computer science

Newbridge Networks

Newbridge Networks is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Newbridge Networks rather than just read about it. In short: Newbridge Networks Corporation was founded by Welsh-Canadian entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews in Ottawa. It was founded in 1986 to create data and voice networking products after Matthews was forced out of his original company Mitel.

Key takeaways

Newbridge Networks belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Newbridge Networks to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Newbridge Networks from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Newbridge Networks Corporation was founded by Welsh-Canadian entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews in Ottawa. It was founded in 1986 to create data and voice networking products after Matthews was forced out of his original company Mitel. According to Matthews, he saw that data networking would grow far faster than voice networking, and he had wanted to take Mitel in much the same direction, but the 'risk-averse' British Telecom-dominated Mitel board refused and effectively ousted him. The name Newbridge Networks comes from Sir Terry Matthews' home town of Newbridge in south Wales. Newbridge quickly became a major market player in this area using the voice switching and software engineering expertise that was prevalent in the Ottawa area. The company initially had innovative channelbank products, which allowed telcos with existing wiring to offer a wide variety of new services. Newbridge also offered (for the time) the industry's most innovative network management (46020 NMS) and ISDN TAP 3500, RS-232C 3600 Mainstreet and ACC "river" routers (Congo/Amazon/Tigris etc.), including distributed star-topology routing through both proprietary software over the unused facilities' data links in optical hardware and telco switches. Starting in 1992 the company became increasingly focused upon and well known for its family of ATM products such as the MainStreet 36150 and MainStreet Xpress 36170 (later renamed Alcatel 7470). Newbridge later absorbed some routing technology that had been abandoned by Tandem Computers, with the purchase of Ungermann-Bass and entered the pure data networking market with a traditional routing and switching product. This was in addition to its internally developed ViViD product line, which was a network-wide distributed routing product (ridge or routing bridge—bridges with a centralized routing server). Newbridge had 30% ownership of affiliate West End Systems Corp., which was headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, with R&D facilities in Arnprior, Ontario. Newbridge was purchased and absorbed by Alcatel in late February 2000 for over $7 billion in stock. With this transaction, Matthews became the single largest shareholder in Alcatel.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Newbridge Networks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Newbridge Networks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Newbridge Networks before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Newbridge Networks ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Newbridge Networks

In research: Newbridge Networks appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Newbridge Networks in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Newbridge Networks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2000 disestablishments in Ontario, Canadian companies disestablished in 2000, Canadian companies established in 1986, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Newbridge Networks outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Newbridge Networks in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Newbridge Networks means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Newbridge Networks out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Newbridge Networks in simple terms?

Why does Newbridge Networks matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Newbridge Networks?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Newbridge Networks.