[Download the ICM book here]

The RACE II ICM project ran from the beginning of 1992 until the end of 1995.

This site contains a brief overview of the project; a set of links to ICM and RACE related web sites; and it is also the archive of the book entitled "Integrated Communications Management of Broadband Networks" written by the project detailing its main results in the area of TMN system specification, design and implementation for broadband networks.

The results of the ICM project heavily influenced a number of subsequent ACTS projects which continued research and development work on a number of areas initially covered by ICM. In particular, REFORM, MISA and TRUMPET have taken various aspects of ICM further than was possible during the lifetime of the project.

[Note: ICM is described in much more detail here, here and here]

ICM was a RACE II project, comprising 11 commercial and 6 academic partners from across Europe. The project built on the results of the RACE I and RACE II projects relating to TMN architectures and models, case studies, TMN functional specifications, distributed management platforms, network simulators, implementation approaches, and evaluations of Advanced Information Processing techniques and technologies. ICM also integrated the results of relevant external initiatives, such as Eurescom and the Network Management Forum.

The ICM implementation method was founded on established TMN principles. The project specified Case Studies and further developed the definition of TMN Functions, Architectures, models and methods, forming the basis of the implementation process which resulted in a TMN Testbed on which experiments were conducted. The ICM TMN Testbed itself, an integration of software developed within the project and external components over four implementation phases, comprised the following major elements: a TMN platform; management applications; real networks and network interfaces; an advanced ATM network and service simulator.

The key issue to the project was the conceptual and physical integration of TMN Management Applications applied to broadband networks. In order to satisfy the requirements of the users of these Management Applications, it is essential that they be conceptually, functionally and physically integrated with the network and services being managed. ICM demonstrated this integration, in a realistic environment, through the operation of a TMN Testbed executing appropriate experiments. The main application areas addressed by the project were Performance, Configuration and Maintenance management within heterogeneous network environments, in particular ATM and Passive Optical Networks. End-to-end management, with inter-TMN co-operation, was studied within an overall Virtual Private Network case study during the project's final year.

Some photographs of the ICM team

The ICM book on-line

ICM publications list

ICM partners

ICM pages at FORTH-ICS

ICM pages at Delta Software Engineering

ICM pages at NTUA

ICM project summary

RACE WWW server

RACE information at the WISE server

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Page last updated 29th September 1998 by David Griffin.