Center for Integrated Access Networks

Center for Integrated Access Networks - CIAN

The National Science Foundation awarded a ten-year grant, thus far receiving  over $32 million to maintain an Engineering Research Center based at the University of Arizona. The Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN) is a multi-institutional research effort consisting of the University of Arizona (lead) and its partner institutions, the University of California at San Diego, the University of Southern California, the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, Cornell University, Norfolk State University, Marist College, and Tuskegee University. 

CIAN’s focus is removing one of the last internet bottlenecks by developing optoelectronic technologies for high-bandwidth, low-cost, widespread access and aggregation networks. 

The vision of CIAN is to create transformative technologies for optical access networks where virtually any application requiring any resource can be seamlessly and efficiently aggregated and interfaced with existing (and future) core networks in a cost-effective manner. CIAN's ultimate goal is to provide the technological foundation for an advanced optical network that simultaneously achieves efficient high data rate aggregation to amortize the cost for end users, while providing the necessary flexibility to support diverse end user requirements. The development of these technologies is essential for delivery of single-user data rates approaching 10 Gb per second, and provision of the associated services to a broad population base regardless of the "last-mile" technology. Attainment of these goals will enable affordable, flexible access to any type of service to anybody, anywhere, at any time. 

To learn more about CIAN, visit their website at www.cian-erc.org.

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