The award for "High-Performance Network Connectivity for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln" is made under the high performance connections category of DNCRI's "Connections to the Internet" announcement, NSF 96-64. It provides support for interconnecting UNL's ATM-based campus network infrastructure to the Very High-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS) via the Great Plains network, a high-performance regional network dedicated to supporting the research needs of Great Plains universities. In addition to supporting meritorious research at the University of Nebraska, the high performance connection to the vBNS will permit the University to contribute more effectively to the Internet2 project as well as participate with NCSA in PACI. The award will partially fund the installation and operation of a DS-3 circuit from the Great Plains network gigapop in Kansas City to a vBNS connection point in Chicago over a two-year period. Research projects in the areas of earth systems science, inverse electrocardiography, image understanding (image analysis), mobile IP and cryptography expect to make use of the high-performance network partially supported by this award. Collaborating institutions on these projects include the USGS/EROS Data Center, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service, the USDA/Forest Service, NASA, the University of South Carolina, Creighton University, South Dakota State University, Western Michigan University, Kansas State University, Ben-Gurion University (Israel), the Salk Research Institute, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory and various U.S. Air Force Laboratories. This award will allow the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to expand its collaborative efforts.
