GTRN

The Global Terabit Research Network (GTRN) is an international project whose goal is to link international broadband research networks with each other via next-generation Internet links.

This unifying global network will lead to a coherent framework for the deployment of services such as multicast, IPv6 and QoS, which will become available worldwide at throughputs measured in terabits per second. It will allow participants in multinational research programs to access the advanced Internet services they need for their work. Among the numerous fields that will benefit from such worldwide high performance connectivity are high-energy physics, radioastronomy, life sciences and earth sciences (meteorology, climatology, etc.)

The GTRN is the result of an initial partnership between the European research and education networks (the NREN Consortium) and their North American counterparts (Internet2 and CANARIE). At the time of its launch in May 2002, the participation of Asia-Pacific regional networks was confirmed; the GTRN-AP unifying network, which links SINET, Innet (Japan) and KREONET (Korea) will be connected to the GTRN. It is hoped that the GTRN will soon be extended to Latin America, Russia, Africa, the Middle East and to other Asian networks, particularly China's CERNET.