This document provides standard HMI patterns and templates for telecommunications network operations support systems (OSS). These application patterns and templates specify the high-level HMI components, structure, and behavior for the most common tasks encountered by operators in the performance of their day-to-day duties. An example is the frequent set of actions involved in retrieving, viewing and selecting a specific object from a large set of objects. We have identified a HMI pattern called Object Browsing that facilitates this series of frequent actions. Isolating a customer record that requires some attention from a large set of records is a good example of a task that is facilitated by the Object Browsing pattern. Another example would be the selection of a particular network element from the set of network elements within the area of responsibility of the operator.

There are two types of interfaces in the telecommunications network management business:

• Between management applications and equipment, and
• Between the management applications and the human operators that use them.

The first type of interface is referred to as Machine-Machine Interface, and the second type is referred to as the Human-Machine Interface (HMI). This documents deals with the HMI. In the ITU M.3000 series Recommendations, this interface is identified as the “G” interface.

It has been long recognized by the industry that Machine-Machine interfaces are key components of network management applications. Allowing these applications to exchange data and invoke management functions automatically using standard protocols has been the primary focus of the ITU-T and the TMF

Typically, the role played by the HMI has not been as well understood. Although substantial investments in HMIs have been made, there has not been a clearly articulated strategy that could be implemented across the range of application interfaces required. This has resulted in substantial duplication of effort, high development costs, and lack of consistency in the HMIs produced. Improper or inadequate design at this interface can result in significant problems in the network in terms of reliability and operational efficiency. 

The impact of this situation should not be underestimated. Between 60% and 70% of the software in typical network management applications is related to HMI. In addition, the functional requirements that HMI components need to satisfy are at least as complex as those involved in Machine-Machine interfaces. In fact, for many service providers, the HMI IS the application, since it is the only component with which the operator interacts. Telecommunications network operators manage their infrastructure and services via HMIs to operating systems (OSs) and management applications.

A number of standards bodies have developed some general standards for this vital interface; however, this work has been limited in scope to very generic issues or to the high-level design principles used to guide the development of HMIs. Other HMI standards include T1.232 - ANSI (reference 2), ISO 9241 (reference 3), and Z.361 (reference 1) of the ITU. In addition, the TMF released TMF-046 in 2002 that deals with telecom objects and provides information requirements for graphic displays.

This document provides standard HMI patterns and templates for telecommunications network operations support systems (OSS). These application patterns and templates specify the high-level HMI components, structure, and behavior for the most common tasks encountered by operators in the performance of their day-to-day duties. An example is the frequent set of actions involved in retrieving, viewing and selecting a specific object from a large set of objects. We have identified a HMI pattern called Object Browsing that facilitates this series of frequent actions. Isolating a customer record that requires some attention from a large set of records is a good example of a task that is facilitated by the Object Browsing pattern. Another example would be the selection of a particular network element from the set of network elements within the area of responsibility of the operator.

A very large percentage of tasks associated with managing a network are facilitated by a small number of frequently occurring HMI patterns such as Object Browsing. These patterns are used as the basis for specific task templates such as a customer record viewer.

Standardized task templates will benefit both the vendor and the customer communities equally. Development costs will be significantly reduced as toolkits evolve to include these standard templates. This cost reduction will be passed on the customers. Service providers will benefit through products that are easier to learn, understand and less likely to produce errors on the part of the operator.