Impact of Security Policies on the TMN X Interface Integrity and Performance

This paper discusses the interconnection requirements between management systems over the TMN X interface in terms of security and integrity, as well as the relationship between these two issues. A testing approach is developed in order to assess the impact of introducing security policies in the inter-domain communication between two independent TMN OSs, on the basic operational and performance-related integrity requirements. The results and the assessment of the impact of the security policies on the X interface performance are given. The work presented here was conducted for the ACTS project TRUMPET 1 . 1. Introduction The current telecommunications environment is characterised by the increasing level of interconnection between network operators and third party retailers in the telecommunications market. These players are encouraged to interwork so as to provide increasingly sophisticated public voice and data services to end-users and corporate customers. This inter-working is ..