HK1060457B - Network models, methods, and systems - Google Patents

Description

Network, method and system for managing services

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims U.S. provisional application No.60/220,339, filed on 24/7/2000, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of communication networks, and more particularly to the management of a network service.

Background

In recent years, worldwide regulatory efforts have been struggling with the need to modernize public networks to support the increasing data applications that the internet includes. Many users access the internet through a low bandwidth Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) dial-up connection. Although this level of performance can meet the demands of many consumers, higher access speeds will almost certainly be more desirable.

Managers in the united states and throughout the world have recognized the tremendous value of establishing a true "information society" and have taken steps to encourage, or even authorize, the use of universal broadband access. Although the consumer and administrator's authorization for universal broadband access places a demand for higher internet access speeds, today's networks are unlikely to evolve toward a universal Internet Protocol (IP) network.

Public voice networks are generally considered the basis for modern communications. The national policies of many industrialized countries reflect the need to guarantee the stability of voice traffic, which is typically based on Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) techniques. IP networks may not be able to quickly replace TDM voice networks because they generally do not provide the same degree of reliability and stability as existing voice networks based on TDM.

Therefore, today's communication networks cannot be developed towards a single global network based on a single structure, owned by a single administrator, and following a single technical principle. Rather, the communication network may include an access network that supports voice traffic and other traffic and higher level data traffic and is based on a variety of technologies, such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). The communication network may also include a core network supporting IP, ATM, frame relay, TDM, and various optical technologies based on Dense Waveguide Division Multiplexing (DWDM).

Thus, network technologies may be diversified rather than gradually converged. However, despite the diversity of underlying network technologies that may be possible, network service consumers may require a uniform interface. Both service providers and network owners may be concerned with the policy issues of how to exploit the potential for higher network access speeds without disrupting the revenue and stability of existing service offerings. Accordingly, there is a need to provide improved systems and methods for managing services that can benefit both service consumers and service providers.

Disclosure of Invention

Various embodiments of the present invention provide networks, methods, and systems for managing traffic.

The network for managing traffic according to the invention comprises: an end service domain associating services with an end service provider, the end service domain comprising: a plurality of wholesale service domains, respective ones of the plurality of wholesale service domains comprising at least one network providing traffic transport for the end service domain; a plurality of gateways, at least a first of the plurality of gateways connecting one of the plurality of wholesale service domains to another of the wholesale service domains and configured to perform protocol translation as traffic passes between the connected wholesale service domains, and at least a second of the plurality of gateways configured to connect a subscriber to an end service domain and further configured to communicate with the subscriber via a protocol associated with the end service; a process domain that provides an abstract representation of an application provided by an end service domain; a service management system in communicative connection with an end service domain, the service management system comprising a plurality of software objects representing resources in the end service domain for providing a service and a policy database comprising rules for associating service requirements with the resources in the end service domain.

The invention also provides a method for managing services, which comprises the following steps: providing an end service domain, the end service domain including a plurality of resources facilitating transmission of a service; generating a business model from an end business domain associated with the business, the business model including a plurality of virtual processes and a plurality of virtual connections; acquiring the capability information of a plurality of resources in a specified end service domain; providing a policy database comprising rules for associating business requirements with the plurality of resources; the plurality of virtual processes and the plurality of virtual connections are allocated on several of the plurality of resources according to information specifying capabilities of the plurality of resources and a policy database.

Further, the present invention provides a system for managing a service, comprising: means for providing an end service domain, the end service domain comprising a plurality of resources facilitating transmission of a service; means for generating a business model from an end business domain associated with the business, the business model comprising a plurality of virtual processes and a plurality of virtual connections; means for obtaining information specifying capabilities of a plurality of resources in an end service domain; means for providing a policy database, the policy database including rules for associating business requirements with the plurality of resources; means for allocating the plurality of virtual processes and the plurality of virtual connections on ones of the plurality of resources based on the information specifying the capabilities of the plurality of resources and a policy database.

A network for managing services includes an end service domain that associates services with end service providers. The end service domain includes a plurality of wholesale service domains, each wholesale service domain including one or more networks capable of providing traffic transport for the end service domain. One or more gateways are utilized to connect one of the wholesale service domains to another of the wholesale service domains and to perform protocol conversion as traffic passes between the connected wholesale service domains. In addition, one or more gateways are configured to connect a user to an end service domain and are further configured to communicate with the user via a protocol associated with the service. The process domain provides an abstract representation of the application provided by the end service domain. Advantageously, the present invention can facilitate managing traffic independently of underlying network technology by modeling a traffic routing environment as an end traffic domain that includes a network domain and a process domain.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a service management system is communicatively coupled to the end service domain and includes a plurality of software objects representing resources in the end service domain and a policy database including rules for associating requirements of services with resources in the end service domain.

In particular embodiments of the present invention, the requirements of the service include service requirements associated with the user and business requirements associated with the end service provider.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described primarily with respect to network model aspects of the present invention, it should be understood that the present invention may also be embodied as methods, systems, and computer program products.

Drawings

Other features of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a network model architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a software architecture block diagram illustrating a method, system, and computer program product for managing services in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operations for managing traffic in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a virtual service according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary operations for managing traffic in accordance with further embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed Description

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In the description of the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

The present invention may be embodied as methods, systems, and/or computer program products. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or transmission medium. More specific examples (not fully listed) of the computer-readable medium include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

In many conventional networks, traffic is dependent on a particular technical framework. It is expected that traffic may eventually overtake the network. That is, a wide variety of services may be provided over a network that includes a set of devices covering a wide variety of architectures and protocols. A user may need to transmit traffic within a larger network domain according to a protocol that is not supported by one or more sub-networks or core networks. The present invention may provide a network model, method, system and computer program product for managing services that is independent of underlying network technology. Therefore, the present invention can provide higher adaptability in service management, so that various services can be customized for consumers, and the consumers can see the network as a personal service network.

Referring now to fig. 1, a network model architecture includes an End Service Domain (ESD)22 communicatively coupled to a service management system 24, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The service delivery environment may include one or more ESDs 22 each associated with an End Service Provider (ESP). ESP denotes a provider and/or other service provider that provides services to consumers, such as end users. Common various services, such as internet services, can be modeled as ESD, while retail carriers, such as Local Exchange Carriers (LEC), inter-network exchange carriers (IXC), and Internet Service Providers (ISP) can be represented as ESP.

As shown in fig. 1, ESD22 includes a plurality of core Wholesale Service Domains (WSDs) 26a, 26b and access WSDs 28a, 28b, 28c, and 28 d. Each WSD includes one or more networks that provide access and transport connections used by ESD22 and the associated ESP. Also, each WSD may have a Wholesale Service Provider (WSP) associated with it. Each WSD can be viewed as an "internal ESD" in the sense that retail services provided to one provider may be wholesale services provided to another provider. Access WSDs 28a, 28b, 28c and 28d correspond to the WSDs that couple the consumer/user with ESD22 (i.e., the consumer/user accesses ESD22 through the WSDs). In contrast, the core WSDs 26a, 26b correspond to WSDs that are not used to couple the consumer/user with the ESD 22. Examples of WSDs include networks of devices owned and/or operated by LECs and/or IXCs, as these networks can provide transport and access resources to the logical service networks that overlay them.

WSDs (core WSD and access WSD) are connected to each other and to consumers/users through devices called Gateways (GW). As shown in fig. 1, ESD22 includes eight gateways 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d, 32e, 32f, 32g, and 32h connected to respective WSDs. More specifically, GWs 32a, 32d, 32g, and 32h connect consumers/users with access WSDs 28a, 28b, 28c, and 28d, respectively, and are configured to communicate with consumers/users using a protocol associated with an ESD service. On the other hand, GWs 32b, 32c, 32e, and 32f connect WSDs to each other within ESD 22. The GW device may be embodied as a conversion device configured to convert between protocols used by different ESDs and/or WSDs. Examples of common GW devices include, but are not limited to, network devices for connecting leased lines to an IP network, or connecting an ATM network to a PSTN network. According to embodiments of the present invention, the GW device may be referred to as a "service switch" and/or a "service point of presence (POP)". These traffic converter GW devices, e.g., GWs 32a, 32d, 32g, and 32h, may be configured to analyze incoming traffic and separate incoming user traffic according to application when operating on the edge of ESD 22. These traffic converter GW devices, e.g., GWs 32b, 32c, 32e, and 32f, may be configured to switch on different network protocols when operated within ESD 22.

The ESD22 also includes a process domain 34 that provides an abstract representation of applications provided by the ESD 22. More specifically, process domain 34 represents those network processes for which a consumer/user of ESD22 will accept an application provided by a network. For example, many TCP/IP networks include a service called Domain Name System (DNS) for providing name-address logical translation. The network DNS server providing such services can be seen as a network process. Network process resources can be located anywhere in the ESD22, including inside the WSD. According to an embodiment of the invention, the network process is represented as a process domain 34.

The service management system 24 may communicate with the ESD22 to collect, for example, performance, configuration, topology, timing, and/or traffic data therefrom. The data collected by the business management system 24 is stored in a database so as to be available for use by other applications. The database may be implemented as a relational database management system (RDBMS) supporting Structured Query Language (SQL). The collected data is preferably stored in an SQL database to facilitate access by other applications to the collected data. Advantageously, various applications can access the SQL database without having knowledge of the proprietary interface of the underlying RDBMS.

Client application 42 may communicate with service management system 24 to access reports generated by service management system 24 based on analysis of collected data and to manage various services provided by ESD22 (e.g., to determine whether services provided by the ESD meet an agreed-upon quality of service). Capacity planning application 44 may communicate with service management system 24 to assist an administrator in shaping/configuring the topology/shape of ESD22 and/or distributing the amount of traffic carried by ESD 22. The billing application 46 may communicate with the business management system 24 to generate a manifest based on analysis of the data collected from the ESD 22. Finally, the service provider application 48 may communicate with the service management system 24 to facilitate the introduction of new services into the ESD22 or other ESD.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the business management system 24 and/or data processing system supporting the client application 42, the capacity planning application 44, the billing application 46, and the business providing application 48 may be configured with computing, storage, and control program resources to manage the business. Thus, the business management system 24 and the data processing system that support the client application 42, the capacity planning application 44, the personalization application 46, and the business provision application 48 may each be implemented as a single processor system, a multi-processor system, or even a network of multiple independent computer systems.

While FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network model architecture, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, but is intended to encompass any configuration capable of carrying out the operations described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary data processing system 50 architecture is shown that may be used in embodiments of the business management system 24 and data processing system that support the client application 42, the capacity planning application 44, the billing application 46 and the business providing application 48, in accordance with the present invention. The data processing system 50 may include an input device 52, such as a keyboard or keypad, a display 54, and a memory 56 communicatively coupled to a processor 58. The data processing system 50 may also include a memory system 62, a speaker 64, and an input/output (I/O) data port 66 communicatively coupled to the processor 58. The storage system 62 may include removable and/or fixed media such as floppy disks, ZIP drives, hard disks, and the like, as well as virtual memory such as a RAMDISK. The I/O data port 66 may be used to transfer information between the data processing system 50 and another computer system or a network, such as the internet. These components may be conventional components that are capable of being configured to operate as described herein, such as components used in many conventional computing devices and/or systems.

Fig. 3 illustrates a processor 72 and a memory 74 that may be used in embodiments of the traffic management system 24 according to the present invention. The processor 72 is communicatively coupled to a memory 74 via an address/data bus 76. The processor 72 may be, for example, a commercially available or custom microprocessor. Memory 74 represents all of the various layers of memory devices that contain software and data for managing services according to embodiments of the present invention. The memory 74 may include, but is not limited to, the following types of devices: cache, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash, SRAM, and DRAM.

As shown in FIG. 3, up to five or more classes of software and/or data may be contained in memory 74: an operating system 78, a Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) program module 82, an arbitration device module 86, an object manager program module 88, and a data module 92.

An operating system 78 controls the operation of the computer system. In particular, operating system 78 may manage computer system resources and may coordinate execution of programs by processor 72. The CORBA module 82 may be configured to enable the software modules in the memory 74 to be implemented as an object-oriented system and to facilitate communication between the various software objects. The CORBA module 82 also enables objects to be distributed across a heterogeneous network. For example, the objects may be distributed across different data processing systems in a network but as if they were local to each other. In a distributed object-oriented computer system, client objects may be given an object handle to reference remote server objects. A remote object is an object whose class is implemented in a different process than the process in which the object handle resides. Moreover, the remote object may be implemented in a data processing system that is remote from the data processing system in which the object handle resides. The object handle identifies a remote server object and may enable the client object to invoke member functions of the remote object. CORBA is an exemplary distributed object module that may be used in embodiments of the present invention. However, it should be understood that other distributed object models, such as the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) and the Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) model, may be used in other embodiments of the present invention. A brief discussion of the CORBA model follows.

The CORBA model is based on an Object Request Broker (ORB) that acts as an object bus through which individual objects can interact transparently, whether they are located locally or remotely. A CORBA server object supports an interface comprising a set of methods. A particular instance of a CORBA server object is identified by an object reference. The object reference may be used by the CORBA client object in order to make method calls to the CORBA server object as if the CORBA client object and CORBA server object share the same address space. Resources for developing distributed software using CORBA may be obtained from third party software providers.

Returning to FIG. 3, the arbitration device module 86 may be configured as a set of software objects for representing each resource in the ESD by identifying the resource's name, capabilities, limitations, and any other relevant characteristics of the resource. Thus, devices, business models, consumers, third party software packages, etc. within the ESD22 may be represented by respective mediation facilities module 86 software objects, according to embodiments of the invention. Once all resources of a given type are represented by mediation equipment module 86 object, those resources appear the same in the service management system 24 software. Any function or method that can be performed with a given resource type can be performed with any resource of that type, according to object-oriented design and programming principles. Advantageously, the mediation facilities module 86 may enable the present invention to manage traffic independently of the underlying network technology, as various network devices are modeled by the particular mediation facilities module 86 object associated therewith.

The object manager module 88 may be configured to generate a new arbitration device module 86 object when a new service is required and/or a new device is installed in the ESD 22. The object manager module 88 may also be configured to establish associations between objects of the mediation facilities module 86. For example, when device interfaces are built in the ESD22, their association with business models, methods, and connection routing, billing, business support system (SSS), and other Operations Support System (OSS) functions can be provided by representing the device interfaces with arbitration device module 86 software objects. Likewise, business management system 24 may use third party software by representing it with mediation device module 86 software objects. For example, a third party billing system or incident billing system may be associated with all device objects it receives billing data or problem reports through the CORBA module 82.

The data module 92 may include a policy rules database 94 and a resource capabilities database 96. Policy rules database 94 includes a set of rules for associating business requirements with resources in ESD 22. The service requirements may include requirements associated with a consumer/user and/or business requirements associated with a service provider. The resource capability database 96 includes information regarding the capabilities of various resources in the ESD 22. In other embodiments of the present invention, the capabilities of the resources in the ESD22 need not be stored in the resource capability database 96, but instead may be communicated from the ESD22 resources to the business management system 24 via, for example, a capability report.

While FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary software architecture that may be used to manage services in embodiments consistent with the invention, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to such a configuration, but is intended to encompass any configuration capable of carrying out the operations described herein.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk or C + +. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the C programming language or Compiled Basic (CBASIC). Additionally, some modules or routines may be written in assembly language or even micro-code to improve performance and/or memory usage efficiency.

The present invention is described below with reference to flowchart and/or block diagram illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products according to exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart and/or block diagram illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagram illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions and/or hardware operations. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instructions that implement the function specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Exemplary operations for managing traffic according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the block diagram of fig. 5 and the flowcharts of fig. 4 and 6.

Referring now to FIG. 4, exemplary operations for managing a business begin at block 102 where a business model is generated that includes separate virtual processes and virtual businesses. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, user parameters and policies, such as those described above contained in policy rules database 94 and/or resource capabilities database 96, are provided to virtual business model 104, represented by a policy-computed business topology image 106, in order to separate the business model into its constituent virtual connections 108 and virtual processes 112. Virtual connections are information routing through ESD22, while virtual processes are network-resident services, represented by process domain 34 in ESD 22. Returning to FIG. 4, at block 114, these virtual elements, i.e., virtual connections 108 and virtual processes 112, are each assigned to one or more "real" resources that include ESD 22.

Referring to fig. 6, exemplary operations for managing a service, according to further embodiments of the present invention, begin at block 116 with the identification of a service point in the ESD 22. The service points correspond to locations/resources in the ESD22 through which the user accesses services and/or owns network processes/network resident applications represented by the process domain 34. Service management system 24 may then reserve server resources in ESD22 for the network-resident applications at the location identified as the primary site in block 118. Next, in block 122, a virtual connection topology is established at the meta-routing level.

As shown in fig. 5, GW-to-GW meta-routing image 124 may be constructed from virtual connections 108 by specifying a sequentially ordered list of GWs that define routes through ESD22 for each virtual connection. In addition to the meta-routing image 124, a WSD internal routing image 126 may be generated that provides a particular path between a GW pair through a single WSD. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, traffic management system 24 need not generate WSD internal routing images 126 because the GW device may utilize the protocols associated with the corresponding WSDs to generate these routes through within a single WSD. Thus, traffic management system 24 may generate a virtual connection by specifying a hop between GW devices and authorizing a connection to be established within a respective WSD with a GW device pair correspondingly connected through the WSD.

The flowcharts of fig. 4 and 6 and the block diagram of fig. 5 illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of an embodiment of the business management system 24 software. In this regard, each block represents a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in FIGS. 4-6. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiment without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims (16)

1. A network for managing traffic, comprising:

an end service domain associating services with an end service provider, the end service domain comprising:

a plurality of wholesale service domains, respective ones of the plurality of wholesale service domains comprising at least one network providing traffic transport for the end service domain;

a plurality of gateways, wherein at least a first one of the plurality of gateways connects one of the plurality of wholesale service domains to another one of the wholesale service domains and is configured to perform protocol translation when traffic passes between the connected wholesale service domains, and wherein at least a second one of the plurality of gateways is configured to connect a user to an end service domain and is further configured to communicate with the user via a protocol associated with the service;

a process domain that provides an abstract representation of an application provided by an end service domain; and

a service management system in communicative connection with an end service domain, the service management system comprising:

a plurality of software objects representing resources in an end service domain for providing services; and

a policy database including rules for associating business requirements with resources in an end business domain.

2. The network of claim 1, wherein the requirements for the service include:

a service requirement associated with the user; and

business requirements associated with the end service provider.

3. The network of claim 1, wherein a first gateway of the plurality of gateways is further configured to establish an internal connection in one of the plurality of wholesale service domains.

4. The network of claim 1, wherein a second gateway of the plurality of gateways is further configured to analyze incoming user traffic and separate the incoming user traffic according to application.

5. A method for managing traffic, comprising:

providing an end service domain, the end service domain including a plurality of resources facilitating transmission of a service;

generating a business model from an end business domain associated with the business, the business model including a plurality of virtual processes and a plurality of virtual connections;

acquiring the capability information of a plurality of resources in a specified end service domain;

providing a policy database comprising rules for associating business requirements with the plurality of resources; and

the plurality of virtual processes and the plurality of virtual connections are allocated on several of the plurality of resources according to information specifying capabilities of the plurality of resources and a policy database.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the requirements of the service comprise:

a service requirement associated with the user; and

business requirements associated with the end service provider.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of generating a business model comprises:

a service point is identified in the end service domain, the service point corresponding to at least one resource through which a user accesses a service and at least one resource owning an end service domain application.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the end service domain comprises:

a plurality of wholesale service domains, respective ones of the plurality of wholesale service domains comprising at least one network providing traffic transport for the end service domain; and

a plurality of gateways, at least a first of the plurality of gateways connecting one of the plurality of wholesale service domains to another of the wholesale service domains and configured to perform protocol translation when traffic passes between the connected wholesale service domains, and at least a second of the plurality of gateways configured to connect a user to an end service domain and further configured to communicate with the user via a protocol associated with the end service.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

respective ones of the plurality of virtual connections are associated with respective ones of a plurality of sequentially arranged gateway lists defining routes through the end service domain.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

respective ones of the plurality of virtual connections are associated with respective ones of a plurality of routes in the wholesale service domain.

11. A system for managing traffic, comprising:

means for providing an end service domain, the end service domain comprising a plurality of resources facilitating transmission of a service;

means for generating a business model from an end business domain associated with the business, the business model comprising a plurality of virtual processes and a plurality of virtual connections;

means for obtaining information specifying capabilities of a plurality of resources in an end service domain;

means for providing a policy database, the policy database including rules for associating business requirements with the plurality of resources; and

means for allocating the plurality of virtual processes and the plurality of virtual connections on ones of the plurality of resources based on the information specifying the capabilities of the plurality of resources and a policy database.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the requirements of the service comprise:

a service requirement associated with the user; and

business requirements associated with the end service provider.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for generating the business model comprises:

means for identifying a service point in the end service domain, the service point corresponding to at least one resource through which a user accesses the service and at least one resource owning the end service domain application.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the end service domain comprises:

a plurality of wholesale service domains, respective ones of the plurality of wholesale service domains comprising at least one network providing traffic transport for the end service domain; and

a plurality of gateways, at least a first of the plurality of gateways connecting one of the plurality of wholesale service domains to another of the wholesale service domains and configured to perform protocol translation when traffic passes between the connected wholesale service domains, and at least a second of the plurality of gateways configured to connect a user to an end service domain and further configured to communicate with the user via a protocol associated with the end service.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

means for associating respective ones of the plurality of virtual connections with respective ones of a plurality of sequentially arranged gateway lists defining routes through the end service domain.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for associating respective ones of the plurality of virtual connections with respective ones of a plurality of routes in the wholesale service domain.