Although SINET and Super SINET have served admirably as the Japanese science infrastructure, their traffic volume has been rapidly growing, and their user requirements have become more diversified. A future science infrastructure that supports research on a variety of leading-edge applications will have to provide adequate network services to its users and respond flexibly to changes in their requirements. NII is therefore planning to construct a next-generation network that integrates both SINET and Super SINET.

Figure 2 shows the high-level description of the network architecture for this next-generation SINET. The transport network is a hybrid IP and optical network that accommodates multiple-layer services such as IP, Ethernet, and layer-1 (dedicated line) services. The network resource, i.e., network bandwidth, is flexibly assigned to each layer corresponding to the demand. For example, the bandwidth for a layer-1 connection can be assigned on demand by reducing the bandwidth for layers 2 and 3. Next-generation SDH/SONET technologies such as the General Frame Protocol (GFP), Virtual Concatenation (VCAT), and Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS) will be essential to realizing this flexible network architecture. Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) is also a key technology to achieve bandwidth on demand (BoD) services. IP routers provide a converged IP/MPLS platform for layer 2 and 3 services. L2 and L3 Virtual Private Network (VPN) over MPLS, IPv4/IPv6 dual stack, and sophisticated QoS will be common infrastructural functions.

To optimize network resource utilization and to enhance network resilience, the network has to supervise multiple layers and find the optimal resource assignment dynamically. The growth in the traffic of layer 1 services means that we will need a network control platform that can efficiently and dynamically monitor and control multiple layers.

A service control platform that helps to accelerate development of user applications by enabling collaboration between users and the network will be very important in the future infrastructure. The platform will include on-demand bandwidth assignment, advanced network security, and collaboration between middleware/applications and the network. We plan to start deployment of the next-generation SINET in 2007. We believe that this improved network will provide better environments for Japanese universities and research communities.

To facilitate interoperability and availability of the next-generation network and the grid middleware among universities, we also have to ensure a secure and reliable operation environment for universities which have diversified research and education policies. It is for this purpose that we launched the University Public Key Infrastructure (UPKI) initiative in 2005. The initiative will bring together informatics researchers at major universities and research institutions, and it is initially intended to be a means to exchange course credits among universities and to authenticate cooperative research activities. The developers are designing a universal scheme for the campus-wide authentication and authorization system and its applications for the Japanese university environment. The UPKI initiative is expected to be the key to promote sharing of computing facilities and information resources among institutions participating in CSI.