Patent ID: 8327389

Claim:
An interface module stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium for a telecommunications network service entity, the interface module being operable to communicate with an application provided on the telecommunications network service entity and a protocol stack of the telecommunications network service entity, the interface module comprising: a generic container executed by hardware to communicate with the application; and a protocol connector executed by the hardware to communicate with an API of the protocol stack and with the generic container, wherein the protocol connector is to receive a message from the protocol stack API in accordance with a corresponding protocol, package the message in a generic format and pass the message in the generic format to the generic container, which passes the message to the application, wherein the generic container is operable to deploy one of plurality of protocol connectors corresponding to a required protocol stack, wherein the protocol connector is operable to instantiate required protocol resources of the required protocol stack, and wherein the generic container is operable to permit deployment of the application when the protocol connector confirms that the required protocol resources are available.