A new structure for dynamically configurable TINA interdomain reference points

Abstract

In the future, providers of telecommunications services will face the need to integrate a variety of applications into their service portfolios that require intensive interoperability across domain boundaries. Therefore, reference points, i.e. interfaces via which applications in different administrative domains will interwork have to be specified and agreed upon. First specifications of such reference points have been produced by TINA-C. Building on the TINA-C achievements (especially the TINA Ret reference point), this paper presents an approach for a structured, modular, and dynamically adaptable composition of TINA interdomain reference points. It lays the groundwork for supporting business relationships between, for instance, retailers and service providers (e.g., RtR, 3ptSP) according to the TINA business model. It is expected that those relationships will evolve with a fast moving market characterized by short product cycles as on the Internet. On the other hand, market demands for a flexible provisioning of services lead to dynamically changing business relationships that require the frequent update of the application level contracts between cooperating domains during their operation.