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LOUISIANA INVESTS $40M IN STATEWIDE OPTICAL NETWORK

As Louisiana tries to refine its image and compete in the 21st century, dialogues and discussions have raged from the bayou to the Big Easy about how to invest the state's limited resources to assure the greatest returns. One state initiative has already advanced Louisiana's technological, academic, economic and cultural development. And, all at the speed of lambda—light waves.

Louisiana State University's Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) has helped to secure Louisiana's passage on the National LambdaRail (NLR), the new generation of high-speed networking that uses light waves for data transmission, computation, and communication. The Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) is a $40 million fiber network that grants access to LSU, Louisiana Tech University, LSU Medical Centers in Shreveport and New Orleans, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Southern University, the University of New Orleans and Tulane University. With NLR access, universities have the opportunity to create a virtual high-speed, data-intensive academic community to share teaching and research resources.

Getting On Board

In 2001 the NLR was finalizing its designs to connect an exclusive cadre of member universities with superior supercomputing capabilities in a high-speed network to access, process, transfer, and analyze data at 25,000 times the rate of the average cable modem. Realizing the importance of fiber optic technology, the Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc. (SURA) began seeking access for its 60 universities located from Massachusetts to Texas.

When astrophysicist and supercomputing expert Edward Seidel agreed to move his international research team from Germany to Baton Rouge and become the director of CCT, connecting Louisiana to the NLR became a priority. But the southernmost track of the NLR originated in Dallas and veered northeast to Atlanta. Louisiana wasn't even a whistle stop.

"It was the equivalent of watching the transcontinental railroad being built and not coming through your state," said Charles P. McMahon, LSU's director of the Office of Telecommunications.

"Before the NLR would change the design to come through Louisiana, we had to convince them we were serious players," McMahon said. While Seidel gave instant credibility on an international scale, the Louisiana consortium still had to demonstrate its ability to secure long-term funding. Louisiana needed a plan to avert a negative impact on NLR's balance sheet for the extra expenses the detour would accumulate.

From Underdog To Top Dog

By March of 2004, the Louisiana Board of Regents secured the $5 million NLR membership fee by allocating $700,000 from its own budget and receiving commitment from Tulane and LSU to contribute $150,000 each per year, over five years. In addition to its contribution of $3.5 million, SURA's two-year negotiations with AT&T yielded the donation of 6,000 miles of fiber from Jacksonville to Houston, which is valued at more than $1 million.

"As the nexus of SURA schools, LSU was suddenly in a leadership position," said McMahon.

That position was further enhanced when Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco asserted her commitment to the LONI project in the State of the State address. "We will work with our higher education institutions to develop an in-state network that will take advantage of this National LambdaRail access," she announced. "Through these efforts, we can distinguish Louisiana as a major player in high-performance computing and network technology and secure tremendous economic development gains in the future."

Moreover, at the beginning of the legislative session, $1.1 million was approved for LONI in an amendment to the House appropriation's bill. With advocacy by the administration, the Senate finance appropriations committee increased the allocation to $3.2 million. "Obviously, it was one of the priority items for the administration," said Donald J. Vandal, deputy commissioner for administration of the Louisiana Board of Regents.

Finally, during an open forum on LONI in September 2004, Governor Blanco surprised researchers from across the world by announcing her full support of the initiative and allocating $40 million to create and maintain the network. At this forum international representatives from funding agencies, industry, and academia gathered to discuss use of LONI. Securing this fiber network and a spot on the NLR was made possible only because of a broad range of support. And so it was that Louisiana went from being excluded to envied, technological underdog to top dog.

Science And Supercomputing

Supercomputers are used to simulate natural phenomena, analyze data, model scientific problems into three-dimensional images, and produce a variety of outcomes by simulating hypotheses in real time. Sophisticated animation, weather and economic forecasts, research and development of new pharmaceuticals and medical techniques generated from supercomputer models pervade daily life. Supercomputing has revolutionized science by freeing scientists to concentrate more on their experiments than on the mathematics of computation necessary to prove or disprove their hypotheses. While their data needs are exponentially greater than that of the average PC user, scientists and researchers experience the same frustration with integration of software systems and delays in processing.

"Scientists have been restricted by the equipment they have had available and the length of run time and size of the computer capability. We are now working with bigger more complex models that use more data," said Gabrielle Allen, computer science faculty member, CCT's assistant director for computing applications, and Grid computing expert. "Even with supercomputers, you have to wait in a queue, and it may take up to a week for the program to run."

Although the current lower bandwidth available to academia is not saturated, the need to advance to improved technology is evident.

"It's the same effect as using a cell phone on campus. Most of the time, it works. But, Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium, cell phones can't get a signal because 50,000 people are trying to call. The system's capacity is overloaded," said McMahon. "Our current bandwidth is a constraint to opportunity," he said.

LSU's technology experts have as much confidence in NLR's longevity as its speed and power. "Ten years ago, the case for the network wouldn't have been as clear. At some point, we have to get involved or be left behind. This is the start of a new phase of technology, a new provisioning of lambdas, and potentially unlimited bandwidth on demand," said Seidel.

Leveraging LONI

Louisiana's initiative with NLR has advanced the state's technological capabilities light years ahead. With the acquisition of the new infrastructure, CCT's faculty will harness that power to place the state's universities on a competitive edge in collaborative research and teaching capabilities.

The NLR is a hybrid of two proven technologies that have been both improved and used since the 1970s: fiber optics and ethernet. While the fiber optic cable's physical lifespan is between 10 to 20 years, the electronic components are expected to be upgraded every three years. Contracting with national and local information technology providers, LSU is installing and activating the fiber optic cable that will connect to the NLR as well as LONI. Downtown Baton Rouge will house the hardware hub with a smaller spur located in New Orleans.

"The 20 other states in the NLR are providing exclusive access to their flagship supercomputing universities. In Louisiana, we want to leverage the computing power by giving direct access to everybody," said Brian Ropers-Huilman, CCT's assistant director of HPC and computation. All LONI sites will have international networking capability through the NLR. "With LONI, the supercomputers at the other Louisiana universities will collectively run the same software, making one virtual statewide supercomputer."

"Our universities that are geographically separated will collaborate on projects and address common issues," said Dan Henderson, director of information technology cluster development for the state's Department of Economic Development. "This is a big step forward for our state, to have cooperation by our researchers and sharing of resources."

Academics And Economics On The Fast Track

"The capabilities of the NLR are opening the eyes of researchers to the things they could do," Seidel said. "There is suddenly a lot more interest in collaborative grants in the tens of millions of dollars, and that is something that has not been a possibility until now."

That could result in more discoveries, innovations, and patents that could spawn entrepreneurial enterprises. Although there are no plans for the NLR to become accessible to businesses or consumers, Ropers-Huilman envisions other possibilities and indirect benefits to the state's businesses and citizens. "The NLR does not prevent industry partnerships," he said, "but the end result of the research is always some physical product that affects everyone's lives."

Research into coastal erosion could result in better barriers to shield the state from hurricanes. Satellite images of the nitrogen content of the soil yield information that inspires an entrepreneur to create a product that increases the production of sugar cane, rice or cotton.

"Having capabilities of the NLR and LONI will attract better research faculty. There's an increased potential of receiving national and international funds and grants," said Ropers-Huilman.

With its application to research, and undergraduate and graduate programs, the technology can promote the creation of both a better-educated workforce and the kinds of jobs many Louisianians are currently seeking elsewhere.

In addition, high-quality, high-definition videoconferencing allows faculty to participate in real-time urgent discussions on bioterrorism or public health crises as well as undergraduates to participate in courses taught on the other side of the globe. "It's less important where people are located. With collaborative technology, the world is at your fingertips," said Allen.

"We recognize there is no more valuable economic development initiative than to have this kind of infrastructure available. It generates savings, maximizes use of capital expenditures, equipment, and facilities. It attracts the kinds of people and expertise that have a broad systematic view of Louisiana. All of which excel our quality of life," Henderson said. "And, that's what economic development is all about."

LONI is expected to be operational by December of 2005.