APPLYING OSI SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT STANDARDS TO VIRTUAL PATH TESTING IN ATM NETWORKS

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is an information transport technique that comprehensively supports Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN). One of the unsolved problems in ATM network development is that of virtual path testing through the standardized Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) model. The TMN model employs the OSI systems management concept as a basis for information exchange. This paper, in addressing the applicability of OSI systems management standards to virtual path testing, clarifies requirements for remote control of test resources and proposes a method for defining information models. The method proposed ensures easy storage and retrieval of intermediate test results as well as a consistent test environment assured by concurrency control on managed objects. In addition, an application scenario is derived showing that a test can be executed using standardized communication services. Results suggest that the OSI systems management concept is useful for virtual path testing in ATM networks.