North Carolina Information Highway Research Articles

Dynamics of infrastructure development: the role of metaphors, political will and sunk investment

This article explores how infrastructure networks get created in spite of the uncertainties in their development process. It focuses on the development of the Iowa Communications Network and North Carolina Information Highway which represent two very different models of state-wide networking. The experience with the Erie and Welland Canals provides the backdrop for the analysis. It offers insights into how metaphors provide the initial impetus, and how political will and sunk investments help sustain the effort for creating an infrastructure network.

Distance learning: health education for ninth-grade students.

A telehealth programme for schools was established by staff at the East Carolina University schools of nursing, health education, social work, nutrition, education and medicine, in conjunction with the Eastern Area Health Education Center. A health education curriculum was developed for rural high schools using the North Carolina Information Highway for delivery. A Web page provided additional resources for teachers, teenagers and health professionals. Four telehealth sessions were conducted over three years: two with the pilot school and two with a second school on-line simultaneously. A total of 76 ninth-grade students completed the courses. Evaluation indicated successful outcomes in student learning. Respondents to a follow-up survey of members of the first telehealth class had positive comments about the experience. Utilization of the Web page increased steadily from 1997.

North Carolina Health Technology and Telehealth Initiatives

North Carolina has emerged as a leader in the implementation of telecommunications technology designed to support the delivery of health services. Many are structured to improve access to health care for the residents of rural areas. Of primary importance is the state’s implementation of the North Carolina Information Highway, an upgraded telecommunications system. This system provides the infrastructure to support activities such as the electronic birth certificate system, composite matched birth records, death certificate data, central cancer registry, North Carolina Immunization Registry, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, and Health Services Information System. The authors present detailed program descriptions of each of these innovative programs, and effectively demonstrate how telecommunications technology can organize and centralize important health statistical information so that health services can be better targeted and designed to meet special population needs. Important lessons can be gleaned from the North Carolina experience for all states and health care professionals who want to expand access to quality health care services.

Life beyond the Large City: A Distance Education Program in Learning Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Continuing shortages of qualified personnel in special education is a relatively well-known phenomenon, and delivery of teacher education in rural areas is especially problematic. First, students live a far distance from the university campus. Second, they may be “learning on the run,” that is, beginning their career in special education with little preparation for their job. Finally, these students may have family responsibilities that make attending classes that much more difficult. The distance education program at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte serves rural areas around the metropolitan area of Charlotte, NC. UNC-Charlotte offers a series of courses through the interactive fiber optic North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH). Because of this program, students from the Charlotte area and surrounding counties have access to professional preservice preparation that will improve their teaching skills and the quality of services provided by teachers who are teaching “out of field.” This paper describes the distance education project at UNC-Charlotte in terms of background of the project, technology used, and faculty and student training for using the distance education technology. Initial evaluation data also are presented. Implications for program development are discussed.

North Carolina Information Highway: megabits driving gigabits

The North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) is the first large-scale commercial deployment of a broadband ATM network. Starting with initial service in August 1994, the NCIH will eventually provide 155 Mb/s ATM service to thousands of high schools, colleges, universities, libraries, hospitals, prisons, police stations, and other government facilities throughout North Carolina. Fully deployed, the NCIH is expected to have a total access capacity of over 500 Gb/s.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Secure communications in ATM networks

High-speed networking technology and standards have progressed dramatically in the past few years and much attention is now focused on deployment efforts, such as the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) [7], and applications. With this shift in emphasis, concerns have been raised about information security. Examples of abuse of the Internet abound and unfortunately ATM networks are subject to many of these same abuses. This is of subtanstial concern when thinking about extending the reach of public data networking to broad segments of society.

ATM switching and CPE adaptation in the North Carolina Information Highway

This article describes the approach which has been used to implement a sector of the information highway throughout the state of North Carolina, with specific attention focused on the functionality of the equipment that comprises the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH). This implementation of this information highway is based on ATM technology, used in both the switching systems of the network and the customer premises equipment (CPE). The large ATM switching systems provide the extensive number of connections that are predicted for the information highway. Multiple services can also be supported on the ATM switches. The information streams for these different services can all be converted into ATM format using the appropriate ATM adaptation layer for transport through the ATM network. By being able to support multiple services, and transport them across common ATM facilities, the ATM switches offer the NCIH great flexibility in the applications that can be provided to the customers. Use of the ATM technology allows the NCIH to provide the backbone for various services. To provide the distance learning service application and other applications on the NCIH, ATM capabilities are also being provided in CPE on a service multiplexer. >

Network management for the NCIH

The North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) will support many applications, including distance learning, LAN interconnection, video conferencing, law enforcement, and health care. Initially, the NCIH is supporting distance learning and local area network (LAN) interconnection applications for the North Carolina State Government. The operations plan for the NCIH was driven by end-user service requirements, network operator requirements, and the network architecture. The NCIH is a multi-vendor, multi-carrier ATM network offering a 155-Mb/s OC-3c SONET/ATM customer access interface to support many applications. BellSouth, along with Bellcore, Fujitsu, NTI, and other carriers, has developed and implemented an operations plan for managing the NCIH.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

NCIH services, architecture, and implementation

The telecommunications planners for the North Carolina State Government recognising the potential of asynchronous transfer mode and synchronous optical network, asked BellSouth, Carolina Telephone, and GTE to develop a proposal for a network based on ATM and SONET to enable a multitude of high-speed data and video applications throughout the state. This B-ISDN, now known as the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH), has become widely recognized as a model for the National Information Infrastructure (NII). The services provided by the NCIH are designed to be able to support numerous emerging applications that are expected to provide significant benefits in the areas of education, health care, crime control, economic development, and government.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

The NC-REN meets the North Carolina Information Highway

The North Carolina Research and Education Network (NC-REN), formerly known as CONCERT, is an existing video and data network, owned and operated by MCNC. NC-REN's purpose has been to provide network-based support for collaboration in the research community within the state since 1985. The first major application planned for the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH) is an interactive video distance learning system. A secondary application proposed is the use of Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) as a means of providing data communications services over NCIH. The user community currently supported by NC-REN has come to expect high levels of service, reliability, interoperability and performance for data and video communications. MCNC is committed to see that NC-REN users receive service that is equal to or better than what is currently provided by the existing network. The prospect of migrating NC-REN-provided services to NCIH-provided transport has raised challenging technical and unique service issues.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Evolution of the North Carolina Information Highway

As the first information highway of its kind, the North Carolina Information Highway is likely to set an example for ATM broadband deployment not only in the BellSouth region but also in the rest of the country. The article outlines an evolutionary path for new network architectural features and additional video and data services that can be supported by the NCIH. These architectures will support the introduction of on-demand video services (e.g. the distance learning service), and other associated vertical services. As standard procedures are developed, users will be able to use data services like TCP/IP and frame relay over large-bandwidth ATM connections. In addition, they will have opportunities to use their existing applications in the legacy LANs, as well as with ATM endpoints. As ATM standards agreements are realized over the next few years, and the ATM technology cost curve continues to improve, the NCIH will prove to be a very cost-effective and high-performance alternative for all the high-speed communication needs of the North Carolina State Government.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

The North Carolina information highway

What is probably the most unique aspect of the North Carolina information highway is the spirit of cooperation that exists between the public and private sectors, as well as cooperation within each of those sectors. North Carolina initiated the first state-wide information highway to utilize asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching and synchronous optical network (SONET) transmission equipment. Several trials have been conducted using ATM technology, but this is the first operational network to be deployed on such a large scale. The initial sites include hospitals, universities, community colleges, public schools, correctional facilities, and various administrative government locations. North Carolina requested that telephone companies within the state work together to develop a proposal for a comprehensive network that would not only serve state government applications, but the applications of current and prospective businesses in the state. This allows the state to share risks associated with building the first network of this type, and also places the responsibility for operations and upgrades with the telephone companies, so that their expertise in these areas can be utilized.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Integrated network and service management for the NCIH

To support the North Carolina Information Highway network and its services, GTE has developed new capabilities for the integrated management of broadband networks. These include: functionally integrated network management, enabling GTE to monitor and control ATM, SONET, and other related networks in real time, these capabilities are provided by the TelOps Network Integrated Control System (TONICS); and automated service management, enabling GTE to provide service-level configuration and fault management for new broadband services, these capabilities are provided by the broadband service management system (BSMS). Together, TONICS and BSMS provide a complete and integrated solution for managing broadband networks such as the NCIH. >