BLOOMINGTON, IN -- Indiana University's (IU) global high-speed performance computer connectivity has been extended via a $10 million, five-year award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). A similar award was made by the NSF to the University of Tennessee. The grants will place the universities at the leading edge of international high-performance research and education network connections between the United States, the Asia Pacific Rim and Russia.

They will be responsible for establishing the networks to support worldwide scientific, research and educational collaborations that require high bandwidth communications. IU and its Asia Pacific partners will establish TransPAC, from the NSF's very-high performance Backbone Network Service (vBNS) to the Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN). Initially this will involve networks in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia. The TransPAC connection will be co-funded by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation.

The University of Tennessee and its Russian partners (Moscow State University, the Friends & Partners Foundation, and Russian Institute of Public Networking) have established the MirNET Consortium. They will use their $4 million award to establish a connection from the vBNS to the emerging Russian high performance networks (currently in Moscow and St. Petersburg and being expanded to Russian scientific centers in Siberia and elsewhere).

The Ministry of Science and Technologies of the Russian Federation is co-sponsoring the MirNET effort with a $2.5 million commitment for the life of the project. The TransPAC and MirNET networks will both connect to the vBNS through the Science, Technology and Research Transit Access Point (STAR TAP) in Chicago.

For more information, see http://www.transpac.org/ or http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/mirnet/home.html

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