Fraser Research anticipates the day when glass fiber brings a full range of communication and multimedia services to every home in the United States. Fiber has the potential to deliver fast, reliable, and private service, far surpassing the performance of the services available to the homeowner today. It is widely recognized that ubiquitous Broadband service will have a huge impact on the economy of the US.

This new infrastructure will deliver the high image quality that emerging flat-screen technology will soon permit, and the privacy and reliability which an information based society will demand. For example, high-speed, high-resolution interactive communications will enable substantially improved medical service for all people across the country. Interaction must match a human response time, and image resolution must be sufficient for medical examination of a patient. Applications such as these will be relied upon every minute of every day; privacy will be a key requirement.

Broadband wireless will reach its full potential when it operates in collaboration with a ubiquitous fiber infrastructure. We envisage a multitude of radio cells and inconspicuous base stations that provide high performance and good coverage at low cost because they fully utilize the fiber infrastructure present in every neighborhood.

Internet service has reached a critical and exciting stage. The frontier is shifting from corporate and academic campuses to consumers and individual homes. Fraser research recognizes that the emergence of fiber to the home creates a unique opportunity for a vibrant, stimulating, and open-ended environment in which researchers, visiting faculty and students can conduct and participate in leading edge networking research.

Fraser Research is taking a fresh look at network architecture, with a focus on consumers and large-scale deployment. Everything from new switching techniques to protected information flows is being considered. New techniques that make the Internet easier to understand and use are part of the research agenda.

This is a critical time for networking research. Fraser Research aspires to contribute to and promote the success of ubiquitous broadband in the United States.