[Nml-wg] Definitions of "Adaptation", "AdaptationType" and "AdaptationService"

[Freek Dijkstra]

Hello,

As agreed on the last OGF, Jeroen and I have worked on the definitions
of Adaptation, Adaptation Function and Adaptation Services.

We propose four definitions to describe adaptation between network layers:

Definitions:
* Layer: A collection of Ports with common Characteristic Information
(Characteristic Information is defined in ITU-T G800; we envision
sublayers to be a separate layer too, but this is really up to
technology-specific extensions).
* AdaptationType: Abstract type describing the technology of embedding
the data of one layer into the data of another layer.
* AdaptationService: Adaptation capability in a topology or node.
* Adaptation: Actual data transport function where data of one port is
embedded in the data of another port. This can be a configured
AdaptationService, or a static component.

Properties:
* AdaptationType is between two Layers (the client and server Layer)
* AdaptationService is between two PortGroups
(This is a new concept, see below)
* Adaptation is between two Ports (the client and server Port)

Context:
* Adaptation and AdaptationService are part of a Topology or Node.
* Adaptation can not be part of a cross-connect in a SwitchMatrix.
* AdaptationService can not be part of a SwitchMatrixService.

PortGroup concept:
* PortGroup: a collection of zero or more Ports in a Node or a Topology.
PortGroups can be used to describe between which Ports an Adaptation can
be created from an AdapatationService, or similarly between which Ports
a cross-connect can be made in a SwitchMatrix.

Unidirectional:
The above definitions for AdaptationService and Adaptation are for
bidirectional adaptations (adaptation one direction and de-adaptation
the other direction). We propose the following terms for unidirectional
Adaptation and AdaptationService:
* AdaptationSource: Embedding of data from a client port into a server
port. ("adaptation")
* AdaptationSink: Extraction of data out of a server port into a client
port. ("de-adaptation")
* AdaptationSourceService: AdaptationSource capability in a topology or
node.
* AdaptationSinkService: AdaptationSink capability in a topology or node.

Regards,
Freek and Jeroen