• Spring 2004 International Main page
• ITF Meeting: 1st Part (Mon)
• ITF Meeting: 2nd Part (Mon)
• Global Connectivity: Case Studies (Tues)
• Extending the reach of advanced networking Workshop (Thurs)
• Spring 2004 Member Meeting

Welcome and Introduction
Ana Preston, Internet2 (USA) [presentation]

Update on International Connections and Internet2
Ana Preston, Internet2 (USA) [presentation]

International Middleware: network authentication - middleware and security intersection

Panel introduction
Ana Preston, Internet2 (USA)

Security at Line Speed (SALSA) Update
Charles Yun, Internet2 (US) [presentation]

TERENA TF-Mobility, Wireless Roaming Update
Tim Chown, University of Southampton, and UKERNA (UK) [presentation] [pdf]

The growing deployment of Wireless LAN within European universities has led to an interest in mechanisms to allow seamless roaming for users between universities. The TERENA Task Force for Mobility (TF-Mobility) has analysed existing mechanisms for WLAN access control and studied these mechanisms for their potential scalability to a pan-European solution. The main methods identified were restricted VPN access, web-redirection authentication, and 802.1x port-based access control. The latter two methods support RADIUS referrals. A European hierarchy of RADIUS referral has been proposed as one scalable solution (using site, national research network and European RADIUS servers); this has been validated technically and now studies of usage, and in particular security issues, are underway. In this presentation we will describe the results of the analysis to date, and the RADIUS referral trials. We will also describe trials in the UK, through the UKERNA Wireless Advisory Group, that include use of a specific solution called Roamnode designed at the University of Bristol. We will conclude with a summary of the open issues, and the potential avenues for interoperability with technology being developed within the Internet 2 community, in particular Shibboleth.

Q&A followed by discussion

BREAK

Hybrid network architectures providing shared IP + circuit-based services:
what's happening now and what are the issues in planning for international connections and interoperability

GMPLS Interoperability Test in Super SINET
Hirokazu Ishimatsu, Japan Telecom (Japan) [presentation]

Generalized multi-protocol label switching (GMPLS) has been actively studied as a network control technique for the next generation optical networks. In the Super SINET research project led by National Institute of Informatics in Japan, we have recently succeeded in achieving interoperability of four major GMPLS protocols (OSPF-TE, RSVP-TE, LMP and LMP-WDM), and router-to-router all-optical wavelength path rerouting by GMPLS using IP routers, photonic cross-connects (PXCs) and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. Moreover, for the transmission line, a 30-km-long installed fiber was used between DWDM equipment.

Experiments with 10 GE long-haul transmissions in academic and research networks
Jan Radil and Miroslav Karásek, CESNET (Czech Republic) [presentation]

In our contribution we present both theoretical and experimental results on 10 GE optical packet transmissions (both single-channel and multi-channel) over standard G.652 fibre without deployment of in-line erbium doped fibre amplifiers (EDFA). We call this approach Nothing-In-Line (NIL). In academic and research networks where dark fibres are extensively deployed the utilization of in-line EDFAs has many drawbacks. They demand electric power supplies, increase the probability of network breakdown and require regular maintenance in remote sites. As far as we know, theoretical analysis of maximum reach of 10 GE transmissions over G.652 links without in-line EDFAs has not so far been performed. In our experiments we used EDFAs, Raman fibre amplifiers (RFA) and commercially available and cheap optical components (directional couplers, optical tuneable filters).

We have demonstrated NIL error-free transmission of 2x10 GE + 2x1 GE over 202 km and 2x10 GE over 252 km of G.652 fibre . These results are encouraging especially for operators of national research and educational networks who rely on leased dark fibres and prefer as long NIL distances as possible. From our practical results follows that it is possible to overcome distances among all major cities in the Czech Republic and the results are employable for most of the European research networks too.

Optical Networking Deployments in Latin America
Tereza Cristina M. B. Carvalho (USP, Brazil), Michael A. Stanton (RNP, Brazil) [presentation]

Several separate optical networking initiatives are currently underway in Chile and Brazil.

In Chile, the national networking organisation, REUNA, is carrying out the first phase of its transition to G-REUNA (Giga-REUNA), with the establishment of a 250 km optical networking testbed between the cities of Valparaíso and Santiago, connecting three universities as well as REUNA itself, using Gigabit Ethernet over DWDM. This project which got underway in 2003, is supported by the Chilean agency FONDEF, and includes the development of technologies at optical, IP network and applications levels. (See http://redesopticas.reuna.cl/.)

A similar, larger (700 km) optical networking testbed, the GIGA Project, is being established in southeastern Brazil between seven cities in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, by the national networking organisation RNP (www.rnp.br/en/) in partnership with the (telecommunications industry) Research and Development Foundation, CPqD (www.cpqd.com.br). This network, which will commence operation in May 2004, connects 20 institutions of research and higher education, using Gigabit Ethernet over DWDM and CWDM, in the long-distance and metro networks, respectively. The project is funded by FUNTTEL (Fund for the the Development of Telecommunications Technology), and has as objective the development and demonstration of optical and IP networking technologies, as well as application technologies, towards which two thirds of the total funding has been directed. (See http://www.projetogiga.com.br/.)

In the second semester of 2003, the TIDIA (Information Technology in the Development of Advanced Internet) Program was launched in the state of São Paulo, in Brazil, funded by the FAPESP agency. This program includes the KyaTera and e-learning projects besides the creation of a Virtual Incubator for collaborative development projects of virtual contents. The KyaTera Project will establish an optical networking testbed, consisting of a dark fiber mesh, which will simultaneously allow for experimental tests of new network concepts or optical devices, as well as for demonstrating new applications of the future Internet. In order to provide sufficient versatility to allow simultaneous investigations prioritizing academic uses, multiple fiber cables and/or wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) approaches will be used. (See http://www.tidia.fapesp.br/.)

The major result of all three of these networking testbeds is to acquire the necessary experience for developing the research and education networks of tomorrow in both Chile and Brazil.

HOPI project
Rick Summerhill, Internet2 (USA) [presentation]