CAMBRIDGE, MASS.—New funding was announced this week for the RENCI and Duke University project to develop a dark fiber network where researchers can create and manage network experiments.

RENCI and Duke will receive Spiral 2 funding of $150,000 from the National Science Foundation’s  Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) project. That money and a previous award will be used to continue developing the Breakable Experimental Network (BEN), a project of RENCI, Duke and Infinera, and to further refine the Open Resource Control Architecture (ORCA).  Originally developed by Duke computer scientist Jeff Chase, ORCA serves as the resource control system for BEN.

According to Ilia Baldine, manager of RENCI’s Network Research and Innovation Group, the new and previous NSF funding will be used to further develop the ORCA software framework so that it is easy to use and provides the stability, flexibility and assortment of tools needed to open up BEN to the network research community within the next year.

“Our goal will be to make ORCA a production system for creating and managing networking experiments on BEN by the summer of 2010,” Baldine said. “As part of this effort, we will enhance the architecture, develop user tools and new capabilities that will allow users to select appropriate resources and measurement capabilities within the network to include in their experiments.”

The GENI Spiral 2 awards were announced Oct. 12 by BBN Technolgies, the firm that manages the GENI initiative for the NSF.

For more on BEN, ORCA and GENI, see the RENCI feature story, Break this network.

GENI is a multi-year effort to construct infrastructure for a large-scale experimental network that will enable the worldwide research community to test ideas and clean-slate designs in a range of technology areas including network design, distributed systems, and cyber-security. GENI will be built using a “spiral development” approach. Spiral 1 awards were announced Sept. 29 by BBN Technologies, the advanced technology solutions firm that is managing the project for the NSF. The awards, totaling  $12 million, fund research to build, integrate, and begin to operate the first prototypes of the GENI suite of network research infrastructure. The RENCI-Duke-Infinera project will receive $640,000 over three years.

GENI Spiral 1 focuses on ways to discover, schedule and control resources for large-scale research experiments and to measure capabilities. Multiple competing approaches are being funded to provide design insights for the evolving suite of experimental infrastructure.

The RENCI-Duke-Infinera winning proposal leverages the strengths of each organization. RENCI and Duke will use ORCA (Open Resource Control Architecture)—a software framework developed at Duke—to implement a model for the GENI control plane and deploy it on the newly implemented Breakable Experimental Network (BEN) in order to create a ‘GENI island’ – a miniature version of the future GENI testbed. BEN, a RENCI-managed, regional experimental network testbed designed to push the limits of networking research, links RENCI’s home office in Chapel Hill to sites at UNC Chapel Hill, Duke and NC State University.

Infinera will provide engineering support, integrating the Infinera DTN platform deployed on BEN to enable flexible provisioning of bandwidth. Based on large-scale photonic integration, the Infinera DTN delivers 100 Gigabits/second of optical capacity on a pair of photonic integrated circuits, enabling optical networks with unprecedented capacity, flexibility, speed, and intelligence. Infinera’s Bandwidth Virtualization™ feature enables a high level of flexibility and programmability in an optical platform for the wide-ranging research agenda planned for the GENI project and BEN.

“Infinera is delighted to support RENCI in exploring new architectures and experiments towards the development of the next-generation Internet,” said Infinera Chief Technology Officer Drew Perkins. “We are very excited that Infinera’s Bandwidth Virtualization capability is a near-perfect match with RENCI’s vision of a highly programmable optical layer.”

“BEN will serve as a miniature GENI prototype allowing us to experiment with different arrangements of network resources with special attention being paid to the provisioning of the optical substrate.” said Ilia Baldine, a senior network researcher at RENCI and principal investigator for the project. “Using BEN and with ORCA as a foundation, our plan is to deploy, demonstrate and evaluate the fundamental concepts and capabilities of GENI, such as end-to-end slicing in an optical network that connects heterogeneous computing and storage resources.”

Successive spirals of GENI funding will refine and extend the GENI suite in response to the research community’s evolving needs and interests.

“The GENI engagement is a key part of a regional initiative to investigate new structures for ‘virtualized’ server networks involving other RENCI partners,” said Jeff Chase, a professor of computer science at Duke and co-principal investigator on the project. “The next generation of researchers and educators will be able to tap into a programmable ‘cloud’ of servers, networks, and storage for research in networking, distributed computing, and other areas.”

For more on GENI, visit www.geni.net
For more on BEN, visit http://ben.renci.org

About RENCI
The Renaissance Computing Institute brings together computer and discipline scientists, artists, humanists, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, state leaders and educators for collaborations designed to reshape science, the economy, the state of North Carolina and the world. RENCI leverages its expertise and resources in leading edge computing, networking, visualization and data technologies to find solutions to previously intractable problems. Founded in 2004 as a major collaborative venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina, RENCI is a statewide virtual organization.  For more, see www.renci.org.

The Infinera equipment will support RENCI’s research agenda for BEN, which serves as a testbed for experimentation with disruptive technologies such as enabling researcher access to the dark fiber, experiments with new transmission, modulation, and coding formats, interaction between the optical plane and the packet forwarding plane in the network, network virtualization and remote visualization of high-definition images on visualization walls using multiple optical wavelengths. BEN connects sites at Duke University, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and RENCI’s main office in Chapel Hill and enables university researchers to test their software and hardware by placing equipment at these sites. North Carolina’s MCNC, which manages the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), is also collaborating with RENCI on BEN and its offices in Research Triangle Park will connect to the network.

For its experiments using BEN, RENCI chose an Infinera Digital Optical Network because Infinera’s scalability, flexibility, and ease of operations make it an ideal platform for an advanced research network where researchers are experimenting with cutting-edge technologies and applications using large volumes of bandwidth and requiring frequent reconfiguration. Infinera’s Bandwidth Virtualization™ capabilities also enabled the joint GENI proposal.

GENI’s Vision for a “Sliceable, Programmable” Network
Last year, the NSF launched an ambitious multimillion dollar project, the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI), to design and construct a large-scale network that will enable the worldwide research community to test ideas and clean-slate designs in a range of technology areas including network design, distributed systems, and cyber-security. GENI’s aim is to forge new solutions to problems facing today’s Internet including inadequate security, reliability, manageability and scalability. RENCI, Duke University, and Infinera have collaborated on a proposal that envisages a sliceable and highly programmable optical network that connects diverse storage and computing resources to enable dynamic, reliable network provisioning. End-to-end slicing, which combines provisioning of edge computer and storage resources as well as core network resources, is considered one of the top technical risks by GENI.

The Infinera optical platform can deliver these advanced experimental features because of its innovative design. Based on large-scale photonic integrated circuits (PICs) which integrate more than 60 optical devices on a pair of chips, the Infinera system delivers bandwidth in increments of 100 Gigabits/second (Gb/s) and is scalable to 800 Gb/s today and more with Infinera’s next-generation ILS2 line system. The Infinera paradigm of Bandwidth Virtualization™ creates a “pool” of available bandwidth that can be deployed and reconfigured to deliver a wide range of optical services, from 1 Gb/s to 40 Gb/s services today, and 100 Gb/s services in the future. The Infinera PIC-based optical engine enables a highly flexible pool of bandwidth, which can be configured through service adapters to support a wide variety of services, with the entire architecture controllable with advanced GMPLS-powered network software.

The RENCI-Duke-Infinera proposal for GENI leverages the strengths of each organization. RENCI and Duke will use ORCA—a software framework developed at Duke—to implement a model for the GENI management plane and deploy it on BEN in order to create a ‘GENI island’ – a miniature version of the future GENI testbed. Infinera has used its innovative photonic integrated circuits and Bandwidth Virtualization™ feature to enable an unsurpassed level of flexibility and programmability in an optical platform for this project.

“We partnered with Infinera because we needed a scalable and flexible solution to accommodate our wide-ranging research agenda for BEN, and because we needed a product that would meet the demands for cutting-edge research necessary to participate in the GENI initiative,” said Ilia Baldine, manager of network research and infrastructure at RENCI. “Infinera’s solutions provided us with the best pathway to create a high-speed reconfigurable experimental network and to become a leader in developing the next generation of advanced research networks.”

“We are excited to partner with RENCI on its Breakable Experimental Network and on the GENI proposal,” said Infinera Chief Technology Officer Drew Perkins. “Leading-edge research like that envisaged by GENI will play a vital role in developing new technologies for a more powerful, flexible, scalable Internet that can support the applications of the future.”

The Infinera DTN is a Digital ROADM for long-haul and metro core networks, combining high-capacity DWDM transport, integrated digital bandwidth management, and GMPLS-powered service intelligence in a single platform.

For further information
Media:
Jeff Ferry
Infinera
Tel. +1-408-572-5213
jferry@infinera.com

Investors:
Bob Blair
Infinera
Tel. +1-408-716-4879
bblair@infinera.com

About RENCI
The Renaissance Computing Institute, a multi-institutional organization, brings together multidisciplinary experts and advanced technological capabilities to address pressing research issues and to find solutions to complex problems that affect the quality of life in North Carolina, our nation and the world. RENCI leverages its expertise and resources in leading edge computing, visualization, networking and data technologies to catalyze new collaborations and find solutions to previously intractable problems. Founded in 2004 as a major collaborative venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina, RENCI is a statewide virtual organization. For more, see www.renci.org.

About Infinera
Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems to telecommunications carriers worldwide. Infinera’s systems are unique in their use of a breakthrough semiconductor technology: the Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC). Infinera’s systems and PIC technology are designed to provide optical networks with simpler and more flexible engineering and operations, faster time-to-service, and the ability to rapidly deliver differentiated services without reengineering their optical infrastructure. For more information, please visit www.infinera.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to Infinera as of the date hereof; and actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Infinera’s expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, such as the benefits and capabilities of our products and the Digital Optical Network’s architecture, that RENCI chose an Infinera Digital Optical Network because Infinera’s scalability, flexibility, and ease of operations make it an ideal platform for an advanced research network where researchers are experimenting with cutting-edge technologies and applications using large volumes of bandwidth and requiring frequent reconfiguration, that Infinera’s Bandwidth Virtualization™ capabilities enabled the joint GENI proposal; that the Infinera optical platform can deliver advanced experimental features because of its innovative design that based on large-scale photonic integrated circuits (PICs) which integrate more than 60 optical devices on a pair of chips, the Infinera system delivers bandwidth in increments of 100 Gigabits/second (Gb/s) and is scalable to 800 Gb/s; that the Infinera paradigm of Bandwidth Virtualization™ creates a “pool” of available bandwidth which can be deployed and reconfigured to deliver a wide range of optical services, from 1 Gb/s to 10 Gb/s services today, and 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s services in the future, that Infinera’s “programmable optical network” is based on the powerful PIC-based optical engine enabling a highly flexible pool of bandwidth that can be configured through service adapters to support a wide variety of services, and that Infinera has used its innovative integrated components and Bandwidth Virtualization™ feature to enable an unsurpassed level of flexibility and programmability in an optical platform for this project. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by forward-looking words such as “anticipated,” “believed,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will,” and “would” or similar words. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include aggressive business tactics by our competitors, our dependence on a single product, our ability to protect our intellectual property, claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property, our manufacturing process is very complex, product performance problems we may encounter, our dependence on sole or limited source suppliers, our ability to respond to rapid technological changes, our ability to maintain effective internal controls, the ability of our contract manufacturers to perform as we expect, a new technology being developed that replaces the PIC as the dominant technology in optical networks, general political, economic and market conditions and events, including war, conflict or acts of terrorism; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 19, 2008, our public announcements and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date hereof and we disclaim any obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.