In order to leverage, advance and strengthen its investments in mid-scale computing research infrastructure, the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) will support the work of Tomorrow's Internet Project Office (TIPOFF). Working closely with the U.S. academic and industrial computer networking research community, TIPOFF will provide leadership and administrative oversight in developing, deploying and operating innovative mid-scale computing research infrastructure to meet evolving research community needs and align with emerging national priorities.
To initiate this activity, TIPOFF will assume responsibility for the operation and future evolution of the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) platform. TIPOFF will then lead the research community in developing an expanded and enriched experimental platform ("Platform") that leverages the existing GENI infrastructure to support exploration of robust new networking and distributed systems architectures, services and applications. This Platform will serve as a virtual laboratory for research and education, with the goal of advancing understanding of computing and communication systems and sustaining U.S. technology leadership and competitiveness in information technology (IT) and Internet-based services.
Subject to the availability of funds, the anticipated total funding amount is $10 million over the duration of the project.
Administrative project management and operations costs for TIPOFF should be less than $2.0 million per year for three years.
The costs of replacing, updating and/or extending existing infrastructure should be less than $2.0 million per year for two years. The actual cost associated with computing resource recapitalization is expected to reflect the ambition of the research community/TIPOFF consensus on Platform goals and strategies, the extent of hardware replenishment needed, and the introduction of innovative hardware and software.
Each proposal (8 pages or less) for the Penn State downselect should include:
Project Description:
Project description should provide a framework for pursuing design, development, deployment, operations and system upgrade/refresh activities, and should describe one or more technical/operational approaches to deploying Platform resources to address new research community needs and emerging national priorities.
Project Schedule:
The Project Schedule should identify key milestones and major activities over the project period.
Organizational Structure:
The Organizational Structure should describe the structure and processes to be used to provide effective governance for the Platform, including ensuring productive, collaborative interactions with the Steering Group as well as the broader research and education community; and the approach to be used to identify and prioritize development activities and the competitive process to be used in the selection of development and deployment subawardees and consultants.
A list of Project Personnel and Partner Institutions:
A list of all PI, co-PI, or senior personnel (names, current position title, affiliation(s))