Calient Networks Teams with MCNC and LSU CCT to Advance Scientific Research; Optical Switching and GMPLS Control Plane Technologies Promote Global e-Science Collaboration.

SEATTLE -- Calient Networks, MCNC, the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, and the Center for Computation & Technology at LSU announced today at Supercomputing 2005 a partnership to drive optical networking and grid computing towards a new realm of advanced scientific applications.

Calient, a leading carrier-class photonic switching systems and software provider, and MCNC, a network research facility and nonprofit provider of network services to North Carolina universities and state government, have partnered to integrate optical control plane and Grid computing technologies for research purposes. Working with the Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) at LSU in conjunction with the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI), MCNC and Calient are providing new optical network capabilities to drive extreme-scale scientific applications. At SC 05, CCT and LONI will demonstrate how the control of high-speed networks can be coupled to computing resources, data storage archives, and visualization services for enhancing the study of highly complex and computation intensive scientific problems such as the modeling of black holes and other sources of gravitational waves.

"Network infrastructures are no longer commodity 'plumbing' tools but integral components for 'virtual' research teams that rely on resources, both human and physical, residing in various geographic locations," said John Crites, president and CEO of MCNC. "The combined technological expertise between MCNC and Calient together with other research partners will increase innovation from National Research & Education Networks (NRENs) and foster more scientific collaboration."

"Calient was an early pioneer in delivering optical switching and GMPLS technologies, and has developed great expertise in NRENs demonstrated by their successful involvement in the SuperSINET and JGN-2 programs in Japan," said Mark Johnson, chief technology officer at MCNC. "We are pleased to partner with them, having already seen positive results."

"MCNC operates the nationally-recognized North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) and has a world-class team with a history of pioneering advanced network research," said Charles Corbalis, CEO and president at Calient. "Not only are they leading the Experiment Support Services effort for the National LambdaRail but they are also involved in many other advanced network projects. We are committed to helping them achieve their goals of supporting next-generation network initiatives."

Calient's DiamondWave(R) PXC optical switch has been deployed at MCNC's site in Raleigh, and will be the base of a new optical exchange to spur research activity throughout North Carolina universities and facilitate national and international research.

A working relationship already existed between MCNC and LONI based on shared experiences in operating regional networks dedicated to research and education. "We recognized the value of bringing Calient switches to both LONI and NCREN to enable better provisioning of our optical network resources," said Mark Johnson. LONI has already achieved early success with integrating the Calient DiamondWave(R) PXC product deployed in Baton Rouge with Grid middleware developed by the CCT. "The ability to dynamically allocate bandwidth, coordinate network intelligence, and vertically integrate Grid computing with network services is a linchpin for worldwide NREN collaboration," added Gigi Karmous-Edwards, principal scientist at MCNC and also the chair of the Control Plane and Grid Integration Middleware Working Group at the Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF).

"Since our research required real-time cooperation and dynamic connectivity between supercomputer sites in Louisiana and with European collaborators we needed new transport protocols and dynamic optical network configurations," said Ed Seidel, CCT director and research scientist. With the network and attached resources, researchers can also share huge data sets of information around the world instantly, such as complex models of storm surge or path predictions. "More accurate projections can now be realized," said Seidel. "Network provisioning allows for faster, complex real-time problem resolution."

"Despite the impact of recent hurricanes in Louisiana, together with Calient and MCNC resources and researchers, we were able to showcase this new network capability in a relatively short time period. These recent disasters proved the value of collaborative support," said Charlie McMahon, director of LSU Office of Telecommunication. As soon as communications were re-established after the storms, MCNC and Calient personnel were in touch with LSU CCT and doubled their efforts to help LONI get ready for networked computer simulation demonstrations at the October iGRID 2005 and SC 05.

Calient products and solutions can be seen at Supercomputing 2005 in Seattle, November 14-17 at booth 657.

About MCNC and NCREN

Since 1985, MCNC, an independent nonprofit organization, has conducted network research along with developing and operating the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) in collaboration with the University of North Carolina's 16 campuses. The fiber-optic, private network is dedicated to research and education, providing a statewide network backbone. NCREN provides high-speed Internet, video, audio and data network services for North Carolina public universities, Duke University, Wake Forest University, other private universities and community colleges, state government and non-profit institutions. NCREN also provides fast access to national research networks. MCNC, founded in 1980 to be a catalyst for innovation and technology-based economic development throughout North Carolina, is located in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park. For more information, please visit www.mcnc.org.

About CCT at LSU and LONI

The CCT at LSU is an interdisciplinary research environment for advancing computational sciences, technologies, and the disciplines they touch. The center's efforts are funded largely by the Louisiana Legislature's Information Technology Initiative. For more information on LONI and LSU please visit http://www.cct.lsu.edu/.

The Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) is a high speed computing and networking resource supporting scientific research and the development of new technologies, protocols, and applications to positively impact higher education and economic development in Louisiana. LONI is a statewide asset administered under the authority of the Board of Regents. For more information please visit www.loni.org.

About Calient Networks, Inc.

Calient Networks is a provider of optical network productivity solutions designed to address a diverse set of challenges facing today's telecommunications carriers, large enterprises, research and government organizations, and optical network equipment providers. Calient's DiamondWave(R) all-optical switching systems and GMPLS-powered networking innovations provide a seamless migration path that is non-disruptive to legacy operations, highly cost-effective, and an enabler to revenue-generating optical services. Calient is shipping its DiamondWave products to production networks, labs and OEMs worldwide. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. Additional engineering and manufacturing operations are located in Santa Barbara, Calif., while MEMS design and fabrication operations are located in Ithaca, N.Y. For additional information about Calient, visit http://www.calient.net.

Calient, Calient Networks, the Calient Networks logo, DiamondWave, the DiamondWave logo and "Where Innovation Comes to Light" are registered trademarks of Calient Networks, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other marks used in this press release are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright (R) 2005 Calient Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.