NIU unveils plan for ultra-high-speed,
regional network

Northern Illinois University plans to create an ultra-fast, fiber-optic communications network that will extend next-generation technology currently available only at elite research facilities in Chicago to the rest of the region.

Dubbed “NIUNet,” the roughly 175-mile fiber optic loop is being touted as a huge boon to research and economic development efforts throughout the western suburbs and greater northern Illinois region. Officials say the network can also advance state-of-the art health care technology, benefit area schools and help keep much-sought-after high tech jobs from leaving the region for more “connected” communities on either coast.

The three-year NIUNet timetable calls for creation of a network stretching from DeKalb to Batavia to Naperville along I-88, connecting into Chicago, the I-WIRE network, Argonne National Laboratory and other national research networks through the connection at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia. NIUNet would then loop back along I-90 to Hoffman Estates and west to Rockford before heading south along I-39 to Rochelle and back to DeKalb. In the end, municipalities, schools, hospitals, research facilities and other potential NIUNet partners could be connected to dozens of other high-speed networks worldwide.

“NIUNet has the potential to transform northern Illinois into one of the most wired regions in the nation, touching millions of lives through improved education, new discoveries and economic development,” said NIU President John Peters.

The university expects to invest roughly $1.5 million over the next three years to complete the NIUNet ring. The completed network will consist of both newly constructed segments and long stretches of leased fiber cable currently lying unused underground. NIU hopes to establish agreements with a number of cities along the route to reduce costs through donated right-of-way or easement rights. The university has also applied for state funds and grant money to help pay for some of the project. Development of the first phase is already under way and includes links from NIU’s main campus in DeKalb to its Naperville campus and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia.

The NIUNet plan grew out of university efforts to provide faculty at NIU campuses in DeKalb, Naperville, Hoffman Estates and Rockford with access to a next-generation Internet designed for data-intensive research. Technicians working to meet those goals realized an even greater opportunity existed.

“At first, we set out to connect our four campuses,” said Wally Czerniak, head of NIU’s information technology division. “But it occurred to us that by forging partnerships with communities along the ring, we could share costs, expedite the project and create a tremendous asset for the region.”

The university found a willing collaborator in the Illinois Municipal Broadband Communications Association. IMBCA is a non-profit association of Illinois towns and others interested in sharing information and resources about broadband services. Members include Naperville, Batavia, Rockford and Rochelle. NIU’s long-standing research partnership with Fermilab helped speed the network plan as well, since Fermilab provides the connection into Chicago and onto the state’s I-WIRE network.

IMBCA members quickly recognized the potential of a university-led project: Through NIU-brokered partnerships, the network could be established affordably by using long-term leases on existing dark (unused) fiber-optic cable while installing some new cable to complete the ring. NIU and IMBCA each will reserve a portion of the fiber for their needs.

“NIUNet holds great promise for increasing our connectivity to the outside world,” said Naperville City Manager Peter Burchard. “We already have a fiber optic backbone in place within our community, but NIUNet could allow us to link with other cities and institutions with high-speed fiber connections.”

Communities linked by NIUNet will better be able to share resources for planning, emergency management and economic development. Ultimately, the communications network will help towns improve their citizens’ quality of life.

“High-speed connectivity is as important as any other piece of infrastructure today—just like roads, water or sewer,” explained Czerniak, associate vice president of NIU Information Technology Services. “The number of businesses worldwide that require fiber-optic connectivity is growing rapidly. These businesses won’t even consider establishing operations in a city unless the infrastructure is there.”

Robert Gleeson, director of the NIU Center for Governmental Studies, said NIUNet will ensure that northern Illinois remains a player in the global marketplace.

“We are seeing global investors putting portions of their operations in key places around the world, and this region is one of the areas they are most interested in,” Gleeson said. “NIUNet will make our region even more attractive to those companies.”

NIUNet also has the potential to benefit education and the health-care industries. Schools linked to the network would have the potential to tap into data-intensive Internet lessons with real-time teleconference instruction led by scientists or educators worldwide. Doctors would have quick access to massive databases and could use the network to quickly transmit MRIs, CAT scans or X-rays from one hospital to another.

From a technical point of view, the real advantage of the fiber-optic network is increased bandwidth, according to NIU Communication Professor David Gunkel. “In a sense, that’s the whole thing,” he said. “Fiber optics gives us the opportunity to pass vast amounts of information through the system quicker than most of us can imagine.”

While NIUNet is a non-commercial, non-residential research network, some of the easiest ways to explain the incredible speed of fiber optic technology is to compare “download times” of familiar media applications. For example, downloading a feature-length movie at the very fastest broadband cable connection available today would take around six to eight hours. Through a fiber-optic connection, the same download would take no more than 30 seconds. Doctors sending MRIs, CAT scans or any other data-rich medical tests to consulting specialists in the next town would have to wait at least four hours to ensure that their colleagues on the other end had received the images. With a fiber-optic connection, the same image would take a mere 6 – 7 seconds to transmit.

“When we talk about the next generation of the Internet—including 3-dimensional models and virtual reality applications—fiber is the future,” Gunkel added. “It makes possible our entry into virtual worlds. The Web as we know it will evolve from a text and static image experience into a fully immersive, 3-dimensional environment."