Control system and operations system interface for a network element in an access system

A method of generically mapping a Transaction Language 1 or TL1 command into a Common Management Information Service or CMIS-type service, comprising the steps of:

• generating TL1 proxy objects corresponding to at least one of a plurality of CMIS-type services requested in said TL1 command;
• generating a service message for delivery to a memory device which stores object instances organized into classes;
• retrieving object classes stored in said memory device to which said service message is directed and saving said classes until corresponding ones of said plurality of services are complete;
• performing said generating TL1 proxy objects step, said generating a service message step and said retrieving step to complete each of said plurality of services and correspondingly modify respective ones of said saved classes from a first state in said memory device;
• generating a success message after said plurality of services are all complete;
• and
• generating a failure message if any one of said plurality of services fails to be completed, and restoring said object class to which said failed service was directed back to said first state.

A control system for a network element apparatus in an access system, the network element comprising common equipment for supporting a plurality of different subscriber systems, the common equipment having a number of circuit packs for performing functions common to all of the subscriber systems, and the subscriber systems each also having at least one circuit pack for performing functions associated with that subscriber system, the control system comprising:

• at least one processor in each of said plurality of subscriber systems, said plurality of subscriber systems being connected to at least one of said common equipment circuit packs and operable in accordance with at least one of a plurality of application subsystems;
• at least one processor in said common equipment for controlling the operation of the circuit packs therein and for communicating with said at least one of subscriber system processors;
• and
• at least one memory device connected to and accessed by said common equipment processor, said memory device comprising:
• a collection of objects, subsets of said collection of objects corresponding to respective ones of said application subsystems;
• and
• at least one subagent stored therein and used by said common equipment processor for supporting each of said application subsystems;
• said common equipment processor being programmed to operate a common subagent interface along which each of said subagents can generate and transmit messages to other ones of said subagents and receive messages therefrom.

A method of controlling a network element apparatus in an access system comprising a plurality of different subscriber systems, each subscriber system having at least one circuit pack and a software subsystem to manage the circuit pack, and common equipment for supporting the subscriber systems having a number of circuit packs and software subsystems for performing functions common to all of the subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:

• storing a collection of objects in a memory device connected to said common equipment, subsets of said collection of objects corresponding to respective ones of said software subsystems;
• generating and storing an object identifier uniquely mapping one of said collection of objects to one of said software subsystems;
• and
• transmitting a message which comprises said object identifier to one of said collection of objects from one of said subsystems.

A method of controlling a network element apparatus in an access system comprising a plurality of different subscriber systems, each subscriber system having at least one circuit pack and a software subsystem to manage the circuit pack, and common equipment for supporting the subscriber systems and having a number of circuit packs and software subsystems for performing functions common to all of the subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:

• defining a plurality of applications corresponding to different ones of said circuit packs and said software subsystems, said applications each being characterized by a plurality of application tasks that are performed by respective ones of said circuit packs and said software subsystems;
• generating a message from one of said applications for delivery to another one of said applications, said message comprising a communications network header and an inter-process message header, said communications network header comprising a circuit pack identifier and an application class identifier, wherein said application class identifiers are assigned to corresponding tasks that can be performed by a circuit pack;
• and
• de-coupling said message to ascertain said circuit pack and said application task on said circuit pack to which said message is directed.

A method for mapping a command received from an external manager by a network element apparatus in an access system into a message having a format which can be processed by the network element apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• generating at least one table of data in a memory device within the network element apparatus relating the command and parameters associated with the command to a message identifier;
• converting said message identifier to a binary value within a predetermined range of values using a look-up table stored in said memory device, said look-up table relating said message identifier to one of said range of values, to a service provided on a communications network within said network element apparatus, and to at least one of a plurality of object classes which relate a plurality of objects stored in said memory device to each other;
• generating an object class identifier using an address identifier within said command in combination with said object class;
• converting said parameters in the command to message attributes;
• and
• generating a message from said object identifier, said message identifier and said attributes to invoke a service on at least one of said objects.