mikeh@lupine.UU.NET (Mike Harrigan) (01/16/90)
NEW XREMOTE SOFTWARE FROM NETWORK COMPUTING DEVICES OPTIMIZES SERIAL CONNECTIVITY FOR X WINDOW DISPLAYS MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 8, 1990 -- X Window network dis- play stations from Network Computing Devices can now communicate effectively over serial lines to local or remote sites using the company's new XRemote (tm) software. XRemote is the first transport protocol developed specifically to do multi-level data compression in X Window System environ- ments. It makes NCD's family of network display stations, or X terminals, usable not only in Ethernet installations, but any- where there is a telephone line or RS-232 connection. NCD Executive Vice President Judy Estrin said XRemote is de- signed for local communication when high-speed local-area network service is not available, and for remote communication from branch offices or other work sites to a central computing site. "XRemote lets X terminal users in remote sales offices communi- cate with headquarters, for example, or lets software developers do their work away from their office, using telephone lines and modems," Estrin said. "XRemote can even serve as a primary di- rect local host connection in cases where Ethernet is not avail- able, such as a college campus whose Ethernet backbone may not ex- tend to all buildings." XRemote provides approximately 10 times the performance of SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol), currently the most popular means of serial communication available on X terminal products. NCD designed a special protocol for serial communication be- cause "while effective compression techniques have existed for al- phanumeric data environments, none has been optimized to address the heavy bandwidth demands of bit-mapped workstations and window- ing systems," Estrin said. "The XRemote protocol's compression algorithms were developed specifically to meet these demands in the X Window System environment. In addition, built-in reliabili- ty mechanisms enable XRemote to operate with noisy lines, modem errors and other line problems. Estrin noted that XRemote is the only approach to remote X Win- dow connectivity that allows both serial and LAN connections from the same X terminal (although the two links cannot operate concur- rently). In addition, because NCD displays themselves -- and not the host computers -- run the X server software, host resources can be devoted to maximizing application productivity. XRemote capability is available 30 days after receipt of order in a special PROM set containing the XRemote protocol (rather than TCP/IP) and all other standard NCD software. The PROM set is priced at $300 per NCD unit. Any XRemote-equipped unit can be connected to a TCP/IP Ethernet simply by rebooting from the net- work rather than from PROM. XRemote operation also requires one host-side cartridge tape, priced at $500. Object code is available for Sun Microsystems workstations; for porting to other systems, source code can be li- censed for a nominal fee. A V.32 full-duplex 9600-baud or faster modem should be used with XRemote for remote serial applications. Network Computing Devices, Inc., formed in February 1988, is a leading supplier of network display stations providing user simul- taneous access to multi-vendor computers on a network via the in- dustry-standard X Window System. The NCD16 (16-inch display with 1024 X 1024 resolution) and the NCD19 (19-inch display with 1280 X 1024 resolution) offer workstation-style multi-user interfaces for user in the UNIX, VMS and Ultrix operating system environ- ments. A privately-held company, NCD has raised $17 million in two rounds of venture financing. ### XRemote is a trademark of Network Computing Devices, Inc. Company Contact: Judy Estrin Network Computing Devices, Inc. (415) 694-0650 email: info@ncd.com Agency contacts: William Orrange Janis Ulevich Ulevich & Orrange, Inc. (415) 329-1590