






                                  CONCERT Network


            _A_d_d_r_e_s_s:
               CONCERT Network
               MCNC
               3021 Cornwallis Road
               P.O. Box 12889
               Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

            _E_m_a_i_l: info@concert.net

            _P_h_o_n_e: (919) 248-1999


            _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n

            CONCERT  (COmmunications  for  North   Carolina   Education,
            Research,  and  Technology)  is a private telecommunications
            network owned and operated by the Center for  Communications
            at MCNC to interconnect universities, research institutions,
            graduate  centers,  non-profit   organizations,   government
            laboratories,  and  industries in North Carolina, permitting
            timely participation in  research  and  education  projects.
            The  CONCERT Network Operations Center is located at MCNC in
            Research Triangle Park.

            CONCERT is actually two networks; one  for  video,  one  for
            data.   Both  are  carried  over CONCERT's private microwave
            facilities that span 453 path miles from  Asheville  in  the
            west to Greenville in the east.

            CONCERT OBJECTIVES

               o+  Provide and operate an advanced communications network
                  for research and education.

               o+  Build a collaborative university and industry program.

               o+  Serve as a test bed for next-generation  services  and
                  systems.

            _________________________
            The information in this section is provided  in  accor-
            dance  with the copyright notice appearing at the front
            of this guide.




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               o+  Participate in the deployment of National Research and
                  Education Network (NREN) for North Carolina.

               o+  Develop high-performance  capabilities  in  visualiza-
                  tion, supercomputing, and distributed systems.


            VIDEO NETWORK

            CONCERT utilizes two duplex analog NTSC video channels  that
            function  as a multi-way, interactive videoconferencing net-
            work  to  encourage  research,  education,  and   technology
            transfer.   An  additional duplex video channel connects the
            state's four medical schools.  The interactive  video  chan-
            nels  provide face-to-face communications capabilities among
            all institutions.  Each institution has videoconference  and
            video teleclass facilities.

            Specific programs and applications include:

               o+  videoconferencing  capabilities  for  researchers  and
                  faculty;

               o+  graduate and extension courses in a variety of discip-
                  lines;

               o+  seminars in supercomputing and high-performance compu-
                  tation;

               o+  research collaborations among members of the  research
                  community;

               o+  scientific and technical seminars and workshops; and

               o+  medical courses and programs.

            Sixty percent of the available video network time is  booked
            for  courses  and  regularly  scheduled  seminars,  with the
            remaining time reserved for meetings and conferences.   This
            open  time  provides researchers and faculty the opportunity
            to meet as required with little prior notice.

            DATA NETWORK

            The CONCERT data network functions  as  a  mid-level  TCP/IP
            network  providing  access  to the INTERNET, a collection of
            data networks across the nation  and  world  interconnecting
            universities,  government  agencies,  national laboratories,



            September 1, 1992           NNSC       Section 5.23,  Page 2








            non-profit research organizations,  and  industry.   Through
            CONCERT,  North  Carolina researchers from academia, govern-
            ment, and industry have access to these resources as well as
            electronic  mail  and USENET news for communications, learn-
            ing, and collaboration with colleagues.

            The CONCERT network is built from an interconnected  collec-
            tion  of  IP routers spanning the state.  T3 links are util-
            ized for the Triangle campuses; T1 circuits for institutions
            outside  the  Triangle area.  More than 10,000 computers and
            workstations are interconnected across North Carolina.

            CONCERT-CONNECT

            CONCERT-CONNECT, a program of the MCNC Center for Communica-
            tions,  provides  North  Carolina businesses and industry an
            opportunity to gain access to state  and  national  research
            and  education  resources  through  the  INTERNET.  CONCERT-
            CONNECT can provide a company a significant competitive edge
            in research and development.

            Businesses and industry interested in connecting to  CONCERT
            can  use the network for collaboration, research, and educa-
            tion.  Network connection  provides  users  with  access  to
            email, bulletin boards, various databases, and other network
            and institutional resources.  Connection to CONCERT  can  be
            achieved  by  direct  network  connection  at  56 Kbps or T1
            speeds, or by three  dial-up  modem  services:  Serial  Line
            Internet  Protocol  (SLIP);   individual UNIX accounts; UUCP
            Mail/News.

            COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH

            The primary purpose of the research activities is to  lever-
            age the evolution of CONCERT to support advanced educational
            uses of the network and  communications  research  in  North
            Carolina.   The existing network and established userbase is
            utilized as a testbed, and the  focus  of  the  research  is
            joint activities among MCNC, the universities, and industry.
            Projects tend to emphasize use of standard network technolo-
            gies,   supercomputing   communications   applications,  and
            methods to use networking to enable collaboration by provid-
            ing virtual proximity capabilities.

            Currently Funded Projects:

               o+  Atila-development of  a  prototype  network  analysis-
                  evaluation-management system for Asynchronous Transfer



            September 1, 1992           NNSC       Section 5.23,  Page 3








                  Mode networks.

               o+  VISTAnet-a testbed that  provides  a  2.488-Gbps  wide
                  area  network  connecting  the  CRAY  Y-MP,  the Pixel
                  Planes graphic processor, and SGI 340  VGX.   Research
                  programs  center  on meeting the challenges of gigabit
                  networking: efficient communications, distributed com-
                  puting,  and applications.  (Partners: BellSouth, GTE,
                  UNC-Chapel Hill, NCSU, CNRI.)

               o+  Shared  X-Windows/Workstation  Collaboratory-a   joint
                  program  with  NCSC  and  UNC-Chapel  Hill emphasizing
                  remote interactive graphics on  high-end  workstations
                  located  in CONCERT video- conference rooms.  Advanced
                  visualization  applications   and   shared   computing
                  environments are featured.

               o+  Traffic  Characterization-a  study  to   measure   and
                  mathematically  characterize  the  traffic  statistics
                  (packet length and interarrival times) of CONCERT.

               o+  Packet Video-seeks to  make  evolutionary  changes  to
                  TCP/IP protocols to support interactive video traffic.

            _N_e_t_w_o_r_k _A_c_c_e_s_s

            Any research facility, educational  institution,  non-profit
            organization,  government laboratory, commercial company, or
            individual   may   join    the    network    under    either
            education/research or commercial options.

            _W_h_o _C_a_n _U_s_e _t_h_e _N_e_t_w_o_r_k

            Use of CONCERT and/or the Internet is subject to appropriate
            acceptable use policies of the various constituent networks.
            CONCERT    maintains    agreements    that    permit    both
            research/education organizations and commercial service pro-
            viders to connect to the Internet.













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