Network Element Auto-configuration in a Managed Network

In a "managed network" where the location / point of attachment of network elements (NE) are entirely planned and the NEs are tightly controlled by an element management system, the roll-out of new NEs or changes to the NE HW and SW cause considerable overhead. The overhead is due in large part due to the concurrent processes at the network operator, NE factory and roll-out field service which require extensive interaction. An autoconfiguration method is proposed which is able to decouple the individual roll-out processes, i.e., changes in the NE configuration and association of NE with certain locations can be changed at any time in the roll-out process without incurring additional overhead. This is achieved by an autoconfiguration support system under control of the operator where all data relevant to a to-be-rolled-out NE is stored. When the NE is booting it can retrieve the required configuration and SW which is needed to fulfil the required network function at its point of attachment to the network. Finally it is shown that in a managed network it is advantageous to use the geo-location of a network element as its key identifier in network planning and rollout, rather than a hardware identifier as usually employed in DHCP-based autoconfiguration. This is the case because in a "managed network" it is important that autoconfiguration support is provided for a certain network function at a certain location, rather than autoconfiguration of a certain hardware which is attached at an arbitrary location.