Agent

An application that executes a specific task in a workflow. There are three types of agents: collection, processing and forwarding agents.

Analysis Programming Language

A structured programming language, used by the Analysis and Aggregation agents to analyze or manipulate UDR fields.

Asynchronous agent

An asynchronous agent enables the workflow to process multiple UDRs simultaneously by using a queue for each output route.

Batch

A file, containing external data records, that can only be collected by offline workflows. Offline workflows are also referred to as batch workflows.

Begin Batch

Indicates the start of a data batch to be fed into a workflow. All collection agents emit Begin Batch messages at the beginning of a data batch.

Cancel Batch

A message to cancel the current batch, initiated by any agent configured to do so.

Collection Agent

An agent that collects and inserts data into workflows, including file based and UDR based collectors.

Configuration

Configurations in Usage Engine include all the objects that you find in the Configuration Browser, for example, workflow configurations, agent profiles, workflow groups, Ultra formats, or alarm detectors.

Data Batch

The data transferred through a Workflow between a Begin Batch and End Batch message. In file based mediation, a data batch often contains a complete file.

EC Deployment

A new concept in Usage Engine  to hold a single EC with all its resources and workflows as one complete package that will execute, scale and balance on its own.

End Batch

Indicates the end of a data batch fed into a Workflow.

Execution Context

Execution Contexts are responsible for executing workflows.

Forwarding Agent

An agent that distributes data from workflows.

Meta Information Model

MIM - Some agents in a workflow need information from the workflow or other agents in order to operate. For example, an agent that produces a file might need the source file name and the number of processed UDRs to be used in the outgoing file name. Usage Engine uses the Meta Information Model to enable this.

MIM resource

An identifier for a specific resource, published by the Workflow or an agent. MIM resources are static during the workflow execution.

MIM value

The current value of a MIM resource. MIM resources can be assigned their values either statically, or when receiving Begin Batch or End Batch messages.

MZ_HOME

The installation directory.

Pico Configuration

A set of attributes that defines a pico instance.

Pico Instance

A segment of Usage Engine that is also a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Pico Instances can be of the different types:

• Execution Context (EC)

• Command Line

• Platform

• Desktop

Platform

A core part of Usage Engine that is responsible for providing services to other pico instances.

Processing Agent

An agent that processes data in a workflow. In a workflow, a processing agent can either have one incoming and one outgoing data stream, or just one incoming data stream.

Profile

A global configuration that is used by the agents. Some agents require a profile to finalize the configuration of the agent.

Related UDRs

Partial UDRs that originate from the same long-duration data exchange between two devices.

Session

An information record that Usage Engine samples at any time during execution of a workflow. This record enables a recovery of the exact status of the workflow, when a failover occurs. In Usage Engine, a session is considered to be closed either when a timeout occurs or when a predefined closing criteria (an APL if condition) is met. A session remains active until it is removed with the sessionRemove() function.

Synchronous Agent

A synchronous agent finishes processing of each UDR before it retrieves the next UDR in the queue.

System

A Usage Engine system, refers to a Platform and any number of Execution Contexts.

Ultra

Usage Engine format management system.

Ultra Format Definition Language

UFDL - An enriched programming language used to describe the physical structure of incoming and outgoing (external) data, internal (working) formats, as well as decoding and encoding rules.

Usage Detail Record

UDR - the Usage Engine translation of what in the Telco world is known as a CDR, Call Detail Record.

Workflow

A Usage Engine workflow is an executable object that is represented by a Workflow Table row in a Workflow configuration, an Execution Manager row, and a Workflow Monitor view.

A workflow is included in a workflow configuration.

You define a Workflow in the workflow configuration, further described in the Desktop User's Guide.

Workflow Configuration

A Workflow configuration consists of:

1. A process-definition of agents and the routes between them (referred to as a template)

2. Workflow Properties

3. One or several workflow table rows (see Workflow)

Workflow Group

A group of workflows that are configured as a single entity and share criteria for scheduling and execution.

APL

Analysis Programming Language

CRC

Cyclic Redundancy Check

DB

Database

EC

Execution Context

ECD

Execution Context Deployment

FTP

File Transfer Protocol

GTP

GPRS Tunneling Protocol

GUI

Graphical User Interface

HA

High Availability

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

IP

Internet Protocol

IPDR

Internet Protocol Data Record

JAR

Java Archive

JMX

Java Management Extensions

JNI

Java Native Interface

JVM

Java Virtual Machine

LCM

Life Cycle Management

MIM

Meta Information Model

OS

Operating System

RCP

Remote Communication Protocol

REST

Representational State Transfer

SCP

Secure Copy Protocol

SFTP

SSH File Transfer Protocol

SQL

Structured Query Language

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

UDR

Usage Detail Record

UFDL

Ultra Format Definition Language

XML

Extensible Markup Language