COMMUNICATION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AND A MANAGEMENT CONTROL AGENT AND OPERATING PROTOCOL THEREFOR

A communication network (300) comprises a call server (302) and several fabric control modules (322, 326, 330-334) coupled to the call server (302) through a fabric application interface (306, 324, 328, 342). The fabric control modules are arranged to control circuit connections (310, 312) within, for example, a narrowband-broadband interface (304) in response to the call server. A management agent (338) coupled to the call server through a dedicated management interface (336) includes a memory (340) for storing network configuration information and a processor (339) arranged to provide the network configuration information to the call server over the dedicated management interface (336) to affect initial establishement of the fabric application interface (306). In this way, the fabric application interface (306) is optimised in relation to available resources and consequently provides a uniform view between the call server and a narrowband-broadband interface (304).