Integrated management of large satellite-terrestrial networks

Hybrid communication networks provide an economically feasible and technologically efficient means to implement the global information infrastructure. The management of such heterogeneous networks is a critical market differentiator for telecommunications companies and a formidable technical task. In this paper we describe our efforts in the Center for Satellite and Hybrid Communication Networks, to design and implement an integrated network management system for such networks. The major accomplishments to date are the design and implementations of an object oriented data model for hybrid networks consisting of satellite networks and terrestrial ATM networks; the extension of the system to hybrid networks with as many as 300000 nodes; the development of browsing graphical tools so that mesh-connected graph networks (as opposed to tree networks) can be efficiently queried; specially designed graphical widgets for displaying performance data continuously from the network management information database (MIB); extensions of the GUI to distributed operation including appropriate designs for consistency and concurrency between the GUI display and the network MIB; storage and organization issues for performance data in the MIB; integration of configuration management and performance management