7 Configuration Profiles

Configuration management support is implemented by means of protocols defined in standards other than the DICOM Standard. These protocols are described here in terms of actors, transactions, and profiles.

Actors are analogous to the Application Entities used within the DICOM profile. An actor is a collection of hardware and software processes that perform a particular role. When a device provides or uses a service it will include an actor to handle the relevant network activity. DICOM Configuration actors may co-exist with other Application Entities on a device. Some DICOM Configuration actors exist as parts of general use IT equipment. Like the Application Entity, specification of an Actor does not imply anything about the details of the actual implementation.

The actor interactions are defined in terms of Transactions. Each transaction is given a name. The transaction may in turn comprise a variety of activity. All transactions are defined in terms of actors that are communicating. The relationships between actors in a transaction may be more complex than the simple SCU and SCP roles in DICOM activities. When the transaction includes interactions with a person, the transactions may be implemented by user interfaces, removable media. and other mechanisms. The person is described in terms of being an actor from the perspective of the transaction use case model. More typically the transactions are a series of network activities that perform a specific operation.

A transaction includes both mandatory and optional components. An Actor that is implementing a transaction is required to implement all of the mandatory components.

Some transactions include human actors in the transaction definition. These actors are not defined as actors elsewhere, nor are they included in profile descriptions. They exist to specify that some sort of mechanism must be provided to permit these people to interact with the computer actor. Other details of how that user interface is provided are not specified by this Standard. For an example, see the definition of the Configure DHCP transaction.

Conformance is further managed by means of Profiles. A Profile is defined in terms of what transactions are required for an actor and what transactions are optional. An implementation of a specific actor is documented by specifying what optional transactions and transaction components have been implemented. An implementation that omits any required transactions or components cannot claim to be an implementation of that Actor.

For example, in the Network Address Management Profile the DHCP Server is required to perform the three Transactions to configure the DHCP server, find and use DHCP servers, and maintain the DHCP leases. It may also support the transaction to update the DNS server by means of DDNS coordination.

A Profile includes definitions for more than one Actor. It specifies the transactions for all of the actors that cooperate to perform a function. For example, the Network Address Management Profile covers the DHCP Server actor, the DHCP client Actor, and the DNS Server actor. There must be at least one DHCP Server and one DHCP Client for the system to be useful. The DNS Server itself is optional because the DHCP Server need not implement the DDNS Coordination transaction. If the DNS Server is part of the system, the DDNS coordination is required and the DHCP Server will be expected to participate in the DDNS Coordination transaction.

The profiles, actors, and transactions are summarized in the following sections. The detailed description of actor and transactions for each specific profile are described in annexes for each profile. The transactions are documented in terms of parameters and terms from their original standards document, e.g., an RFC for Internet protocols. The full details of the transaction are not described in the annex, only particular details that are relevant to the DICOM application of that transaction. The complete details for these external protocols are documented in the relevant standards documents for the external protocols. Compliance with the requirements of a particular profile shall include compliance with these external protocol documents.