)
Target
Y
Desires
??
Asks
X
Alternatives
Offered
???
Accept
Actually Reaches Y
Actual
What (person, device, service.etc)
Where (office, home, car, etc)
Accept
Reject
Z
Rule-based Operations on Objects and attributes
Receiver
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Elements for Consideration
Attributes
Individual
Individual
Individual
Identifier(s)
Device
Device
Device
Means of
Location
Service
Position
Organization
Organization
Characteristics
Owner
Owner
Content Info
Billable
Entity
Billable
Entity
Etc.
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I & R Framework - Objects, Attributes, Relationships, Operations and Rules
Communication Objects: Attributes:
Person
Organization
Device
Id(s), location/position, etc.
Id(s), location/position, etc.
Id(s), location/position, type,
characteristics, etc.
Service
Id(s), location /position, type,
characteristics, etc.
Other Related Objects:
Attributes:
Owner
TBD
Billable Entity
TBD
========================================
Relationships
TBD
Operations
TBD
Rules
TBD
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Conclusions
• Currently we have insufficient tools to describe the breadth
of communication services and future innovation.
• The specification of intelligent services requires tools to
provide the finer semantic distinctions that are required for
the provision of advanced services.
• Need to transcend, and still accommodate, a number of
existing schema and organizational boundaries.
• Need to develop a semantic model for generically describing
the Objects, Attributes, Relationships, Operations and Rules
involved in establishing communication.
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