Arecibo, UPR, USVI, and Eastern Caribbean
R&E Networking Needs and Opportunities

Agenda
Meeting Time: 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Date: April 26, 2006

Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott-1700 Jefferson Davis Highway-Arlington,Virginia
Salons IV/V/VI

1) Introductions

Attending were:

  • Heidi Alvarez, FIU-CIARA
  • Alan Whitney, MIT Haystack
  • Arun Venkataraman , Arecibo
  • Guy Cormier, UniversityofPuerto Rico, HPCF
  • Greg Palmer, MagPi
  • Ana Preston, Internet2
  • Mannone Butler, Allied Communications, representing Smitcoms
  • Andrea Barbarin, Allied Communications, representing Smitcoms
  • Arpad ???, JIVE
  • Charles Yun, Internet2
  • Chester R ???, MIT Haystack
  • Bob Bradford, NASA
  • Chip Cox, FIU-CIARA
  • Wesley Joyce, UVI

2) Agenda Bashing: what we want to discuss for this initial meeting

3) e-VLBI bandwidth requirements for Arecibo and St. Croix:.  Dr. Alan Whitney, Shep Doeleman, Chester R., MIT Haystack & Arun Venkataraman, who oversees operations at Arecibo.

  1. 2 antennas of interest in the Caribbean:
  • Arecibois one of the largest, most sensitive, largest full aperture in the world.  Very important for highly sensitive observations.
                                                                ii.     St.
  • Croix antenna is 1 of 10 very long baseline interferometry (vlbi) array.

2) Data rate requirements:

  • St. Croix currently operates at 128 Mbps sustained rate. Goal is to move that up to a 1 Gbps sustained rate, with 24x7 data collection. 
  • Arecibooperates intermittently as a e-VLBI antenna, and operates stand alone the rest of the time.  The desired rate to support real time observations is 1 Gbps.  Since it only observes with e-VLBI a fraction of the time, the back up plan is to have Areciborecord and then transmit near real time. The data would be recorded at 1 Gbps and then transmitted at an absolute minimum of 100 Mbps.  So what takes 1 hour to observe would take 10 hours to send. Any less than that and it would not be economical to use the network.  The tapes would have to be shipped to either the US or Europe for correlation processing.  The correlators are at MIT, JIVE, Japan, or Mexico.  Most of the data goes to either MIT or JIVE.  JIVE has previously been able to take real time data from Areciboat 32 Mbps and 64 Mbps.  Arpad would like to once again at least have access to the 64 Mbps. 
  • Arecibohas a OC-3c (155 Mbps) connection to the UPR GigaPOP.  Arecibohas a 20Mbps committed data rate to the UPR GigaPOP, with the ability to burst. 
  • SETI@Home uses Areciboand they would like to increase their bandwidth committed data rate to 10 Mbps from the Areciboobservatory.  They are currently shipping tapes off the island to UC Berkley. 
  • ACTION: Ana Preston is going to establish a contact for the SETI@home program with the help of Arun. 
  • St. Croix antenna does not have any connectivity to a high-speed network.  Undersea fiber lands in Fredricksted, which is on the other side of the island. Price for an STM-1 connected to the telephone company (ICC) is estimated around $480K per year.
  • Heidi referenced the report OPERATIONAL PLAN FOR UPGRADING THE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY OF THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS (USVI):UNIVERSITY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS (UVI), ST. CROIXVBLA RADIO ASTRONOMY STATION AND OTHER RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FACILTIES http://ampath.fiu.edu/archive/publications/pdf/USVIOpPlan.pdf

4)Puerto Rico current topology and connection to AMPATH + near future plans.  Guy Cormier explained. 

  • UPR system just brought up a new network.  There are 2 cores that share all of the institutional connectivity within UPR.  There is an OC-3 to the commodity internet which is provided by Centennial of PR. It lands in the NAP of the Americas in Miami.  There is another OC-3 for Internet2 which connects to the AMPATH IXP in the NAP of the Americas.  The OC-3 for commodity is saturated at a continuous rate of 128 Mbps.  The I2 OC-3 is running average of 40 Mbps.  There is some discussion of upgrading to 1 OC-12 to share between commodity and I2 traffic.  Timeline for upgrade is by the end of 2006 at a cost of $100K per month.  The commodity port is $30-40K per month.  There is an additional cost for local loops etc.  UPR has no access to dark fiber. 
  • There is a line of site from El Yunque rain forest station on the east end of PR to St. Thomas and St. Croix.  El Yunque is connected to the UPR network.  There is also a microwave link between St. Thomas and UPR.
  • Suggestion was that UPR could build their own microwave (G Palmer) but there are obstacles for UPR to get the right of way from the PR government.  UPR is the state (gov't) universityofPR.

5)AMPATH International Open Exchange Point www.ampath.net in Miami--Current services etc.  Either Chip Cox or Heidi Alvarez

6)WHREN-LILA http://whren.ampath.net/ quick update.  Principal Investigator, Julio Ibarra

CLARA/ redCLARA - can be covered by Eriko Porto or Julio as well.

  • TelMex just bought Dominican Republic and PR telco facilities.  Carlos Casisus is engaged with DR to bring them into CLARA.  There is thought that DR could take a leadership role in the Caribbean.  DR was not included in the EC funding for CLARA.  Cuba was included, but there are obstacles to their connections to CLARA and will probably not be connected to CLARA by the end of 2006. 
  • Inter-American Development Bank is interested in launching a program for the Caribbean similar to the ALICE program.
  • Ana please give us an update on the Lisbon meeting or ask someone to provide this.
  • UPR has strong ties with DR for exchange programs (Guy suggests asking the VP of Academic Affairs or the VP of Research and will facilitate an introduction)

7)SMITCOMS will provide overview of network topology and future expansion plans - focused primarily on its submarine cable operations.   SMITCOMS will be represented at the mtg. by its U.S. consultant (Steve Marcano) and telecom counsel (Mannone Butler, Andrea Barbarin)   

  • Background.  In 2000 the government in St. Maartin formed SMITCOMS to provide Internet connectivity to the Caribbean.  It is an LLC with a submarine cable license.  SMPR-1 is the cable that creates an important network which links Sint Maartin to PR.  It's current capacity is 2.5 Gbps, with capacity up to 10Gbps.  The Carribean fiber network CFR-1 will give broader reach to the eastern Carribean (Mannone please fill this is more accurately).  Also in phase 2 is a planned link to St. Croix.  The application has been filed.  The cable will come up at 2.5 Gbps with a full capacity of 40 Gbps.
  • ACTION: Mannone will provide an electronic copy of the PowerPoint that she distributed as a hard copy.
  • There is discussion with U of St. Maartin and UVI and SMITCOM.

8)UVI Update on current and future plans including collaboration with MagPI: Greg Palmer

  • Greg Palmer representing MagPI which is K-20 as well as master's education through ISDN.  Chapel Hill collaborates with UVI.  Health Sciences and Telemedicine, dentistry, medical education.  Mike McGill at U of Penn, UNJ?, --   In USVI there was a group that came to Philadelphia that was introduced to a number of K-12 education programs (see previous emails on this).
  • (ACTION: Greg, please provide documentation of existing collaboration for higher education.)
  • They were shown music instruction, AIDS, ..., Remote instrumentation with microscope
  • There is a new cancer institute on St. Thomas that may be interested in telemedicine applications.  Wesley Joyce will follow up.

9)Telemedicine application(s) and future possibilities between St. Maarten and the Netherlands Erasmus MC. 

10)Funding Opportunities and Agencies

  • Corporate donation of fiber (J&J has presence in PR)
  • Ana announced that the IADB is looking to create a program similar to ALICE for the Caribbean.  David Gray, coordinator for GDLN.  IADB people going to Lisbon. 

11)Next Steps

  • ACTION: Ana Preston will set up a mailing list, web site and Wiki for CaribREN or some other clever name.  This will be made available around May 3rd.  Video Conference or call bridge meetings once a month aimed at May 26th.
  • ACTION: Internet2 Day

            i.     Locations under consideration are Sint Maartin, PR, or USVI

           ii.     Timeframe: Find time from 2nd week of December, January, February

           iii.     This group will be the advisory program committee

           iv.     Demos are desirable so there is a minimum amount of connectivity needed.  I2 can provide loaner equipment.  This would be the first time outside the US, if the meeting is in St Maartin.

           v.     Benefit of I2 Days---Charles, Anna please bring Mary Ann ?? into the discussion. 

          vi.     Results from I2 day: Planning Project (funded by ?) which would document the applications, infrastructure, and sustainability of a Caribbean R&E Network.

  • ACTION: Document other cable systems, or future plans from SMITCOMS using public records (permits, etc.  Andrea / Mannone can give more information)
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