The NC-REN meets the North Carolina Information Highway

The North Carolina Research and Education Network (NC-REN), formerly known as CONCERT, is an existing video and data network, owned and operated by MCNC. NC-REN's purpose has been to provide network-based support for collaboration in the research community within the state since 1985. The first major application planned for the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) is an interactive video distance learning system. A secondary application proposed is the use of Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) as a means of providing data communications services over NCIH. The user community currently supported by NC-REN has come to expect high levels of service, reliability, interoperability and performance for data and video communications. MCNC is committed to see that NC-REN users receive service that is equal to or better than what is currently provided by the existing network. The prospect of migrating NC-REN-provided services to NCIH-provided transport has raised challenging technical and unique service issues     

An orthogonal simulated annealing algorithm for large floorplanning problems

The conventional simulated annealing with some random generation mechanism using the sequence-pair topological representation in block placement and floorplanning is effective for a very small number of modules (40-50). This paper proposes an orthogonal simulated annealing algorithm (OSA) with an efficient generation mechanism (EGM) for solving large floorplanning problems. EGM samples a small number of representative floorplans and then efficiently derives a high-performance floorplan by using a systematic reasoning method for the next move of OSA based on orthogonal experimental design. Furthermore, an improved swap operation is proposed which cooperates with EGM to make OSA efficient. Excellent experimental results using the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina and the Gigascale Systems Research Center benchmarks show that OSA performs better than existing methods for large floorplanning problems.     

Evolution of the North Carolina Information Highway

As the first information highway of its kind, the North Carolina Information Highway is likely to set an example for ATM broadband deployment not only in the BellSouth region but also in the rest of the country. The article outlines an evolutionary path for new network architectural features and additional video and data services that can be supported by the NCIH. These architectures will support the introduction of on-demand video services (e.g. the distance learning service), and other associated vertical services. As standard procedures are developed, users will be able to use data services like TCP/IP and frame relay over large-bandwidth ATM connections. In addition, they will have opportunities to use their existing applications in the legacy LANs, as well as with ATM endpoints. As ATM standards agreements are realized over the next few years, and the ATM technology cost curve continues to improve, the NCIH will prove to be a very cost-effective and high-performance alternative for all the high-speed communication needs of the North Carolina State Government     

The ultra wideband WiMedia standard [Standards in a Nutshell]

WiMedia is a radio platform standard that enables shortrange, high-speed wireless connectivity using ultra wideband (UWB) multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) technology. It currently enables rates of up to 480 Mb/s in the physical layer and provides an architecture that supports multiple applications via various protocol adaptation layers. As a result, the WiMedia standard has been adopted by the USB Implementers Forum as the Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WUSB) standard and by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group for the next generation Bluetooth 3.0 standard for next generation consumer electronic applications. WiMedia also defines an adaptation layer to use WiMedia for Wireless Internet protocol (IP) known as WiMedia Network and is being considered in other applications such as IEEE 1394 (Wireless Firewire). This article briefly describes the WiMedia standard-the architecture, the technologies deployed in the standard, the applications enabled by it- and compares WiMedia to existing wireless local area network (WLAN) and wireless personal area network (WPAN) standards.     

Service Oriented Testbed Infrastructures: a Cross-Layer Approach for NGNs

Existing telecommunications networks and classical roles of operators are subject to fundamental change. Core network technologies have been re-defined under the label of Next Generation Networks (NGN) and the transition from existing legacy infrastructures towards an all-IP based NGN is ongoing. Following this paradigm shift within telecommunications, new approaches in services and service composition are currently explored for converging network domains to support legacy circuit-switched networks, NGNs, and integration with the World Wide Web (WWW). Furthermore, emerging initiatives as the Japanese Architecture Design Project for New Generation Network (AKARI), U.S.-based Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI), Germany Laboratories (G-Lab), and the European Future Internet Research & Experimentation (FIRE) envision a Future Internet allowing automatic cross-layer network adaptation on a service-specific basis. In this report, we describe our setup of a service-oriented research facility for services on top of converging networks as a starting point for service composition in inter-domain, federated testbed environments to allow cross layer service and network composition.     

How to buy a network: trading of resources in the physical layer

Recently, a number of new research initiatives, most notably UCLPv2 and GENI, have promoted the dynamic partition of physical network resources (infrastructure) as the means to operate the network, and to implement new protocols and services. This has led to a number of open issues such as resource discovery, implementation of resource partitioning, and the aggregation of resources to create arbitrary network topologies. To us, the key issue is the design of a mechanism to trade, acquire, and control network resources, given a choice of providers of physical resources (infrastructure providers). In this article we present an architecture that allows physical resources to be traded, while granting users controlled access to the acquired resources via a policy enforcement mechanism. In addition, it allows resource provider domains to be linked via configurable, provider-neutral resource exchange points that are the physical resource equivalents of the pooling point, or Internet exchange point (IXP). We demonstrate how our trading system will operate by presenting a use case in which a network topology is constructed using resources from multiple providers, be it Internet service providers (ISPs), or National Research Experimental Network (NREN) providers. The use case also shows how a dynamic reconfiguration can be effected by the customer though the use of simple access control policies, without involving the provider     

The North Carolina information highway

What is probably the most unique aspect of the North Carolina information highway is the spirit of cooperation that exists between the public and private sectors, as well as cooperation within each of those sectors. North Carolina initiated the first state-wide information highway to utilize asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching and synchronous optical network (SONET) transmission equipment. Several trials have been conducted using ATM technology, but this is the first operational network to be deployed on such a large scale. The initial sites include hospitals, universities, community colleges, public schools, correctional facilities, and various administrative government locations. North Carolina requested that telephone companies within the state work together to develop a proposal for a comprehensive network that would not only serve state government applications, but the applications of current and prospective businesses in the state. This allows the state to share risks associated with building the first network of this type, and also places the responsibility for operations and upgrades with the telephone companies, so that their expertise in these areas can be utilized     

VISTAnet deployment and system integration experiences

VISTAnet is a three-year research effort that involves the deployment of prototype broadband switching systems interconnecting specialized supercomputers. The project partners include BellSouth, GTE, MCNC, North Carolina State University (NCSU), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). In addition to the deployment and evaluation of experimental network facilities, the project supports research activities in several areas: gigabit communications, metacomputing, advanced visualization techniques, and medical treatment planning techniques, specifically dynamic radiation therapy planning. VISTAnet is organized as a testbed. It is an environment that has been established to experiment with and evaluate techniques associated with gigabit networking. These experiments include methods for moving data into and out of host computers from the application to the network at gigabit rates, demonstrations and evaluations of an application that requires gigabit networking, and interactive three-dimensional graphics techniques. The overall goal of the testbed is to advance the state-of-the-art in gigabit networking and its application. VISTAnet is one of five gigabit test beds coordinated by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives in cooperation with DARPA and NSF     

Delay-Tolerant Network Technologies Coming Together

The Delay-Tolerant Network Research Group is a working group of the Internet Research Task Force, the research sister of the Internet Engineering Task Force standards body. DTNRG originated in discussions surrounding the inadequacies of TCP/IP for deep-space and interplanetary communications, but it has become a focal point for standardizing overlay technologies that address disconnected network environments on Earth as well.     

Deployment and test of IPv6 services in the VTHD network

This article presents the deployment and test of IPv6 services in the very high broadband IP/WDM (VTHD) [L. Thual, 2003] network for new-generation Internet applications. The VTHD project is partially funded by the French government through the French Research Network for Telecom (RNRT). VTHD supports both IPv4 and IPv6 services, and interconnects research centers and institutions in France. It has a public autonomous system number (AS20603) and a public IPv6 subnet. It is connected to the IPv6 global network via open transit (France Telecom's international IP service for ISPs). VTHD in France compares with Internet2 in the United States. This article focuses on the implementation of the IPv6 service, IPv6 performance (in the context of a high-speed network), the advantages of given technologies, and problems encountered. The following items are developed: VTHD architecture, IPv6 address space and aggregation, transition mechanisms, routing protocols, network test performance, IPSec test performance, naming (DNS), and network management.     

Integrated network and service management for the NCIH

To support the North Carolina Information Highway network and its services, GTE has developed new capabilities for the integrated management of broadband networks. These include: functionally integrated network management, enabling GTE to monitor and control ATM, SONET, and other related networks in real time, these capabilities are provided by the TelOps Network Integrated Control System (TONICS); and automated service management, enabling GTE to provide service-level configuration and fault management for new broadband services, these capabilities are provided by the broadband service management system (BSMS). Together, TONICS and BSMS provide a complete and integrated solution for managing broadband networks such as the NCIH     

互联网技术发展趋势的若干问题

首先分析了当前互联网体系架构所面临的新的挑战,研究了未来互联网体系架构的发展情况,接着分析了下一代互联网(NGI)协议标准IPv6,以及互联网与下一代网络(NGN)的之间的关系。最后,指出电信网、互联网和广播电视网三网融合将是未来网络发展的必然趋势。     

Real-time VLBI system using ATM network

The Communications Research Laboratory (CRL), Tokyo, Japan, and the Telecommunication Network Laboratory Group, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Tokyo, Japan, have developed a highly precise, very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) system using a high speed asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. The observed data is transmitted through a 2.488-Gbps ATM network [STM-16/OC-48] instead of being recorded onto magnetic tape. The system was specially designed for the Key Stone Project (KSP), a project begun in 1994 to measure crustal deformation in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Cross-correlation processing and data observations are carried out simultaneously by one operator. It takes about one hour to analyze the data after the observations and correlations are completed. In regular geodetic VLBI experiments run every other day for 24 h, a horizontal position uncertainty of about 2 mm and a vertical position uncertainty of about 10 mm were achieved. The system was designed to enable automated operation throughout the entire process. The results obtained are available to the public via the Internet at http:ksp.crl.go.jp. This system is a significant advance in VLBI and should provide more precise information about crustal deformation in the Tokyo metropolitan area     

下一代互联网络与IPv6技术

下一代互联网与IPv6是未来网络发展的重点。网络和业务正在趋向于进一步的融合，用一个网络完成电信网、计算机网、广电网的各种业务通信，一直是人们追求的目标。这种融合一定程度上依附于统一的网络技术平台的建立，IPv6技术无疑是未来的代表。广电行业在启动数字电视建设的同时，更应该关注下一代网络技术的前瞻性建设课题。就下一代互联网与IPv6的发展进程、意义、主要研究内容、现状、以及与产业化相关的方面进行介绍。     

可信任的下一代互联网及其发展

目前下一代互联网技术中解决互联网的安全可信问题的研究还不充分。中国在可信任下一代互联网方面已有一些研究进展。清华大学等单位完成的国家高技术研究发展计划资助项目("863"计划)"可信任下一代互联网关键技术及应用示范研究"针对当前互联网存在的安全可信问题,在重点解决互联网真实地址访问技术难题的基础上,设计和实现了可信任的互联网基础设施、安全服务和典型应用的原型系统。可信任下一代互联网有望为构造可信任计算机网应用、可信任电信网应用、可信任广电网应用提供支持。     

Medical applications in a B-ISDN field trial

The need for high-speed communications networks that enable users to access remote resources will accelerate the development of many innovative distributed applications in the health care industry. A B-ISDN field trial network has been developed in North Carolina as a multiservice testbed for advanced applications research and development. The paper describes the research on two high-performance medical applications, the network equipment, and terminal interface adapters that have been implemented to serve those applications, and the insights that have been gained from this field trial experience     

NCIH services, architecture, and implementation

The telecommunications planners for the North Carolina State Government recognising the potential of asynchronous transfer mode and synchronous optical network, asked BellSouth, Carolina Telephone, and GTE to develop a proposal for a network based on ATM and SONET to enable a multitude of high-speed data and video applications throughout the state. This B-ISDN, now known as the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH), has become widely recognized as a model for the National Information Infrastructure (NII). The services provided by the NCIH are designed to be able to support numerous emerging applications that are expected to provide significant benefits in the areas of education, health care, crime control, economic development, and government     

基于蓝牙技术的嵌入式网络接入点设计与实现

蓝牙技术作为一种短距离、低成本的无线通信技术标准,具有低功耗和稳定性强的特点,已广泛应用于各类手持移动设备中。本文阐述了一种将移动或固定数据终端设备通过无线蓝牙技术在短距离内实现无线接入局域网或Internet的嵌入式网络接入点(NAP)设计。     

Network management for the NCIH

The North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) will support many applications, including distance learning, LAN interconnection, video conferencing, law enforcement, and health care. Initially, the NCIH is supporting distance learning and local area network (LAN) interconnection applications for the North Carolina State Government. The operations plan for the NCIH was driven by end-user service requirements, network operator requirements, and the network architecture. The NCIH is a multi-vendor, multi-carrier ATM network offering a 155-Mb/s OC-3c SONET/ATM customer access interface to support many applications. BellSouth, along with Bellcore, Fujitsu, NTI, and other carriers, has developed and implemented an operations plan for managing the NCIH     

面向移动互联网发展的3G Teleco 2.0

面向移动互联网,电信运营商的运营模式必须向Teleco2.0演进。IP多媒体子系统（IMS）将主要用于为企业大客户服务,而面向消费大众的娱乐化网络新媒体业务将基于智能结点重叠网/分布式业务网络（INON/DSN）。核心网将向扁平化演进,从I-HSPA到系统结构演进（SAE）,甚至进一步直接用互联网做核心网。客户端加门户模式配合云计算可以使廉价手机访问基于超文本传输协议（HTTP）的互联网。包月是用户唯一能够接受模式,廉价合理的价格将促进移动互联网大发展。