MEF 78.1 MEF Core Model (MCM)

Abstract:

The base set of object definitions and relationships supporting the concepts defined in the MEF Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) Reference Architecture (RA). The MCM formalizes these diverse concepts into a coherent, object-oriented information model that can serve the needs of multiple MEF projects by defining key concepts and functions that can be reused or refined as necessary. 

This specification uses UML (Unified Modeling Language) to describe the salient characteristics and behavior of entities that are important to the managed environment. This does not mean that the MCM will try and model “everything”; rather, it means that it will represent key entities that various MEF projects need. For example, the Sonata Ordering project needs the concept of an Order. MCM provides a basic set of model elements to represent this (see section 7) as a reusable pattern, so that other similar concepts (e.g., TroubleTicket) can use the same pattern (adjusted as necessary to suit the differences between TroubleTicket and Order). As another example, ONF TAPI is used to model lower-level resources in NRM and NRP. A higher-level representation of resources is required in order to join this lower-level model to other entities (e.g., Products and Offers). The MCM provides the basis for this higher-level representation. 

These entities, and the relationships between them, describe concepts used by different functional components (e.g., the Service Orchestration Functionality (SOF) and Infrastructure Control and Manager (ICM), as well as different actors (e.g., business applications, as well as Customers, Application Developers, and Administrators) that are designing, implementing, and deploying LSO functionality. The model elements (e.g., classes, attributes, relationships, and operations) defined in this model are not specific to Carrier Ethernet, and are intended to define a comprehensive abstract model from which more specific models can be extended. 

The MCM is built on modeling best practices, and uses a number of software patterns to provide an extensible framework that can support model-driven engineering as well as the needs of DevOps-inspired automation. It defines concepts and functions that can be represented to define data exchanged at all seven of the Interface Reference Points. 

Put another way, the MCM serves as a common lexicon for all MEF models. It defines a set of concepts and terms, and relationships between them, in an object-oriented information model. This makes it independent of any specific architectural paradigm (e.g., resource- or service-oriented architectures). 

As MEF models evolve, and define new concepts, those concepts will be added to the MCM if they can be used by multiple teams. 

This document normatively includes the content of the following Papyrus UML files as if they were contained within this document from the MEF GitHub Repository: MCM.di, MCM.notation, and MCM.uml.