ISO/IEC TR 29181-7:2013 PDF

Overview

ISO/IEC TR 29181-7:2013 - Information technology - Future Network (FN) - Problem statement and requirements - Part 7: Service composition describes the problem space, requirements and a proposed functional building block for service composition in the Future Network. It analyzes limitations of current service composition solutions, defines functional components (e.g., Service Manager, Service Registration Manager, Context Manager) and reference points, and summarizes technical aspects and related research and standardization activities. The report promotes a scalable, modular and service-aware FN where communications are assembled dynamically from atomic services into composite services using workflows.

Key Topics

• Problem analysis: limitations of existing solutions, including issues around scalability, dynamics and security in service composition for distributed, heterogeneous networks.
• Service model: definitions and distinctions between atomic services (single well-defined network functions) and composite services (workflows of atomic services).
• Service composition algorithms and workflows: mechanisms (SCA) for selecting atomic mechanisms and generating executable workflows (WF) to realize composite services.
• Functional building block: proposed components such as Service Manager (SR), Service Registration Manager (SRM) and Context Manager (CM) and their interconnections (reference points).
• Service lifecycle: registration, discovery (service registry), description, allocation and execution epochs for composition.
• Technical aspects: service granularity, composition scope, protocol requirements, and composition of transport and application-level services.
• Non-functional requirements: scalability, adaptability to dynamic context, security and QoS considerations essential for FN service composition.

Applications and Who Should Use It

This technical report is useful to:

• Network architects and designers building Future Network (FN) or next-generation architectures
• Telecom operators and service providers designing service orchestration and delivery frameworks
• Network equipment vendors and software developers implementing service registries, composition engines and context managers
• Standards bodies and research organizations working on service-oriented networking, SOA/SON architectures and service overlays
• Academics studying service composition, workflow-based network functions and recursive service aggregation

Practical benefits include faster service creation, modular integration of network functions, context-aware communications and reduced time-to-market for new composite services.

Related Standards

Annex A of the report lists ongoing activities and related work, including:

• IEEE P1903 (NGSON - Next Generation Service Overlay Network)
• TMF Service Delivery Framework (SDF)
• ITU‑T NGN SIDE (Service Integration Development Environment)
• ATIS SON Forum, SOA paradigms, SONATE and other research projects

Keywords: ISO/IEC TR 29181-7, service composition, Future Network, FN, atomic service, composite service, service registry, workflow, service orchestration, network architecture.