ANAHEIM, Calif., June 6 -- Sweden's Socware Design Cluster and Acreo Photonics Research have announced a new photonic network test bed project that will be open to US and international companies to develop and test their latest communications semiconductors, switches and broadband management and integration applications. Socware and Acreo are presenting and discussing the new test bed project at the 2003 Design Automation Conference (DAC) being held this week at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Socware Design Cluster, a national endeavor focused on system-on-chip (SoC) technology for wireless and broadband communications, is also demonstrating the progress of its SoCTRix Demonstrator project and its new SoC Design Center program. "Sweden's full-scale photonics network test bed is a unique and excellent opportunity for communications-related companies to test and refine their products and services in a real-world environment," said Rolf Rising, director and head of IT and electronics, Invest in Sweden Agency. "It is made possible by the sophisticated IT infrastructure that Sweden's government and institutions have committed resources to and successfully developed over the years." The test bed project, headed by Acreo Photonics Research and funded by Ericsson and VINNOVA, aims to stimulate the development of next-generation broadband communication, provide a service transparent high-bandwidth transport solution and test 40 Gb for future cost-effective implementations through a multivendor, end-to-end, high-speed optical network. The project is open to US companies wishing to test their technologies in a "real-world" environment. Intel and Cisco are among the first US companies to participate in the program. The network will operate at speeds up to 40 Gb and will initially cover a distance of 250 miles, between the cities of Stockholm and Hudiksvall. The project is also serving as a test bed for specialized communications, semiconductors, switches and network management applications and integration tools. The network will be connected to the existing national and regional backbone, stretching the test bed more than 1,000 miles with a consumer test community of 23,000 individuals. For more information, visit: www.isa.se