[February 28, 2001] The ATIS Technical Subcommittee T1M1 (Internetwork Operations, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning) is developing a Telecommunications Markup Language (tML) standard which would govern telecommunications network management. The work being done as a T1M1 approved project #T1M1-26 in WG T1M1.5 This ATIS [Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions] standards work was announced in May 2000, and a "tML Framework Document" released recently outlines a definition for the development of interoperable XML-based interfaces. "The goal for use of the Framework is to guide the development of tML schemas and vocabularies and to provide a common method for the definition of tML data to be exchanged and to provide a mapping to existing standards to promote re-use whenever possible. The scope of the tML Framework consists of: (1) a set of rules and objectives to be applied in developing standardized schemas based on existing models in standards; (2) specification of common tML tags, namespaces, and URIs; (3) transformation of existing definitions in external libraries for use with tML; and (4) requirements for repositories and registries."
"ATIS is a member company organization that defines standards and operating procedures for the telecommunications industry; its work is suported by some 2,500 experts from 500 telecommunications companies. Committee T1 is sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to create network interconnections and interoperability standards for the United States.
From the May 24, 2000 announcement:
"Standards Committee T1 Technical Subcommittee T1M1 is undertaking the initiative to develop a standard for the telecommunications network management derivative of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). The overall goal of this initiative is to develop a standard for transactions, which would then be presented to the International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) as a contribution toward an international standard recommendation. T1M1 is a technical subcommittee of Standards Committee T1-Telecommunications, which is sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS). Committee T1 is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The telecommunications industry has not yet established an official markup language for network management, but is rapidly moving toward XML as a technology of choice - as are other industries.
"T1M1 will plan and develop a telecom-specific derivative of XML for telecommunications network management, referred to as the telecommunications Markup Language (tML). ATIS-sponsored Committee T1 intends to standardize tML via T1's open industry standards-formulation process. In an effort to ensure broad acceptance of the tML standard, Committee T1 is collaborating with ATIS' Telecommunications Industry Forum's (TCIF) Electronic Communications Implementation Committee (ECIC). ECIC has completed the Telecommunication Interchange Markup Guide -- a guide that was developed to allow carriers and vendors to exchange technical documentation using XML tags -- that is available on the Document Center at www.atis.org.
"So as to bring a broad base of business and technical perspectives to tML, Technical Subcommittee T1M1 welcomes input and participation from the various telecommunications network management industry fora. Industry representatives are invited to attend T1M1's interim meeting June 28-30, 2000, in Richardson, Texas, to begin work on the tML standard.
"The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions Standards Committee T1 develops American National Standards, technical reports, and technical requirements for telecommunications services, network interconnection, interoperability, and performance. Committee T1 provides technical input to the United States Department of State supporting U.S. participation in international standards bodies. More than 1,200 telecommunications engineers and technologists bring their expertise to Committee T1's six technical subcommittees. Committee T1 is a founding member of the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) group of regional standards development organizations and works closely with the FCC on network reliability issues. Committee T1 is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). .. ATIS is a member company organization that defines standards and operating procedures for the telecommunications industry. Nearly 2,500 experts from 500 telecommunications companies participate in ATIS committees, whose work focus includes network interconnection standards, number portability, improved data transmission, wireless communications, Internet telephony, toll-free access, and order and billing issues. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) frequently refers operations issues to ATIS committees for recommended solutions. Members of ATIS and committee participants include, but are not limited to, telecommunications service providers, manufacturers, software developers, resellers, enhanced service providers, and providers of operations support."
From the January 01, 2001 document "tML Framework Document":
"This is a Framework for the development of tML (telecommunications Markup Language) standards for the management of telecommunications networks. Work on this document is being advanced through interim meetings, expert meetings, and weekly meetings via phone-bridge and a Virtual Meeting facility.
"The true value of XML is its ability to provide a standard means of exchanging information between applications, business partners, businesses and consumers. It is a critical component in application integration, e-commerce, and document management strategies. Achieving interoperable interfaces using tML requires agreed upon standards for the schema definitions. This framework promotes the use of schemas instead of DTDs.
"This document provides a Framework to develop such standards for schema definitions. It provides the information and structure that will maximize the opportunities and benefits that this technology can provide. This document defines guidelines for creating interrelated components of an interoperable interface such as schema definitions (when approved as a W3C Recommendation), vocabulary, and namespaces. The framework meets the following objectives: (1) Minimize the redundancy in the definition of tags; (2) Define single semantics for each tag; (3) Reuse of the semantics available in TMN information models. The term tML in the context of this standard is a markup language derived from applying XML, a meta-language used to derive other markup languages. tML receives its name from common telecommunications markup (tag names) defined in this document and from other markup defined in a variety of telecommunications standards developed from using this Framework.
Purpose of tML Framework: The purpose of the tML Framework is to provide a standard definition for the development of interoperable interfaces based on the use of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), within the TMN context. The goal for use of the Framework is to guide the development of tML schemas and vocabularies and to provide a common method for the definition of tML data to be exchanged and to provide a mapping to existing standards to promote re-use whenever possible.
Scope: The scope of the tML Framework consists of: (1) a set of rules and objectives to be applied in developing standardized schemas based on existing models in standards; (2) specification of common tML tags, namespaces, and URIs; (3) transformation of existing definitions in external libraries for use with tML; and (4) requirements for repositories and registries. This document specifies a number of alternative approaches for transferring tML compliant data across a TMN interface. The initial concentration is to support X interface. Even though multiple approaches are noted in this document, it is necessary to choose a specific method for implementing the transport infrastructure in order to exchange the tML documents. The specific approach may be documented in either a future version of this Framework or in a different standard."
References:
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Standardization Sector
[October 19, 2001] "tML Guidelines for Mapping UML Notation to XML Schemas and Vice Versa." Telecommunications Markup Language. PROJECT T1M1-26. Document T1M1/2001-100R3. Submitted for eBTWG work by Raymond E. Reeves. "This technical proposed standard provides guidelines for defining Telecommunications Markup Language (tML) Schemas based on Unified Modeling Language (UML) notation design models and vice versa. This work is proposed to help TMN paradigm independent design models to be mapped with little or no effort to an Extensible Markup Language (XML) implementation. Efforts underway in the ANSI T1 and ITU-T bodies to create implementation independent models will take advantage of this recommendation." From followup comments: "...the draft standard prepared by T1M1 tries to address the UML and XML Schema mapping from a bi-directional standpoint. Though the document is organized from a UML viewpoint (UML2XML view?, i.e., model management view, static view, etc.), it purports to provide all necessary rules for doing round-trip engineering. Next version (release 4) will describe, in a more explicit fashion than the up to now implied, 'UML Profile for XML Schemas' used throughout the document. The importance of this effort within T1M1 and ITU-T (because it is an ITU-T work item) lies in the fact that many other T1M1 (and, why not?, ITU-T) XML-ization efforts (e.g., Service Ordering, Trouble Administration, DSL Service Provisioning, etc.) use a model-driven approach where a UML model is prepared from which a t/XML Schema is prepared following the guidelines stated by the T1M1 UML to XML Schemas, and vice versa, draft standard..." See also the note by Dave Carlson: "I've taken a quick read through your T1M1 mapping spec and it is very similar to my approach. My default mapping is aligned with the schema production rules in the XMI spec, but with a few additions. For example, XMI requires a role name on every navigable association end. And the schema includes a container element for this role, and a content element for the destination class. I've found that many schema designers want to create more compact vocabularies that omit the container element or make the destination class name anonymous. Both of these extensions can be made without modifying the UML conceptual model itself, but specifying preferences in the schema generator. Or by setting properties only on the top-level UML model or packages. So this retains the goal of technology indepencence that has been stated in other messages. I share that goal..." See "UML to XML Design Rules Project." [alt URL, cache]
[May 24, 2000] Announcement for tML. "ATIS Committee T1 Initiates Work to Define Standards for Telecommunications Markup Language (tML)." Also in PDF format. [source]
[January 01, 2001] "tML Framework Document." Committee T1 -- Telecommunications. Standards Contribution. Edited by Ed White, WorldCom, Inc. January 1, 2001. "This is a Framework for the development of tML (telecommunications Markup Language) standards for the management of telecommunications networks..." Also in (incomplete) HTML and text formats. [cache]
[July 24, 2000] T1M1 - New XML Initiative for Telecomm. Posting from Michael Fargano (Chairman T1M1), July 24, 2000. "... a plain text version of a correspondence that was sent to Bert Wijnen and Randy Bush (IETF - Operations and Management Area Directors) from Technical Subcommittee T1M1 - with respect to a XML initiative that has been started in the area of telecommunications network management... 'The overall goal of this initiative is to develop a standard derivative of XML for use in telecommunications related transactions (e.g., CLEC ordering of DSL services), which would then be presented to the International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) as a contribution toward an international standard recommendation. This derivative of XML is referred to as the telecommunications Markup Language (tML). T1M1 had a well-attended interim meeting during the week of June 26, 2000 to kick-off the tML standards formulation work effort. In the process of formulating this standard, T1M1 welcomes and encourages your input and participation. Initial technical contributions have been called for and are expected to be presented for consideration at T1M1's next regular meeting from August 7 to 11 in Torrance California ... We are encouraging submissions in the following technical areas: Architectural considerations, Interfaces where it is appropriate to use tML..." [cache]
[May 15, 2000] "Considerations for use of XML in T1M1." Committee T1 - Telecommunications, Standards Contribution. T1M1.5/2000-141. SOURCE: MCI WorldCom. DATE: May 15, 2000. CONTACT: Ed White (Tel#: 972-729-5509; Fax#: 972-729-6038). "This contribution recommends that a framework be created for the development of XML (eXtensible Markup Language) standards for the management of telecommunications networks... The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is rapidly establishing itself as the meta-language for inter- and intra-organizational communications. Many vertical industries are adopting XML and have developed grammar of their own as preemptive measures to guard against overlapping assignments of tag sets to describe vocabulary. The telecommunications industry has not yet established an official markup language for network management, partly because the telecommunications network management industry has such breadth. This contribution explores the need for a markup language for telecommunications network management, to wit the telecommunications markup language (tML), considering this observation..." [document: 360448 bytes, cache]
