ADC Telecommunications

ADC Telecommunications is a leading global supplier of transmission and networking systems for telecommunications, cable television, broadcast, wireless, and enterprise networks. ADC products and systems perform critical functions that ensure the quality and reliability of broadband networks throughout the world. ADC is focused on "unlocking the local loop" - the portion of the public network between the service office and the end user - by eliminating the bottlenecks in existing networks and increasing the speed and efficiency of evolving global networks.

The company's products, services, and integrated solutions let service providers build the infrastructure required to offer new services such as Internet access and higher speed video, data, and telephony services to residential and business customers. ADC's customers include worldwide network providers of telecommunications, data communications, video, and wireless services, as well as other communications equipment manufacturers and enterprise network organizers. The company currently has over 6000 employees worldwide and is traded on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol "ADCT".

Tcl and ADC CellWorx

ADC chose Tcl and its object-oriented extensions to serve as the development platform for the GUI interface to the Cellworx(tm) Service Transport Node (STN) product, which is a powerful ATM network ring management system. The ring consists of one or more Cellworx Service Transport Nodes (STN), which are next generation network elements that give carriers an easier to use, more cost-effective architecture for deploying broadband services. The Cellworx GUI, written in Tcl/Tk, allows customers the ability to quickly and easily configure, test, and measure the performance of their networks.

Because of Tcl's extensibility, it was a natural programming language choice for Cellworx. "At the start of the Cellworx project in May of 1996, the two languages being considered were Java and Tcl. Tcl was chosen because of its stability and scripting nature. Tcl/Tk lends itself to quick-and-easy GUI development, and provides a natural means of unit and automated testing through use of scripts," says Michael Cooper, manager of the Cellworx Network Management group (NMIC).

Tcl Delivers Rapid GUI Development and Object-Oriented Programming

Tcl and its object oriented extensions -- [incr Tcl], [incr Tk], and [incr Widgets] -- allowed the Network Management team to efficiently and effectively create an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand graphical interface for the customer. The team is also able to easily maintain the application for future support and expansion by the NMIC GUI team because of its object-oriented design. Today, about 20 to 25 developers use Tcl as a part of the Cellworx GUI development, a project that consists of over 200,000 lines of Tcl code.

[incr Tcl]/[incr Tk] provides a quick way to build graphical interfaces through its Tk backbone and a natural separation of concerns via the object-oriented paradigm, and allows for an easy and natural subdivision of Network Management requirements such as Fault Management, Performance Management, and Configuration Management. With [incr Tcl], each subsystem can be developed independently by a team of developers and then connected with a central graphical navigational point or framework.

Tcl: Simple, Yet Powerful, Scripting Language

Chad Smith, team lead of the Cellworx GUI effort, finds Tcl to be a simple but powerful scripting language. "As a developer I get instant gratification and can see immediate results since Tcl is interpreted and I don't have to wait for compilation", stated Smith. "Tcl also has allowed us to build an easy-to-use, intuitive, and easy-to-maintain graphical user interface for our product. We have received positive customer feedback on our GUI, and I'm looking forward to ongoing development and support with Tcl/Tk!"

ADC Cellworx STN: A Product Overview

ADC's Cellworx[tm] Service Transport Node (STN) is the definitive choice for building competitive, multi-service broadband networks. The Cellworx STN enables high-speed access and transport of Internet traffic, voice, data, and video through a single network element. Supported services include ADSL, ATM, frame relay and private line with a simplified, integrated network manager for all service types. The Cellworx STN is a next generation network element that combines the best of ATM with either SONET or SDH, giving carriers an easier, more cost-effective architecture for deploying broadband services. Multiple Cellworx STNs may be connected to form an ATM Virtual Uni-directional Path Switched Ring, forming a network which is managed by a GUI front end written in [incr Tcl], an object-oriented extension to Tcl.

More Information

You can find out more information about ADC at www.adc.com and about Cellworx at www.adc.com/Products/cellworx/index.html.