BOREAS-Net selects Infinera for Midwest research network

APRIL 23, 2007 -- BOREAS-Net has selected Infinera (search for Infinera) for a regional optical network in the Upper Midwest to provide a high-speed cybe rinfrastructure for advanced academic research and education, as well as connectivity to other leading research networks worldwide.

BOREAS-Net (Broadband Optical Research, Education, and Sciences Network) is a collaboration of major research institutions in the Midwest, including Iowa State University, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

BOREAS-NET aims to provide connectivity for its members to each other and to major national and international networks, including Internet2, National Lambda Rail, the U.S. Department of Energy's ESNet network, European science network G�ANT2, and Canadian research network CANARIE. The leading-edge research projects BOREAS-Net plans to support include experiments by the High-Energy Physics Lab involving the transfer of terabits of data, real-time video transmission of surgical procedures, and the federally-funded Ice Cube project involving the detection and measurement of subatomic neutrino particles one kilometer under the South Pole ice cap.

"BOREAS-Net selected Infinera because it believes that Infinera's Digital Optical Network architecture provides greater ease of operation and capital cost savings, with the added benefits of GMPLS service intelligence," reports BOREAS-Net project manager Patrick Christian.

According to Infinera, its DTN is the only commercially-deployed optical system that is based on large-scale photonic integrated circuits (search for PIC), and it is the only system to offer 100 Gbits/sec of data capacity on an optical line card, says the company.

Infinera's digital optical network architecture enabled BOREAS-Net to turn-up its 1,500-mile network in less than four weeks and should enable BOREAS-Net to simplify its network planning and operations. The Infinera system is designed to enable customers to more easily scale their optical networks to accommodate the expected growth in network demand.

"With academic projects scaling up to the terabit level, we needed a scalable and cost-effective solution," says Christian. "In addition, Infinera offers features, such as integrated digital switching, which enables us to add and drop channels wherever and whenever we choose, and GMPLS intelligence, which provides important network reliability by allowing us to auto-restore circuits if a portion of a ring is lost."

"Infinera's optical simplicity, service intelligence, and economics make it the natural choice for research and education networks seeking to support the needs of scientists in the 21st century," adds Infinera CEO Jagdeep Singh.

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