SAN DIEGO, Calif. and RICHARDSON, Texas, Nov. 19 -- The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-[IT]²) and Chiaro Networks have announced a partnership to develop the OptIPuter, a next-generation optical networking grid that will enable scientists who are generating massive amounts of data to interactively correlate, analyze and visualize their data from multiple storage sites connected to optical networks. The OptIPuter (its named is derived from optical networking, internet protocol and computer storage and processing) combines two technologies -- grid middleware and multiple wavelengths of light, or "lambdas," on single optical fibers which the researchers say will lead to the creation of LambdaGrids, which essentially eliminate bandwidth as a barrier to interactive exploration of large remote databases. Chiaro will supply the Enstara platform to the OptIPuter testbed at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and will become a Cal-(IT)² industry partner. Other partners include IBM, Telcordia Technologies and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The project is led by Cal-(IT)² researchers at UCSD; the University of California, Irvine; San Diego State University; the University of Southern California; and researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago with its partner Northwestern University. Major funding for the project is from a $13.5 million award by the National Science Foundation. "Our high-end routing platform Enstara reduces IP network complexity and takes a major leap forward in reducing infrastructure costs," said Steve Wallach, vice president of Chiaro’s Office of Technology. "Chiaro has created a routing platform that acts like a computer system. It is programmable with 24/7 reliability and virtual partitions, while converging computing and communications. This is exactly what is needed for consolidated networks." Phase One of the partnership is to install Chiaro’s router to connect SDSC with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (all three are on the UCSD campus) by Dec. 1. For more information, visit: www.chiaro.com or www.calit2.net/news/2002/9-25-optiputer.html