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["Greg Wood" <>]

Contact:
Greg Wood
Internet2

+1-202-331-5360

LEADING INTERNET VENDORS TEST INTERNET2 QUALITY OF SERVICE TECHNOLOGY
First Qcon Event Tests Emerging IETF Internet QoS Standard

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina--November 12, 1999--Network engineers
from Internet2 corporate members gathered last week for the first Qcon
Interop event to test Internet Protocol (IP) Quality of Service technology.
Advanced network applications such as better-than-TV quality video and
real-time collaboration require Quality of Service (QoS)
technology being developed by the Internet2(tm) QBone initiative to provide
the guaranteed network performance not possible with today's Internet
technology.

"This event provided experience and information on the status of commercial
implementations differentiated service that will further serve as a
significant proof of concept test of expedited-forwarding based premium
service that we are developing and deploying as part of the Internet2 QBone
initiative," said Ben Teitelbaum, chair of the Internet2 Quality of Service
Working Group.

Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Hitachi and Cabletron Systems provided
equipment which was tested with support from Netcom Systems. Tests provided
quantitative measures to validate implementations of the differentiated
services (DiffServ) components of standards currently under consideration by
the Internet Engineering Task Force. These standards aim to provide QoS for
IP networks. Extensive results from the Qcon event, which will be published
next month, will provide valuable information on the state and quality of IP
QoS implementations in commercial routers.

Qcon, held at the North Carolina Super Computer Center, was sponsored by the
Internet2 QBone initiative, Netcom Systems, the North Carolina Network
Initiative (NCNI) and North Carolina State University. As the first of a
planned series of events, last week marked initial progress towards
developing an automated suite which will allow the Internet2 community to
test DiffServ implementations.

For more information about the Internet2 QBone initiative, see:
http://www.internet2.edu/qos/qbone/

About Internet2(tm)
The Internet2 project is being led by over 160 leading US universities,
working with industry and government, to enable and facilitate the advanced
network applications necessary to meet emerging needs in higher education.
Internet2 participants are developing the broadband applications,
engineering and network management tools for research and education. For
more information on Internet2, a project of the University Corporation for
Advanced Internet Development (UCAID), please see:
http://www.internet2.edu/

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Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 10:36:25 -0800 (PST)
From: Susan Brandt 
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Subject: Internet Speed Records Shattered by UW/Sony/MS/NCSA Team
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                   New Network Speed Records Set
              
 
PORTLAND, Oregon, November 15, 1999 -- Seven high technology leaders
collaborated at SC99 today to set a number of internet speed records,
demonstrating that long-distance gigabit-per-second networking is 
ready for prime time and that next generation Internet technologies and
capabilities are emerging in applications, in end-systems, and in
network infrastructure.

To set the stage, at the network infrastructure level, the DARPA-sponsored
National Transparent Optical Network (NTON), the University of
Washington-led Pacific/Northwest Gigapop (P/NWGP), and Nortel Networks
joined forces to deliver 2.4 gigabits per second (Gbps) of
packet-over-SONET based standard Internet capacity from the Microsoft
Corp. and University of Washington (UW) campuses, through a shared point
of presence at the Pacific/Northwest Gigapop in Seattle, to the SC99
exhibition hall in Portland.

Microsoft, the National Computational Science Alliance (Alliance), the
University of Washington (UW) and Sony (in support of the ResearchTV
consortium) demonstrated two working, real-time gigabit applications in
their coordinated SC99 exhibits.  Further, the UW, Microsoft, the Alliance
and Sony were able to run these applications concurrently, setting a
record of well over 2 Gbps in aggregate throughput -- by a wide margin
clearly the fastest real-time applications ever run over a wide area
network.

Earlier this year, the UW and Sony were the first to demonstrate live
studio quality, High Definition Television (HDTV) broadcasts over
Internet2/Abilene. Today, in another record-breaking effort, they and the
partnership successfully transmitted a real-time gigabit HDTV stream of
five simultaneous channels of minimally-compressed, studio-quality HDTV
over the internet, using industry-standard HDTV video, 'Wintel' computer
systems, and networking equipment from leading vendors such as Juniper.  
Each channel within the overall stream consumed more than 200
million-bits-per-second (Mbps), for a total of well over a
billion-bits-per-second in concurrent throughput in a state-of-the-art
real-time application setting a new internet speed record.

"More than just showing the stunning quality and immediacy that next
generation internet capabilities can bring to the desktop computers, TV's
and HDTV's around the world, this demonstration illustrates the
feasibility of regularly using Internet transport technology for the
real-time delivery of extraordinarily high quality video, virtual reality,
tele-medicine, and other imaging streams" said UW Vice President Ron
Johnson.  He added that the demonstration shows "it is now possible to run
distributed broadband applications over high-speed, next generation
Internet WANS using hardware and software available in the consumer
market".  The demo used broadcast and Internet standards, Sony's suite of
HDTV gear, off-the-shelf networking equipment, and commodity PCs with
Microsoft NT running custom high performance software the UW C&C group
developed using Microsoft Visual Studio and other tools.

By way of comparison, the UW/Sony/ResearchTV demonstration is the
equivalent of the simultaneous transmission of the entire channel lineup
of a 150 channel cable TV system, or of 50 channels of broadcast quality
HDTV, five feature movies, or interactions among a large number of
high-resolution video walls, shared virtual realities, &/or immersive
environments. And, it shows that the internet is capable of speeds and
quality impossible to achieve with traditional broadcast technologies.

Microsoft and the Alliance and the partners demonstrated that it is now
possible to send a gigabit-per-second TCP/IP stream from one Windows 2000
workstation to another over a WAN.  Microsoft teamed with the Alliance's
NT cluster development team and with the National Laboratory for Applied
Network Research (NLANR) to verify that Windows 2000 TCP/IP software
performance scales at Gbps rates on long-distance networks. This work
demonstrates speed breakthroughs in end-to-end workstation internetworking
and shows the capabilities of Windows 2000 TCP/IP.

"Our role in NLANR is to work with application teams to help them harness
the capabilities of high performance networks," said Larry Smarr, director
of the Alliance and NCSA, the leading-edge site for the Alliance. "Because
many of these applications involve Windows workstations, gigabit per
second performance of Windows over wide area networks is a capability that
impacts the entire high performance computing community."

Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the Platforms Division at Microsoft
Corp., said this demonstration showed that distributed computing over
high-speed, long-distance networks is a major part of the future for the
Windows OS.  "This exhibition shows that Windows 2000 truly is a broadband
operating system prepared for the next millennium.  Microsoft is thrilled
that Windows 2000 is able to display its gigabit-readiness through such a
tremendously innovative engineering feat."

Ed Lazowska, Chair of UW's Computer Science & Engineering Department,
added that "enabling gigabit networking capabilities on what will
eventually be tens of millions of desktops is the first step
in unleashing developers worldwide to create the next generation of
applications, architectures and content."

Together, these collaborative demonstrations show that the era of
gigabit-per-second networking and the next generation of Internet
applications and content is at hand.

The joint demonstrations will continue throughout the rest of SC99. For
demonstration times, visit the Alliance research booth (R300) or the joint
demo booth (RE602), or to see the demonstrations go to the UW research
booth (RE602) where the suite of coordinated demos are being run.

For info on the demo's network aspects see:
www.washington.edu/hdtv/sc99/net


About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide
range of products and services designed to empower people through great
software - any time, any place and on any device. Microsoft and Windows
are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the
United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names
herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About the Alliance/NCSA

The National Computational Science Alliance is a partnership to prototype
an advanced computational infrastructure for the 21st century and includes
more than 50 academic, government and industry research partners from
across the United States. The Alliance is one of two partnerships funded
by the National Science Foundation's Partnerships for Advanced
Computational Infrastructure (PACI) program, and receives cost-sharing at
partner institutions. NSF also supports the National Partnership for
Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI), led by the San Diego
Supercomputer Center. The National Center for Supercomputing Applications
is the leading-edge site for the Alliance. NCSA is a leader in the
development and deployment of cutting-edge high-performance computing,
networking, and information technologies. The National Science Foundation,
the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, industrial partners,
and other federal agencies fund NCSA.

About The University of Washington (UW) 

The University of Washington is one of the world's leading research
institutions. While the UW has great strength in a comprehensive array of
disciplines and professions in technical and non-technical realms, it is
especially well known for its world class programs in computer science and
the health sciences, and for its long and continuing role in the evolution
of the Internet, Internet messaging technologies, software agents, and
digital convergence in new media. For more information see
www.washington.edu/hdtv/sc99

About ResearchTV 

ResearchTV is a consortium of many of the world's leading research
institutions that is dedicated to providing greater, much more timely, and
far broader access to progress in, and the findings and outcomes of
university, government and corporate R&D efforts. In partnership with
UCAID ResearchTV also conducts core Internet2 (www.internet2.edu)  
broadcast and high speed demand video initiatives. For more information
see http://www.washington.edu/researchtv

About Sony

Sony Electronics is the premier provider of leading-edge digital video
technology for broadcast, production and HDTV, as well as exceptional
quality consumer electronics, computer, and display products. The
University of Washington and Sony have partnered successfully to pioneer
HDTV over Internet capabilities. For more information, see
www.sony.com/professional


About NLANR

The National Laboratory for Applied Network Research is an NSF-supported
collaboration to provide technical, engineering and traffic analysis
support for NSF's High Performance Connections sites and the broad vBNS
user community. NLANR major activities are performed by three teams: a
distributed applications support team based at the University of Illinois'
National Center for Supercomputing Applications; a measurement and
analysis team based at the San Diego Supercomputer Center; and a
networking engineering support team based at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing
Center.


About the Pacific/Northwest Gigapop (P/NWGP) 

The Pacific/Northwest Gigapop is the northwest's next generation Internet
applications cooperative, testbed, and point of presence. P/NWGP connects
universities as well as research institutions and R&D enterprises
throughout Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Oregon, to one another,
to the next generation Internet backbones (including vBNS,
Internet2/Abilene and now NTON), to federal research networks, and to
super-high-performance commodity internets.  For more information, see
www.pnwgp.net

About NTON

The National Transparent Optical Network links government, research and
private sector labs and provides the ability to interface with most of the
broadband research networks in the U.S. NTON is a 2000 km 10-20 Gbs
Wavelength Division Multiplexed network deployed using in-place commercial
fiber. NTON provides direct access to nearly all of the major universities
on the West Coast at data rates up to, and potentially beyond, 2.5 Gbs.
For more information, see  http://www.ntonc.org

Contacts:
Jennifer Todd, Waggener Edstrom/Microsoft, 
,
  425-637-9097 
David Richardson, University of Washington, 
,
   206-543-2876
Karen Green, NCSA/Alliance, 
,
 217-265-0748
Susan Brandt, ResearchTV, 
,
 212-414-4672
Lisa Young, Sony Electronics, 
,
 408-955-5683
Jacqueline Brown, P/NWGP, 
,
 206-934-5588

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