<s>
In	O
computer	B-Architecture
networking	I-Architecture
and	O
computer	B-General_Concept
architecture	I-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
northbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
of	O
a	O
component	O
is	O
an	O
interface	B-Application
that	O
allows	O
the	O
component	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
a	O
higher	O
level	O
component	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
latter	O
component	O
's	O
southbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
northbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
conceptualizes	O
the	O
lower	O
level	O
details	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
or	O
functions	O
)	O
used	O
by	O
,	O
or	O
in	O
,	O
the	O
component	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
component	O
to	O
interface	B-Application
with	O
higher	O
level	O
layers	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
architectural	B-General_Concept
overviews	O
,	O
the	O
northbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
is	O
normally	O
drawn	O
at	O
the	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
component	O
it	O
is	O
defined	O
in	O
;	O
hence	O
the	O
name	O
northbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
southbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
decomposes	O
concepts	O
in	O
the	O
technical	O
details	O
,	O
mostly	O
specific	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
component	O
of	O
the	O
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Southbound	B-Architecture
interfaces	I-Architecture
are	O
drawn	O
at	O
the	O
bottom	O
of	O
an	O
architectural	B-General_Concept
overview	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
northbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
is	O
typically	O
an	O
output-only	O
interface	B-Application
(	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
one	O
that	O
accepts	O
user	B-General_Concept
input	I-General_Concept
)	O
found	O
in	O
carrier-grade	B-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
and	O
telecommunications	O
network	O
elements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
languages	O
or	O
protocols	O
commonly	O
used	O
include	O
SNMP	B-Protocol
and	O
TL1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
device	O
that	O
is	O
capable	O
of	O
sending	O
out	O
syslog	B-Protocol
messages	O
but	O
that	O
is	O
not	O
configurable	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
is	O
said	O
to	O
implement	O
a	O
northbound	B-Architecture
interface	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
examples	O
include	O
SMASH	B-Application
,	O
IPMI	O
,	O
WSMAN	O
,	O
and	O
SOAP	B-Application
.	O
</s>
