Telecommunications Semantic Ontology Layer¶
The Semantic Ontology Layer sits between the Data Plane and the Application Catalogue, providing a unified, standards-aligned knowledge graph that resolves entities across BSS/Billing, Salesforce CRM, OSS/Network Management, CDR/Network Data Lake, Customer Interactions, and Field & Tower Data systems.
Industry Standards Alignment¶
The telecommunications ontology is aligned to global industry standards and frameworks.
TMF (TM Forum) Open APIs¶
The TM Forum defines a suite of Open APIs that standardise telco business and operational interfaces. Every domain, workflow, and policy in this ontology is tagged with its TMF API alignment:
| TMF API | Scope | Ontology Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| TMF629 Customer Management | Subscriber profiles, segmentation | Customer 360 & Churn, Customer Experience, Dynamic Pricing |
| TMF622 Product Order | Plan subscriptions, add-ons | Customer 360 & Churn, Dynamic Pricing |
| TMF632 Party Management | Accounts, contacts, households | Customer 360 & Churn, Revenue Assurance & Fraud |
| TMF638 Service Inventory | Active services, service paths | Network Performance, Field Operations |
| TMF639 Resource Inventory | Network elements, cell sites, equipment | Network Performance, Network Capacity, Field Operations |
| TMF642 Alarm Management | Faults, alarms, events | Network Performance, Field Operations |
| TMF654 Prepay Balance | Balance, topup, charging events | Revenue Assurance & Fraud, Dynamic Pricing |
| TMF678 Customer Bill | Invoices, charges, payments | Revenue Assurance & Fraud, Customer Experience |
eTOM (enhanced Telecom Operations Map)¶
The eTOM framework defines end-to-end business processes for telecommunications operators. Ontology workflows and policies map to eTOM Level 1/2 processes:
| eTOM Process | Scope | Ontology Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy & Commit | Product portfolio, pricing | Dynamic Pricing |
| Infrastructure Lifecycle | Network planning, build, deploy | Network Capacity, Field Operations |
| Product Lifecycle | Plan design, launch | Dynamic Pricing |
| Operations Support & Readiness | Resource provisioning | Field Operations |
| Fulfillment | Order, service activation | Customer 360 & Churn, Revenue Assurance & Fraud |
| Assurance | Fault, performance, QoS | Network Performance, Customer Experience |
| Billing & Revenue | Rating, billing, collections | Revenue Assurance & Fraud, Dynamic Pricing |
| Customer Relations | CRM, retention, experience | Customer 360 & Churn, Customer Experience |
Architecture¶
graph TD
subgraph DataPlane [Data Plane - 6 Source Systems]
BSS["BSS / Billing"]
SFCRM["Salesforce CRM"]
OSS["OSS / Network Management"]
CDR["CDR / Network Data Lake"]
CI["Customer Interactions"]
FTD["Field & Tower Data"]
end
subgraph OntologyLayer [Semantic Ontology Layer]
SCHEMA["Schema<br/><i>12 Domains · ~50 Tables</i>"]
WF["Workflows<br/><i>10 TMF/eTOM-aligned</i>"]
POL["Policies<br/><i>8 Governance Rules</i>"]
INT["Integrations<br/><i>6 System Mappings</i>"]
end
subgraph Apps [Application Catalogue - 8 Apps]
C360["Customer 360 & Churn"]
NETPERF["Network Performance"]
REVFRAUD["Revenue Assurance & Fraud"]
CEM["Customer Experience"]
NETCAP["Network Capacity"]
DYNPRICE["Dynamic Pricing"]
FIELDOPS["Field Operations"]
REGCOMP["Regulatory Compliance"]
end
BSS --> SCHEMA
SFCRM --> SCHEMA
OSS --> SCHEMA
CDR --> SCHEMA
CI --> SCHEMA
FTD --> SCHEMA
SCHEMA --> WF
POL --> WF
INT --> SCHEMA
WF --> C360
WF --> NETPERF
WF --> REVFRAUD
WF --> CEM
WF --> NETCAP
WF --> DYNPRICE
WF --> FIELDOPS
WF --> REGCOMP
Ontology Components¶
The ontology consists of four interconnected layers, all stored in enterprise-knowledge/:
| Layer | Files | Format | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schema | telco-schema.yaml |
YAML | 12 domains, ~50 tables with fields, types, risk levels, constraints, and relationships |
| Workflows | workflows/*.yaml (10 files) |
YAML | Triggered process flows with steps, rules, SLAs, and dependencies |
| Policies | policies/*.md (8 files) |
Markdown | Business rules, thresholds, approval chains, and compliance constraints |
| Integrations | integrations/*.yaml (6 files) |
YAML | Field-level sync mappings between source systems with conflict resolution |
Relationship Types¶
Entities in the schema are connected via typed relationships that form a knowledge graph:
| Relationship | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
triggers |
Entity event initiates a workflow | Alarm severity change triggers Fault Resolution workflow |
syncs_to |
Entity data flows to another system | Subscriber_Master syncs_to SF_Account via integration |
constrained_by |
Entity operations governed by a policy | CDR_Record constrained_by revenue-assurance-policy |
depends_on |
Entity requires a parent/related entity | Work_Order depends_on Cell_Site |
validates |
Entity validates another in a business process | Spectrum_License validates Cell_Site for regulatory compliance |
Cross-Application Entity Heatmap¶
Shows how many of the 8 telco apps require each entity. Higher usage = more foundational.
| Entity | Count | Applications |
|---|---|---|
Subscriber_Master |
8 | All apps |
Cell_Site |
5 | Network Performance, Network Capacity, Field Operations, Revenue Assurance & Fraud, Regulatory Compliance |
CDR_Record |
5 | Customer 360 & Churn, Revenue Assurance & Fraud, Network Capacity, Customer Experience, Dynamic Pricing |
Network_Element |
4 | Network Performance, Network Capacity, Field Operations, Regulatory Compliance |
Alarm |
3 | Network Performance, Field Operations, Customer Experience |
Plan_Product |
3 | Customer 360 & Churn, Dynamic Pricing, Revenue Assurance & Fraud |
Work_Order |
2 | Field Operations, Customer Experience |
Spectrum_License |
1 | Regulatory Compliance |
Subscriber_Master is the most connected entity in the telco ontology — equivalent to Account in CRM, Customer_Master in Banking, Patient_Master in Healthcare, Product_Master in Retail.
Schema Statistics¶
| Metric | Count |
|---|---|
| Domains | 12 |
| Tables | ~50 |
| Source Systems | 6 (BSS/Billing, Salesforce CRM, OSS/Network Mgmt, CDR/Data Lake, Customer Interactions, Field & Tower Data) |
| Workflows | 10 |
| Policies | 8 |
| Integrations | 6 |
| Relationship Types | 5 (triggers, syncs_to, constrained_by, depends_on, validates) |
| TMF APIs Covered | 8+ |
Documentation¶
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| Schema Reference | Complete domain and table reference with fields, types, and relationships |
| Workflows | All 10 AI workflow definitions with triggers, steps, and dependencies |
| Policies | All 8 governance policies with rules, thresholds, and approval chains |
| Integrations | All 6 system integration mappings with field-level detail |
| App-Object Mapping | Minimum required objects per application with relationship matrix |
| Mapping Architecture | Schema-first architecture, Semantic RAG pipeline, and ReAct tools |