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Abstracts - 12th Systems Administration Conference
(LISA '98)
WinACIF: A Telecom IC Support Tool Using Tcl/Tk
David Karoly, Todd Copeland, and David Gardner
Advanced Micro Devices
Abstract
We discuss our use of Tcl/Tk to provide software support for
telecommunications Integrated Circuits (ICs). Our Windows-based
Advanced Computer Interface (WinACIF) program works in concert with
reconfigurable hardware based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays
(FPGAs) to provide essential coordination in laboratory data
collection and analysis of a device under test. WinACIF replaces
several MS-DOS based applications. Whereas the previous
implementations suffered from the classic limitations of MS-DOS,
WinACIF provides the flexibility and functionality of windowing
applications by virtue of its Tcl/Tk roots. Tcl/Tk not only supplies
more than ample power to create WinACIF, but also adds the benefit of
saving valuable time otherwise spent learning a complex API. Run-time
loaded Tcl extensions provide the flexibility to support various
devices having diverse interfaces. A single Tcl/Tk script dynamically
builds a Graphical User Interface (GUI) based on product configuration
data retrieved from a data store. Additionally, we used canvas widgets
to provide an intuitive interface. For the engineer who requires
control beyond that afforded by our GUI, Tcl serves as WinACIF's
command language.
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