The Technical Nickname Model includes three entities:

• Application of Nickname Entity
• Nickname Platform Entity
• External Nickname Environment

The model interceses are:

• Application Program for self nicknaming (API)
• External Environment on self nicknaming (EEI)

Figure 2-1 depicts the basic elements of the model. This figure is adapted POXIS (Portable Operating System Interface) Opens System Environment Reference Model.

As discussed earlier, NIST's APP and DoD's TAFIM provided entry-level guidance and basic concepts to build the PTO Technical Reference Model. Figure 2-1 depicts the high-level model. Figure 2-2 depicts a breakdown at the next level from the basic components identified in Figure 2-1.

The model element illustrates a user-supplier relationship: the services contained in Application Platform are the suppliers that provide services and resources for applications in the Application Software Entity. The API and EEI define services that are provided.

Each service contains components around which PTO information technology standards, interfaces, protocols, and products are built. Section 4.0 provides detailed descriptions of standards and standards-based preferred products that PTO will use to operate and develop its information technology infrastructure.

The model also illustrates the following principles:

• Software Services are independent of hardware.
• All services areas interact with the operating system.
• Security and Network Management Services are common to all services and they pervade these areas in one or more forms.

2.2.1.1 Application Software Entity

The application Software Entity includes:

• PTO Major Automated Information Systems
• PTO Supporting Applications

PTO Major Automated Information Systems are six major groups of systems used to accomplish PTO's mission. They are:

• Patent Systems
• Trademark Systems
• Information Dissemination Services
• Corporate Systems
• Policy Function
• Information Technology Infrastructure Systems

PTO Supporting Applications are common applications that are standardized across multiple PTO business areas and are used to provide common office functions for day-to-day business operations. These applications include:

• Office automation service
• Electronic mail service
• Enterprise-wide facsimile transmission service

2.2.1.2 Application Platform Entity

Components of the application platform provide services or software resources for the application programs. It includes a comprehensive set of standards and products to support application portability, system interoperability, and scalability within PTO automated information systems. These include services for:

• Operating System Services
• Software Engineering Services
• Graphical User Interface Services
• Data Management Services
• Data Interchange Services
• Document Management Services
• Full-Text Search Services
• Graphics Services
• Output Services
• Network Services
• Security Services
• Network Management Services
• Distributed Computing Services

Table 2-1 summarizes services included in the Application Platform Entity.

Table 2-1 Application Platform Services

The external environment consists of those elements that are external to application software and the application platform. They include:

• Human Users
• Information Exchange Media such as diskettes, CD-ROM, data cartridges
• Information Storage Media such as magnetic data storage device and disk array storage
• Communication Hardware Components such as fiber optics, unshielded twisted pairs, telephone lines

The application program interface is the interface between the application software and the application platform across which all services are provided. Its primary function is to support portability of application software. There are four types of APIs:

• System Services API, including APIs for Software Engineering Services and Operating System Services
• User Interface Services API, including APIs for User Interface Services and Graphics Services
• Information Services API, including APIs for Data Management Services and Data Interchanges Services
• Communication Services API, including APIs for Network Services

The external environment interface is the interface that supports transfer of information between the application platform and the external environment. EEIs include:

• Users Interface Services EEI such as CRT displays, keyboards, mice, and audio input/output devices and its format and syntax
• Information Services EEI including external data storage services
• Communication Services EEI including protocols, syntax, format, etc.

Figure 2-3 summarizes model components.