An object‐oriented analysis of a BISDN control system with a focus on the UNI protocol object

Abstract

The control system of a BISDN network will undoubtedly be very complex to design, implement and maintain. Its complexity has led researchers to look for ways of breaking down the problem into smaller and manageable parts. This has motivated the use of an object‐oriented approach to analyse and comprehend the BISDN control system. This paper thus presents an object‐oriented analysis (OOA) of a BISDN control system. This analysis is based on a method introduced by Coad and Yourdon and comprises five steps. All five steps, namely identifying subjects, identifying objects, identifying structures, defining attributes, and defining operations, will be worked out in detail with an emphasis on the user network interface (UNI) signalling protocol object. Four subjects, nine objects, and three structures are identified in the problem space at hand. This structuring offers a framework to analyse in detail the three aspects, data, structure and dynamic behaviour, of the UNI signalling protocol. A parallel between this approach and the well known approach used by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for specifying signalling protocols and contained in Recommendation I.130 is drawn. The Coad and Yourdon OOA approach applied to a BISDN control system can be used for the analysis of different aspects of such systems. This paper focuses on the UNI signalling protocol object which leads to a complete specification. Any protocol resulting from such analysis can be claimed to be object‐oriented protocol. This approach offers modularity and thus offers a way of structuring the problem space into identifiable objects and data. Full benefits of object orientation can be gained only in the consistent use of object orientation throughout all steps in the development process. The proposed approach allows one to create libraries of generic procedures which can be reused in specific implementations.