[Nml-wg] Terminology

[Jeroen van der Ham]

Hello,

The NSI group has also been studying the G.800 terminology, and has 
attempted to make a table with the different terms in NSI, G.800 and NML.

NSI                     G.800                   NML
---			-----			---
Layer Topology          Layer Network           N/A[1]
Subnetwork              Subnetwork              Network/SwitchMatrix[2]
Link                    Link                    Link[3]
Port                    Link Point              Port
Forwarding Port         Forwarding Point        Port
Segment                 Link connection         Link
                         Subnet connection
                         Segment
Access Port             Access Group            Port?[4]

[1]: The Layer topology concept is not something that we describe 
explicitly. Nor do I think that we really need a name for it. It 
describes a group of nodes on the same layer. We can describe nodes, and 
are planning to describe what layer nodes are on. Getting this group of 
nodes is then just a simple query.

[2]: A Subnetwork in G.800 terminology is the place where the switching 
occurs. However, the subnetwork concept is used at different abstraction 
levels, and we have not decided yet how to represent different 
abstraction levels.

[3]: The Link concept is still somewhat vague. G.800 uses the term Link 
to describe a connection between two ports (G.800: points). However, 
they also describe a concept of multiplexing using forwarding ports, 
creating a bundle of links on the client layer, this bundle is not 
explicitly named in G.800.
I'm not entirely sure whether NSI Link concept is the NML Link concept, 
or the G.800 bundle (or both).

[4]: Access Port is the point at which a client connects to the network. 
In my mind NML does not need to make a special distinction for this, and 
we can just call it a Port.

Jeroen.