Arlington, VA - Internet2 today at its annual Spring Member Meeting announced that an international team led by the University of Tokyo has set two consecutive new Internet2 Land Speed Records (I2-LSR) in the IPv6 single and multi-stream categories. These records mark the ninth and tenth time a University of Tokyo-lead team has achieved an Internet2 Land Speed record. As an open and ongoing competition for the highest-bandwidth, end-to-end networks, Internet2 LSR awards represent the fastest rate at which data is transferred multiplied by the distance traveled.

For the first set of IPv6 records, a team from the University of Tokyo, WIDE Project, NTT Communications, JGN2, SURFnet, NARIE, Pacific Northwest Gigapop and other institutions collaborated to create a network path over 30,000 kilometers in distance, crossing 6 international networks - over 3/4 the circumference of the Earth. In doing so, the team successfully transferred data in the single and multi-stream categories at a rate of 7.67 Gbps which is equal to 230,100 terabit-meters per second (Tb-m/s). This record setting attempt leveraged standard TCP to achieve the new mark.

The next day, the team used a modified version of TCP to achieve an even greater record. Using the same 30,000 km path, the network was able to achieve a throughput of 9.08 Gbps which is equal to 272,400 Tb-m/s for both the IPv6 multi and single stream categories. In doing so, the team surpassed the current IPv4 records, proving that IPv6 networks are able to provide the same, if not better, performance as IPv4.

Dr. Kei Hiraki, professor at the University of Tokyo and LSR team leader said, "These records are final for the 10Gbps network era because they represent more than 98% of the upper limit of network capacity. Through collaboration by a number of institutions, we have demonstrated the ability to overcome the distance and achieve this newest mark."

For more information about these record-setting attempt, see Ref 1 and Ref 2