The Physical Media Tool

The Physical Media Tool is used in the GSAC application which takes the technical specification of a service (e.g., communication, processing and usage requirements) and suggests the most appropriate(1)network and service resource assignments (configurations) to support the service.

The Physical Media Tool generates a set of configurations that can be either installed or re-configured to support a customer's request for a service. It determines the correct capacity (i.e., number of ports, bandwidth, available storage, etc.) and the quality factors (delays, security, reliability, etc.) to be allocated to a customer.

The Physical Media Tool is a combination of rule-based and constraint satisfaction software that configures the access network for a particular customer site. It takes a customer's set of technical requirements and generates all feasible(2)MAN(3), X.25 and ISDN configurations for the customer's access network.

The Phyical Media Tool output consists of a configuration that needs to be either installed or re-configured to support the requested service. This configuration consists of a set of segments; i.e., a Service Access Controller (SAC), an Access Link (AL), and an Access Network/Transit Network Interface (ATI).

During the processing a number of configurations have been generated. The final configuration based on evaluation to meet service provider preferences (e.g, initial connectivity cost, reliability, etc.) gives the best solution from his/her perspective.

The diagram over leaf shows the steps taken in the Physical Media Tool to determine a configuration or solution for the Access Network.

Note 1: e.g. a choice of criteria to determine appropriateness at runtime is possible (for GSAC).

Note 2 Given the local situation. Note 3 assuming the availability of a CBDS or SMDS-like service