Other Next Generation Internets...

My last post centered on the details of one specific development effort to develop and test the next generation of the Internet, led by universities, research labs and government agencies, known most commonly as Internet2. I do not want to confuse the reader into thinking that Internet2 is the only existing network working with new technology to lead the charge for the next generation Internet. While the majority of Internet2 members are and is funded by universities, other groups have made large inroads into developing their own vision/implementation of a future Internet.

The most commonly known group, known as NGI (Next Generation Internet), was formed by congressional and presidential order in 1996. Its goals were threefold: to continue networking research, to create advanced test beds and to develop revolutionary applications. The NGI initiative provided much needed research for handling real time multimedia traffic. Its test bed goal had two parts – part one was to network over 100 locations, end to end, with connectivity speeds up to 100 times the 1Gbps rate of the Internet at that time, part two was to connect at least 10 locations at speeds of 1000 times the 1Gbps rate. The NGI successfully implemented several new applications geared toward high-speed, secure networking including national security applications, tools for laboratories to collaborate with each other, and provided assistance to universities by developing distance education applications.

The life cycle of the NGI initiative was only five years, from 1997 to 2002. Although the 1Tbps goal was never achieved by the NGI initiative, its work was taken over by the LSN (Large Scale Networking) group of the NITRD (National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development). This coordinating group continues the NGI’s research to this day. Other groups working towards development of a next generation Internet include:

Euro-NGI
China Education and Research Network 2 (CERNET2)
Next Generation IX Consortium
NGI-NZ SocietyInternet2
Several of these groups have announced the formation of the Global Terabit Research Network (GTRN), however it does not appear to be an official entity (at least there is little to be found in researching this other than press releases announcing its formation in 2002.)

The goals of these varied groups, although generally nationalistic, have common ground. Each group is working to not only increase network capacity, but also new technology including but not limited to security and performance measurement improvements which are very important to the growth of the Internet.

Our current Internet incubated within US government programs by DARPA and NSF. From this came university and research center involvement. This grew into the commercialization of the Internet and into what it is for us today – a commodity which is competitively provided.

This next generation Internet, being researched and implemented by so many organizations; some solely government based, others a collaboration of government and education/research institutions, still others incorporating input from the business sector, should provide a much larger springboard to commercialization than the current Internet. As ISPs begin to upgrade their networks in order to support and connect to these networks, as hardware and software providers continue to grow their product lines to support faster connections and newer protocols, and as we the consumer demand higher bandwidth capabilities to support our never satisfied desire for more multi-media specific content, this next generation Internet should become a reality.