US Patent 7054873 Telecommunications network resource handling arrangement and method

A resource handler for use in an operational support structure for managing a telecommunications network. The handler includes a service and resource database containing information regarding network resources. The database arrangement is structured so that each resource in the network has a time of existence as well as a place in a hierarchy of parent/child relations. The resource is defined by the following data: a point identifier that has characteristics associated with it, in the form of an abstract description of the resources capabilities; an abstraction of a common network element represented by a group of points that are considered to belong together, and a connection, which is defined by two connected points.