Figure PF.08 - Performance Category Specification

The specification of categories that add to the definition of PerformanceSpecifications and Performance are included in the model as shown in following Figure. Categories are used to classify PerformanceSpecifications and Performance.  Categories can be added as needed by defining new instances of the PerformanceCategorySpecification entity.  This further demonstrates the inherent extensibility of the Performance model.<br/>The association that exists between a PerformanceCategorySpecification and itself and the association class PerformanceCatSpecRelationship provides the ability to specify that one instance of a PerformanceCategory can be related to one or more other PerformanceCategories.  For example, Codec instance can be related to a MediaType instance and a BearerType instance.<br/>Following Figure also introduces the concept of a characteristic in the form of CharacteristicSpecification.  A characteristic is an additional attribute that defines a PerformanceCategorySpecification, such as successFlag, abnormalFlag, and so forth.  The CharacteristicSpecification also allows a set of constraints to be placed on values of the associated CharacteristicSpecification.  For example, successFlag can take on values of “Yes” or “No”.  These two entities also demonstrate the ability to dynamically extend the Performance model, in this case PerformanceCategories with additional attributes that define a specific category.<br/>