scope:

This Recommendation specifies the architecture and requirements for the automatic switched transport network (ASON). ASON control components may be used to control any layer network technology that provides connection oriented circuit switching (CO--CS) or connection oriented packet switching (CO--PS) as defined in [ITU-T G.800].

This Recommendation describes the set of control components that are used to manipulate transport network resources in order to provide the functionality of setting up, maintaining and releasing connections. The use of components allows for the separation of call control from connection control and the separation of routing and signalling.

These control components are based on the set of common control components described in [ITU-T G.7701] and represent abstract entities rather than instances of implementable software. UML-like notation is used to describe components of the ASON architecture.