Oracle® Communications Unified Inventory Management

VDU Summary Page

The new VDU Summary page displays detailed information about the VDU in a VNF. The VDU Summary page includes the VDU Information section and the Connection Points section. In the VDU Summary page, the Actions menu has the Reboot option that enables you to reboot a VDU.

See UIM Help for more information.

Characteristic Search Performance Enhancement

You can add characteristics to search criteria in UIM. For example, if your inventory includes Logical Device entities based on specifications that have a characteristic called Service Provider Name, you can add that characteristic to a logical device search. See UIM Concepts and UIM Help for more information about adding characteristics to searches.

If you regularly included four or more characteristics in Telephone Number, Logical Device, or Place entity searches, you can change properties in the system-config.properties file to improve performance. You can change the setting for all entity types or for a selection of entity types.

See ”Improving Performance of Searches That Include Characteristics” in UIM System Administrator's Guide for more information.

Enhanced Support for ODU Connectivity

UIM 7.3.4 includes enhanced support for ODU connectivity, particularly for ODU2 connectivities. You can now create and terminate ODU2 connectivity in the same way that you create and terminate VC4 connectivity. Similarly, other connectivities can now ride channels in ODU2 connectivity in the same way they can ride channels in a VC4 connectivity.

Mapping a Device Interface to Multiple Ports and Connectors

You can now map a device interface to multiple ports and connectors. In previous releases, you could map a device interface to only one port or connector.

See UIM Help for more information about mapping device interface to ports and connectors.

Assignments Section Added to Custom Network Address and Flow Identifier Summary Pages

Custom Network Address and Flow Identifier Summary pages now include an Assignments section. This section lists the configurations and design versions to which the custom network address or flow identifier has been assigned. For each assignment, you can see the entity to which the assignment has been made, that entity's type, and the start and end dates.

Figure 1 depicts the Assignments section for a Custom Network Address entity that has been assigned to a network.

Figure 1 Assignments Section in Custom Network Address Summary Page

See UIM Help for more information about using the Assignments section in these Summary pages.

Sample Device Library

UIM 7.3.4 includes an extensive library of sample specifications for devices and equipment. You can use these samples as-is or modify them for your needs.

Specifications for equipment, logical devices, physical devices, and equipment holders are vendor- and model-specific. For example, Figure 2 shows a selection of the sample Logical Device specifications provided for Alcatel-Lucent:

Figure 2 Sample Alcatel-Lucent Logical Device Specifications

Specifications for device interfaces, ports, and connectors are generic and designed to work with any appropriate specification.

These sample specifications along with many other samples are part of the OracleComms_UIM_CartridgePacks.zip file. You download the file from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud at:

https://edelivery.oracle.com/

See ”Sample Cartridges and Cartridge Packs” in UIM Cartridge Guide for more information about using sample cartridges.

Federation Protocol Cartridges

The federation protocol sample cartridges enable communication with external systems using various protocols. They provide functionality for a database connection as well as JMS and SOAP communication. You use these cartridges when you design a federation solution utilizing a specific type of communication protocol optionally using externally enabled entities.

See ”Federation with UIM” in UIM Developer's Guide for more information on the federation protocol and federation cartridges.

CaptureInteraction Web Service Enhancement

The CaptureInteraction web service operation was enhanced to take complex data types for entity property values. A new structure element defined as a Structured Type was added to the request. You use the StructuredType complex type to pass entities with multiple property values. The new StructuredType can also handle properties with hierarchical information.

See ”CaptureInteraction” in UIM Web Services Developer's Guide for more information about this web service.

New User Interface for Network Service Orchestration

Network Service Orchestration now includes dedicated menu items and pages in the UIM user interface.These features enable you to perform network service and VNF life cycle operations and manage your data center resources. The user interface displays the new Network Service Orchestration group in the navigation section that includes a set of expandable and collapsible links. See UIM Help for more information.

Embedded Web Pages for Monitoring Systems

You can now specify URLs for monitoring systems when you create network services. After a network service is instantiated, each URL that you specified for your monitoring system displays as a tab in the Network Service Summary page. See Chapter 4, ”About the Monitoring Tabs in the User Interface” in Network Service Orchestration Implementation Guide and UIM Help for more information.

Onboarding VNFs by Importing TOSCA VNF Descriptor Templates

Network Service Orchestration supports onboarding of VNFs by importing Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) VNF descriptor templates. When you import a TOSCA VNF descriptor template into Design Studio, Network Service Orchestration processes the file and creates a VNF cartridge project with the required entity specifications and characteristic specifications. See Chapter 3, ”Onboarding VNFs Using TOSCA VNF Descriptor Templates” in Network Service Orchestration Implementation Guide for more information.

Resource Orchestration Across Multiple Data Centers

Network Service Orchestration now supports using multiple data centers for orchestrating network services. You can manage a diverse NFV infrastructure containing many data centers managed by multiple VIMs. When you instantiate a network service, Network Service Orchestration finds the best suitable data center for the network service from among the data centers that you registered and performs resource orchestration to find the best suitable availability zone where constituent VNFs can be deployed. See Chapter 4, ”Working with Network Services, VNFs, and PNFs” in Network Service Orchestration Implementation Guide for more information.

Orchestrating Network Services Containing PNFs

Network Service Orchestration now supports orchestrating network services that contain Physical Network Functions (PNFs). You can register PNFs and include them in the composition and life cycle management of network services. See Chapter 4, ”Working with PNFs in Network Services” in Network Service Orchestration Implementation Guide for more information.

Orchestrating DHCP-Enabled Networks

Network Service Orchestration now supports orchestration of DHCP-enabled networks. When you compose a network service, you can specify if the networks to be used will assign IP addresses using DHCP, or will have them statically assigned. See Chapter 3, ”Describing Networks” in Network Service Orchestration Implementation Guide for more information.

New RESTful API Requests

Network Service Orchestration 7.3.4 includes the following new RESTful API requests:

• Register the Physical Network Function (PNF)

• Update the PNF

• Get PNFs

• Get PNF Details

• Unregister the PNF

• Register the Element Management System (EMS)

• Update the EMS

• Get EMSs

• Get EMS Details

• Unregister the EMS

See Network Service Orchestration Implementation Guide for detailed information about the latest versions of the REST API URLs and parameters.

Enhanced Requests and Responses for RESTful APIs

The JSON requests and responses for all RESTful APIs were enhanced for this release. The attribute names were updated to be more consistent for requests and responses. Every response now contains a status and code value to indicate success or failure. The responses also have an optional message and data value, depending on whether the request was successful or not.

See Network Service Orchestration Implementation Guide for example requests and responses for each RESTful API and more information on the status values.

Assigning Resources in Pending Statuses

UIM 7.3.3 enables you to consume resources in pending statuses under certain conditions. Pending statuses include both Inventory statuses, such as Pending Install and Assignment statuses, such as Pending Unassign. For definitions of life cycle statuses and information about when they occur, see ”Life Cycles and Statuses” in UIM Concepts.

You can assign a resource in a pending status as long as its effective date (the date on which the pending status will be resolved) is before the effective date of the configuration or other entity to which it is assigned.

You can consume resources in the following statuses:

Consumption of pending resources creates dependencies based on effective dates. UIM manages these dependencies by preventing consumption when it is not allowed. If you create a resource in the context of a business interaction, UIM prevents you from assigning that resource to a consumer in another context or in current inventory until the business interaction is complete.

UIM also manages dependencies within business interactions. A business interaction can include both the creation of a resource and its assignment to a consumer. For example, suppose you use an engineering work order to create a logical device that represents a provider-edge router. You want to assign the logical device to a connectivity design version that you are completing in the same engineering work order.

Because all of these tasks occur in the same engineering work order, the effective dates of the logical device and connectivity design version are the same. UIM manages dependencies to ensure that the assignment can be completed. When completing the engineering work order, UIM changes the logical device status to Installed status before the assignment occurs.

The same dependency management occurs for other statuses. For example, if a resource is unassigned from one consumer and assigned to another in the same business interaction, UIM ensures that the status changes occur in the proper order to allow the assignment.

You search for and assign pending resources the same way you do other resources. Search results for pending resources include information about their statuses and effective dates so you can determine whether you can assign them. See ”Searching for Pending Resources” in UIM Concepts for more information.

Figure 3 illustrates a service configuration in which pending resources are assigned as configuration items. Note that the Assignment status of each of the resources is Pending Assign. The Resource column shows the Inventory status (Pending Install) of each resource. It also shows the due dates of the resources and information about engineering work orders to which they belong.

Figure 3 Consumption of Pending Resource in Service Configuration

Expanding the Configuration Hierarchy Display

You can now expand and collapse all or portions of configuration hierarchy tree views simultaneously. Previously you could expand only individual lines.

You use the Expand All, Collapse All, Expand All Below, and Collapse All Below commands in the View menu in the Configuration Items section of a Configuration Summary page for this purpose. Figure 4 shows these commands in a Service Configuration Summary page.

Figure 4 View Menu in Service Configuration Summary Page

Improved Navigation in the User Interface

You can now use standard NFV terminology for entities in the UIM user interface. The user interface provides specialized menu items and screens that allow navigation and display of NFV entities. This functionality is enabled by a new cartridge that you can deploy into UIM.

For more information, see the section about the sample branding cartridge in Network Service Orchestration Solution 1.1.1 Implementation Guide.

Asynchronous Communication with Client Applications

In previous releases, client applications had to query NSO to determine when an operation was completed. Querying was necessary because NSO service requests perform long-running processes.

In NSO 1.1.1, the functionality provides the final status of network service life cycle actions asynchronously so that northbound systems no longer need to poll. The functionality provides the final status of the following life cycle actions:

• Instantiate a network service

• Terminate a network service

• Add VNFs to a network service

• Delete VNFs from a network service

• Scale a VNF

• Configure a VNF

• Upgrade the software version of a VNF

For more information about these asynchronous responses, see Network Service Orchestration Solution 1.1.1 Implementation Guide.

Updated REST API URLs and Parameters

The REST API URLs and request parameters for the following life cycle operations have been updated:

• Discover VIM resources

• Instantiate network service

• Terminate network service

• Scale VNF

• Heal VNF

• Upgrade Network Service

See Network Service Orchestration Solution 1.1.1 Implementation Guide for detailed information about the latest versions of the REST API URLs and parameters.

Support for NSO 1.1

UIM 7.3.2 supports Oracle Communications Network Service Orchestration (NSO) Solution 1.1.

NSO 1.1 provides enhanced Network Function Virtualization (NFV) capabilities that enable you to onboard and deliver services on your network quickly. The solution is integrated with OpenStack, but also supports other third-party Virtualized Infrastructure Managers (VIMs). The solution supports customization and integration with third-party VNF managers, SDN Controllers, and VNF monitoring engines.

The NSO solution includes the following functionality:

• Onboarding of network services and VNFs

• Instantiation, scaling, and termination of network services

• Monitoring and healing of VNFs

• Resource orchestration

The NSO solution includes sample cartridges that you can use to implement network protection as a service. For more information about the NSO solution, see Oracle Communications Network Service Orchestration Solution 1.1 Implementation Guide.

Workflow Management

UIM 7.3.1 includes enhanced workflow management features. These features enable you to use projects, business interactions, and engineering work orders to plan and manage activities such as site build-outs and network expansion.

You can now add workflow templates to business interactions and engineering work orders. Workflow templates define an ordered series of activities that must be completed before you can complete the engineering work order or business interaction.

Workflow Overview

UIM 7.3.1 features address all phases of workflow management, from design to implementation:

• You design workflows as Process specifications in Design Studio. You use a graphical tool to design workflows that include ordered sets of activities and transitions. The content of activities are determined by Task specifications and Checklist specifications. When you deploy Process specifications to UIM, they become available as workflow templates that can be associated with engineering work orders and business interactions.

  The following illustration shows the graphical tool that you use to design workflows in Design Studio.

  
  

  See Design Studio Help and ”Designing Workflows” in UIM Concepts for more information.

• In UIM, project managers and others can create business interactions and engineering work orders that include workflow templates. You can optionally group related business interactions and engineering work orders into projects.

• Project managers assign workflow activities to users. They also monitor workflow progress, add activities to workflows. and change activity statuses. See ”Updating Workflows” and ”Monitoring Progress” in UIM Concepts for more information.

  The following illustration shows the Gantt Chart tab, one of the tools that you can use to monitor and manage workflows.

  
  

• Users assigned to activities receive email notifications when their activities are ready to be worked on. By default, UIM sends notifications when activities are assigned to users or user groups and when activities transition to Ready status.You can extend notification to include additional events (including events unrelated to workflows) and additional types of notification.

  See ”About Email Notification” in UIM Concepts and ”Extending Email Notification” in UIM Developer's Guide for more information.

• Assigned users track their work in UIM. The My Activities page in UIM displays a list of assigned activities that are ready to be completed. The My Group Activities page displays the same information for a work group. See ”About Assigned Activities” in UIM Concepts for more information.

  The following illustration shows the My Activities page.

  
  

Workflow-Related Specifications in Design Studio and Entities in UIM

The relationship between workflow-related specifications that you define in Design Studio and entities that you create in UIM is different from that of other specifications and entities.

• An Engineering Work Order in Design Studio does not correspond to an Engineering Work Order in UIM. Engineering Work Orders in UIM are all based on the same specification (Engineering Work Order), which is an specially-configured Business Interaction specification.

• In Design Studio, you define Process specifications, which include process flows. When you deploy Process specifications to UIM, they become available as workflow templates to business interactions and engineering work orders.

• In Design Studio, you define Task specifications that you associate with activities in process flows. In UIM, only activities are visible. Their content is determined by the Task specification with which they are associated in Design Studio.

Packet-Over-Packet Connectivity

UIM 7.3.1 enables you to enable packet connectivity with packet connectivity. This capability is sometimes called ”packet-over-packet.” For example, a 40GigE Carrier Ethernet connectivity can enable a 10GigE Carrier Ethernet connectivity.

For each segment of the path, the rate code of the enabling connectivity must be greater than or equal to than the rate code of the enabled connectivity. For example, an Ethernet connectivity with a 10GigE rate code can be enabled by a connectivity with a 40GigE rate code but not by one with a 1GigE rate code.

Packet connectivities enabled by other packet connectivities must be terminated on flow interfaces. This rule is true throughout all levels of enablement. For example, your inventory could include a 40GigE connectivity enabling a 10GigE which enables a 1GigE connectivity. In this situation, 10GigE and 1GigE connectivities must be terminated on flow interfaces. Assuming it is not enabled by another packet connectivity, the 40GigE connectivity can be terminated on either a flow interface or directly on a media interface.

For packet connectivities not enabled by other packet connectivity, you can terminate directly on a media interface only if its rate code exactly matches the rate code of the connectivity. If the rate codes, do not match, you see an error message.

If the rate code of the media interface exceeds that of the connectivity, UIM creates a child flow interface that matches the capacity of the connectivity. It then terminates the connectivity on that flow interface. The remaining capacity of the parent media interface remains available for consumption.

Figure 5 shows the menu in the Connectivity Design tab in which you select how you want to terminate a connectivity. If you select Terminate at Media Interface, you can select a media interface. If you select Terminate at Flow Interface, you select a media interface and UIM automatically creates a flow interface for you.

Figure 5 Choosing a Termination Interface

Service Connectivity Enhancements

UIM 7.3.1 supports two types of service connectivity:

• Service configuration-controlled service connectivities existed in previous UIM releases. They exist and can be created only as part of service configurations. See ”Service Configuration-Controlled Connectivity” in UIM Concepts for more information.

• Service connectivities that can exist outside of service configurations are new in UIM 7.3.1. For example, you can create service connectivities that represent the connectivity requirements of a VoIP service. You can also use service connectivities to represent circuits that are designed internally by a provider, such as an X2 link in an LTE backhaul scenario. See ”Service Connectivity Examples” in UIM Concepts for examples of these types of service connectivities.

OTN Support

UIM 7.3.1 supports Optical Transport Network (OTN) connectivity. OTN is a series of standards created to combine the benefits of SONET/SDH with the bandwidth-expanding capabilities of Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM). OTN is able to carry many types of data, including both channelized and packet signals.

The base technologies cartridge (ora_uim_basetechnolgies) includes Rate Code and Signal Termination Point specifications related to OTN. See ”Optical Transport Network Signal Architecture” in UIM Concepts and ”Base Technologies Cartridge” in UIM Cartridge Guide for more information.

Support for Single Sign-On Authentication

UIM now includes support for single sign-on (SSO) authentication. UIM implements the SSO authentication solution using Oracle Access Manager, which enables you to seamlessly access multiple applications without being prompted to authenticate for each application separately. The main advantage of SSO is that you are authenticated only once, which is when you log in to the first application; you are not required to authenticate again when you subsequently access different applications within the same web browser session.

UIM also supports single logout (SLO). If you access multiple applications using SSO within the same web browser session, and then if you log out of any one of the applications, you are logged out of all the applications.

See ”Setting Up UIM for Single Sign-On Authentication” in UIM Installation Guide for more information.

UIM Reference Web Service

The UIM 7.3.1 Reference Web Service now includes a single web service example. The previously deprecated operations have been removed. The web service example is based on the creation of logical device.

You can now find the Reference Web Service in the UIM Software Developer's Kit (SDK). See ”Developing Custom Web Services” in UIM Web Services Developer's Guide for more information.

Known Problems in UIM 7.3.1

Table 6 lists and describes the known problems in UIM 7.3.1.

Fixes in UIM 7.3.1

Table 7 lists customer-reported bugs and previous known issues that have been fixed in UIM 7.3.1.

Connectivity Enhancements

UIM 7.3 introduces a large number of new and improved features related to connectivity. See UIM Concepts and UIM Help for additional information about all of these features.

Connectivity Specifications

In releases prior to UIM 7.3, you could not create multiple Connectivity specifications. Instead, there was a single specification (TDM Facility). All Connectivity entities created in UIM were based on that specification. You could modify it only by adding entity-level characteristics.

You can now define Connectivity specifications in Design Studio and create entities based on those specifications in UIM. Just as with other specifications, you can include characteristics, rulesets, and so on. In addition, when you define a Connectivity specification, you designate its connectivity type. See "Connectivity Types" for more information.

For backward compatibility, the TDM Facility specification still exists, but has been renamed from TDM Facility to Channelized Facility. UIM entities based on that specification are unchanged.

Connectivity Types

UIM now supports three types of Connectivity entities, each of which is designed for use with particular technologies. When you define a Connectivity specification, you specify one of the following connectivity types:

• Multiplexed. Multiplexed (or Channelized) connectivities support technologies such as E-Carrier, T-Carrier, J-Carrier, SDH, and SONET, and WDM.

• Packet. Packet connectivities support technologies such as Ethernet, Frame Relay, ATM, and MPLS. See "Support for Packet Connectivity" for additional information.

• Service. Service connectivities deliver services to end customers. Service connectivity consumes other types of connectivity and resources, but cannot be consumed itself. Service connectivities are used as part of service arrangements involving packet technology, such as Carrier Ethernet.

The specifications for the three connectivity types include different default characteristics. In UIM, you see a different set of tabs in Connectivity Summary pages depending on the connectivity type.

Support for Packet Connectivity

UIM now includes dedicated Packet Connectivity entities to support networking technologies such as Ethernet, Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).

In release previous to UIM 7.3, you modeled packet connectivity by using Pipe entities, while multiplexed technologies were supported by Channelized Connectivity entities. With the addition of Packet Connectivity entities, you can now address most common telecommunications connectivity scenarios by using Connectivity entities. Connectivity entities take advantage of pre-defined rate codes, technologies, functions, and other attributes. (Pipe entities are still fully supported for backward compatibility and to model physical connectivity such as cable pairs and local loops.)

Packet connectivity can coexist with channelized connectivity and pipes. For example, a packet facility can be enabled by one or more channels of a T-Carrier channelized connectivity. Similarly, a packet connectivity can enable or be enabled by a pipe.

In addition to Packet Connectivity entities themselves, UIM 7.3 includes flow interfaces and flow identifiers that are used in packet scenarios. See "Flow Interfaces" and "Flow Identifiers" for more information.

New sample cartridges available with UIM 7.3 provide specifications that enable you to implement packet services. You can also create your own packet connectivities in Design Studio. See "Support for Carrier Ethernet Services" and "Sample Cartridges and Cartridge Packs" for more information about the sample cartridges.

Flow Interfaces

To support packet connectivity, UIM now includes Flow Interface entities.

Flow interfaces partition media interfaces (device interfaces at the top of their hierarchies) into virtual channels based on bit rate. Flow interfaces are similar to the sub-device interfaces used to terminate channelized connectivity, but are used to terminate packet connectivity only. They have configurations that capture their attributes.

When you define a Flow Interface specification, you specify one of four termination types:

• Access. Indicates that the purpose of an interface is to terminate connectivity that provides access to a service provider network, such as Ethernet UNI connectivity.

• Internetwork. Indicates that the purpose of an interface is to terminate connectivity that interconnects two service provider networks, such as Ethernet E-NNI connectivity.

• Trunk. Indicates that the purpose of an interface is to terminate connectivity that connects equipment and devices in the same network, such as Ethernet I-NNI connectivity.

• Unknown. Indicates that the purpose of the interface is unknown. Used to support scenarios not covered by the Access, Internetwork, and Trunk termination types.

Flow Identifiers

To support packet connectivity, UIM now includes Flow Identifier entities. Flow identifiers are used to represent the ways that various packet network technologies identify and distinguish network traffic. By isolating network traffic in this way, the same physical or infrastructure network can support multiple virtual networks. For example, the Ethernet technology uses VLAN IDs (or tags) for this purpose.

Flow identifiers are defined by specifications. Predefined flow identifier specifications are provided in the Carrier Ethernet and Packet sample cartridges, but you can also define your own in Design Studio.

Support for Carrier Ethernet Services

The Carrier Ethernet sample cartridge pack (OracleComms_UIM_CarrierEthernet) supports the implementation of Carrier Ethernet services with UIM.

The Carrier Ethernet cartridge pack models Carrier Ethernet services and networks based on the MEF 10.3, 23.1, and 26.1 definitions. It models the components laid out in the MEF definitions as UIM entity specifications. You can deploy these specifications as-is to UIM, or you can clone and modify them in Design Studio.

The cartridge pack includes specifications for:

• Services. including E-Line and E-Lan services.

• Networks, including EVCs and OVCs.

• Connectivities, including INNI, ENNI, and UNI.

• Flow identifiers, including SP VLAN IDs and CE VLAN IDs.

• Performance parameters, including Class of Service and Bandwidth Profiles.

• Flow interfaces, including Access, Trunk, and Internetworking interfaces.

The cartridge pack is fully documented. See UIM Carrier Ethernet Cartridge Pack Guide for introductory and reference information as well as implementation examples. See "Sample Cartridges and Cartridge Packs" for information about additional sample cartridge packs.

Sample Cartridges and Cartridge Packs

UIM 7.3 includes new sample cartridges and cartridge packs, which are delivered differently than in previous releases. These sample cartridges and cartridge packs address four networking and connectivity technologies:

• UIM Carrier Ethernet cartridge pack (OracleComms_UIM_CarrierEthernet)

• UIM Packet cartridge (OracleComms_UIM_Packet)

• UIM DSL cartridge (OracleComms_UIM_DSL)

• UIM Channelized cartridge (OracleComms_UIM_Channelized)

In addition to these new connectivity samples, the domain-specific cartridge packs previously classified as technology packs are now available as samples:

• Cable TV cartridge pack

• Consumer VoIP cartridge pack

• GSM 3GPP cartridge pack

• L2 VPN cartridge pack

• Metro Ethernet cartridge pack

• MPLS L3 VPN cartridge pack

You can open the cartridge packs in Design Studio to view their content or extend them.

Many of the cartridge packs have full documentation.They are available for download as part of the UIM software from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud at:

https://edelivery.oracle.com/

The sample cartridge packs and their documentation are included in the OracleComms_UIM_CartridgePacks.zip file.

Network Enhancements

To support packet connectivity, UIM 7.3 includes Network entity enhancements.

Network Technologies and Network Types

When you define a Network specification in Design Studio, you must now select a network type and a technology. The network type is not displayed for Network entities in UIM, but drives the functionality associated with them. The network type and network technology are interdependent.

In UIM 7.3, when you create a Network entity, you specify a technology. The technology determines which specifications you can use to create the entity. For example, if you set the Technology data element to Ethernet, you can select only a specification that is valid for the Ethernet technology. (You can also set the technology to Undefined.) Valid technologies are defined in the Base Technologies cartridge. See UIM Cartridge Guide for more information.

There are three types of networks in UIM. You specify the type when you define a Network specification in Design Studio. The network type and the network technology are interdependent.

• An infrastructure network is a resource-based network such as SDH, ATM, Ethernet, or MPLS.

• A packet virtual network (PVN) is collection of the interfaces and connectivities that support a packet-based connectivity service. Multipoint Ethernet virtual circuits (EVCs) are examples of PVNs. See "Packet Virtual Networks" for more information.

• A service network consolidates service locations, network access connectivity, and supporting virtual networks to provide a unified view of a connection-oriented service. See "Service Networks" for more information.

The network type and the network technology are interdependent:

• The Undefined technology is available for Network and Service Network types.

• Packet technologies, such as ATM, Frame Relay, MPLS and Ethernet, are available for Packet Virtual Network and Service Network types.

• All other technologies are available for the Network type.

Packet Virtual Networks

UIM 7.3 includes a new type of network, the packet virtual network (PVN). PVNs represent the elements in a service provider's network that fulfill a connection-oriented service based on packet technologies such as Ethernet, ATM, Frame Relay, and MPLS.

A PVN typically includes nodes that represent flow interfaces and edges that represent packet network connectivity and cross-connects. See "Flow Interfaces" for more information about flow interfaces.

PVNs can be referenced by multiple services and are always created with configurations.

Service Networks

Service networks are virtual networks that provide an end-to-end view of a connection-oriented service, such as a multipoint Ethernet service. Unlike other networks, you create service networks from the service configuration of the parent service.

For example, if you have a Carrier Ethernet service, its service network is based on the resources that enable the service.

A service network can include nodes that represent:

• Packet virtual networks that support the service

• Service locations

• Parties that represent service providers who own external networks that support the service

A service network can include edges that represent:

• Service connectivity

• Network access connectivity that links packet virtual networks

Figure 6 illustrates a service network that includes three service locations, three packet virtual networks, and network access connectivities that connect them.

Figure 6 Service Network

SONET and SDH Attributes

Some data elements that used to be included in all Network specifications are now relevant only to networks based on the SONET and SDH technologies. These data elements are: Enforce Same Channel Assignment, Ring Type, and Protection Type. If you used a previous version of UIM, the upgrade process will convert existing entities to SONET or SDH-based specifications depending on their Protection Type values.

Property Location Enhancements

UIM 7.3 includes enhancements to the Property Location entity, in part to support packet connectivity.

Service Locations

UIM 7.3 introduces a new kind of property location, the service location. A service location represents the place where a service originates or where the service is delivered. (Service locations are sometimes called customer sites or end-user locations.) For example, a Carrier Ethernet service is delivered to one or more service locations by a service provider.

Service locations can be outside the boundaries of a service provider's network. For example, Figure 7 illustrates a Carrier Ethernet network in which two service locations are inside the service provider network and one service location is outside it.

Figure 7 Service Locations

Because service locations can be outside of the service provider network, they do not require network location codes or network entity codes. In cases where service locations are within your provider network, however, you may want to identify a service location as a network location by assigning it a network location code. In this scenario, the Property Location entity is both a service location and a network location.

Property Locations in Place Hierarchies

You can now include property locations in place hierarchies. For example, you could create property locations for sites that host equipment and include them in the hierarchies of Place entities that represent geographic areas.

See UIM Concepts and UIM Help for more information about property locations and place hierarchies.

IP Address Management

UIM 7.3 introduces native IPv4 and IPv6 Address management. In previous releases, you modeled IP addresses by using Custom Network Address entities. UIM now provides a consolidated view of a your IP address inventory for service and network management.

Using the new IP address management features, you can:

• Create IPv4 and IPv6 network addresses.

• Partition subnets to support variable length subnet masking (VLSM).

• Join subnets to form larger subnets.

• Create host IP addresses.

• Track IP addresses from initial creation through statuses and uses.

• Reserve IP addresses for a specific purpose.

• Assign IP addresses to services, logical devices, logical device accounts, device interfaces, and networks.

You can also used UIM resource pools to group IP addresses by service, geography, and other categories. Figure 8 illustrates a resource pool that contains IPv4 and IPv6 subnets.

Figure 8 IP Address Resource Pool

You can use Oracle BI Publisher (or a third-party reporting tool) to generate utilization reports for your IP inventory. Sample BI Publisher reports are provided with UIM and can be customized to meet your requirements.

Web Services can be used for all aspects of IP address management, including:

• Bulk creation and deletion of IP addresses and subnets

• Reservation of IP addresses and subnets

• Assignment of IP addresses and subnets based on geography or service type

• Auto-creation and assignment of IP addresses and subnets

If you modeled IP addresses as custom network addresses in an earlier release, you can continue to use those entities or upgrade to take advantage of the improved new functionality.

See UIM Concepts and UIM Help for more information about IP address management.

Network Targets

UIM 7.3 includes support for network targets. A network target is a resource on which services or other resources must be activated. For example, in a GSM network, a voice mail service must be activated on a voice mail server. In this scenario, the voice mail server is the target for the voice mail account.

In UIM, you use the Target role type to identify Logical Device or Party entities as network targets. This capability enables UIM to pass information about network targets to activation systems.

When you assign a Target role to a Logical Device or Party entity, it becomes a target for other entities associated with it in various ways.

You can see information about network targets in two places in Logical Device and Party Summary pages and in the Configuration Items section of Configuration pages.

See UIM Concepts and UIM Help for more information about network targets.

Network Address Domains

You can now use network address domains to define a context for the uniqueness of network addresses. You define Network Address Domain specifications in Design Studio. In UIM, you can use network address domains with the following entities:

• Flow identifiers

• IPv4 addresses

• IPv6 addresses

• IP subnets

• Telephone numbers

Predefined Network Address Domain specifications are included in some sample cartridges, such as the Carrier Ethernet cartridge.

See UIM Concepts and UIM Help for more information about network address domains.

Inventory Group Types and Resource Pools

In Design Studio, you can now optionally associate Inventory Group specifications with Inventory Group Type specifications. Inventory group types define specific entities or groups of entities that can or must be included in the inventory group. Inventory groups with inventory group type associations are called resource pools.

Resource pools are used to manage the assignment of resources in UIM. For example, you can create a Telephone Number Resource Pool Inventory Group Type specification in Design Studio and then associate it with appropriate inventory group specifications to define telephone number resource pools. In UIM, you can add telephone numbers to these resource pools and use them to manage assignments.

See UIM Concepts and UIM Help for more information about inventory group types and resource pools.

Groovy Language Support in Rulesets

UIM 7.3 includes support for developing Groovy scripts to provide the rule logic within a ruleset to extend UIM, in addition to the existing Drools rule functionality. Groovy is a dynamic language that compiles into Java byte code, and has a high degree of flexibility in semantics compared to Java code. In Design Studio, you can now choose whether you want a rule to execute at runtime with a given Groovy script or a Drools rule. Both Groovy and Drools logic can exist for a single rule, which aids in converting existing Drools rule logic into Groovy scripts.

For more information on keywords, operators, and semantics, see more on the Groovy Language at the following Web site:

http://www.groovy-lang.org/index.html

NSO Cartridge Version

A new version of the NSO cartridge has been released to work with UIM 7.3. You must use cartridge version 1.0.1 with UIM 7.3. Version 1.0 is incompatible.