Service provider oriented management systems over open cellular network infrastructures

Abstract

An interesting concept for the open cellular communications world of the near future is to enable service providers (SPs) to dynamically find, and co-operate with, the best cellular network providers (NPs), i.e., those offering desired quality levels, in the most cost-efficient manner, at a given service area region and time zone. This concept calls for an evolution of legacy management paradigms. In this direction, this paper presents parts of a Service Management System (SMS) that adopts the perspective of an SP (SP-SMS). The paper provides elements of the system design (functionality layers, components in each layer, component distribution pattern and high level functionality) and a more detailed look at the functionality of some of the SP-SMS components. The SP-SMS will be decomposed in three layers, namely session configuration, local planning, and global planning. A component type will be introduced in each layer. The role of the different components in the SP-SMS layers will be described. Emphasis will be given to the description of the functionality of the components in the local planning layer. Specifically, the problem addressed at that layer enables an SP to allocate its service demand, at the best possible (desired) quality levels, and at the most cost-efficient cellular NPs, within a service area region and time-zone. Finally, results showing merits from the introduction of an SP-SMS are presented, and concluding remarks are made.