OSS/CAD

OSS/CAD enables service providers to understand and maximise the value of the data within the infrastructure of their operational support systems. Inspired by the model-centric agility of CAD/CAM, OSS/CAD provides a far easier way to utilize the data in both current and legacy business, operations and infrastructural systems.

ISPs, CSPs and MSPs alike, are provided with a radical new way to interpret and query their data. As such, the inflexibility of current data federation technologies and the risk and cost traditionally associated with ‘big bang’ system transformation programmes can be avoided. 

OSS/CAD Benefits

Service providers that implement OSS/CAD can captialize on: 

  • An out of the box, virtual unified service models 
    Allowing data drawn from disparate COTS infrastructure components to be flexibly consolidated into a semi-structured knowledge pool, in a low risk process.  

  • An iterative approach to adding data
    Identifying structures within the knowledge pool from an ontology at runtime, OSS/CAD allows the virtual unified service model to be controlled by the end-user; unlike traditional data federation projects, the OSS/CAD model is not locked into restrictive assumptions made during an initial, upfront design phase.   

  • An extendable core
    Augmenting a live OSS/CAD installation by deploying new OntoPacks. This ensures the virtual unified service model can have additional layers added to it, such as service impact analysis, data integrity management and change management applications.

  • A visual representation of models and system functionality
    Easing the use of the product in a manner analogous to CAD/CAM systems

OSS/CAD components

OSS/CAD consists of three core components:

Product Diagram

 

OSS/CAD Modeller

Used to develop, test, deploy and manage OntoPacks, OSS/CAD Modeller is an integrated suite of tools that ensures end users can extend OSS/CAD via a visual interface. Based around CAD/CAM features, the collaborative design and analysis platform includes: 

  • Knowledge definition tools for creating new concepts and specifying how they relate to each other.

  • GUI creation tools for constructing new OntoScope components.

  • A development environment for creating and testing models, cells, queries and UIs.

  • Advanced Cell Network creation tools for the configuration and testing of pre-configured cell networks.

  • Knowledge model verification and debugging.

 

OSS/CAD OntoPacks 

OntoPacks are functionality “bundles” that can be deployed to a running OSS/CAD installation to extend the Runtime capabilities. These extensions include: 

  • Defining new types of knowledge.

  • Adding new Cell types.

  • Adding new OntoScope components.

  • Pre-configuring Cell Networks and OntoScope Perspectives.

OSS/CAD Runtime provides the full lifecycle management of OntoPacks, which includes the simultaneous operation of multiple versions of the same OntoPack.         

OSS/CAD Runtime

Within OSS/CAD, functional elements are executed in the OSS/CAD Runtime; a peer-to-peer distributed execution environment. The most basic configuration consists of a single processing node, but further nodes can be added to a deployment dynamically, with zero downtime, to factor in performance, availability and resilience concerns. 

  • OSS/CAD Cells - Within OSS/CAD Runtime, logical processing elements known as ‘Cells’ perform tasks on, or with, the knowledge pool. Examples of tasks carried out by Cells include:

    • Reasoning about a section of the knowledge pool to infer new knowledge.
    • Extracting data from external systems.
    • Unifying data from external systems.
    • Preparing knowledge for export to another system.
    • Preparing knowledge for interaction in a User Interface (either externally or via the native OntoScope).

The web of interconnected Cells in OSS/CAD is called the Cell Network, with Cells taking input from external systems, from other Cells or from OSS/CAD Repositories. Cells and Cell Networks can be configured and modified at runtime, using OSS/CAD Runtime’s administrative User Interface. 

  • OSS/CAD Repositories - The OSS/CAD Knowledge Pool is stored in Repositories that represent points at which knowledge can be made persistent and viewed, queried or read by Cells.  

  • OntoScope - OntoScope is OSS/CAD’s native browser-based, user-configurable and adaptive User Interface. Applying interactive operations (such as dashboards and exploration tools) to the data being presented, users with appropriate privileges can create assemblies of UI components called OntoScope Perspectives. These Perspectives can be made available to other users or user groups, according to OSS/CAD’s authentication model.

Please read our FAQ at www.ontology.com/faq.aspx for more information about Ontology Systems and OSS/CAD.


 


OSS/CAD Datasheet
Clearly, carriers realize that the biggest hurdle to achieving nimble service delivery architecture is their siloed, disparate BSS and OSS systems. Carriers that can create a seamless order-to-cash-to-care process through technology integration will more easily achieve the holy grail of customer-centricity sought by every carrier around the globe.
Arinjam Banerjee
Director, Enabling Technologies Service Provider Software Solutions
Yankee Group, 2008