| 摘要 |
A connection manager for selecting terminations from a plurality of terminations for paths available in a communications network for carrying broadband traffic. The connection manager (35) includes a connection model (36) that indicates functional features supported by each path in the network and locations of terminations for respective paths, an interface (43, 44, 45, 46) to control means (81, 82, 91, 92) which manage the feature specific functions of the terminations in the network, and a processor (41) which is coupled to said control means via said interface and a virtual bus (42). The processor identifies appropriate control means, in response to a request for termination of a predetermined path in the network between two locations, from the connection model (36) in light of termination features required for the predetermined path. The selection of individual terminations for said path is then delegated by the processing means (41) to the identified control means; which delegated selection involves determining whether an individual termination supporting the required features is available at the location and, if more than one termination supporting the required features is available, adjudicating amongst equivalent terminations. |
