scope:

This technical report provides a framework that encompass the complimentary network management actions that may be required by interconnected Network Providers of Next Generation Network (NGN) network resources in the event of a disaster condition. This implies the need to provide guidance on actions to perform in the case of a network overload condition on either side of an interconnection point. It focuses on SIP¹-based NGN arrangements and interconnection points and technical specifications available at the time of development of this technical report. It defers consideration involving interworking to legacy circuit-based or non-SIP-based networks to some future date.

This framework does not include a description of maintenance actions or management communications to be executed as result of trouble administration business processes between interconnected NGN Network Providers.

This framework also does not attempt to include an exhaustive description of maintenance actions (either scheduled or unscheduled) or management communications to be executed as result of a overload or failure condition triggered by a general network resource outage or service traffic anomaly within an NGN Network Provider's jurisdiction.

Purpose

The purpose of this technical report is to enumerate proactive or policy-driven network traffic management actions that should be performed prior to, during, and immediately following disaster conditions. Disaster conditions cause network overload. Consequently it is important that this document include reference to or documentation of NGN traffic management actions in overload situations whether triggered by a disaster or not. This document concentrates on providing guidelines applying to pairwise interconnection arrangements.

¹ SIP refers to signaling and control mechanisms derived from use of the Session Initiation Protocol defined in RFC 3261.