Company History

Founded in 1982 in California, Advanced Relay relocated to Eugene, Oregon in 1988. Advanced Relay developed and marketed LayGO®, a multiprotocol toolkit targeted to integrators of PC-based WAN, such as X.25 packet routers, bridges, switches, gateways, Frame Relay access devices, packet assembler/disassemblers and packet multiplexers.

Advanced Relay's products support error-free and high-speed point-to-point communication through the services of Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) or dedicated lines. The real strength of Advanced Relay's products lies in point-to-multipoint connections through the services of Public or Private Packet Switched Data Networks, such as X.25 and Frame Relay.

The company's primary markets are system integrators, communication equipment manufacturers and larger end-users. In addition, Advanced Relay provides consulting services, such as software porting, customization and certification, to facilitate the integration of Advanced Relay's products into a customer's systems.

Company Timeline

2004

• For Cable & Wireless (France) we completed the software terminating the X.25 and AFT protocol at our Protocol eXchange Server (PXS). We developed client/server file transfer software that transfers files residing on one or on multiple DMS-100E switches to a remote file collector using TCP/IP. Cable & Wireless approved the PXS for their European network of nine Nortel DMS-100E switches. Since April 2004 the PXS has been fully employed and operational, with great cost and maintenance benefits for Cable & Wireless.
• Advanced Relay developed DLM (Data Line Monitor) software allowing the PXS to be programmed to operate as a dedicated DLM. Other than the software TAP, the PXS DLM uses a customized T-cable to be inserted between a communicating DTE and DCE.
• The PXS is ready for release and the first 100 units will be ready to be shipped by July 1st, 2004.

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2003

• Advanced Relay was contracted by Honeywell Technology Solutions to port LayGO HDLC driver to a 64-bit Solaris 8.0 for the Sun Ultra AXi motherboard.
• GETS Global Signaling contracted us through Orthstar to port our LayGO driver and protocol software to VenturCom Real Time Extension (RTX) for Windows. The product is fully operational.
• For Lockheed Martin Advanced Relay ported LayGO software to a customized dual-processor Pentium and a 4-line Emulex (XP-4400) synchronous communication adaptor. The product is fully operational.
• Advanced Relay was subcontracted by SBS Technologies to support X.25 in an embedded communication switch used by Ericsson AB (Göteborg) Mobitex Division. The target system was a Force PowerCore-6750 Single slot CPU board based on a PowerPC 750 processor, the target OS MontaVista real time Linux, and the target communication adaptor was the SBS Aries/524 4-line PMC module, including an HDLC driver provided by SBS. The product was completed by Advanced Relay. However, Ericsson cancelled the project with SBS.
• Advanced Relay completed work on the PXS, an embedded LayGO server using an ARM7 network processor. Advanced Relay and Technical Direct (UK) joined forces to use the PXS as a protocol exchange server for DMS-100E switches used by Cable & Wireless (France). The PXS terminates the AFT/X.25 data and forwards the CDR files via a file client/server module to a remote CDR-file collector. We customized the Nortel AFT (Automatic File Transfer) protocol to be compatible to the DMS-100E used in Europe. First tests at Cable and Wireless were completed by the end of 2003.

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2002

• Advanced Relay developed a customized bisynchronous driver for the Sealevel PCMCIA card and the Digi SYNC/570i PCI card in a project for the Chilean Air Force.
• For Lynk Systems (Atlanta), Advanced Relay developed a customized bisynchronous driver for the Sealevel PCI card.
• TRW (Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems) contracted Advanced Relay to develop a Solaris 8.0 64-bit chained DMA driver for the Digi SYNC/570i PCI card (Hitachi 64570). We assisted TRW in the final test phase.
• British Telecom's RedCare Division selected our LayGO/X.25 Digi SYNC/570i solution for their burglar alarm detection network and for other X.25/LAPB implementations. The product is in wide use in Europe.
• Advanced Relay developed a front-end ISDN solution for the Lucent 5ESS to collect CDRs and exchange operational messages. For this project we developed a customized driver for the Winbond ISDN chip to interface directly to the Lucent BRI (0B+D) via X.25 /LAPD. The product was successfully tested at Southwestern Bell (SBC).
• Advanced Relay finalized the functional specification for the PXS project and selected Comtrol Corporation as manufacturer of the PXS hardware. We started the PXS software development using a development platform provided by Comtrol.
• Advanced Relay developed a LayGO Data Line Monitor, using a software Tap to capture transmitted and received data, to be forwarded via TCP/IP to a DLM server. The DLM server can either record the data traffic to a file or directly pass the data to a protocol analyzer application for real-time analysis. We evaluated several existing protocol analyzers and their GUI and selected the Frontline Test Equipment GUI to be supported by the LayGO DLM.

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2001

• Advanced Relay provided the LayGO/X.25 PCMCIA card solution to Alcatel (France) for their BSC (Base Station Controller). It is used worldwide in their cellular networks.
• Volt Delta Resources selected Advanced Relay for the extension and upgrade of their X.25 UDP/IP gateway used by Verizon and other telecom customers in their Operator Attendant applications. For this project we developed a Windows 2000 driver for Patriot Scientific's ATComm4 synchronous communication card.
• Jointly with Honeywell, Advanced Relay completed the PC/104 base station modem that interfaces via HDLC/LAPB to a Park Air 5525 D8 radio. The product is used to provide infight airplanes with current weather information.
• We worked with the Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center to independently verify the product for Park Air Electronics (UK).
• Advanced Relay was selected by TRW (Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems) to develop the communication interface for a missile defense network. For that project we ported our LayGO software to the Solaris 8.0 64-bit operating system. The protocol is HDLC, and the synchronous communication cards are the 2-line Digi SYNC/570i and SBS WANic/522. The product is used by Harris, Rockwell Collins, Boeing and Raytheon.
• Advanced Relay was selected by TASC, Inc. (Northrop Grumman Information Technology, TASC) to provide a LayGO/HDLC (simplex) implementation for a customized Sealevel PCMCIA card used by the U.S. Army in their Sidearm product to transfer images via satellite to notebooks (Panasonic Toughbooks) on the ground.
• For Titan Systems Corporation, Advanced Relay developed a customized bisynchronous driver used by the U.S. Navy to provide secure phone connections to submarines.
• For Marconi (Florence, Italy), Advanced Relay developed a multi-drop HDLC driver for the Quatech MPC-100 adaptor.
• Advanced Relay developed a transparent monosynchronous driver for Boeing.
• For the FAA, Advanced Relay developed a half-duplex transparent HDLC driver that includes time-stamping.

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2000

Advanced Relay and Comtech jointly developed AFT-EIU support for Northern Telecom DMS-300 used by Nortel in a data collection application. Advanced Relay and Telesciences jointly developed HDLC/NRM support for Northern Telecom DMS-10/BMC and Siemens/Stromberg DCO interface used by TDS Madison, WI in a data collection application. Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to Digi's SYNC 570i 2/4-line PCI card. Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to GMM Research's 2-line PC104 and to Sealevel's 1-line PC104 card. The product is used by Honeywell to establish radio communication between a base-station and airborne aircraft. Advanced Relay developed a special transparent driver for the Sealevel PCMCIA card used by the FAA to track airborne aircraft. Advanced Relay developed a special driver for the Sealevel PCMCIA card used by Nortel Networks France in a BTS (Base Transceiver Station) application. Advanced Relay developed a special driver for the Sealevel PCMCIA card used by Alstom to test equipment for the Washington D.C. subway system. Advanced Relay developed Win2000 support for all of their supported hardware platforms. All drivers are native Win2000 Kernel Mode Drivers.

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1999

Advanced Relay developed AFT-X.25 support for Northern Telecom DMS-100/250 used in a data collection application. Advanced Relay developed MAP-Path-Through software using RPC to support simultaneous connections to DMS-100 and 5ESS switches. One Solaris LayGO® RPC client controls multiple NT RPC LayGO® servers. Advanced Relay developed for Pacific Bell (South Western Bell) a LayGO®/XOT client that controls about 400 remote Cisco routers operating as XOT servers connected to 384 DMS-100 and 5ESS switches. Advanced Relay developed a special driver for SBS's WANic/405 card to be used by Harmon Industries — a data collection application for the San Francisco BART and the New York subway system.

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1998

Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to Sealevel's ACB-PC synchronous PCMCIA card. Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to Quatech MPAP-100 synchronous PCMCIA card. Advanced Relay added LayGO® support for SUN Microsystem Ultra workstation under Solaris. Advanced Relay extended RPC support for NT and Solaris platforms. Advanced Relay developed front-end support for Northern Telecom DMS-100 switch with X.25 interface used in a data collection application. Advanced Relay developed front-end support for Lucent (AT&T) 5ESS 0B+D X.25 interface used in a data collection application. Advanced Relay developed front-end support for Motorola EMX-250 and 2500 LAPB interface used in a data collection application. Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to operate under QNX. Advanced Relay used LayGO® with X.25/LAPD to connect to 5ESS switches replacing AT&T Billdat Devices that had shown synchronization problems converting LAPD into LAPB.

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1997

Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to the SDL RISCom/SA, an 8-line ISA card supporting up to 128 Kbps per line. Advanced Relay added X.25 over LAPD support. Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to the Metacomp ATCommBRI ISDN controller to support HDLC, LAPB, Frame Relay and X.25 over B-channel. Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to the Emulex XP-Series cards, 2/4/8-line PCI cards supporting 8 Mbps total throughput. Advanced Relay added support for Borland 24-bit DOS extender. Advanced Relay added Remote Procedure Call (RPC) support for Windows 95 and Windows NT. Advanced Relay developed a LAPD protocol stack used by British Telecomm in a burglary alarm system. Up to 4095 houses with ISDN BRI connections are monitored per physical connection. The interface uses X.25 over LAPD. TITAN subcontracted Advanced Relay to develop a X.25 switch used by The Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives in Thailand to connect up to 600 rural banks through satellite modems to a central bank in Bangkok. The LayGO® system uses four 8-line synchronous communication cards supporting a total of 32 satellite modems at speeds of 38.4 kbps and high-speed 2-line communication cards connected to a Motorola X.25 switch at T1 line speed.

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1996

Advanced Relay released LayGO® for Windows NT and added Visual Basic support. Advanced Relay developed a LayGO® Bridge/Router that transparently bridges/routes Ethernet traffic over any of LayGO® supported protocols. The product was tested on Advanced Relay's internal network that uses Novell, Windows 95, Windows 3.1x and Windows NT servers and workstations. Advanced Relay added bisynchronous support to LayGO® and ported LayGO® to the SDL WANic 400 card, a 2-line high performance PCI card supporting 8 Mbps per line. Advanced Relay added support for Pharlap 32-bit DOS extender. Advanced Relay developed a LAPB/BSC to TCP/IP gateway for Northrop/Grumman to route radar data to LAN workstations where the data are processed. The system is used by Changi Airport in Singapore.

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1995

LayGO® software passed DDN and CEPT Net2 certification. Advanced Relay released the first DOS version of LayGO®. LayGO® was ported to all hardware used by PC.25T and PC.25e to provide an upgrade path to our customers. Advanced Relay released LayGO® for Win3.1 and Win95. LayGO® was ported to the Metacomp ATCommXL and the SDL RISCom/N2, both high performance 2-line ISA controllers supporting 8 Mbps per line. Advanced Relay added Frame Relay and X.25 over Frame Relay (Annex G) support and passed Frame Relay acceptance tests. Advanced Relay ported LayGO® to Sealevel and Quatech PCMCIA cards.

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1994

Advanced Relay started the LayGO® project, a complete redesign of Advanced Relay's communications products. In the same year PC.25T went through a major upgrade resulting in improved performance and easier installation.

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1993

Advanced Relay and Volt Delta Resources obtained acceptance of PC.25T to be used by Nynex and other telecommunication companies on the Northern Telecom DMS-250 to provide operator attendants with information services. AT&T used PC.25e for a similar application. In the same year PC.25T was used by LDDS to collect billing data from DSC DEX 500. Advanced Relay developed a billing collection application for West Coast Telecommunication used on their DEX 500.

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1992

Advanced Relay released PC.25e, a low-cost version of PC.25T using a non-intelligent communication controller. Besides X.25, the product supported HDLC and LAPB as independent protocol stacks. All protocols were implemented as installable DOS device drivers. PC.25e could be combined with multi-line asynchronous controllers to build multi-line X.25 PADs. The first version used Sealevel's ACB boards, but later similar boards from Linear Systems and Comtrol were supported as well. In the same year Advanced Relay released PC.25UX, a SCO and AT&T UNIX implementation of PC.25T.

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1991

Advanced Relay released XBRIDGE/IPX, a WAN bridge for Novell based LANs. The product was originally developed for Acer Technology to provide worldwide WAN access for Acer's maintenance operations. At this time Novell did not support burst mode traffic in their NCP, and throughput was notoriously sluggish. An X.25 connection through Tymnet could support about 30% data throughput. Advanced Relay released XTURBO, a filtering technique that increased data throughput to 87%.

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1990

Advanced Relay released PC.25T, an upgraded version of the PC.25, using high performance 80186 based 4-line controller with full-duplex DMA on all channels. Unidata, South Africa manufactured the original hardware, the DCP-M1 and DCP-M2. The Metacomp ATComm2 and ATComm4 replaced this hardware in the same year.

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1989

Advanced Relay released PC.25pad, a modified version of PC.PAD. The PAD functions were implemented as a host linkable library and the product included support for SCO XENIX. Advanced Relay released PC.25pad+, an upgraded version of PC.25pad that used the faster XP board manufactured by Comtrol. This release also included support for SCO UNIX.

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1988

Advanced Relay released PC.PAD, ARX.25 and PAD functions ported to the SmartHostess, an 8-line intelligent communication controller manufactured by Comtrol Corporation. The product supported one or two X.25 lines and seven or six asynchronous terminals. All lines supported 19.2 Kbps. The product was used as a terminal PAD and operated under MS-DOS. Once downloaded the product could operate automatically.

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1987

Advanced Relay was the first ever to port X.25 and PAD functions to a Basic Rate ISDN PC controller manufactured by Teleos.

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1986

Advanced Relay and Invisible Software jointly developed XBRIDGE/NetBIOS, a WAN bridge using NetBIOS. Advanced Relay added WAN support for the Apple Macintosh using Centram West's TOPS product. Advanced Relay added bisynchronous support to PC.25 used by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) in their library clusters.

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1985

Advanced Relay was the first ever to port X.25 to an IBM PC using the Emulex (Persyst) DCP-88/VM. The product was introduced as PC.25 and certified in the same year. With this product Advanced Relay released the XTERM terminal PAD and the XCOPY file transfer program. Advanced Relay was the first ever to release multi-window, multi-tasking support for PC.25 using Quarterdeck's DESQview environment. Simultaneous terminal PAD and file transfer sessions could be run from multiple windows.

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1984

Advanced Relay converted the product from Z80 Assembler to C. That source code version was marketed as ARX.25.

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1983

Advanced Relay was the first ever to port X.25 to a Z80/Z80-SIO based personal computer running CP/M+. The product was certified in the same year.

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