Object-oriented technology in a broadband network software architecture

Abstract

This paper describes the technical elements of the successful use of object-oriented technology in the Experimental ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) Network Services Environment (EXPANSE) project at Bellcore and the Broadband Experimental Systems Testbed (BEST) at Pacific Bell. The EXPANSE project adopted an object-oriented software architecture for a connection manager that provides services for multimedia multiparty connections over a broadband network. The BEST project offers an object-oriented applications environment that provides multimedia multiparty end-user services such as video telephony, video conferencing, video mail, video-on-demand and video broadcasting. These end-user services request connection management services from the TRM via an application interface module that performs call/session control. The application interface and many applications are implemented in Smalltalk. This paper discusses the technical efforts that integrated these two different object-oriented systems and provides an assessment of why the object-oriented technology helped make the transfer successful.