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Recent Products Contents:
Test & Measurement Tools
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- ATM PNNI Protocol Interoperability Test Tool -
The PNNI IOP tool was developed to assist software developers, test equipment vendors, and network administrators to implement or perform tests for the ATM network routing protocol or ATM Forum PNNI Specification V.1, based on the ATM Forum's Interoperability Test Suite for PNNI.
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- IPsec-WIT -
IPsec-WIT
is an interoperability test system built around the Cerberus IPsec prototype and commonly available WWW technology. IPsec WIT allows implementers and system integrators to remotely control and execute series of
interoperability tests with the Cerberus reference implementation. Test case selection, configuration, execution and results analysis are all controlled remotely using a WWW
browser. This novel use of WWW technology to control the test system allows IPsec-WIT to provide remote interoperability testing services anytime and anywhere without requiring any distribution
of test system software, relocation of the systems under test, or coordination of access to the reference implementation or tester.
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- ISPI
- ISPI is an interactive, integrated tool for measuring the performance of quality of service (QoS) sensitive data streams while conducting experiments with
emerging Internet resource reservation protocols and real-time network services. ISPI is capable of supporting stream selection based upon session directory protocols (i.e., SD, SDR),
monitoring the performance of data streams that use the Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) and allowing proxy interaction with routers supporting the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP).
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- LibcapV6
- LibcapV6 is a extension to the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) to support IPv6. LibcapV6 allows tools such as tcpdump and sniffit to support testing of IPv6 in a fully general way. Initial release planned in Q299.
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- MPEG BIFS
- With support from the ATP program the Multimedia group
participated in the development of MPEG-4
with emphasis on issues pertaining to the underlying technology, conformance, and test materials. We are currently focusing on the development of BIFS (Binary Format for Scene). Ee plan to collect at a NIST site the latest software and the corresponding sample data and to develop test material for BIFS players.
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- NIST 6Bone Status Monitor
- ANTD developed and deployed the first automated monitoring and mesurement tool for the 6Bone. The NIST 6Bone Status Monitor
provides continous updates of reachability and roundtrip times to every site on the 6Bone.
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- NIST Net
- The NIST Network Emulation Tool (NIST Net)
is a general-purpose tool for emulating performance dynamics in IP networks. The tool is designed to allow controlled, reproducible experiments with network performance sensitive and adaptive applications (e.g., voice over IP) and control protocols in a simple laboratory setting. By operating at the IP level, NIST Net can emulate the critical end-to-end performance characteristics imposed by various wide area network situations (e.g., congestion loss) or by various underlying subnetwork technologies (e.g., asymmetric bandwidth situations involving xDSL and cable modems).
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Prototypes & Reference Implementations
- AGNI -
AGNI is a framework and toolkit for the design and developmented of scripted, reconfigurable distributed systems. AGNI, based upon an
abstraction called Mobile Streams, provides the basis for developing destributed systems based upon TCL agents. Initial release planned in Q299.
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- NIST Linux ATM Multicast
- NIST LAM is a prototype implementation of IP multicast over ATM for Linux. The prototype provides a Multicast Address Resolution Server (MARS) daemon and MARS client functionality that is integrated in the Linux kernel. Initial release planned in Q299.
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- NIST Cerberus IPsec Reference Prototype
- Cerberus is a leading edge prototype and reference implementation of emerging network layer Internet security (i.e., IPsec) technologies. Implemented as a kernel module for the Linux operating system, the Cerberus prototype provides complete support for IPsec authentication and encryption services in both tunnel (i.e., firewall) and transport (i.e., host) mode.
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- NIST Switch
- NIST Switch is a rapid prototype platform for research in Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), and QoS routing. The NIST Switch platform implements MPLS forwarding and extensions to the Resrouce Reservation Protocol (RSVP) to support label distribution functions. Intitial release planned in Q299.
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- SMIL Player
- The NIST SMIL player is a publicly available reference software that implements the SMIL
1.0 standard - see
http://www.w3.org/ and
http://smil.nist.gov/player; also, http://www.w3.org/AudioVideo, http://smil.nist.gov/Testcases.html, and http://smil.nist.gov/Features.html
.The NIST SMIL player is a Java applet implementation of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)'s Synchronized Multimedia Integrated Language (SMIL) Recommendation. The player allows Java-enabled browsers to synchronize, temporally and spatially, the presentation of Web multimedia objects, such as audio, video, image, and text, so as to create richer TV-like multimedia content. The player is based on open standard technologies such as industry defined Java Media Framework (JMF) and the Document Object Model (DOM) of W3C.
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Modeling & Analysis Studies
- ATM Network Routing Protocol (PNNI) Performance Simulator -
The PNNI Simulator
allows researchers and network operators to simulate the operations of the ATM network routing protocol in order to predict the performance of a given network topology, to compare the performance of various configurations, and to study the scalability of the ATM Forum PNNI protocol. Several performance measurement metrics are provided.
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- ATM/HFC Simulator
- The simulator provides a means for researchers and network planners to analyze the behavior of ATM networks and/or HFC networks without the expense of building a real network. The simulator is intended to be a planning tool for network operators and a protocol analysis tool for researchers. For ATM networks, the simulator implements the AAL, ATM, and physical layers; for Hybrid Fiber-Coax networks, the simulator implements IEEE802.14 and Society of Cable TV Engineering (SCTE) Cable TV modem protocols. The simulator includes simulated applications using TCP/IP or native ATM interfaces, and it contains a rich set of traffic models, including self-similar traffic and MPEG-2 compressed video streams.
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- MERLin
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Modeling Evaluation and Research of Lightwave Network
(MERLiN) is a
Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) network design and modeling
environment that is currently under development at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology. The main purpose for this tool is to allow the
development and evaluation of algorithms for wavelength assignment,
routing, dynamic reconfiguration and restoration mechanisms without the
expense of building a real network. There are two major uses for MERLiN:
as a tool for WDM network planning and as a tool for WDM protocol
performance analysis.
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Other Products
- XIWT Internet Performance Measurement
- ANTD provides the central archive and data analysis site for the Internet Performance Working Team
(IPWT) of the XIWT. We collect data from all of the XIWT member test sites, aggregate and store the data on our server, and provide Web-based data analysis tools. IPWT members can use our
tools to analyze the data in a variety of ways and view the results of the analysis in a graphic format. This product is only available to IPWT team members.
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Customers
- ATM Forum
- ANTD contributes to the technical development of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks through active participation in "
The ATM Forum". The ATM Forum is an industry consortia that develops implementation
agreements and specifications for ATM technology, network administration and services based on national and international standards (e.g. ITU-T, ANSI ASC Committee T1). ANTD staff are actively
participating in ATM Forum efforts in the areas of: Conformance Testing, Interoperability Testing, Traffic Management, and validation and verification of the ATM
protocols.
David Su is the ANTD contact for general issues related to The ATM Forum and for
reference to further points of contact on specific issues.
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- Bluetooth SIG
- In fall 1998, ANTD joined the Bluetooth
SIG. We are modeling the link level protocols from the Bluetooth specification, and have provided suggestions to correct ambiguities in the specification. We intend to evaluate the performance of Bluetooth technology for multimedia data transfer, and we are considering measuring the effects of interference among Bluetooth devices and other devices operating in the unlicensed ISM band around 2.4 GHz.
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- Committee T1 and Technical SubCommittee T1X1
- Committee T1 and Technical SubCommittee T1X1
ANTD participates in the Technical Subcommittee T1X1 to contribute to the development of optical networking technologies.
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- IEEE 802 Committee
- ANTD is working with the P802.14 Cable-TV Protocol Working Group to develop Cable-TV access method and physical layer specification. We conducted performance evaluations of the MAC layer protocol. We also developed the Protocol Implementation Conformance Statement (PICS) Proforma for the 802.14 standard.
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- IETF
- ANTD contributes to the technical development of the Internet through active participation in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The IETF develops standards for new technology based upon the TCP/IP protocol suite and addresses various engineering issues for the
global public Internet. ANTD staff are actively participating in IETF efforts in the areas of: IP security, key management, IPv6, integrated services and resource reservation, IP switching, advanced
routing and mobile ad hoc networks. Doug Montgomery
is the ANTD contact for general issues related to the IETF and for reference to further points of contact on specific issues.
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- MPEG
- ANTD provides test material, including BIFS, for MPEG-4. We plan to continue this activity and to expand our participation to include the MPEG-7 work on meta-data for multimedia information. In addition, we are developing image quality metrics that seem to correlate better with human perception, than do the tradition metrics.
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- NAMT
- ANTD is working with the National Advanced Manufacturing Testbed (NAMT) to research the use of Next Generation Internet technologies and advanced collaborative tools in manufacturing research and operations environments.
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- Optical Internetworking Forum
- ANTD participates in the Optical Internetworking Forum (
OIF) to aid in the development and deployment of interoperable products and services for data switching and routing using optical networking technologies. The OIF
encourages cooperation among telecom industry participants including equipment manufacturers, telecom service providers and end users; promotes global development of optical internetworking products;
promotes nationwide and worldwide compatibility and interoperability; encourages input to appropriate national and
international standards bodies; and identifies, selects, and augments as appropriate and publishes optical internetworking specifications drawn from appropriate national and international
standards.
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- SMPTE
- With support from ATP we participated in the development of the
SMPTE splicing
standard. To support these activities we provided an FTP site for the exchange of bit-streams and we modified a publicly available NIST MPEG-2 player so as to create a tool to extract and
display as still images the video frames that a decoder will create around a splicing point. The page for the software is under construction but one can view sample images at ( http://rjo1.antd.nist.gov/images )
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- W3C -
We worked in the W3C SMIL subgroup to co-author the specifications for SMIL 1.0 Recommendation. We worked with vendors to
establish a secure Web site where product suppliers can register the features and capabilities of their SMIL products. We hosted the first interoperability tests for SMIL.
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- XIWT
- The Cross Industry Working Team (XIWT) is a multi-industry coalition with members from the communications, computer systems, information and service provider industries. This diverse group has come together to develop a common technical vision of the National Information Infrastructure (NII). The XIWT holds meetings and seminars to discuss key technology issues, and publishes White papers intended to accelerate the evolution of the NII by establishing common understanding. NIST is an executive member of the XIWT.
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Collaborators & Sponsors
- ATP
- The NIST Advanced Technology Program (ATP)
supports several projects within the division. The specific ATP programs and the ANTD projects that they support include:
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- Bellcore
- ANTD jointly conducted experiments on transfer of digital video data over ATM networks. Video-on-Demand information is exchanged between laboratories in New Jersey and Maryland over the ATDnet.
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- Bell Labs
- ANTD collaborates with Bell Labs in the development of technologies in protocol modeling, and verification. Specific areas of joint work include ATM network protocol modeling, testing, and performance evaluation.
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- DARPA
- ANTD is collaborating with DARPA in several programs including: Intelligent Collaboration and Visualization, GloMo, Information Management, and Situated Computing. ANTD is developing advanced test and measurement tools and frameworks for collaborative systems. ANTD is helping DARPA to assess the performance of proposed MANET protocols against military traffic scenarios. ANTD is also working on metrics for search and retrievable of multimedia data in digital libraries. ANTD is also helping DARPA to device a program in Situated Computing.
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- EEEL
- ANTD is working with EEEL on a joint Competency Project, "Characterization of Broadband Wireless Access Communication Systems". Together we work with N-WEST to develop coding, modulation, and possibly equalization schemes for LMDS. Another aspect of the work is finding accurate models for nonlinearities in milimeter wave components and devices, as well as developing propagation channel models in the 28-31GHz frequency band.
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- ETRI
- By collaboration between ANTD and the Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), conformance test suites were developed, submitted to the ATM Forum, and approved as ATM Forum specifications for the ATM Layer (end systems and intermediate systems), and the Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP) protocol layers.
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- FCC
- Our interaction with FCC is somewhat limited. We participate in the IMT-2000 standardization meetings, where Henry Straube of FCC is the Chairman of the US delegation. We attend the national and international IMT-2000 meetings that are held in the US and abroad, and we participate in the discussions that take place.
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- Korea Telcomm
- ANTD collaborated with the Korea Telecom's (KT) Research & Development Group on two projects. On the ATM protocol testing project, two test suites were developed by NIST and KT, and submitted to the ATM Forum: ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) Type 5 and User-Network Interface (UNI) 3.1 signaling layer. On the Digital Video project, work on interoperability and testing of digital video of B-ISDN, a conformance test suite for the Digial Storage Media Command and Control (DSMCC) standard (part 10 of the ISO/IEC 13818 MPEG2 standard) was developed by ANTD and KT and submitted and approved in ISO/IEC. In addition, work was contributed for the software architecture design of a DAVIC Voice on Demand (VoD) system and implementation of the DSMCC User-to-User protocol over CORBA for the VoD system. Contributions on Interoperability Testing Guidelines and Systems Conformance Testing Statement were incorporated in part 13 of the DAVIC specification version 1.2.
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- NASA / NREN - ANTD is colloaborating with NASA/NREN in the development and testing of advanced NGI applications.
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- NCS
- The National Communications System (NCS), a
consortium of 23 Federal departments and agencies, is responsible for ensuring a viable telecommunications infrastructure during national security and emergency preparedness situations. In
support of this mission, the Technology and Standards Division of NCS performs technical studies and analyses of emerging telecommunications technologies. NIST is currently collaborating with
NCS on these efforts by performing studies in areas of high-speed networks, including ATM, SONET, and frame relay. Discussions are currently underway regarding collaboration in the development of
MANET protocols.
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- NSA
- The National Security Agency
provides support and technical collaboration in our internet protocol security (IPsec) projects.
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- NTIA
- ANTD has had some interactions with NTIA ITS in Boulder regarding propagation channel models for LMDS. We have also had some exchanges with them in the context of a TIA Ad Hoc Group on 3G wireless systems.
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Suppliers
- FreeBSD - ANTD staff uses the
FreeBSD
operating system to develop UNIX kernel reference implementations of emerging network technologies.
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- UCB MASH
- The MASH research group at the
University of California, Berkeley is developing a scalable multimedia architecture for
distributed multimedia collaboration in heterogeneous environments. The principal research vehicle for the MASH project is a multimedia networking toolkit. ANTD is using components of the MASH
toolkit in several research projects, including: (1) distributed object oriented protocol test systems (see DIPPER); (2) manufacturing collaboratories (see NAMT);
(3) mobile agent based, reconfigurable distributed systems (see AGNI)
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Advisors
- LSN NGI Teams
- ANTD staff coordinates research projects and objectives with the other federal laboratories participating in the Next Generation Internet (
NGI) initiative. Through the Large Scale Networks committee, ANTD participates in the NGI Network Research Team (NRT) (Doug Montgomery co-chair), the
Internet Security Team (IST), and the High Performance Network Applications Team (HPNAT).
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