Telecommunications Management Network

The Telecommunications Management Network is a protocol model defined by ITU-T for managing open systems in a communications network. It is part of the ITU-T Recommendation series M.3000 and is based on the OSI management specifications in ITU-T Recommendation series X.700.

TMN provides a framework for achieving interconnectivity and communication across heterogeneous operations system and telecommunication networks. To achieve this, TMN defines a set of "interface points" for elements which perform the actual communications processing (such as a call processing switch) to be accessed by elements, such as management workstations, to monitor and control them. The standard interface allows elements from different manufacturers to be incorporated into a network under a single management control.

For communication between Operations Systems and NEs (Network Elements), it uses the Common management information protocol (CMIP) or Mediation devices when it uses Q3 interface.

TMN can be used in the management of ISDN, B-ISDN, ATM, and GSM networks. It is not as commonly used for purely packet-switched data networks.

Logical layers

The framework identify four logical layers of network management:

; Business Management : performs functions related to business aspects, analyzes trends and quality issues, for example, or to provide a basis for billing and other financial reports.; Service Management : performs functions for the handling of services in the network: definition, administration and charging of services.; Network Management : performs functions for distribution of network resources: configuration, control and supervision of the network.; Element Management : contains functions for the handling of individual network elements. This includes alarm management, handling of information, backup, logging, and maintenance of hardware and software.

A Network Element provides agent services, mapping the physical aspects of the equipment into the TMN framework.

Recommendations

The TMN M.3000 series includes the following recommendations:

* M.3000 Tutorial Introduction to TMN
* M.3010 Principles for a TMN
* M.3020 TMN Interface Specification Methodology
* M.3050 Enhanced Telecommunications Operations Map (eTOM)
* M.3060 Principles for the Management of the Next Generation Networks
* M.3100 Generic Network Information Model for TMN
* M.3200 TMN Management Services Overview
* M.3300 TMN Management Capabilities at the F Interface

Further reading

The TMN multi-domain management is presented in the following book:

*”Multi-Domain Communication Management” by Galis, A. - CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 420 pp + 740 pp Appendices in CD-ROM, July 2000, ISBN 0-8493-0587-X

See also :
* Simple network management protocol (SNMP)
* Common management interface protocol (CMIP, X.700)
* [http://nms.gdd.net/index.php/Enterprise_NMS_Architectures Enterprise NMS Architectures]