Management interworking unit and a method for producing such a unit

Claim 2

A process for producing a management interworking unit for a pair of management interfaces comprising the steps of: producing an information conversion function (ICF) by: storing a model associated with each interface, each model comprising objects representing managed resources, providing a containment context for each object in a containment hierarchy, classifying each object with a class defined by characteristics independent of the containment context, and creating mappings between individual objects and between groups of objects having the same class and context from the stored models, including run time conversion functions between equivalent parts of the models; and producing a message communication function (MCF) associated with each management interface, each MCF comprising means for performing format conversion between the external protocol of the associated interfaces and an internal protocol for the ICF.

Claim 3

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the models are created at least partially automatically by loader modules.

Claim 4

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the models are created from management interface specifications, and specification free text is manually converted to the model language.

Claim 5

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the mappings define context class cardinality.

Claim 6

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein mappings are created between context classes.

Claim 7

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein mappings are created between objects.

Claim 8

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein mappings are created between object characteristics.

Claim 9

A process as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the object characteristics include object functions, relationships, attributes, notifications, and behavior.

Claim 10

A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mappings are created interactively using a graphical interface representing the models and the mappings.

Claim 11

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein mappings are predicated by run time rules selected for the mappings.

Claim 12

A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein searches are carried out to determine if a proposed mapping has previously been made for similar characteristics and such mappings may be re-used.

Claim 13

A management interworking unit (MI) for at least two management interfaces comprising: an information conversion function (ICF) comprising: a model associated with each interface, each model comprising objects representing managed resources, each object having a containment context in a containment hierarchy, and each object being defined by a characteristic independent of the containment context, and means for creating mappings between individual objects within groups of objects having the same class and context from stored models including mapping run time conversion functions between equivalent parts of the models; and a message communication function (MCF) associated with each management interface, each MCF comprising means for performing format conversion between the external protocol of the associated interface and an internal protocol of the ICF.

Claim 14

A management interworking unit (MI) for at least two management interfaces comprising: an information conversion function (ICF) comprising: a model associated with each interface, each model comprising objects representing managed resources, each object having a containment context in a containment hierarchy, and each object being defined by a characteristic independent of the containment context, and means for creating mappings between individual objects within groups of objects having the same class and context from stored models including mapping run time conversion functions between equivalent parts of the models; and a message communication function (MCF) associated with each management interface, each MCF comprising means for performing format conversion between the external protocol of the associated interface and an internal protocol of the ICF.

Claim 15

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the mappings define context class cardinality.

Claim 16

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 12 , wherein mappings means link context classes.

Claim 17

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 12 , wherein mappings means link objects.

Claim 18

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 12 , wherein mappings means link object characteristics.

Claim 19

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the object characteristics include object functions or actions, relationships, attributes, notifications, and behavior.

Claim 20

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 17 , wherein mappings are predicated by run time rules selected for the mappings.

Claim 21

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the internal protocol includes primitives controlling start, end, and rollback of atomic transactions in the ICF.

Claim 22

A process for producing a management interworking unit for a pair of management interfaces comprising the steps of: producing an information conversion function (ICF) by: storing a model associated with each interface, each model comprising objects representing managed resources; providing a containment context for each object in a containment hierarchy; classifying each object with a class defined by characteristics independent of the containment context; creating mappings between individual objects and between groups of objects having the same class and context from the stored models, including ran time conversion functions between equivalent parts of the models; pre-compiling the models and the mappings to a template to produce source code; and modifying said template manually after pre-compiling where necessary; and producing a message communication function (MCF) associated with each management interface, each MCF comprising means for performing format conversion between the external protocol of the associated interfaces and an internal protocol for the ICF.

Claim 23

A process for producing a management interworking unit for a pair of management interfaces comprising the steps of: producing an information conversion function (ICF) by: storing a model associated with each interface, each model comprising objects representing managed resources; providing a containment context for each object in a containment hierarchy; classifying each object with a class defined by characteristics independent of the containment context; creating mappings between individual objects and between groups of objects having the same class and context from the stored models, including ran time conversion functions between equivalent parts of the models; pre-compiling the models and the mappings to a template to produce source code; and modifying said template manually after pre-compiling where necessary; and producing a message communication function (MCF) associated with each management interface, each MCF comprising means for performing format conversion between the external protocol of the associated interfaces and an internal protocol for the ICF.

Claim 24

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the models are created at least partially automatically by loader modules.

Claim 25

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the models are created from management interface specifications, and specification free text is manually converted to the model language.

Claim 26

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the mappings define context class cardinality.

Claim 27

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein mappings are created between context classes.

Claim 28

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the mappings are created between objects.

Claim 29

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein mappings are created between object characteristics.

Claim 30

A process as claimed in claim 26 , wherein the object characteristics include object functions, relationships, attributes, notifications and behavior.

Claim 31

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein the mappings are created interactively using a graphical interface representing the models and the mappings.

Claim 32

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein mappings are predicted by run time rules selected for the mappings.

Claim 33

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein searches are carried out to determine if a proposed mapping has previously been made for similar characteristics and such mappings may be reused.

Claim 34

A process as claimed in claim 20 , wherein flags are inserted in the template to differentiate automatically generated code from manually generated code.

Claim 35

A management interworking unit (MIU) for at least two management interfaces comprising: an information conversion function (ICF) comprising: a model associated with each interface each model comprising objects representing managed resources, each object having a containment context in a containment hierarchy and each object being defined by a characteristic independent of the containment context, means for creating mappings between individual objects within groups of objects having the same class and context from stored models including mapping run time conversion functions between equivalent parts of the models, means for pre-compiling said model and said mappings to a template to produce source code, and means for modifying said template after said pre-compiling means where necessary; and a message communication function (MCF) associated with each management interface each MCF comprising means for performing format conversion between the external protocol of the associated interface and an internal protocol of the ICF.

Claim 36

A management interworking unit (MIU) for at least two management interfaces comprising: an information conversion function (ICF) comprising: a model associated with each interface each model comprising objects representing managed resources, each object having a containment context in a containment hierarchy and each object being defined by a characteristic independent of the containment context, means for creating mappings between individual objects within groups of objects having the same class and context from stored models including mapping run time conversion functions between equivalent parts of the models, means for pre-compiling said model and said mappings to a template to produce source code, and means for modifying said template after said pre-compiling means where necessary; and a message communication function (MCF) associated with each management interface each MCF comprising means for performing format conversion between the external protocol of the associated interface and an internal protocol of the ICF.

Claim 37

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the mappings means define context class cardinality.

Claim 38

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the mappings means link context classes.

Claim 39

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the mapping means link objects.

Claim 40

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the mapping means link object characteristics.

Claim 41

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 36 , wherein the object characteristics include object functions or actions, relationships, attributes, notifications and behavior.

Claim 42

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 32 , wherein mappings are predicted by run time rules selected for the mappings.

Claim 43

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the internal protocol include primitives controlling start, end and rollback of automatic transactions in the ICF.

Claim 44

A management interworking unit as claimed in claim 32 , wherein there is provided means for inserting flags in the template to differentiate automatically generated code from manually generated code.