In 1990, ARPA and NSF jointly began sponsoring five gigabit network research testbeds; all are 

 expected to be operational by the end of 1993. The research at the five testbeds and at testbeds initiat- 

 ed subsequently (e.g., MAGIC sponsored by ARPA), focuses on network technology and network 

 applications, with alternative network architectures, implementations, and applications of special 

 interest. 



Each testbed explores at least one aspect of high performance distributed computing and networking; 

 together they seek to create and investigate a balanced high performance computing and communica- 

 tions environment. 



Testbed teams consist of several government agencies (ARPA, DOE, Department of the Interior, 

 NASA, NSF, state centers, and supercomputer centers), a number of universities, computer compa- 

 nies, and various local and long distance telephone companies that participate both as service 

 providers and experimenters. 



Other Projects 



ARPA-sponsored consortia and individual projects are implementing novel networks that minimize or 

 eliminate electronic content and replace it with optical technology. These efforts use alternative opti- 

 cal schemes for data rates in excess of 10 Gb/s. Industry partnerships guarantee a rapid transition of 

 the most promising technologies into the commercial sector. 



ARPA's Washington Area Bitway is a multiple-technology testbed in the Washington-Baltimore area 

 that enables early experience with advanced network technologies. The first phase, called the 

 Advanced Technology Demonstration Network (ATDnet) uses the best commercial prototypes of 

 SONET/ATM technology to provide lOOMb/s-lGb/s services to several DOD agencies and NASA. 

 Applications include ACTS ground connections, imaging, and gigabit encryption. Later phases will 

 demonstrate advanced optical technologies over the same optical fiber paths. 



Another ARPA demonstration project will show the utility of asymmetric rate/asymmetric path (Cable 

 TV and dialup) network access. Planned for the San Francisco Bay Area and for the Washington, 

 D.C. area, the project is designed to explore a relatively inexpensive alternative to satisfying the "last 

 mile" - that is, connections to homes and businesses - in high speed networking implementations. 



NSF also supports Project ACORN, a collaborative research effort with an NSF Engineering Research 

 Center and its industrial consortia, that is investigating lightwave networks of the 21st century. The 

 project's TeraNet, a laboratory implementation and feasibility demonstration, will lead to a campus- 

 wide field experiment involving leading-edge users. NSF has also begun to support research in all- 

 optical networks. 



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