Patent ID: 6874022

Claim:
A method for modeling behavior of elements in a telecommunications network, comprising: providing a node representing a network element, the network element comprising a first physical element of a telecommunications network; storing in the node a first service state for the node; storing in the node a second service state for a first parent node upon which the node is operationally dependent, the first parent node representing a second physical element of the network on which the first physical element is physically dependent; generating a second parent node in response to a triggering occurrence, the second parent node representing a logical element on which the first physical element is logically dependent; dynamically associating the second parent node with the node; storing in the node a third service state for the second parent node; and in response to receiving at least one of a new second service state and a new third service state, redetermining at the node the first service state for the node using a state determiner and at least one of the new second service slate and the new third service state.