This award, called CIREN: Consortium of International Research and Education Network will provide high performance research and education connectivity between the US and Asia. To provide cross-Pacific connectivity, the CIREN will provision a high-speed circuit between the US west coast and Tokyo. From Tokyo, the Project, with significant contributions from Asia, will construct an intra-Asia backbone consisting of two links. This first link will be between Tokyo and Hong Kong, facilitating Chinese connectivity. The second link will be between Hong Kong and Singapore (possibly Tokyo and Singapore), and will provide a backbone peering point and connectivity for South Asia as well as a potential connection point for India.
James G Williams
Principal Investigator
Award: SCI - 0441096
The NSF-funded Consortium of International Research and Education Network (CIREN) project—TransPAC and TransPAC2—provided high-performance research and education network connectivity between the US and Asia, specifically between Los Angeles and Tokyo. In Los Angeles, TransPAC2 connected to the US research and education networks (Internet2, ESnet, NLR and others). In Tokyo, TransPAC2 connected to the Asia Pacific Advanced Networks (APAN) and other networks in Asia. Figure 1 represents the initial configuration of TransPAC2 in May 2005. Figure 1 includes the contributions by our Japanese partners, the National Institute of Informatics (NII) and the National Institute of Information and Communications (NICT). During the course of the award the TransPAC2 network expanded with respect to bandwidth and area served. One important development in this respect was the addition of a network connection to Pakistan (from Singapore to Karachi). Although this connection was small (155Mbps), it represented the first global research and education network connection for Pakistan and was heavily used by the physics community in Pakistan, among other science groups. This work led to the TransPAC2 Principal Investigator’s direct involvement in Department of State diplomatic activities with respect to Pakistan. Figure 2 represents the Pakistan research and education network. Also, during the course of the award, the European Commission funded the TIEN3 Project. TEIN3 provided significant additional network connectivity within South and Southeast Asia. TransPAC2 provided TEIN3 with access to US scientists. This direct US connectivity and the TransPAC2 connection to Pakistan are excellent examples of successful cooperation between the US and the EU in network deployment. Figure 3 represents the final topology of the TransPAC2 project, including both the Pakistan link and the TEIN3 connections. In addition to providing network connections from the US to Asia, the TransPAC2 project facilitated numerous US-Asia science interactions. These include facilitating remote medical and telemedicine interactions between the US and Asia, astronomy interactions between the US and Asia and globally (e.g., the e-VLBI project) and high energy physics research. TransPAC2 also contributed to human resources development by hosting undergraduate student interns during both the academic year and during the summer. These interns developed software for the project and wrote a paper describing how international networks (those served by TransPAC2) could connect to the US GENI research test-bed. In addition to deploying network infrastructure and supporting scientists and students, the TransPAC2 project, many times in conjunction with Internet2, developed a set of network support tools, including measurement tools, dynamic circuit tools, and security applications. Finally, due to careful tracking of expenses and direct and pointed negotiations by the Principal Investigator, the TransPAC2 project finished under budget.
