https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/files/original/7ff5edb2f08d783b6dba99ab6cb7f711.jpg 8ed6f3e3cb9884d19b1b0c607c1d5a6c https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/files/original/b3886aaeec28e27ef06d888eb559f37e.png 28ce30e0bd7d86f5aca56a32a5b6e20e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Northern Electric—Nortel Networks Collection Subject The topic of the resource <img src="http://museum1.eecs.yorku.ca/www_decorations/Nortel_Logo.png" alt="Nortel_logo" width="25%" height="25%" border="0" /> The collection is dedicated to the corporate history of  Northern Electric and Manufacturing, Northern Electric, Northern Telecom, Bell-Northern Research, and Nortel Networks. Description An account of the resource Northern Electric and Manufacturing Company was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1895. It's main business was the manufacturing of telephone equipment for Bell Telephone Company of Canada. In 1914, the Northern Electric and Manufacturing Company merged with the Imperial Wire and Cable Company of Montreal to form the Northern Electric Company.  Although the new company's main business continued to be telecommunication equipment, Northern Electric also ventured into consumer electronics market manufacturing radios, television sets, console radio-phonographs, hi-fi amplifiers, and so on. In 1971, Northern Electric and Bell Canada formed Bell-Northern Research (BNR) — an Ottawa-based telecommunications research and development company. Around the same time, Northern Electric introduced its first electronic  PBX (Private Branch Exchange — a private telephone network used within a company or organization) named the SG-1. Four years later, BNR introduced the  SL-1 PBX  which was the world's first all-digital PBX aimed at medium-sized businesses.  In 1976, Northern Electric Company changed its name to Northern Telecom Limited and the company focused its operations exclusively on fully digital telecommunications products.  Northern Telecom was the first company in its industry to deliver a complete line of fully digital telecommunications products. Its SL-1 became the world’s most successful PBX and, by 1991, the company  was the world’s largest PBX supplier offering its Meridian communication systems line. In 1998, the company's name was changed to Nortel Networks to emphasize its focus on networking solutions for telecommunication over the Internet and other communications networks. In 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. Abbreviations: <ul> <li>BNR: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.</li> <li>WC: W. Clipsham</li> <li>NT: Northern Telecom</li> <li>NOR: Nortel Networks</li> <li>WEC: Western Electric Company</li> <li>WB: items donated by Walter Banks</li> <li>KB: items donated by Keith Brickman</li> <li>HB: items donated by Henry Wiebe</li> <li>GR: items donated by Greg Reynolds</li> <li>ZS: items donated by Zbigniew Stachniak</li> <li>JM: items donated by John Morden</li> <li>RR: donated by Robert Roden</li> <li>SC: items donated by Stanley Chow</li> <li>DC: items donated by David Cuddy</li> </ul> HARDWARE <ul> <li>Digital Multiplex Switching System DMS-100 schematic diagram, Northern Telecom, 1979-1980 [SC]</li> <li>BNR XMS (eXtended Multicomputer System) workstation with two built-in 8" floppy drives [SC]</li> <li>BNR XMS workstation (prototype?)</li> <li>Two external 8" floppy diskette drives for the BNR XMS workstation[SC]</li> <li>Northern Telecom/Nortel Passport 50 DS1 MVPE module, [GR]</li> <li>Nortel Networks Passport 50 E3A FP module, [GR]</li> <li>Nortel Networks Passport 50 OC3S FP module, [GR]</li> <li>Nortel Networks Passport 50 CP module, [GR]</li> <li>Nortel's 1 MEG Modem, NTEX35AA, [ZS]</li> <li>Nortel Display Phone</li> <li>Northern Electric paper calculator, 1973 [JM]</li> <li>Dual NAND silicon microcircuit, Northern Electric, 1960s? [RR]</li> <li>Northern Telecom Alex videotex terminal, 1988</li> <li>Northern Telecom Displayphone telephone and data terminal, 1981</li> <li>Northern Telecom Displayphone 220 telephone and data terminal, 1987</li> <li>Nortel Europa smartphone [DC]</li> </ul> Corporate Documents <ul> <li>Northern Electric Company incorporation documents (original), 1914. [Nortel]</li> <li>Northern Telecom worldwide senior management structure, May 1983, [KB]</li> <li>Northern Telecom Inc., Major Business Units, May 1, 1985, [KB]</li> <li>Northern Electric Organization structure, September 1972. [KB]</li> <li>A file of Northern Telecom and BNR Human Resources publications and documents, 1979-1988</li> </ul> NEWSLETTERS and MAGAZINES <ul> <li>Northern Circuit, Northern Electric, Spring 1965. [KB]</li> <li>Northern News, Northern Electric, vol. 44, no. 7 (1969). [JM]</li> <li>The Networks, Northern Electric, September 1973. [JM]</li> <li>telesis, BNR issues: vol. 3, no. 2 (1973) [WB]; vol. 4, no. 3 (1975); vol 4., no. 1 (1976) [WC]; vol. 5, no. 2 (1977) and no. 9 (1978) [WB]; vol. 6, no. 1 (1979) [WB]; vol. 8, no. 4 (1981); vol. 12, no. 1 and 2 (1985) [WC, DC]; issues 92, 93 (1991), 98 (1994). [WC]</li> <li>the, Northern Electric, Ottawa, issue 2 (1969), 4, 5 (1970). [WC]</li> <li>Miscellany, BNR, vol. 2, 3 (1987), 4, 5 (1988), 6, 7 (1989). [WC]</li> <li>Printed Circuit, Northern Telecom at Bramalea vol. 18, no. 7 (1991). [JM]</li> <li>Lachine Journal, Northern Telecom at Lachine, no. 5 (1992). [JM]</li> <li>Network news, Northern Telecom, May 1992. [JM]</li> <li>Between-Us, Northern Telecom at Lachine and Laurentian no. 4 (1993). [JM]</li> <li>Protel Technical Notes, BNR, Language Development Group; issues: vol. 1, nr. 1--7, 1980.</li> <li>Data Packet, Data Networks Division, Northern Telecom, vol. 2, issue 3 )198?) [WC]</li> </ul> MANUALS, USER GUIDES, REPORTS, PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL 1940-1949 <ul> <li>No. 1 Crossbar Dial Telephone System, Photographs, Educational Bulletin No. 2.5, WEC, December 1947. [HW]</li> </ul> 1950-1959 <ul> <li>No. 5 Crossbar Dial Telephone System, Completion of a Call, Educational Bulletin No. 2.5 B-1, WEC, April 1954. [HW]</li> <li>The Step-By-Step Dial Telephone System, Telephone System Training, Lesson No. 3, No. 2.5 B-1, WEC, June 1954. [HW]</li> </ul> 1960-1969 <ul> <li>E.H. Lanham, A Brief Story of the Growth, Evolution, and Expansion of Telephone Systems from the Magneto Era to the Present, Technical Memorandum TM 8161-2-64, Northern Electric, December 31st, 1964.</li> <li>Toronto Works, Telephone Directory, Northern Electric Company, Switching Division, 1 November 1966 [WBr] 1 Nov. 1966. [HB] Preliminary Version, IPSA (29 November, 1970) [WK].</li> </ul> 1970-1979 <ul> <li>Time to switch... SP-1 electronic switching systems, Northern Electric, October 1973. [JM]</li> <li>Datapac: Standard Network Access Protocol, Trans-Canada Telephone System, 30 November, 1974. [WC]</li> <li>Datapac: Overview, Trans-Canada Telephone System, 1974? [WC]</li> <li>Datapac: Four papers presented to the Third International Conference on Computer Communications, Toronto, Canada (August 1976). [WC]</li> <li>An Introduction to GRAPPLE Programming, ver. 4.21, BNR 13490, July 1974. [WB]</li> <li>GRAPPLE Console Users Manual, ver. 1.0, BNR(?), 18 June, 1975. [WB]</li> <li>GRAPPLE Language Reference Manual, ver. 5.10, BNR 13500, June 1975. [WB]</li> <li>Datapac: Standard Network Access Protocol Specification, Trans-Canada Telephone System, 1976. [WC]</li> <li>Datapac: Four papers presented to the Third International Conference on Computer Communications, Toronto, August 1976, Trans-Canada Telephone System, 1976. [WC]</li> <li>W. Clipsham, SL10 Data Network Processor: General Description, BNR, Issue 1, September 1976. [WC]</li> <li>D. Drynan, SL10 Data Network Processor: Trunk System, BNR, February 1977. [WC]</li> <li>Integrated Software Engineering System: Cost-Benefit Analysis, BNR, November 1978. [WC]</li> <li>Integrated Software Engineering System: Overview, BNR, November 1979. [WC]</li> <li>Integrated Software Engineering System: System Requirements Specification, BNR, November 1979. [WC]</li> </ul> 1980-1989 <ul> <li>Introducing a major advancement in the evolution of the telephone: Displayphone, promotional brochure, Northern Telecom, April 1981 [DC]</li> <li>Does your telecommunications system give you access to your internal database? Displayphone promotional brochure, Northern Telecom, 198? [DC]</li> <li>SL-1 Displayphone promotional brochure, Northern Telecom, 198? [DC]</li> <li>Displayphone User Guide, Northern Telecom, February 1982 [ZS]</li> <li>Displayphone User Guide, Northern Telecom, issue 3 [ZS]</li> <li>Displayphone 220 User Guide, Northern Telecom, 1987 [ZS]</li> <li>ALEX Installation Guide, Northern Telecom, issue 1 [ZS]</li> <li>DMS-100 System Description, BNR, 1986. [SC]</li> <li>Writing Handbook, BNR, 1987. [WC]</li> <li>DPN: Data Networking System Reference Handbook, Northern Telecom, 1986. [WC]</li> <li>DMS-100/200 NT-40 Instruction Set, BNR, 1987. [SC]</li> <li>H. Johnson, Object-Oriented Programming in PROTEL (draft), BNR, 1988. [SC]</li> <li>H. Johnson, An Object-Oriented Language Based on PROTEL (draft), BNR, 1989. [SC]</li> <li>DPN-100: Data Networking Reference Handbook, Northern Telecom, 1988. [WC]</li> <li>B. Baker, Multiprocessing Core for DMS, BNR, 1989. [SC]</li> <li>Telephony, BNR, Technical Educational Department, 198?</li> <li>Meridian M4020 Integrated Terminal: Bringing integrated data and voice to the desktop, Northern Telecom, 1985. [DC]</li> </ul> 1990- <ul> <li>DPN-100/500: Data Networking General Description, Release 1.0, BNR, February 11, 1990. [WC]</li> <li>DPN: Data Networking System, BNR, October 1990. [WC]</li> <li>Advaced Telephone Terminals Design: Driving the Development of Next-Generation Terminals, Nortel-Northern Telecom, July 1997. [DC]</li> </ul> PAPERS and OTHER PUBLICATIONS <ul> <li>W.A. Depp and W.H.T. Holden, Circuits for Cold Cathode Glow Tubes, Bell Telephone System Technical Publications, Monograph B-1685, compliments of Northern Electric, 1949. Originally published in Electrical Manufacturing, vol. 44, pp. 92-97 (1949).</li> <li>J.H. Felker, Typical block diagram for a digital computer, Bell Telephone System Technical Publications, Monograph 2046, compliments of Northern Electric, 1952. Originally published in Transactions of American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol. 71, part 1 (1952), pp. 175-182.</li> <li>Datapac and the SL-10 Packet Switching System: Selected Published Papers, 1976-79, BNR.</li> <li>M. Fridrich and W. Older, Helix: The Architecture of the XMS Distributed File System, reprint with the permission from IEEE Software (May 1985). [SC]</li> <li>N. Gammage and L. Casey, XMS: A Rendezvous-Based Distributed System Software Architecture, reprint with the permission from IEEE Software (May 1985). [SC]</li> <li>Northern Telecom: The Anatomy of Transformation, 1985--1995, Nortel/Northern Telecom (November 1996). [WC]</li> <li>H. Johnson, PROTEL A programming Language for Large Real-Time Applications, publisher: ? (1984).</li> <li>SINC Network Description, SINC Technical Document, Bell/BNR SINC Design Team (October 31, 1974). [WC]</li> <li>DPN Technical Papers 1985-1986, BNR. [WC]</li> <li>W.W. Clipsham, F.E. Glave, and M.L. Narraway, Datapac Network Overview, Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Computer Communication, P.K. Verma (ed), Toronto. 3-6 August 1976; the material includes memos and slides prepared for the presentation. [WC]</li> <li>The BNR Network (197?) [WC]</li> <li>I. Cunningham, Host to Network Protocol for the Bell-Northern Research Network, version 1.2, BNR (October 1973). [WC]</li> <li>B. Clipsham et al, First Level Protocol for a Data Switch, version V, August 14, 1972, CASE: R3777. [WC]</li> <li>C.C. Martel, I.M. Cunningham, and M.S. Grushcow, The BNR Network: A Canadian Experience with Packet Switching Technology, BNR. [WC]</li> <li>N. Dam, D. Schenkel, and W.Prater, Micro-SNAP - An X.25 Microcomputer System, MSNAP-BNR (197?) [WC]</li> <li>B. Hobbs, Chrysalis: Transforming The Way We Do Business, Northern Telecom S321 (September 19, 1991). [JM]</li> <li>32 photographs of the Northern Telecom constructions at 8200 Dixie Rd. taken between February 23 and December 8, 1987. [JM]</li> <li>Four photographs of the Northern Electric Calgary Cable Plant, 19?? [JM]</li> <li>Various promotional Nortel Networks brochures, 1995--2003. [ZS]</li> </ul> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource BNR XMS Workstations Subject The topic of the resource computer hardware: workstation Description An account of the resource Historical Context (by Z. Stachniak) In 1971, Bell Canada and Northern Electric (renamed Northern Telecom in 1976) established Bell-Northern Research (BNR) -- a common telecommunications research and development entity. BNR played a crucial role in Northern's evolution into a leading global provider of fully digital telecommunications solutions. In 1975, Northern launched the BNR-designed SL-1 -- the first digital switching system in commercial service. Four years later, Northern introduced the DMS-100 digital switch, which seamlessly integrated switching and transmission capabilities (DMS: digital multiplex switch). The widespread adoption of the DMS-100 propelled Northern to the forefront of the global telecommunications industry. The experience gained during the design of the DMS-100 prompted BNR to establish a Computing Technology Development Group in 1979. As described in [2], the group's objectives were: <ul> <li>creating the foundational computing components for Northern Telecom's future products;</li> <li>developing tools essential for software development for these products;</li> <li>exploring emerging computing technology trends and ensuring a continuous flow of relevant technologies into BNR's operations.</li> </ul> Initially, the Computing Technology Development Group, informally referred to as the XMS group, was comprised of Peter Cashin, who previously led the original core development team for the DMS computer systems, Neil Gammage (systems software: OS and systems), Jean Jervis (systems software: OS), Ragui Kamel (software: compilers), Bill Williams (software architecture), and Rick Workman (hardware/software integration). Shortly thereafter, Liam Casey (distributed software architecture) and Kerry Zoehner (file systems) joined the group. Over time, the XMS group expanded to include more than 100 engineers primarily based in Ottawa. The primary task of the group involved researching and defining hardware and software architectures that could form the basis of a distributed computing network to support the development of future BNR products. The resulting architecture, named XMS (eXtended Multicomputer System), was defined as a cluster of processing nodes (such as workstations, file servers, communication servers, printing servers, etc.) interconnected by a single high-speed local area network and operated under concurrent software. As articulated in [2], "XMS creates a single, powerful system from loosely coupled microcomputers. Programs work together across nodes, making systemwide resource management transparent and distributed-system design simpler." Detailed information regarding both the hardware and software architectures of XMS can be found in [1] and [2]. The first XMS system was deployed at BNR in 1981. It was the XMS Software Development Environment (SDE) whose main purpose was to provide the computing facilities and resources essential for supporting XMS-based projects. The system comprised several XMS personal workstations, a file server, a print server, and a communications server. The majority of XMS SDE software was developed using BNR Pascal. This language, an extension of UCSD Pascal (designed at the University of California, San Diego), incorporated ADA-like tasks and concurrency features implemented in XMS. Alongside XMS system software and the BNR Pascal, the SDE environment featured a robust file system called Helix and an array of software development utility programs, including: <ul> <li>editors: text and graphics editors,</li> <li>software development tools: compilers, assemblers, dissassemblers, linkers, etc.,</li> <li>analysis tools: debuggers, profilers, test tools, cross referencers, etc.</li> <li>document preparation package: support for text and graphics, spellcheckers, index generator,</li> <li>LAN communication: messaging and bulletin board,</li> <li>IBM communication: passthrough and file transfer,</li> <li>project management tools: source management, problem database and project tracking.</li> </ul> The XMS was a proprietary platform. Although built from commercially available components, initially it could not take advantage of commercially available software, or engaging external development groups. In response, the XMS group developed a facility called Distributed Unix (or DUX), enabling the loading and execution of Unix applications within the XMS system. The SDE offered a robust and adaptable environment for software development. It also demonstrated the effectiveness of the XMS platform when combined with suitable software. As emphasized in [1], "A major benefit of the deployment of XMS SDE systems has been the designer's ability to both develop and test systems on the same hardware." According to data provided in [2], by 1985, approximately 2,000 workstations in 25 XMS networks were operational across 15 geographic locations spanning from California to Europe. However, despite numerous successful applications of the XMS platforms, such as the Nortel Meridian PBX family, significant factors ultimately led to the decline of XMS developments at BNR. In the February 2024 interview for the Centre for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, University of Auckland, Peter Cashin summarized the root cause of the disbanding of the XMS group in the late 1980s as follows:   The [XMS] project was technically successful... We thought we had a better solution    than Unix, with nice multi-computer inter-process  messaging...    But the writing was on the wall, the use of C and Unix was spreading, and the    commercial computing industry was going to be able to supply the needs for    telecom. The necessity for our own hardware was gone, and the advantages    of our own systems software was shrinking. It was a computer industry opportunity,    and Nortel made the decision that it  was not getting into the computer business. The XMS Workstations The XMS SDE systems utilized workstations designed at BNR by John Perry. These workstations were conceived to function as development platforms as well as the foundation for future products. Over the course of the XMS project, four distinct models were developed. Each of these models was built around a microprocessor from the Motorola 68000 family. Initially, all XMS prototypes and models 1 and 2 featured the Motorola 68000-x microprocessors. However, in later iterations, models 3 and 4 incorporated the Motorola 68010 and 68020 CPUs. For external storage, the workstations initially relied on 8" floppy drives but later also incorporating a 10M-Byte Winchester hard disk. User interaction was facilitated through a standalone video display terminal, which provided both keyboard input and display. <table> <tbody> <tr> <th>Model</th> <th>CPU</th> <th>ROM</th> <th>RAM</th> <th>external storage</th> <th>display/ keyboard</th> <th>exp. slots</th> </tr> <tr> <td>0</td> <td>MC6800-06</td> <td>65,536 bits MM2716 eproms</td> <td>4 SIP-like memory cards 294,912 bits each, AM9016 RAMs</td> <td>two 8" floppy disk drives</td> <td>external terminal</td> <td>6</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>MC6800-08</td> <td>137,072 bits HN462732G eproms</td> <td>4 memory cards 1,179,648 bits each, HM4864-2 RAMs</td> <td>two 8" floppy disk drives</td> <td>external terminal</td> <td>8</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Table: Technical specifications of one of the XMS prototypes ("model 0") and of model 2. Museum Holdings <ul> <li>XMS prototype ("model 0",  second image below),</li> <li>XMS Model 2 (first image below),</li> <li>8" floppy disk drive (x 2) for XMS mode 1,</li> <li>other related items are listed in the Nortel archive.</li> </ul> Bibliography [1] Gammage N. and Casey, L., XMS: A Rendezvous-Based Distributed System Software Architecture, IEEE Software, vol. 2, no. 3 (1985), pp. 9-19. [2] Kamel, R.F., Software Development in a Distributed Environment: The XMS System, In: Conradi, R., Didriksen, T.M., Wanvik, D.H. (eds) Advanced Programming Environments, Springer LNCS, vol 244 (1987), pp. 126-141. [3] Cashin, P. and Carpenter, B.E., An Overseas Experience with Hypertext and Packet Switching, CDMTCS-577, Centre for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand (February 2024). Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1980s, North America, Europe