Telecom Layers Architecture & their Descriptions

Telco’s Layers Architecture Descriptions:

 1.      Operational System Layer:

This layer consists of all packaged applications like CRM, ERP, custom built applications, COTS based applications like Billing, Revenue Management, Fulfillment, and the Enterprise databases that are essential and contribute directly or indirectly to the Enterprise OSS/BSS Transformation. 

ERP holds the data of Asset Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain, and Advanced Procurement and Human Capital Management, etc.  

CRM holds the data related to Order, Sales, and Marketing, Customer Care, Partner Relationship Management, Loyalty, etc. 

Content Management handles Enterprise Search and Query. 

Billing application consists of the following components:

§            Collections Management, Customer Billing Management, Invoices, Real-Time Rating,

§            Discounting, and Applying of Charges

Enterprise databases will hold both the application and service data, whether structured or unstructured. 

MDM: Master data majorly consists of Customer, Order, Product, and Service Data.

2.      Enterprise Component Layer:

This layer consists of the Application Services and Common Services that are responsible for realizing the functionality and maintaining the QoS of the exposed services. This layer uses container-based technologies such as application servers to implement the components, workload management, high availability, and load balancing. 

Application Services: This Service Layer enables application, technology, and database abstraction so that the complex accessing logic is hidden from the other service layers.  This is a basic service layer, which exposes application functionalities and data as reusable services. The three types of the Application access services are 

Ø  Application Access Service: This Service Layer exposes application level functionalities as a reusable service between BSS to BSS and BSS to OSS integration. This layer is enabled using disparate technology such as Web Service, Integration Servers, and Adaptors, etc. 

Ø  Data Access Service: This Service Layer exposes application data services as a reusable reference data service. This is done via direct interaction with application data. And provides the federated query

Ø  Network Access Service: This Service Layer exposes provisioning layer as a reusable service from OSS to OSS integration. This integration service emphasizes the need for high performance, stateless process flows, and distributed design. 

Common Services encompasses management of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data such as information services, portal services, interaction services, infrastructure services, and security services, etc. 

3.      Integration Layer: 

This consists of service infrastructure components like service bus, service gateway for partner integration, service registry, service repository, and BPEL processor.  Service bus will carry the service invocation payloads/messages between consumers and providers. The other important functions expected from it are itinerary based routing, distributed caching of routing information, transformations, and all qualities of service for messaging-like reliability, scalability, and availability, etc. Service registry will hold all contracts of services, and it helps developers to locate or discover service during design time or runtime.

ü  BPEL processor would be useful in orchestrating the services to compose a complex business scenario or process. 

ü  Workflow and business rules management are also required to support manual triggering of certain activities within business process. Based on the rules setup and also the state machine information

Application, data, and service mediation layer typically forms the overall composite application development framework or SOA Framework. 

4.      Business Process Layer:

These are typically the intermediate services layer and represent Shared Business Process Services.  At Enterprise Level, these services are from Customer Management, Order Management, Billing, Finance, and Asset Management application domains.

5.      Access Layer:

This layer consists of portals for Enterprise and provides a single view of Enterprise information management and dashboard services.

6.      Channel Layer:

This consists of various devices; applications that form part of extended enterprise; browsers through which users access the applications.