Distributed Agent Platform Architecture

In today's fast-paced world, competition is fierce, business needs change quickly, and technology advances rapidly. The only way to compete effectively is to create an infrastructure based on an architecture that will allow you to quickly add and reconfigure to meet the challenges that you face. Cisco's uOne architecture allows you to do so.

The uOne product is built on Cisco's Distributed Agent Platform (DAP), an open-systems, distributed computing framework that allows you to easily integrate new services, and commercially available, non-proprietary voice and information processing technologies.

The Distributed Agent Platform

The Distributed Agent Platform, a middleware layer that separates applications from the underlying operating system, consists of several components that work in concert to deliver the needed flexibility, manageability, interoperability, and reliability required for serious unified messaging services. DAP also provides standardized interfaces between the various functional elements to allow new and evolving areas of the middleware to rapidly incorporate technology changes and adapt to new network capabilities and requirements.

DAP is based on a client/server software architecture. In DAP, both applications and servers are considered to be agents. All agents are scheduled, started, routed, monitored, and terminated in the same manner.

DAP consists of the Agent Communications Broker, the Call/Media Control Agent, and the SNMP agent.

Agent Communications Broker

The Agent Communications Broker (ACB) is a distributed, task-oriented set of software modules networked together to provide communications services to DAP agents. Table 3 describes the ACB components.
Table 3: Agent Communications Broker Components

Component Description

Agent Manager and Monitor (AMM)

Provides scheduling, launching, routing, monitoring and terminating (unbinding) services for all agent instances.

Services Libraries

Provides software services to agent developers, such as SNMP trapping, logging, and billing functions.

Local Agent Communication Service (LACS)

Handles communications between all agents on a given GateServer, as well as the AMM, OCM, and ICM.

Outbound Communication Manager (OCM)

Delivers messages to the Inbound Communication Manager on a specified host. Performs dynamic binding and caching of socket connections.

Inbound Communication Manager (ICM)

Receives messages sent by the OCM from either local agents or those on a remote host. Performs message validation and routes messages to the AMM.

Logging Subsystem

Provides a central log management service to agents.

Domain Services Routing Tables

When agents need to bind to access a service, the AMM uses domain services routing tables to determine the agent with which to bind. The domain services routing tables provide software high availability and load balancing by allowing redundancy.

Schedule Tables

The AMM uses schedule tables to initiate different applications based on their tokens and defined schedules.

Component	Description
Agent Manager and Monitor (AMM)	Provides scheduling, launching, routing, monitoring and terminating (unbinding) services for all agent instances.
Services Libraries	Provides software services to agent developers, such as SNMP trapping, logging, and billing functions.
Local Agent Communication Service (LACS)	Handles communications between all agents on a given GateServer, as well as the AMM, OCM, and ICM.
Outbound Communication Manager (OCM)	Delivers messages to the Inbound Communication Manager on a specified host. Performs dynamic binding and caching of socket connections.
Inbound Communication Manager (ICM)	Receives messages sent by the OCM from either local agents or those on a remote host. Performs message validation and routes messages to the AMM.
Logging Subsystem	Provides a central log management service to agents.
Domain Services Routing Tables	When agents need to bind to access a service, the AMM uses domain services routing tables to determine the agent with which to bind. The domain services routing tables provide software high availability and load balancing by allowing redundancy.
Schedule Tables	The AMM uses schedule tables to initiate different applications based on their tokens and defined schedules.

Call/Media Control Agent

The Call/Media Control Agent (CMA), an S.100-compliant server agent, manages call control and media control resources. Its architecture includes layers of manager components that cooperate to provide telephony and VoIP services to application agents.
Table 4: Call / Media Control Agent Components

Component Description

H.323 Resource Module

Provides the interface between the IP network and the CMA.

PktBus Resource Module

The bus connection resource module used in conjunction with the H.323 resource module.

SMSI Resource Module

Deals with SMSI within the DAP architecture. Sends data over an SMDI link to perform notification services.

Component	Description
H.323 Resource Module	Provides the interface between the IP network and the CMA.
PktBus Resource Module	The bus connection resource module used in conjunction with the H.323 resource module.
SMSI Resource Module	Deals with SMSI within the DAP architecture. Sends data over an SMDI link to perform notification services.

SNMP Agent

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is the Internet standard protocol developed to manage nodes on an IP network. Based on this standard, the SNMP agent provides status information on various components in the uOne application environment. It allows operations personnel to monitor useful network and system traffic statistics and reportable parameters. Operations personnel can view this information in real time using standard SNMP monitoring stations. SNMP traps are also provided to allow timely notification of alarms.

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