Object Modeling Scheme For Next Generation Network Wavelength Division Multiplexing

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor configured to implement a method comprising:
• assigning an Access Identifiers (AID) to each of a plurality of network element (NE) entities having a hierarchical relationship, wherein the AID comprises a prefix comprising no more than about five characters and a numerical string consisting essentially of numbers;
• and
• managing the NE entities using the AIDs.

A method comprising:

• assigning a prefix to each of a plurality of entities associated with a network element (NE), wherein the prefixes consist essentially of no more than about five letters and at least some of the prefixes consist essentially of two letters;
• assigning a plurality of numerical fields to the entities, wherein the numerical fields are substantially free of letters;
• and
• associating the prefixes with the numerical fields that correspond to the same entities to obtain a plurality of Access Identifiers (AIDs).