TUTORIALS
Monday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 1: Service Level Agreements (SLA)
Christian Rad, Telcordia Technologies, USA
Performance guarantees have emerged as a means for IT managers to ensure their critical business data is delivered in a reliable and consistent manner. These performance guarantees, coupled with traditional support such as Mean Time to Repair and Mean Time Between Failures are now referred to, in the industry, as Service Level Agreements (SLA). This tutorial will review the basic elements of the broader topics of Service Level Agreements, Service Level Management and Service Level Assurance. Topics will include SLA parameters and associated definitions, description of the current direction in network architecture and it's impact on SLA monitoring, challenges in data collection, survey of the industry with respect to SLA monitoring schemes, and a review of commercial tools.
Monday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 2: 3G Wireless Access
Roshdy H.M. Hafez, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Personal wireless access is on the verge of considerable transformation. Third Generation (3G) wireless systems promise a wide range of radio services, high data rates and continuous indoor/outdoor radio coverage. This tutorial gives a comprehensive description of this new technology. The tutorial covers the Radio Transmission Technology (RTT) and the concept of family of Core Networks (CN). The CDMA and TDMA air interface technologies are explained in the context of IMT-2000 proposals and harmonization developments through 3G-partnership project (3GPP). Three modes of CDMA are considered: Multi-Carrier (MC), Direct Spreading (DS) and Time Division Duplexing (TDD). The TDMA technology is represented by the Universal Wireless Communication UWC-136, which harmonizes GSM with North America's TDMA. The tutorial describes IP-based communications; international roaming and multimedia wireless access as examples of the new exciting objectives of 3G.
Monday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 3: Distributed Object Middleware for Network
Software Architecture
Stephen B. Weinstein, NEC USA
The tutorial describes the role of distributed object technology in making future networks more open, programmable, and responsive to quickly changing needs. It places particular emphasis on CORBA and Java as foundation technologies. Beginning from even more fundamental concepts of socket and remote procedure call, the tutorial explains the elements of the CORBA ORB and how services interfaces written in CORBA IDL (Interface Definition Language) are compiled into different native languages. This is used to realize interoperability among software modules written in different languages and running on different computing platforms. Applications to both control and management are suggested. A brief comparison is made with the alternative DCOM. The Java Virtual Machine and protections built into the Java language are also explained, as is the use of Java applets to install CORBA objects in client machines, integrating the two key technologies. Major active network architectures, and how they use transportable software, are reviewed. Programmable architectures and the concept of Virtual Networks are introduced, including description of the reference model and the interfaces being standardized in IEEE P1520, Programming Interfaces for Networks. Examples are given of services being built on this technology. The tutorial requires only a basic understanding of protocols and of communications and computing concepts
Monday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 4: Impact of Optical Internet on Voice
and Data Networks
Andrea Fumagalli, University of Texas at Dallas, USA; Javier Aracil, Universidad
Publica de Navarra, Spain
In the core network, climbing Internet traffic growth rates are expected to find support from optical technology. The strength of optics is in its potential bandwidth of nearly 25 Terabits per fiber. The challenge, however, is to identify how this bandwidth can be made readily available to higher layer protocols, e.g., IP, providing the high speed network support required by bandwidth-greedy Internet applications. This tutorial provides an overview of emerging optical technologies that are likely to become essential in the design of the Next Generation Internet. Probable network architectures will be reviewed, including IP over Wavelength Division Multiplexed (WDM) optical signal. Issues and challenges of designing a cost effective high speed network will be identified. Short and long term solutions, including testbeds from leading companies and consortia, will be reviewed, examining key components and anticipated advantages. CAD tools necessary to optimally design these novel architectures will be discussed.
Monday 13:30-17:30
Tutorial 5: Information Modeling in Network
Management Specifications: From OSI to CORBA and Beyond
Lakshmi Raman, Telcordia Technologies
It is well understood that telecommunications industry undergoing major changes today. For managing these networks, standard Information models, while not a panacea for challenges introduced by new technologies, offer some relief in capturing essential aspects of functional requirement. In developing information models, a spectrum exist concentrating on different facets: a simple generic text based message definitions, a powerful, possibly complex OSI paradigm, a simple, not easily scalable for complex telecommunications equipment from the data world, an approach with emphasis on software development, portability and distributed processing. The tutorial addresses questions such as what paradigms are being proposed and used?, should they be considered as co-existing technologies or replacements?, what have we learned from ten to fifteen years of efforts in developing TMN specifications based on the OSI paradigm?, and how can we impact the future definitions based on this experience? Using an example, three approaches (CMIP based, SNMP and CORBA) will be discussed illustrating their advantages and disadvantages, along with issues that are to be considered irrespective of the paradigm. While it is difficult to define the attributes or criteria for a good model, it is possible to define some guidelines for reducing complexity in specification, which translates to implementation. As a first step, developing requirements based on communication with the users of the model is essential. The tutorial will discuss the use of UML notation to capture requirements and analyze management information as one approach that may facilitate information modeling.
Monday 13:30-17:30
Tutorial 6: Network Management for Next Generation
Wireless Systems
Mehmet Ulema, Daewoo Telecom and Salah Aidarous, NEC America
Next generation wireless systems will be drastically more complex than today's so called second generation wireless systems. Global roaming and Internet/data everywhere are two key driving factors that will have profound impact on how these networks will be managed. This tutorial will start with an overview of the present and future wireless communications systems including key components, interfaces and procedures. A review of the current network management practices and technologies used for today's wireless networks will be provided next. Then, the tutorial will introduce the current standardization and industry activities related to network management for wireless systems. The industry trends and the use of distributed technologies such as CORBA, JAVA in managing wireless systems will be covered. Finally, potential impact on service providers, equipment manufacturers, and network management system developers will be discussed.
Monday 13:30-17:30
Tutorial 7: Jini-based Management of Networks and Distributed Systems
Gerd Aschemann and Peer Hasselmeyer, Darmstadt University, Germany
Jini, the new Java-based network infrastructure from Sun Microsystems, seems to be very promising - if used appropriately - to become a new enabling technology for the management of networks, distributed systems, and distributed applications. The tutorial aims at two targets:
- Introducing Jini and related technologies, e.g., Java Spaces and Java Transaction API, to the management community, and
- Investigating Jini under the management viewpoint, i.e., show how it could enhance typical management tasks on the one hand, and, on the other hand, show how federations of Jini-enabled devices and services could be managed.
Monday 13:30-17:30
Tutorial 8: Directory-Enabled Networks
Ritu Chadha, Telcordia Technologies
There has been a great deal of attention paid to the concept of Directory-Enabled Networks (DEN) in the recent past. Following the introduction of the concept by Cisco and Microsoft in1997, and the hype surrounding the promise of self-configuring, self-provisioning, and self-managing networks, a large number of companies have jumped on the "DEN bandwagon". Network equipment vendors and operations support systems suppliers alike are vying with each other to be the first to market with a complete "DEN solution". In the ensuing frenzy of press releases and product announcements, it is easy to lose sight of some of the fundamental questions: what is the vision behind DEN, and why should anyone care? The purpose of this tutorial is to provide a rigorous technical description of DEN and the technologies surrounding it. It describes the motivation that is driving the introduction of DEN and explains the technical underpinnings of the DEN solution. Since a fundamental aspect of DEN is the supporting directory technology, the tutorial provides an in-depth description of LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), the mandated directory access protocol for DEN. This is followed by a description of what the DEN effort is attempting to standardize and includes a description of the current status of the DEN standardization effort within the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force). The tutorial presents a number of DEN usage scenarios, in order to illustrate some intended applications of DEN and to give attendees a feel for how to apply DEN technology in practice. Also included is a look at the current state of the industry in this area.
Friday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 9: Hot Topics in Network Management
Manu Malek, Lucent Technologies, USA
The main objective of this tutorial is to describe up-and-coming technologies and research topics in network and service management. To set the stage, first an overview of network management architectures, models, and standards, and some implementation issues will be provided (the audience is assumed to have basic familiarity with network management). The topics to be discussed then include CIM/DEN (Common Information Model/Directory Enabled Network), policy-based network management, its elements and related protocols, Web-based network management (WBEM and JMX), middleware platforms (CORBA and DCOM), interoperability issues, and methods to handle scalability and distribution in enterprise and service provider networks including intelligent agents and management by delegation, AgentX, RMON, SMON, and Event MIB.
Friday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 10: Application Components in Network
Management
Kirk Shrewsbury, MCI WorldCom
The tutorial deals with an application architecture, which is suitable for use with emerging component technologies such as Enterprise Java Beans and CORBA Components. Intended to be the foundation of a "plug 'n' play TMN" software market, one of the architecture's goals is a very high level of interoperability between applications written by different groups in different companies at different times. Recognizing that telecom services are becoming increasingly dependent upon underlying software, the architecture also stress the basic requirements related to the high level of software reliability needed in carrier-class applications. Work by the TeleManagement Forum Application Component Team (ACT), about a common application architecture for highly distributed network and service management software, will be summarized. The tutorial will also explain the details of how this architecture is being used as a long-range plan for network and service management software architecture at MCI WorldCom.
Friday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 11: Managing an Open Service Marketplace
Mike Schenk, KPN Research, The Netherlands
Telecom operators are facing the challenge of opening up their networks to third party service providers, allowing these third parties to directly control and manage the telecom infrastructure if required by their services. While this can pose a threat to the revenues coming from traditional services, transforming the telecom infrastructure into an Open Service Marketplace offers many opportunities. This tutorial will explore these opportunities and explain how such an open infrastructure is to be managed. The TINA business model will be used as a reference model for multiparty relations within the Open Service Marketplace and it will be explained how modern distributed processing techniques be used to support Service Management.
Friday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 12: Pricing and Charging in Packet-based
Networks
Burkhard Stiller, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich
Communication services are provided technically by different networking concepts. Besides connection-oriented and circuit-switched services, packet-based approaches are very important due to their relative ease of management and robustness. However, the provision of different service classes distinguished by various Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameters introduces the necessity to provide appropriate incentives of communication users to choose the "right" service class. Besides QoS values to select, the price for better services will be higher compared to lower quality services. Configuration and management support is required for handling different dynamic pricing schemes in heterogeneous networks. Furthermore, pricing schemes determine means to differentiate user requirements. For packet-based networks and its major example the Internet, suitable protocol support is required to utilize user-incentive compatible pricing approaches, to implement efficient accounting methods, and to design practical charging schemes. This tutorial targets at the definition of the problem of pricing, charging, and accounting of packet-based communication services. Based on the discussion of most recent economic models technical networking approaches for providing efficient and applicable schemes are developed and discussed.
Friday 8:00-12:00
Tutorial 13: Management of IP Networks
Kenneth J. Lutz, Telcordia Technologies, Inc.
Networks and services based on the Internet Protocol (IP) are proliferating, being offered in many different forms by a variety of vendors and service providers. Historically, the Internet was designed in such a way that it did not have to be carefully managed for the types of traffic and services it carried. Today, with more types of traffic being placed on IP networks, real-time traffic in particular, network management is becoming more of a concern. This tutorial will address the management of IP networks, looking at the issues that arise in managing IP networks, in contrast to managing other types of networks, and discussing different management strategies that may be important to vendors and service providers. Rather than rehashing material covered often in network-management tutorials, this tutorial will focus on what is new and different in IP network management. It will begin with the types of services carried by IP networks and the different types of networks being deployed, both public and private. It will then cover the different layers of management, from element management up to business management, and the various functional management domains. It will touch on quality-of-service management, related to the NOMS tutorial on Service Level Agreements, and information modeling, related to the tutorial on Information Modeling in Network Management Specifications. This tutorial will also look at industry standards and forums as well as alternatives for management platforms and protocols
Friday 1:30-5:30
Tutorial 14: Active Network
Techniques in Network Management
Danny Raz, Lucent Technologies
Active networks is a framework where network elements, primarily routers and switches, are programmable. Programs that are injected into the network are executed by the network elements to achieve higher flexibility for networking functions, and to present new capabilities for higher layer functions by allowing data fusion in the network layer. In this tutorial, the technology developed recently by the active network research community, will be surveyed. How it can be used both to develop better NM tolls and to support fast development and deployment of value-added services in the network will be demonstrated. Relevant standards efforts for active networks and programming interfaces (such as ANEP, and IEEE P1520) will be summarized.
Friday 1:30-5:30
Tutorial 15: Testing Distributed Systems: Concepts,
Methods and Applications
Thomas Walter, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich and Ina Schieferdecker,
GMD FOKUS, Berlin
In software engineering, testing is a practical approach to validate systems and system components. A systematic approach to testing distributed systems is essential for well-founded test results and for an objective assessment of systems and system components. Over the past decade, a methodology for testing distributed systems has been developed. It covers all aspects of testing functional aspects of distributed systems. Recently, the methodology has been enhanced to addresses current testing needs of modern technologies (e.g. Internet, CORBA). The tutorial will cover the following topics:
- Why Testing: Motivation and Introduction
- The Testing Methodology and Framework
- Test Suite Specification and Development; Test Languages
- Test Suite Implementation and Execution
- Test Tools-Demonstrations
- Extensions towards Performance and Load Testing
Friday 1:30-5:30
Tutorial 16: Policy Based
Network Management
Morris Sloman and Emil Lupu, Imperial College, London
The management of multi-service networks has to be adaptable and flexible
to cater for user devices ranging from powerful multi-media workstations
to hand-held portable devices. Policy provides a means of specifying and
dynamically changing management strategy without coding policy into the
implementation. This tutorial will cover different approaches for policy
specification, analysis and enforcement in multi-service networks with
respect to security and QoS management. We will discuss the IETF/DMTF
policy framework, emerging standards and protocols. We will also present
a powerful object-oriented notation for specifying policies and grouping
them into roles to reflect the rights and duties of an organisational
position such as operator or regional manager. Roles can also be used
to define the policies relating to a class of network elements such as
edge or core router. In large systems, policies may be specified by many
different administrators leading to conflicts. We will cover methodologies
and tools needed for conflict detection and resolution as well as issues
relating to refining high-level enterprise goals into implementable policies.
(See www-dse.doc.ic.ac.uk/policies/
for additional information.)
Friday 1:30-5:30
Tutorial 17: Electronic Commerce: Applications
and Challenges
Mostafa Hashem Sherif, AT&T
This tutorial will focus on various aspects of electronic commerce from a carrier's perspective with special emphasis on applications. After defining the scope of electronic commerce, typical exchanges are investigated with respect to network security, transaction security and payment security. The OSI model for cryptographic security is used to describe various security services. Key management and certification are discussed with a focus on banking applications. Examples cover Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), payments with bank cards using SSL and SET, micropayments using the various electronic wallets, as well as smart cards. Several architectures for convergence (e.g., SEMPER) will be presented. The tutorial concludes with some open issues that must be considered so that electronic commerce can fulfill its full potential
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Any questions or problems, please contact noms2000@comsoc.org
