China, the United States and Russia kicked off a global network
for scientific research Monday, which may be a launching pad for a
next generation Internet in China.
The new network is the first of its kind in the northern
hemisphere. It connects major scientific centers such as Chicago,
Moscow and Beijing.
Experts with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the
Chinese sponsor of the trilateral project, said the Global Ring
Network for Advanced Applications Development (Gloriad) is expected
to be an important research platform for the next generation
Internet.
Qian Hualin, chief co-coordinator of Gloriad, said the new links
enable research institutes in the three countries to communicate
with each other and share scientific data, which might stimulate
new advancements in basic research.
Gloriad is proposed as a 10-gigabit-per-second optical network
around the northern hemisphere.
The ring begins in Chicago at the Starlight facility, funded by
the US National Science Foundation, crosses the Atlantic Ocean to
the Netherlight facility in Amsterdam, continues to Moscow and the
Russian science city of Novosibirsk, goes on to Beijing and Hong
Kong, and then crosses the Pacific Ocean to complete the circuit in
Chicago.
"It could be used for transmitting scientific data at high
speed, which might not be imagined on commercial networks," said
Qian.
Qian estimated basic research in many areas would benefit from
Gloriad, such as natural disaster forecast, human genome mapping,
outer space exploration, earthquake monitoring and high-energy
physics.
"Chinese scientists are eager to exchange academic views and
share scientific data with their overseas counterparts," said Qian,
citing that Gloriad makes closer cooperation and concerted research
much easier.
(China Daily January 13, 2004)
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