The communications division of Beaverton, Oregon-based test and measurement equipment group Tektronix Inc has launched an array of network diagnostic tools onto the UK market. Tektronix acquired the TC-2000 last October when it bought the US developer of the product, LP Com, and claims that sales in the US have just hit the 1,000 mark. Chris Balmforth sales manager at Tektronix Communications UK said that he envisaged four different markets for the product in the UK: telephone service operators; computer manufacturers; military and general business end users. The product runs under MS-DOS and comprises modules for protocol analysis, pulse code modulation, signalling, local area network testing, remote communications and trunk measurement, and modules can be customised into different combinations to suit these markets. Tektronix claims that it is aiming to complement rather than compete with the burgeoning array of network management architectures and products being put out by computer majors such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and DEC. TC-2000 is currently limited to analysis of Ethernetworks, although Tektronix plans to provide hooks into Token Ring by the end of the year. The company expects the biggest chunk of revenue to come from the telephone operators and claims to be in the middle of promising discussions with British Telecom which is upping its network management levels in preparation for international services digital network, ISDN. Tektronix reckons its product has the edge on other diognostic tools because it is software driven rather than hard-wired. The communications division is the smallest unit within the $1,400m group.
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