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You are here: Home Page > News & events > News > 2008

JANET launches dedicated high quality fibre network in support of photonics and optical systems research

JANET Aurora is amongst the largest test-beds in Europe for optical networking

Oxford – January 2008 – JANET(UK) has launched JANET Aurora, a high quality fibre network that will provide a platform for Photonics and Optical Systems research. With approximately 350km of dedicated fibre, this is amongst the largest test-beds for optical networking research in Europe and will enable a wide range of projects that hitherto have been impossible on existing research network infrastructures.

The network will interconnect research groups at the universities of Cambridge, Essex and UCL, with access to intermediate locations along each fibre path where additional equipment can be sited. The JANET Lightpath¹ service will provide additional access to the network for other research groups wanting to use this facility, including international sites for collaborative projects.

JANET Aurora will enable research groups to pursue their research with minimal constraints, and in a way that would be impossible on a production network carrying real traffic. This network will allow researchers to trial prototype equipment and test advanced network architectures and technologies under real operational conditions.

“JANET Aurora has enabled us to connect three internationally leading photonic laboratories in the UK with the scope to share experimental facilities and test prototype photonic technologies and ultra high speed transmission techniques in a real field environment,” says Dimitra Simeonidou, Professor at Essex University. The fibre network will further provide an open experimental testbed for network researchers across the UK that can reach the infrastructure with JANET Lightpaths¹. JANET Aurora also connects with research network infrastructures in Europe and North America through connectivity to the European GÉANT2 network. The high speed fibre network is already creating many opportunities for UK based and international research collaborations. The network is scheduled to support several nationally and EU funded research projects that lead the academic effort.”

Approval for the development of a small-scale fibre network to support photonics research projects was given in 2006 by JANET’s funding body, JISC, to cover a 2 year period following deployment. ntl:Telewest Business (part of Virgin Media) was selected as the supplier for the project. “JANET Aurora is at the leading edge of research networking and will help to develop and test innovative new optical technology that will directly benefit businesses and consumers in the future,” said John Cunningham, Director of Business Markets, ntl:Telewest Business.

"JANET Aurora is a substantial new infrastructure to support Photonics and Optical Systems Research," says David Salmon, JANET(UK)'s Research Support Unit Manager. "It will support a variety of projects and enable collaboration between optical networking specialists and their colleagues researching ways in which future optical networks might be used by very demanding projects and application groups."

ntl:Telewest Business has completed fibre characterisation tests and JANET(UK) has accepted the infrastructure as meeting the challenging requirements set by the research groups, some parameters being particularly critical for the support of future transmission standards at bit-rates up to 100Gbit/s and beyond.

The research groups using the network have a broad range of interests from device to system levels and work is planned to investigate new photonic components such as lasers, modulators and amplifiers, as well as dynamic ’capacity on demand’ and high end grid and e-Research applications.

There are some exciting developments likely to come out of this new network facility and the photonics/optical world will be watching the outcomes with interest.

Note to Editors:

¹JANET Lightpath is a centrally managed service developed to support large research projects on the JANET network by providing end-to-end connectivity.It includes fine-grained circuit provision and extends to include whole wavelengths across the JANET optical transmission infrastructure.

About JANET(UK) :

JANET(UK) manages the operation and development of the JANET network. The company is government funded, via the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), with the primary aim of providing and developing a network infrastructure that meets the needs of the UK’s education and research communities.

About JANET

JANET is the network dedicated to the needs of education and research in the UK. It inter-connects the UK's education and research organisations with links to the rest of the world through connections to similar networks in Europe, and to the global Internet. In addition, JANET includes a separate network that is available to the community for experimental activities in network development.

Trademarks

JANETÒ and JANET(UK)Ò are registered trademarks of the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales. The JNT Association is the registered user of these trademarks.

About JISC:

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) supports further and higher education by providing strategic guidance, advice and opportunities to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to support teaching, learning, research and administration. JISC is funded by all the UK post-16 and higher education funding councils as well as the UK’s Research Councils : JISC - www.jisc.ac.uk

About ntl:Telewest Business

ntl:Telewest Business, part of the UK’s second largest fixed-line telecommunications company, is a leading communications provider to businesses, public sector organisations and service providers in the UK. It delivers a complete portfolio of voice, data and internet solutions nation-wide.

ntl:Telewest Business sales and support teams are located across the UK, in close proximity to our customers, as part of a commitment to deliver superior customer service.

ntl:Telewest Business delivers services over the Group’s £13bn investment in its state-of-the-art infrastructure giving business customers access to the largest alternative network in the UK.

For further information go to http://www.ntltelewestbusiness.co.uk/