News for and about the Internet2 community

[Lauren Rotman <>]

Internet2 and Partners Demonstrate First Uncompressed High-Definition  
Videoconference Using Dynamic Circuit Networks

High-definition video technology over revolutionary dynamic circuit  
networks (DCN) previewed at the Internet2 member meeting creates a  
collaboration environment that is essential for new innovations in  
science, research, the arts, telemedicine and beyond.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – October 15, 2008  - This week at its annual Fall  
Member Meeting in New Orleans, La., Internet2 together with several  
collaborators will showcase the first uncompressed high-definition  
videoconference application over revolutionary dynamic circuit  
networks (DCN). The demonstrations will highlight the promise of DCN  
and high-definition video technology to create the ultimate  
collaboration environment that can support new innovation in science,  
research, the arts, telemedicine and beyond.

“The Internet2 community is deploying dynamic circuit networks to  
empower its users with the ability to self-provision dedicated point- 
to-point optical circuits on demand for applications that require very  
reliable high capacity connections for short intervals of time,” said  
Rob Vietzke, Internet2 executive director of network services.  
“Uncompressed high-definition video is a natural fit for DCN as it  
requires about 1.5 gigabits of dedicated capacity to create a real- 
life, real-time visually stunning video experience.”

iHDTV™ Demo

On October 15, Ed Seidel, director of the office of  
cyberinfrastructure at the National Science Foundation (NSF) will host  
a live tour of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Control Center in  
France and will moderate a virtual Q&A with Jim Virdee, spokesperson  
for the LHC’s CMS detector – one of six detectors at the LHC; Jim  
Strait, Accelerator Physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory  
and Harvey Newman, professor of physics at the California Institute of  
Technology.

Also known as the “Big Bang Machine,” the LHC, located in Geneva,  
Switzerland is the world’s largest particle accelerator. It will  
produce over 15 million gigabytes of data annually, which scientists  
around the world hope will yield valuable insights into the origins of  
mass and matter. The LHC community was a primary driver for the  
development of DCN services and is actively deploying the technology  
in anticipation of their massive data transfer needs when the LHC  
begins operation in 2009.

The demo will showcase the use of iHDTV™ software. Developed by the  
ResearchChannel and the University of Washington, iHDTV will be used  
to stream uncompressed 1080i high-definition video between the  
conference floor in New Orleans and LHC’s Control Center at CERN in  
Prevessin, France. The technology interoperates internationally across  
three DCN network domains including the Louisiana Optical Network  
Initiative (LONI), Internet2 and US LHCNet.

“New dynamic networking, as well as advanced video technology being  
pioneered by the research and education community, will play a  
critical role in supporting the next wave of scientific collaboration  
and discovery,” said Dr. Ed Seidel, director of the office of  
cyberinfrastructure for the National Science Foundation. “I’m  
gratified to see such an impressive display of video technology using  
advanced dynamic circuit networks – both of which are important to our  
nation’s cyberinfrastructure in providing a truly collaborative  
foundation for new discovery.”

The session will be netcast and archived for worldwide viewing:
http://events.internet2.edu/2008/fall-mm/sessionDetails.cfm?session=10000236&event=911

A video explaining the importance of cyberinfrastructure to supporting  
LHC, can be viewed via: http://www.internet2.edu/lhc

UltraGrid demo

On October 16, Internet2 and its partners will highlight the use of  
UltraGrid high-definition video technology. Initially developed via a  
NSF grant to University of Southern California/Information Sciences  
Institute, the UltraGrid application has is now primarily developed by  
the Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies at Masaryk  
University in Brno, Czech Republic and is supported by CESNET.

The technology will link Louisiana State University (LSU) Professor  
Thomas Sterling to students located in Brno, Czech Republic to  
showcase how advanced virtual collaboration technology can  
revolutionize the global educational environment. The video will also  
utilize international DCN connections across multiple circuit domains  
including LONI, Internet2 and the GÉANT2 AutoBAHN networks.

“Next-generation high-definition videoconferencing provides an  
impressive environment to connect students from around the world to  
subject matter experts they may not otherwise have access to at their  
home institution,” said Charlie McMahon, deputy CIO for research  
enablement, LSU. “While we have been using video technology for some  
time over IP networks, the use of dedicated facilities via dynamically  
switched networks provides us the capacity we need to make the visual  
experience that much more life like.”

The data for the UltraGrid demo will be distributed by application- 
level modular programmable UDP packet reflectors that have been  
developed over the past five years by CESNET and Laboratory of  
Advanced Networking Technologies. This technology allows for  
independence on network-native multicast, while it is possible to  
process the data in per-user specific way.

The session will be netcast and archived for worldwide viewing:
http://events.internet2.edu/2008/fall-mm/sessionDetails.cfm?session=10000237&event=911

Both iHDTV and UltraGrid technologies are under active development by  
the research and education community. Through the iHD DevCore  
partnership, the community is currently investigating how to create  
interoperability between these platforms to enable more widespread  
adoption of uncompressed high-definition video technology.

The Internet2 community extends a special tribute to the recently  
deceased Michael Wellings of the ResearchChannel at the University of  
Washington. Michael was a pioneer in developing the advanced iHDTV  
technology used for the October 15 demo and inspired the research and  
education community to imagine broad use of high-definition video as a  
fundamental enabler of advanced research collaboration.

About Internet2(R)
Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium. Led by  
the research and education community since 1996, Internet2 promotes  
the missions of its members by providing both leading-edge network  
capabilities and unique partnership opportunities that together  
facilitate the development, deployment and use of revolutionary  
Internet technologies. Internet2 brings the U.S. research and academic  
community together with technology leaders from industry, government  
and the international community to undertake collaborative efforts  
that have a fundamental impact on tomorrow's Internet.  For more  
information: http://www.internet2.edu

Contact:  Lauren Rotman, 
,
 202.331.5345