A UML tool for urbanism and control architecture design applied to 3GPP based architectures

The following paper deals with the design of telecom networks control architectures. It presents a tool named OURDIR that satisfies the need to describe precisely and formally the design of control architectures. Based upon the software architecture design methods and principles, it enables to benefit from the advantages of UML [1] and from the meta-modelling concepts to structure the control architectures domain. Hence, it identifies and associates a set of architectural control elements able to chart and assemble in a methodical mode the functions, functional entities, and organs and the links between. The tool solves the traceability issue and improves the quality of the design process and allows methodical links between the structural elements and constraints via Urbanism, architecture and engineering rules. The paper includes an illustrative example of the tool's usage in the process of describing a 3GPP[2] IMS based architecture.