Alcatel strengthens support of the Internet2 project with broad range of new technologies - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Nov 29, 1999

With recently acquired former Internet2 corporate partners Packet Engines and Xylan, Alcatel has pledged to continue the work with Internet2 and broaden its solution offering to include technology from newly acquired Assured Access and Internet Devices.

Alcatel has spent approximately $7 billion on technology acquisitions over the last two years to build its IP solution set. Its product range includes an extensive set of switching, routing, access and convergence technologies for the carrier and enterprise.

"Alcatel, with its recent acquisitions, brings a comprehensive set of technology and expertise as it works with Internet2 universities. We are pleased it has extended its commitment," said Greg Wood, director of communications for University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID).

Internet2 is a joint effort of more than 155 U.S. universities, the federal government, and leaders in the information technology industry to accelerate the availability of new Internet services and applications.

Launched in 1996 and led by the nonprofit UCAID, Internet2 focuses on enabling advanced applications such as telemedicine, digital libraries and virtual laboratories.

Alcatel collaborates with several Internet2 universities, including George Washington University, University of California Los Angeles, Pennsylvania State University, Harvard University, Texas A&M University, and University of North Texas.

The company's efforts have centered on delivering a wide range of high-speed connections and advanced software to ensure security and quality of service in both unicast and multicast environments.

"In the past our efforts have been focused on niche applications within Internet2. But the scope is changing; with our new products and capabilities we are in a position to deliver a strong set of convergence technologies that extend network services from the core to the edge," said Steve Kim, president and chief executive officer of Alcatel's internetworking activities.

"We want to reflect our new product breadth in our work on Internet2."

George Washington University wants to promote life-long learning by providing access to its resources and facilitating research collaboration over the Internet. Using switches from Alcatel, GWU is working to deliver secure voice, video, data and multimedia network services to the region.

"We want to create a virtual campus enabling people in offices, homes and labs around the world to access our services and resources. With Alcatel and UCAID, we are building a strong delivery platform," said David Swartz, chief information officer at George Washington University.

Pennsylvania State University works with Alcatel and UCAID to extend access to its high-performance distributed computing system. The university uses multiple clusters of high-end computers spread across different universities as a super cluster. The initiative provides an alternative to costly mainframe computers costing millions of dollars.

"To provide the necessary high-performance computing environment, we use Alcatel solutions to provide high bandwidth, low-latency inter-processor communication to achieve supercomputer class performance at a much lower cost," said Vijay Agarwala, manager of Numerically-Intensive Computing Group at Pennsylvania State University's Center for Academic Computing.

The Network Research Laboratory (NRL) at the University of North Texas works with Alcatel and UCAID to enhance QoS and provide mobile access to its resources with the Internet as transport vehicle.

On an isolated segment of the network, NRL has started to simulate network delays and cell losses to determine the affect on users. Taking the simulations a step further, the university has integrated mobile codes to monitor routes, costs and performances.

"The potential is enormous. The private and public sectors are interested in collaborative supercomputing over the Internet to tap resources all over the world and save costs in capital equipment," said Armin Mikler, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science and director of NRL at the University of North Texas.

"To make Internet-enabled high-performance computing feasible, we are working with Alcatel to push the boundaries of QoS and mobile technical development."

Internet2 is a collaborative project with more than 155 U.S. research universities, in partnership with industry leaders and U.S. federal agencies, to develop a new family of advanced applications to meet emerging academic requirements in research, teaching and learning.

Internet2 is addressing this challenge by creating a leading-edge network capability, enabling a new generation of applications, and integrating these efforts with the current academic Internet services.

The Internet2 project is led by the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, which seeks to provide leadership and direction for advanced networking development within the U.S. university community.

Alcatel builds next-generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 21.3 billion ($25.0 billion), Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries.