Management of Broadband Networks Using a 3D Virtual World

Just as broadband networks will enable user-to-user communications to extend from textual services to those employing multimedia, they will also make possible a management environment that can take advantage of increased bandwidth and multimedia technology. The fundamental advances incorporated in such an environment can provide efficient solutions to the problem of information management. To establish this environment, we tackle the fundamental problems of observability and controllability of broadband networks. A virtual world provides a next-generation network management interface through which a user can observe and interact with the network directly in real time. The system we are developing uses a 3D virtual world as the user interface for managing a large gigabit ATM network. It provides the capability for experimentation in all aspects of network transport, control, and management.