Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) | GlobalSpec

Telecommunications Management Network

(TMN)

Telecommunications carriers today are faced with the task of rapidly introducing and managing new competitive services. To reach this goal, they must quickly integrate communications equipment from multiple vendors. In response to the challenge, the carriers and international standards bodies have defined a solution called the Telecommunications Management Network (TMN), which consists of a series of interrelated national and international standards and agreements that provide for the surveillance and control of telecommunications service-provider networks on a world-wide scale. The result is the capability to achieve higher service quality, reduced costs, and faster product integration. TMN is also applicable in wireless communications, cable television networks, private overlay networks, and other large-scale, high-bandwidth communications networks.

The International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunications (ITU-T) began work on TMN in 1988. The ITU-T (formerly known as CCITT) extended the ISO/OSI standards for systems management by adding its own recommendations for architecture (M.3000 series), modeling (G series), and interfaces (Q series). The resulting standard M.3010 is the high-level specification of the framework, which provides for the observation, control, coordination, and maintenance of telecommunications networks. Because the TMN model is based on open interfaces, it is attractive to telecommunications operators and service providers as a way to solve common management problems without being limited by proprietary solutions.

By making all internal network-management functions available through standardized interfaces, service providers can achieve more rapid deployment of new services and maximum use of automated functions. Vendors of network elements can offer specialized management systems…