Method and apparatus for efficient communication of management data in a telecommunications network

A mediator device that processes at least two management communications streams established between a network element (NE) and respective network management systems, the mediator comprising:

• a southbound interface for exchanging management data with the NE;
• a signal processor for processing the management data from the southbound interface to provide management data associated with respective ones of a plurality of management representations of the NE;
• and
• a northbound interface for each of the network management systems, each northbound interface exchanging management data associated with one of the management representation, with a designated network management system;
• wherein the signal processor comprises a filter for each of the northbound interfaces, each filter inspecting individual packet content and discarding from individual packets management data received from the southbound interface that is not associated with the respective management representation, and
• wherein each of the filters is associated with a respective mutually exclusive set of resources of the NE, and only admits management data associated with that set of resources.

A method for providing a plurality of management representations of a network element (NE), the method comprising:

• filtering and translating management data originating from the NE to provide management data to each of the management representations of the network element, the filtering being associated with a respective mutually exclusive set of resources of the NE for each management representation and only admitting management data to each management representation associated with that set of resources;
• and
• for each of the management representations, establishing communications with a respective network or element management system to permit the exchange of the management data of a management corresponding representation;
• wherein filtering and translating comprises inspecting individual packet content and filtering the management data received from the NE to provide a filtered management data stream to each of the management representations, the filtering discarding management data from individual packets that is not associated with each respective management representation.