The Works of DANTE - Issue 6

GÉANT2 supports global networking initiatives

GMI 2006 Traffic Passes via GÉANT2 Network

GÉANT2 and JANET network links connect international sites for Global MSF Interoperability event
GÉANT2 was recently used to route traffic for the world’s first multi-vendor global IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) network interoperability trial, GMI 2006.

GMI 2006 was held between 16 and 27 October, and brought together a number of the world’s leading carriers and vendors to test the interoperability of IMS-based infrastructure components in a real-world setting. The event provided tangible proof of multi-vendor interoperability for carrier class, QoS enabled, end-to-end voice and multimedia services originating and terminating on fixed and mobile IMS networks, using MSF Release 3 Implementation Agreements.
GMI 2006 is hugely important to any carrier or vendor committed to building or implementing infrastructure elements compatible with IMS. The event was hosted by BT in the UK, Verizon and the University of New Hampshire Interoperability lab in the US, KT in Korea and NTT in Japan. Both KT and NTT used GÉANT2 and UKERNA’s JANET networks to route traffic during the event.

Dai Davies, DANTE's General Manager said: "Research Networks serve as a seedbed and testing ground for tomorrow’s networking technology. We are delighted to be co-operating with telecommunication service providers in GMI 2006 to prove new technology concepts.”

More at: http://www.msforum.org/interoperability/GMI.shtml

Korean culture streamed to Spanish centres via GÉANT2 and RedIRIS

GÉANT2 and RedIRIS provide European networking support for “DancingQ 2006” global demo

Coss-cultural understanding between Korea and Spain was the aim of a recent event, held simultaneously in Seoul and Barcelona. Research Networks from across the world collaborated on a demonstration which sent an uncompressed HDTV-broadcast from Korea to Spain, over the research and education backbones. The partners organising the show were i2CAT in Spain, and KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Sciences and Technology) in Korea.  

The event was held not only to test the technology, but in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Korea’s Nulhui Dance Company. A performance by dancers in Seoul was streamed in HDTV to Barcelona’s Mercat de las Flors theatre. Dancing performances such as these require the transmission of simultaneous sound and video. For a successful event there can be no delay or separation of the audio and video streams. Real-time high-density television transfers rely upon the availability of high bandwidth connections, low packet loss and an absence of jitter. This was achieved by creating MPLS and Gigabit-Ethernet circuits across several network domains, stitched together to join Seoul with Barcelona. The result is a demo which truly tested the boundaries of the current technology, the equipment available and the networking services provided.

The Spanish NREN, RedIRIS, provided connectivity from Barcelona to Madrid, with GÉANT2 creating a dedicated transatlantic path to New York. The traffic passed to Canada's CANARIE network, through CANARIE's direct peering with GÉANT2 in New York. The route configured for the data then headed West across North America, going trans-Pacific before landing in Korea.

GÉANT2’s ability to establish point-to-point connections, even for brief periods, opens up new possibilities for network users. This technology is now being embraced by researchers right across the world, creating all kinds of opportunities for e-science, e-health and e-culture.