UCLA Engineers Announce Breakthrough in Semiconductor
Research
UCLA News (05/04/06) Abraham, Melissa
A team of UCLA researchers has developed three new energy-efficient
nanoscale architectures using an interconnection technology they call
"spin-wave buses." "Progress in the miniaturization of semiconductor
electronic devices has meant chip features have become nanoscale. Today's
current devices, which are based on complementary metal oxide semiconductor
standards, or 'CMOS,' can't get much smaller and still function properly
and effectively," said engineering professor Kang Wang. The new technology
makes use of the extra spin associated with electric charges to move data
or power among computer components, directly encoding information into spin
wave phases. By logically connecting multiple peripherals, the bus reduces
power consumption, saves heat, and will ultimately enable smaller
components because it does not need physical wires to send data. The
engineers believe that nanoscale spin-wave packets will be able to conduct
large-scale parallel operations, leading ultimately to the first viable,
completely interconnected processor network on a single chip. The research
departs from current spintronic designs, which depend on a charge transfer
to exchange information, and have exhibited significant interconnect
failings. The first of the three devices, presented at the ACM
International Conference on Computing Frontiers, is a reconfigurable mesh
linked with spin-wave buses. The device can perform high-speed,
fault-tolerant algorithms by simultaneously sending multiple waves on each
spin-wave bus with different frequencies. The second is an entirely
connected concentration of working units with spin-wave buses, with each
node capable of simultaneously broadcasting to every other node. The third
is a spin-wave-based crossbar that can interconnect numerous inputs with
numerous outputs, enabling secondary paths to be reconfigured in the event
of a switch failure.
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Senator Calls for Summit on Privacy
IDG News Service (05/03/06) Gross, Grant
Technology is making it easier for federal agencies to conduct
surveillance on U.S. citizens, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Wednesday
during ACM's Life, Liberty, and Digital Rights conference in Washington,
D.C. "The technologies available today offer tools that are better,
faster, smarter with scales of magnitude that are unprecedented," asserted
Leahy. "It's easier to delve more deeply into our private lives."
However, Leahy blamed the policies of the U.S. government for current
privacy concerns, rather than technology. Recent reports of spying on U.S.
citizens and monitoring of Iraqi war protesters by federal agencies sparked
the comments from Leahy, who also used the ACM gathering to call on
Congress and the White House to convene a high-level summit on security and
privacy, with citizens serving as active participants in the discussion.
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HyperTransport Stays Ahead of the Curve
HPC Wire (05/05/06) Vol. 15, No. 18,Feldman, Michael
Originally developed in 2001 to furnish a low-latency, high-bandwidth
interconnect that improves on shared bus technologies, the HyperTransport
open standard has drawn the attention of system designers who demand a high
level of scalability and performance. The standard is maintained by the
HyperTransport Consortium, a nonprofit that offers the technology to any
vendor willing to become a member. Low-latency, high-speed interconnects
are especially important in supercomputing, and the cost of proprietary
interconnects has risen to become one of the most expensive parts of
systems that rely on multiple commodity processors. HyperTransport is also
used in other environments that require rapid data transfers, such as
servers, network appliances, and even desktops. "Even though it's used in
very high-end systems, it's also used in very low-end PC, with an eye to
reducing the cost," said David Rich, president of the HyperTransport
Consortium. "So the technology has to be very accepting of the quality of
the signal integrity that's on the board. We can't specify a very
expensive board manufacturing regimen to get the speed." With the recent
3.0 specification, HyperTransport can now be deployed for system-to-system
connections, as well as linking processors to both peripherals and other
processors. The processor native interface is a critical feature of
HyperTransport, enabling its chip-to-chip connection to scale with the
number of processors, unlike front-side bus designs, which demand adapters
to link common buses such as PCI and AGP. HyperTransport supports buses of
2 to 32 bits in width, and the new specification can reach a maximum speed
of 2.6 GHz. The improvements in HyperTransport have been introduced to
increase both its functionality and speed to keep pace with the increasing
speeds of CPUs and networks, while also adding flexibility to address the
mounting specialization and complexity of computing systems.
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QIT: Quantum Hope or Quantum Hype?
The Register (05/04/06) Williams, Chris
While the momentum of quantum computing is building in the research
community, the phenomenon is shrouded in confusion and its practical impact
remains uncertain. "No one understands quantum theory," quipped the Nobel
Laureate quantum physicist Richard Feynman. Quantum effects have so far
seen their greatest use in cryptography, exploiting Heisenberg's
uncertainty principle to provide theoretically perfect security. A hacker
attempting to intercept quantum-encrypted information will automatically be
detected, and the information he obtains will be of no value. While MagiQ
and others have been developing quantum cryptography applications, the
technology is still limited by the distance that it can travel, though
developers at companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Toshiba, as well
as MagiQ, are working to overcome those limitations within the next five
years. Entirely quantum computers are farther down the road, and require
qubits to simultaneously occupy two positions. Researchers are variously
exploring the use of photons, ions, electrons, regular atoms, and silicon
dots as qubits, capitalizing on the quantum effects of polarization,
magnetism, and spin to store information. Most experts predict that the
first heavy-duty quantum computer with significant processing power will
only appear in the next 15 to 25 years. There is also the concern that the
hype surrounding quantum computing could exceed its real or immediate
potential, and that overselling the technology will condemn it to
disappointment. At a meeting later this month, researchers from Cambridge
and MIT will attempt to create quantum computing standards, which could
boost the confidence of organizations considering investing in quantum
cryptography.
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How Can IT Save the World?
CNet (05/04/06) Krazit, Tom
Participants in this week's World Congress on Information Technology
(WCIT) have gathered to discuss the global impact of technology, focusing
in particular on access, IT and health care, privacy, and security. The
WCIT, which convenes every other year, attracted more than 2,000 attendees
from 80 countries who will vote on a variety of proposals that will become
official recommendations of the WCIT and the World Information Technology
and Service Alliance (WITSA). Participants generally agreed that
governments and private industry must work together to implement global
standards that ensure consistent deployment of policies and programs in
countries around the world. Addressing the issue of access, MIT's Nicholas
Negroponte was on hand to promote his One Laptop Per Child initiative to
developing countries, while Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates touted his
company's plan for a cell phone with the functionality of a basic PC.
Governments need to do a better job of embracing technology themselves and
introduce technology initiatives to promote the possibilities of IT to
their citizens, said Don Tapscott, CEO of New Paradigm. Accenture COO
Steve Rohleder noted that governments could speed technology adoption by
relaxing telecommunications restrictions. Unisys CEO Joseph McGrath called
on governments to take the lead in digital security, citing the
government-issued smart cards in Malaysia that store citizens' passport and
banking information and health records. While RFID tracking and smart
cards are central to McGrath's vision of a more secure digital future, he
also calls for a collaboration with privacy advocates who typically oppose
such technologies. Participants also called for an extension of
technology's reach into health care, where in the United States alone
90,000 people died last year due to human errors that could have been
prevented by the strategic application of technology.
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Computer Science Education
IBM developerWorks (05/03/06) Booch, Grady
A recent Computerworld article in which several noted academics were
interviewed on the future on technology education reinforced the gulf
between academia and industry, writes IBM's Grady Booch. While he admits
that his perspective is from the side of industry, Booch notes that he is
heavily involved in the academic community and that he has been asked to
give a keynote address at next year's ACM SIGCE conference. He argues that
the focus in academia needs to be more on software deployment and practical
applications, rather than on more theoretical computer science that often
encounters limitations when applied to the real world. Software, not
computer science, powers the world, he argues, and the research behind
Google's search algorithms only enabled the company to dominate the search
market because of concurrent advances in distribution and parallelism. The
industry is in sore need of developers with the ability to create secure,
concurrent, and distributed systems as the chip environment moves steadily
toward multicore technology. While outsourcing is often invoked to explain
the flagging interest in computer science among students, Booch argues that
innovation and creativity--the essence of the joy of working in the
industry--cannot be outsourced, and indeed must be emphasized when
promoting the industry to students. Computer science also lacks a popular
figure to serve as a spokesperson for the industry, Booch notes, lamenting
that many students are often hopelessly soured on computer science by the
time they reach college. He sees the argument for an innovative approach
to popularizing the field, such as a television show, though he admits that
the greatest breakthroughs in science have not come through gimmicky
marketing campaigns, but through the pure joy of innovation for its own
sake. Academia needs to do a better job of inspiring students to see the
inner beauty of software, he concludes.
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Panoramic Imaging May Enhance Online Mapping
Technology Review (05/03/06) Greene, Kate
Researchers at Microsoft have developed software that provides a
four-gigapixel panoramic image that could lead to more accurate and
interactive online maps. The researchers demonstrated the application with
a panoramic shot containing around 750 smaller images taken with an
off-the-shelf digital camera. The program signifies Microsoft's increased
interest in Windows Live Local, its online mapping platform currently in
its beta stage. Live Local already provides what it refers to as Bird's
Eye images of a few cities that offer an angled perspective of buildings,
and the new software will enable viewers to look at wide vistas without
having to reload another image into the browser. Microsoft is hoping that
the more natural city views will distinguish it from Google and Yahoo! in
the increasingly competitive online mapping environment. The angled view
that provides images of storefronts and other building features is in sharp
contrast to Google's street maps and top-down satellite images that are
largely confined to the tops of buildings. The Microsoft team mounted a
digital camera on a motorized platform atop the roof of a building, panning
the scene as the camera takes a succession of images that are then
processed and combined by stitching software. The software uses algorithms
to search through the images for continuities such as sunlight reflected in
windows or signature lines that it can use to stitch them together without
creating the blurring effect that appears in current software. The
software also compensates for changes in lighting by matching the
brightness of an image with the picture taken immediately before, said
Microsoft's Matt Uyttendale. "People love the detail of the [Bird's Eye]
imagery," he said. "This should allow them to easily pan across the
images."
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New Engineering Center to Transform Sensor
Technology
Princeton University (05/03/06) Riordan, Teresa
A new NSF-funded engineering research center at Princeton University is
expected to discover breakthroughs that will transform sensor technology
and lead to new devices that can detect trace amounts of atmospheric
chemicals. The center will aim to create devices that revolutionize the
way that doctors treat patients and officials monitor air quality, while
improving scientists' understanding of how greenhouse gases evolve and
develop. The Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment
(MIRTHE) center will draw on the work of students and faculty members at
six universities, and will also pursue collaborations with industry to
bring products based on the research to market. "The sensors we are
creating will be portable and easy to use," said Claire Gmachl, the
center's director and an associate professor of electrical engineering at
Princeton. "Today's state-of-the-art sensors are very sensitive, but
require an expert to operate and are bulky and expensive. MIRTHE's vision
is to make sensors with the same or better level of sensitivity at a
fraction of the size and cost." Because it emits light in the mid-infrared
portion of the spectrum, the quantum cascade laser is a critical technology
for the center, enabling scientists to view certain atmospheric chemicals
just as the human eye can see common objects with the aid of sunlight.
"This center adopts a comprehensive, unifying approach pushes forward each
of the necessary ingredients for a sensor: infrared sources, detectors,
circuits, interconnects--all while working in close collaboration with end
users," said Alexy Belyanin, assistant professor at Texas A&M University.
The center will also focus on educating students to ensure that the U.S.
workforce stays competitive by attempting to make science appealing to a
broad range of underrepresented students. The center will focus on solving
real-life societal problems and will sponsor outreach programs for both
college and K-12 students.
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Sun to Make Java More Linux-Friendly
CNet (05/04/06) LaMonica, Martin
Sun Microsystems will announce changes to its licensing provisions at the
upcoming JavaOne conference that will make it easier to package Java
Runtime Environment with Linux. Sun is modifying the software that enables
PCs to run Java in an effort to reach out to open-source systems,
particularly Linux and OpenSolaris. "The intention is to make it easier
for distributors and developers to get their hands on the runtime with the
operating system," said Sun's Laurie Tolson. Sun has long faced pressure
to make the entire Java platform open source to encourage development, and
Sun has indeed made significant changes to the Java development process and
made the source code more accessible, though it has stopped short of
formally opening all Java. Sun is also likely to announce a software
development kit for Java EE 5, the most recent upgrade to the Java server
standard. Last year Sun announced the GlassFish project, a code-sharing
initiative that seeks to create a Java application server built on the Java
EE 5 standard. Software built on the standard will support the Enterprise
Java Beans 3.0 standard that is designed to facilitate accessing data from
Java programs and writing transactional systems. Java EE 5 has also been
modified to accelerate Web development and the design of Web services.
Prebuilt components packaged in software based on Java EE 5 for creating
Web applications will use the AJAX Web development method.
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Ada Programming Language Gets New Lease of Life
VNUNet (05/02/06) Jaques, Robert
The International Standards Organization (ISO) later this year is expected
to formally approve a proposal to amend the Ada programming language, which
has a wide presence in mission-critical military systems. The proposal to
improve the 1995 version of Ada recently gained unanimous approval from
ISO's Ada Working Group (WG 9). A new interface that supports either a
sequential or concurrent type for implementation would bring the
concurrency and object-oriented features of Ada together. The addition of
the Ravenscar Profile tasking subset would improve the safety and security
of the programming language. The proposal also seeks to make Ada more
expressive as a language, such as through the extension of the predefined
environment with additional functionality, and the passing of nested
subprograms as run-time parameters. "The new features draw on programming
language design and user experience over the past 10 years, and should
serve to increase Ada's attractiveness in applications where reliability,
safety, efficiency and maintainability are demanded," says James Moore,
convener of WG 9.
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Shared Theories on Thought Could Lead to Smart
Machines
NIST Tech Beat (04/28/06) Blair, John
While machines can handle easy electronic commands such as start, stop,
and grind, they are not adept at deciphering complex orders or applying
common sense. Researchers known as ontologists that specialize in
comprehending the thought process hope to overcome this hurdle. In March,
ontologists who have made some of the most cutting-edge logic systems,
consented at a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
workshop to share their latest ideas on such matters as space, time, and
process. The vow to work together, detailed in a 10-item communique given
out at the conclusion of the two-day workshop, could one day result in
software programs that will outfit machines with mutually agreeable
reference frames, allowing them to interpret and respond to commands with
almost human common sense. Attempts to outfit machines with critical
intelligence capacity have, so far, been fairly rudimentary. For example,
software programs might give machines utilized to manufacture furniture
significant comprehension of terms and reference frames employed in the
furniture business. Such knowledge, referred to as "lower ontology," is of
restricted use, though, and human operation is needed at almost each step
of the manufacturing procedure. A machine fueled by programs that include
broadened reference frames of such "higher ontologies" as space and price
might be able to start making design and shipping decisions essentially by
itself.
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Low Cost, High Tech
CITRIS Newsletter (04/27/06) Shreve, Jenn
CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of
Society) researchers are focusing on using affordable, off-the-shelf
products, rather than creating new technology, in their effort to bring
communications tools to developing nations around the world. Intel
Research Berkeley has teamed up with the Technology and Infrastructure for
Emerging Regions (TIER) project to establish a videoconference link that
enables rural villagers in Southern India to obtain consultations from
doctors even though the Aravind Eye Hospital is 20 kilometers away. The
researchers used off-the-shelf Wi-Fi cards, and made adjustments to
software, antennas, and in other areas to create the long-distance wireless
network. Patrick McGeer, who serves as university relations manager for
Hewlett-Packard and liaison for CITRIS, is very optimistic about the
potential of such self-forming networks in 10 to 15 years. "Places that
had poor land lines are going to jump past analog land, past analog
cellular, past digital cellular to VoIP and pure digital communications,
with the entire world carried not from a central server but peer-to-peer
over these mesh networks," says McGeer. CITRIS researchers are also
working to create a speech-based interface to provide people in the Uttar
Pradesh region of India with the English language skills necessary to use
computer technology on cell phones. Other CITRIS participants have had
some success in printing transistors and chips using transparent materials,
a manufacturing development that promises to lower the cost of laptop
screens.
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Women in IT: Catherine Jaktman
Computerworld Australia (05/01/06) McConnachie, Dahna
Females are not being encouraged enough to pursue careers in IT, according
to Dr. Catherine Jaktman, vice president of the Australian Computer
Society, in an interview with Computerworld. The reputation of IT remains
that of being an industry for geeks, says Jaktman, who has a BA in
Mathematics, an MS in Computer Science, and a PhD in Computer Science
Engineering. "There needs to be more women working in IT to encourage
girls to enter it," she adds. Jaktman says she does not know whether she
chose IT because she was interested in technology, or whether she believed
it would present opportunities to work in different industries and
countries. In addition to Australia, she has worked in Sweden, Hong Kong,
New Zealand, and the United States, where her first job was a programming
position with a large insurance company in Boston, followed by a
programming position at a major bank in the city. Jaktman says she was
good in math and science, and was encouraged to become a nurse or a
teacher. She studied math at Northeastern University in Boston, and when
the school launched a computer science program math students were
encouraged to join the program. Jaktman, who wants to be a role model for
women in the industry, says her position at ACS gives her more of an
opportunity to reach out to young Australians who may be interested in
IT.
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Getting Into the Minds of the Next IT Generation
Computerworld Canada (04/28/06) Ho, Vanessa
Companies looking to hire the most talented programmers graduating from
universities today need to offer stimulating, challenging jobs, according
to a recent poll of Canadian university students. "I want a [job] where I
can solve a design problem that is challenging for me and engages my
brain," said Frank Chu, a student at the University of Toronto pursuing a
masters degree in computer science. Chu was one of the participants at a
roundtable discussion held at the ACM International Collegiate Programming
Contest in San Antonio. Top students are interested in solving new
problems, and avoid jobs where they will end up simply rehashing old
programs. The students polled agreed that they are more inspired by
complex problems such as the ones they faced at the ACM competition. Many
Canadian students find themselves in the position of having to leave their
home country to find desirable work in the United States. The students
ranked salary as their second priority in searching for a job, but agreed
that workplace culture is important as well. "If you are going to enjoy
yourself on the job, you've got to like who you are working with. It would
help to be at a place where you can play a game of foosball and not feel
like you're running down the company clock," said Bartholomew Furrow, a
physics masters student at the University of British Columbia who recently
accepted a full-time position with Google in the fall, largely due to the
company's culture. Many of the students said that they expect their
experience at the ACM conference to help them in their career paths. "If
you have ACM on you resume, it's pretty much a given that you're a good
programmer," said Andrew Neitsch, a recent graduate with honors in math
from the University of Alberta.
For more information about the ACM's recent ICPC, visit
http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/
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U.S. Defends New Internet Wiretap Rules
Associated Press (05/05/06) Bridis, Ted
The White House is defending new federal rules expanding the applicability
of the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to
include Internet phone and broadband services. Under the FCC-authorized
rules, which go into effect next May, providers of such services must
enable their equipment for court-ordered wiretaps; the rules originally
required only wireless phones to be so enabled. A three-judge panel for
the D.C. Circuit Court will consider on Friday a case filed by foes of the
new rules that the United States has applied telephone-era regulations to
new-generation Internet services in an inappropriate manner. The Justice
Department said in court papers that subjecting the Internet phone industry
to CALEA is necessary, otherwise the industry "could effectively provide a
surveillance safe haven for criminals and terrorists who make use of new
communications services." Critics of the new FCC rules--which include
civil liberties and education groups--claimed the regulations are
excessively broad and not consistent with Congress' goals when it approved
CALEA, which provided an exemption for companies defined as information
services. "Our significant concern is that if the FCC is essentially
permitted to override the congressional exclusion, there are no limits,"
stated Center for Democracy and Technology lawyer John Morris.
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Legislative Ideas
Federal Computer Week (05/01/06) Vol. 20, No. 13, P. 26; Sternstein, Aliya
President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative promises to boost
scientific research and development through a decade-long plan to raise
basic research funding at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the
Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the National Institute of
Science and Technology (NIST) by 100 percent, among other things. However,
House Democrats say Bush's agenda is flawed: "The president's budget
proposal for doubling the research programs at NSF, the DOE Office of
Science and the in-house program at NIST--which is supposed to increase
support for research in the physical sciences and engineering--is
accompanied by significant cuts to the science programs at NASA and the
tech base budget of [the Defense Department], which are also major sponsors
of such research," notes House Science Committee minority leader and Rep.
Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.). Such deficits should be addressed in current
legislative proposals designed to spur innovation through more federal R&D
investment, lawmakers contend. Gordon sponsors a trio of bills focusing on
elementary and secondary school math and science education, basic federal
agency research funding, and the reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign
oil. The last goal, some innovation bills argue, could be achieved with
the help of a new DOE organization modeled after the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, per recommendations of the National Academy of
Sciences in a 2005 report. An R&D package that calls for the establishment
of such an organization was introduced by bipartisan senators in January,
and it also stipulates a doubling of the R&D tax credit and the creation of
an incentive for employers who devote resources to worker training. Making
the R&D tax credit permanent is a key provision of Sens. John Ensign
(R-Nev.) and Joe Lieberman's (D-Conn.) National Innovation Act, which asks
agencies to pledge 3 percent of their R&D budgets for grants for
innovative, high-risk projects.
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Kids and Tech--Start Early
InformationWeek (05/01/06)No. 1087, P. 73; McGee, Marianne Kolbasuk
IBM and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) are offering free
lesson plans, presentation materials, guidebooks, and topic overviews on
programming and Web design to help high schools incorporate the activities
into computer science, math, and science courses. The first modules
available online will be object-oriented programming concepts for using
Java to design computer games, Web page design and development using a
storyboard application, and project-based learning for facilitating work
among project teams. "These tools don't tell the teachers what to teach,
but they're a resource to enhance their skills and put tools into the hands
of students," says Chris Stephenson, executive director of CSTA. "The key
is making the resources fun in building games and designing Web sites, but
not lacking in rigor." The program is part of the Academic Initiative that
IBM started in 2004 to help educators make use of open source and open
standards technologies in the classroom. The offering comes at a time when
the number of computer science students in colleges is on the decline,
prompting fears of an IT shortage in the United States in the future, says
Mark Hanny, vice president of the Academic Initiative. According to the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a 51 percent increase in
jobs that demand science, engineering, and technical training through 2008.
For more on CSTA, an ACM initiative, visit
http://csta.acm.org
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The Fight for a Toll-Free Internet
Chronicle of Higher Education (05/05/06) Vol. 52, No. 35, P. A39; Foster,
Andrea L.
The hot-button "network neutrality" issue is of critical concern to
academic institutions, who fear that broadband providers' preferential
treatment of certain types of content could hurt their efforts to deliver
education and collaborate on research over the Internet. Colleges are
lobbying Congress to require telecom companies to allow any kind of Web
content or network applications, including those that rival their own
offerings, to pass through their broadband pipes, and not to practice
discrimination against certain types of network traffic. Meanwhile,
telecom firms have been pushing lawmakers to reject net neutrality
provisions, arguing that the profits they stand to reap by exacting a toll
from users who want their online content to be prioritized and delivered
expeditiously would recoup their costs for upgrading network infrastructure
for consumers. There is consensus among academic leaders, consumer groups,
and technology companies that splitting the Internet into faster and slower
service tiers betrays the underlying principles of openness upon which the
Web was founded, and could therefore threaten innovations and consumers'
unrestricted access to critical information. At a Senate commerce
committee hearing in February, Gary Bachula with the Internet2 consortium
cited the high-speed Abilene network and the sophisticated applications it
supports as an example of innovations that are being crafted by end users
rather than phone or cable companies. "That requires an
open-standards-based nondiscriminatory Internet," he argued. An anonymous
college lobbyist reports that many college presidents are torn between two
camps: Broadband carriers in whose good graces the presidents wish to
remain because they often supply campuses with communications services; and
distance-learning and research programs that could be seriously degraded by
a tiered Internet.
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Testbeds Boost Cyber Security Research
Enterprise Networks and Servers (04/06) Kreidler, Tom
Although IT professionals have been using testbeds to measure the quality
of specific, project-based technologies for years, researchers at the
University of Southern California are now beginning to apply them to
cybersecurity through the Cyber Defense Technology Experimental Research
(DETER) project. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the
Department of Homeland Security, one of DETER's central objectives is to
improve government security by providing researchers with robust models of
networks and network security features, enabling them to conduct security
research without disrupting the Internet itself. "DETER provides the
infrastructure, methodologies, and tools to provide scientific, repeatable
experimentation across a wide range of cybersecurity technologies," said
Terry Benzel, the program's director. "This is a unique contribution; most
research and experimentation to date has been conducted in either small to
medium scale research facilities or in dedicated privately-owned
facilities, which do not lend themselves to repeatable analysis of a
diversity of cyber technologies." The DETER testbed is an IT network of
more than 200 nodes, enabling researchers to study the effects of malicious
code on a sufficiently complex environment to realistically represent the
Internet. In addition to creating and maintaining the testbed, DETER aims
to develop software to support security experimentation and form a research
community framed around the testbed. The idea of DETER was initially
conceived almost three years ago as part of the government's broader
initiative to shore up the nation's critical infrastructure. Projects such
as DETER enable the government to harness the capabilities of the best
minds and latest technologies in the business and academic communities,
significantly expanding the base of support for testbed security
research.
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