computer networking A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ma ...

and

computer architecture In computer engineering, computer architecture is a description of the structure of a computer system made from component parts. It can sometimes be a high-level description that ignores details of the implementation. At a more detailed level, t ...

, a northbound interface of a component is an

interface Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * ''Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Inte ...

that allows the component to communicate with a higher level component, using the latter component's southbound interface. The northbound interface conceptualizes the

lower level ''Lower Level'' is a 1991 American erotic thriller film directed by Kristine Peterson, and written by Hillary Black, W.K. Border, Michael Leahy, and Joel Soisson. The film features a female architect with an unfulfilling love life, who records h ...

details (e.g.,

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted ...

or functions) used by, or in, the component, allowing the component to interface with

higher level In the Scottish secondary education system, the Higher () is one of the national school-leaving certificate exams and university entrance qualifications of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) offered by the Scottish Qualifications ...

layers Layer or layered may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Layers'' (Kungs album) * ''Layers'' (Les McCann album) * ''Layers'' (Royce da 5'9" album) *"Layers", the title track of Royce da 5'9"'s sixth studio album *Layer, a female Maveric ...

. In

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

overviews, the northbound interface is normally drawn at the top of the component it is defined in; hence the name northbound interface. A southbound interface decomposes concepts in the technical details, mostly specific to a single

component Circuit Component may refer to: •Are devices that perform functions when they are connected in a circuit. In engineering, science, and technology Generic systems *System components, an entity with discrete structure, such as an assemb ...

of the architecture. Southbound interfaces are drawn at the bottom of an architectural overview.

Typical use

A northbound interface is typically an

output Output may refer to: * The information produced by a computer, see Input/output * An output state of a system, see state (computer science) * Output (economics), the amount of goods and services produced ** Gross output in economics, the value of ...

-only interface (as opposed to one that accepts user input) found in carrier-grade network and

telecommunications network A telecommunications network is a group of nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit switching, message ...

elements. The

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

protocols Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technology ...

commonly used include

SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behaviour. Devices that typically ...

and

TL1 Transaction Language 1 (TL1) is a widely used management protocol in telecommunications. It is a cross-vendor, cross-technology MML (language), man-machine language, and is widely used to manage optical (SONET) and broadband access infrastructure i ...

. For example, a device that is capable of sending out

syslog In computing, syslog is a standard for message logging. It allows separation of the software that generates messages, the system that stores them, and the software that reports and analyzes them. Each message is labeled with a facility code, i ...

messages but that is not configurable by the user is said to implement a northbound interface. Other examples include SMASH, IPMI, WSMAN, and

SOAP Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

. The term is also important for

software-defined networking Software-defined networking (SDN) technology is an approach to network management that enables dynamic, programmatically efficient network configuration in order to improve network performance and monitoring, making it more like cloud computing t ...

(SDN), to facilitate communication between the physical devices, the SDN software and applications running on the network.

References

{{Comp-sci-stub Network architecture Computer networking Computer architecture